The Congress in Kerala on Friday approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the decision of Doordarshan to telecast the controversial movie The Kerala Story, saying it was a 'tacit effort' to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
'This mega corruption scandal, as certified by the Supreme Court, will expose the unholy nexus between the BJP and its corrupt corporate masters'
The agency is probing the alleged payment of USD 5.70 million as commission to seal the deal, sources said.
'There is no scope for any doubt. This was a scheme designed to enrich the ruling party.'
The draft guidelines have drawn flak from several quarters.
The ATRs have been sought on a range of matters within four weeks, the officials said.
Former Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur on Thursday took over as the new chief information commissioner in the Central Information Commission.
Issuing a slew of directions, a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat (since retired) and Aravind Kumar asked the central and state governments to pay Rs 30 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of those who die while cleaning sewers.
'If we get 399 seats and you say we have not crossed 400, then it is your wisdom. But the '400 paar' slogan is based on calculation and considered opinion'
"We will complain. He can meditate, but televisions cannot show it," she said, alleging that this will amount to "violation of the MCC."
The court directed the State Election Commission, the state government and the central government to file affidavits dealing with all the allegations made in three petitions alleging malpractices.
The CPIO had rejected the three RTI queries on the ground that the Rs 10 Postal Order meant for fees for providing the information, was blank in one and in the other two cases, they were made out in favour of the CPIO.
A voter turnout of 60.19 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday with sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal.
The bill which seeks to keep political parties out of the ambit of the transparency law will be sent to a standing committee for wider consultations, government informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Over 40,000 complaints and appeals are pending in the Central Information Commission which is working without its chief for more than nine months.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday allowed Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari to visit the restive Sandeshkhali village, while observing that it is surprising that the main accused Shajahan Sheikh has not been arrested by the state police so far.
Those who want to invest should consider their risk appetite. Youngsters may go for it as they have a longer horizon to recover from a setback.
In a statement, the CPI-M Politburo contended that a political party was a voluntary association of citizens who believe in the ideology, programme and the leadership, and it was accountable only to its membership.
If left unchecked, the 2024 elections may be infamously remembered as the election of deepfakes. The ECI has a tough task ahead, but, more importantly, it has an opportunity to become a global model for scores of countries going to polls this year, notes Ajay Kumar.
The commission suggested that a comprehensive plan should be devised to handle the issue of missing files which has become a "stumbling block" in implementing the RTI act.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday discussed the strategy to be adopted in the monsoon session of the Parliament on issues such as Telangana and proposed amendments in the Right to Information Act.
According to the officials, the three-storey coaching institute, surrounded by residential and commercial establishments, had permission to use the basement as a store room, but it was being used as library in violation of the rules.
India has also taken note of reports of Saeed's son Talha contesting elections in Pakistan and said the "mainstreaming" of radical terror outfits in the neighbouring country is nothing new and that it has been part of its State policy for a long time.
The issue of 1978 DU degree records cropped up after Aam Aadmi Party raised questions about the degree of the PM.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com finds out how the government is seeking to change the RTI Act, and what impact it will have on the Right to Information.
The government on Friday defended its decision to amend the Right To Information Act to keep political parties out of the purview of the ombudsman, saying they are not "public authorities" but voluntary association of people.
This is the fourth such recruitment drive proposed to be undertaken by the Narendra Modi government which had in 2018 initiated lateral entry.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently extended a Rs 8,000-crore (Rs 80 billion) central support for building roads in Jammu & Kashmir, Union Cabinet's approval for the big-ticket announcement came in barely 48 hours.
The Kukis have already declared that they are not fielding any candidate in the parliamentary polls as an act of boycott.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday dismissed a challenge to the Central Information Commission's order dismissing an RTI appeal seeking the agenda of the Supreme Court collegium's meeting on December 12, 2018, when certain decisions were purportedly taken on elevation of judges to the apex court.
The order will be passed by a five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices NV Ramana, DY Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna on a petition filed by a Supreme Court Secretary-General challenging the January 2010 judgment of the Delhi high court.
If a citizen chooses not to use Aadhaar as the default unique identity, then other unique identity proofs masked and linked to Aadhaar would be used.
TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose submitted a letter to the Election Commission on Thursday.
In Chamoli district, a flood-like situation has developed along the banks of a dozen rivers, including Alaknanda and its tributaries Pindar, Nandakini and Birhi.
Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said government facilitates freedom fighters and gives pension but revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh are not even give the status of a martyr leave aside any financial support to their families.
The CIC's directive came while deciding on a plea by Lucknow-based activist Nutan Thakur, who had based her RTI application on some media reports that RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya in a lecture in 2017 had said accounts of some loan defaulters have been sent to banks for resolution.
The bench also said there was "prima facie dereliction of duty" on Agnihotri's part.
Delhi Police on Friday said they have launched an investigation after a video on social media showed a group of men allegedly harassing and groping a Japanese woman on Holi.
A delegation of Meghalaya ministers led by CM Conrad K Sangma will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 24 to demand a CBI or NIA probe into the violence that left six people dead on the state's border with Assam.
