Sunday, November 14, 2010

Re: [HumJanenge] Re: [HumJanenge-YG] Re: Urgent Notice: Impersonation of Humjanenge owners/moderators

Dear Mr Roy,

As you may be aware, HJ-YG does not allow posts with attachments. We request
members to email the attachment to my personal vishalk@gmail.com account. I then
put the attachments up on box.net and then post the message on HJ-YG. As you can
see I have retained in the post Vihar Durve's email address.

Regards,
Vishal


----- Original Message ----
From: Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com>
To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 10:05:52
Subject: Re: [HumJanenge] Re: [HumJanenge-YG] Re: Urgent Notice: Impersonation
of Humjanenge owners/moderators

Dear "PMK"

Since neither Vishal or you has replied to my query, I (like Ram
Jethmalani) shall keep posting 1 more query every day.

My query for today is "Why is vishalkudchadkar sending messages as
Vihar Durve on HJ-YG , and from his v_kudz@yahoo.com ID which you say
has been hacked ?"

Here is the evidence

[HumJanenge-YG] Mah SIC Aug 2010 Pendency

fromvishalkudchadkar <v_kudz@yahoo.com>
reply-toHumJanenge@yahoogroups.co.in
toHumJanenge@yahoogroups.co.in
dateSat, Nov 13, 2010 at 10:16 PM
subject[HumJanenge-YG] Mah SIC Aug 2010 Pendency
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Vihar Durve <vihardurve@gmail.com>
date Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 12:51 AM

Attached papers relating to subject matter
http://www.box.net/shared/1g4h9pkpe7

Thanks & Regards,
Vihar Durve
0-9860586039

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Messages in this topic (1)

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 11:33 AM, Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear "PMK"
>
> I have 1 question in addition to what Sharmaji had posted
>
> Consider this thread at HumJanenge(Google)
>
http://groups.google.com/group/HumJanenge/browse_thread/thread/dcc132a8f06a58e0
>
> Vishal Kudchadkar makes 2 posts to this group (ie. googlegroup) on Oct 24 from
>his email ID "v_kudz@yahoo.com" claiming that he has nothing to do with this
>group. This fact is immediately noticed and commented upon by Krishnaraj Rao.
>Vishal does not reply.
>
> Now if I click on Vishal's "profile" on the first 2 posts in this thread I find
>that Mr. Vishal Kudchadkar has been busy making 11 other posts to this group
>from "v_kudz@yahoo.com" between Oct 19 to Cct 24 2010.
>
> So my query is:
>
> What caused Vishal Kudchadkar to recant from his association with HJ-Google on
>Oct 24 2010 ?
>
> Sarbajit
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 10:09 AM, PMK1504 <humjanenge.owner@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Sharma ji
>>
>> You asked 2 questions (not 1) "Why / How", so I am replying in a second post
>>
>> "Why" was answered in my previous post
>>
>> "How" is as follows
>>
>> a) As co-owner of HJ-YG I get emails from HJ-YG for all messages
>> posts / subscription requests which are pending moderation. This
>> includes the "Google Alerts" facility which immediately informs all
>> moderators/owners about breaking news as soon as Google indexes the
>> RTI news stories.
>>
>> b) Emails from my HJ-owner account are fowarded to HJ-GG and then
>> filtered / processed by a google python (.py) script before being
>> automatically posted to HJ-GG. If the poster (to HJ-YG) is also a
>> member of HJ-GG with full posting rights then it is posted in
>> name/email ID of member to HJ-GG. If poster at HJ-YG is either not a
>> member of HJ-GG or is moderated the message is posted in name of
>> member but with email ID <humjanenge.owner@gmail.com> The process is
>> fully automatic and transparent. No fake / forged emails are being
>> posted in anyone else's name/ID from this group.
>>
>> c) The python script is programmed to leave original header if message
>> originates from either of the HJ groups.
>>
>> Hopes this clarifies everything
>>
>> PMK
>

Posted by at No comments:

Re: [HumJanenge] Re: [HumJanenge-YG] Re: Urgent Notice: Impersonation of Humjanenge owners/moderators

Dear Mr Roy,

I do not check my v_kudz@yahoo.com email id on a regular basis. My posts to HJ-YG are made directly from the website.

With regards to the point you've raised below, please see the detailed message header of the messages you are referring to on and before Oct24th in "my name".



In the header search for "nandan" and you will be able to see that my email to HJ-YG was forwarded by nandan to humjanenge.owner and eventually to HJ-GG, all unbeknownst to me.

=================================
X-Forwarded-To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com X-Forwarded-For: vishal.kudchad...@gmail.com humjanenge@googlegroups.com Delivered-To: vishal.kudchad...@gmail.com Received: by 10.143.160.21 with SMTP id m21cs27266wfo;         Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:02:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mr.google.com ([10.231.10.200])         by 10.231.10.200 with SMTP id q8mr6040279ibq.83.1287864130463 (num_hops = 1);         Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:02:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.231.10.200 with SMTP id q8mr4129211ibq.83.1287864130410;         Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:02:10 -0700 (PDT) X-Forwarded-To: vishal.kudchad...@gmail.com, humjanenge.ow...@gmail.com X-X-Forwarded-For: nandan.durg...@gmail.com vishal.kudchad...@gmail.com, humjanenge.ow...@gmail.com Delivered-To: nandan.durg...@gmail.com Received: by 10.220.90.136 with SMTP id i8cs55927vcm;         Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:02:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.151.38.8 with SMTP id q8mr9397248ybj.200.1287864129607;         Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:02:09 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: <sentto-13761870-29235-1287864119-nandan.durgesh=gmail....@returns.groups.yahoo.com> Received: from n64d.bullet.mail.sp1.yahoo.com (n64d.bullet.mail.sp1.yahoo.com [98.136.45.89])         by mx.google.com with SMTP id e74si10714142yhc.50.2010.10.23.13.02.08;         Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:02:08 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: manual fallback record for domain of sentto-13761870-29235-1287864119-nandan.durgesh=gmail....@returns.groups.yahoo.com designates 98.136.45.89 as permitted sender) client-ip=98.136.45.89; DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=yahoogroups.co.in; s=foxtrot; t=1287864121; bh=dGogYJPcyUIlRD6XZm/ZPvHPfuwOvu1Jnr8G3m1dJGM=; h=Received:Received:X-Yahoo-Newman-Id:Received:Received:Received:DKIM-Signature:Received:Received:X-Sender:X-Apparently-To:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:To:Message-ID:User-Agent:X-Mailer:X-Originating-IP:X-Yahoo-Post-IP:From:X-Yahoo-Profile:X-eGroups-Approved-By:Sender:MIME-Version:Mailing-List:Delivered-To:List-Id:Precedence:List-Unsubscribe:Date:Subject:Reply-To:X-Yahoo-Newman-Property:Content-Type; b=x1mZsWHxaYTnLbzzrK0jhG8e0dZqJSZ/ObCpZgXR0EqWRQ4qaysIOxosjQyu6+3DsR6BmZT7T3IhYMvyOdU6PdVyrjzT6Cbwnx2BCKoUV/78xpY20k4xRTXdD1khAnLf DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=foxtrot; d=yahoogroups.co.in; 	b=hHkO0H6doORRdjtgB6dc6wG9dY8r1lcdlHK4JCOYsbI8tducnQgdQDbrGjtGnwuw4icxjHmflXy0BhTnZQGZ39iqzv2E6xxjyQSh0KUGOsg3Luvr9SmHvEbS3VvL5Txp; Received: from [69.147.65.149] by n64.bullet.mail.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 23 Oct 2010 20:02:01 -0000 Received: from [66.196.94.60] by t9.bullet.mail.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 23 Oct 2010 20:02:01 -0000 X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: 13761870-m29235 Received: (qmail 23920 invoked from network); 23 Oct 2010 20:01:53 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.196.94.105)   by m10.grp.re1.yahoo.com with QMQP; 23 Oct 2010 20:01:53 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n43d.bullet.mail.sp1.yahoo.com) (66.163.169.157)   by mta1.grp.re1.yahoo.com with SMTP; 23 Oct 2010 20:01:53 -0000 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=yahoogroups.co.in; s=foxtrot; t=1287864113; bh=+OX39IgCA1My5SD8yyb7DvnfV7+2xPVhQJ4NTjm68ds=; h=Received:Received:X-Sender:X-Apparently-To:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:Date:To:Message-ID:User-Agent:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding:X-Mailer:X-Yahoo-Newman-Property:X-Originating-IP:X-Yahoo-Post-IP:From:Subject:X-Yahoo-Group-Post:X-Yahoo-Profile:X-YGroups-SubInfo:Sender:X-eGroups-Approved-By:X-eGroups-Auth; b=PElV22ZhZ33j/k1h0l8OPoR4JaF+4Hp8GZ4kpTC1KLtdhj2qwone+VdEe+X3iPgVY9a9aUlF55vQTFLYiMcyOzXKPDa81nOIpF8Q2vmIDXsXsIC3ZO4BNUqs+GlYMvjJ Received: from [69.147.65.174] by n43.bullet.mail.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 23 Oct 2010 20:01:53 -0000 Received: from [98.137.34.34] by t12.bullet.mail.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 23 Oct 2010 20:01:53 -0000 X-Sender: v_k...@yahoo.com X-Apparently-To: HumJane...@yahoogroups.co.in
=================================================================================

Hope this clarifies the issue.

Regards,
Vishal


From: Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com>
To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 22:03:56
Subject: Re: [HumJanenge] Re: [HumJanenge-YG] Re: Urgent Notice: Impersonation of Humjanenge owners/moderators

Dear "PMK"

I have 1 question in addition to what Sharmaji had posted

Consider this thread at HumJanenge(Google)
http://groups.google.com/group/HumJanenge/browse_thread/thread/dcc132a8f06a58e0

Vishal Kudchadkar makes 2 posts to this group (ie. googlegroup) on Oct 24 from his email ID "v_kudz@yahoo.com" claiming that he has nothing to do with this group. This fact is immediately noticed and commented upon by Krishnaraj Rao. Vishal does not reply.

Now if I click on Vishal's "profile" on the first 2 posts in this thread I find that Mr. Vishal Kudchadkar has been busy making 11 other posts to this group from "v_kudz@yahoo.com" between Oct 19 to Cct 24 2010.

So my query is:

What caused Vishal Kudchadkar to recant from his association with HJ-Google on Oct 24 2010 ?

Sarbajit


On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 10:09 AM, PMK1504 <humjanenge.owner@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Sharma ji

You asked 2 questions (not 1) "Why / How", so I am replying in a second post

"Why" was answered in my previous post

"How" is as follows

a)  As co-owner of HJ-YG I get emails from HJ-YG for all messages
posts / subscription requests which are pending moderation. This
includes the "Google Alerts" facility which immediately informs all
moderators/owners about breaking news as soon as Google indexes the
RTI news stories.

b) Emails from my HJ-owner account are fowarded to HJ-GG and then
filtered / processed by a google python (.py) script before being
automatically posted to HJ-GG. If the poster (to HJ-YG) is also a
member of HJ-GG with full posting rights then it is posted in
name/email ID of member to HJ-GG. If poster at HJ-YG is either not a
member of HJ-GG or is moderated the message is posted in name of
member but with email ID <humjanenge.owner@gmail.com> The process is
fully automatic and transparent. No fake / forged emails are being
posted in anyone else's name/ID from this group.

c) The python script is programmed to leave original header if message
originates from either of the HJ groups.

Hopes this clarifies everything

PMK


Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

[HumJanenge] Section 4 of RTI Act could have prevented Adarsh scam, say activists

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Section-4-of-RTI-Act-could-have-prevented-Adarsh-scam-say-activists/articleshow/6860604.cms#ixzz149QMRFRH

The Adarsh housing society scam would not have been possible if the government had implemented Section 4 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which calls for mandatory disclosure by public bodies, say RTI activists who have come together to form a statewide RTI Council to act as a pressure group.

Basically, the Section 4 prescribes 'say what you do'. This means that government bodies must publicise the entire decision-making process, which includes the manuals referred to by the bureaucrats.

"Once the government states this, citizens can spot any deviations. This would also make it difficult for government officers to act arbitrarily," said Central Information Commissioner (CIC) Shailesh Gandhi.

"Under Section 4, the details of Adarsh housing society would have to be posted on the internet by the BMC's chief assessor and collector," said Bhaskar Prabhu of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch, Mumbai.

As CIC, Gandhi has used Section 4 to order the registrar of cooperative societies to issue details of societies, which have submitted their audited balance sheets, and those who have not. He has also directed the Delhi municipal corporation to give details of building plans being submitted for approval, widows' pensions and details of the corporators' and legislators' funds being spent on each project.

Citing an example where Section 4 can help, Prabhu says that the CM's Relief Fund is availiable to individuals also but no information has been posted on the government website about how the citizen can go about applying for it. Likewise, details of several social welfare and poverty alleviation schemes can be posted on government websites.

Prabhu, along with RTI activist Shivaji Raut from Satara and Vijay Kumbhar of the Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, Pune, are the convenors of the RTI Council, which will have representatives in all the 36 districts.

Organisations such as the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society, Public Concern for Governance Trust and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences have also pledged help to the Council.

Section 4 (1) (b) lists 17 categories of information which have to declared suo motu by public authorities.

However, most organisations only provide only sketchy details. Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum are the two exceptions.

According to Gandhi, progress on Section 4 has been very tardy so far since nobody has taken ownership of getting it implemented. "I believe this responsibility must be taken up by the Information Commissions," he said.

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[HumJanenge] Why all BPL families do not get ration, CIC asks Govt

 

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4531056

The Central Information Commission has directed the Delhi Government to make public on its website the reasons for not distributing free ration to all the BPL card holders.

The order came on the an appeal filed by a below poverty line card holder Ram Rekha Prasad Gupta who was not allocated quota to ration despite being alloted a card in January 2010.

A resident of Okhla, Gupta filed an RTI application with the food supplies and consumer department seeking reasons for not allocating ration to him. Not getting satisfactory reply, he reached the Central Information Commission with an appeal.

He also claimed that he was not the only person who has been denied ration meant for people under the BPL category but many of his fellow residents were also not getting the benefits of the scheme.

Gupta alleged that no one in his locality is getting kerosene against their BPL Ration Card.

"The Commissioner, Food and Supplies Department will inform the appellant and the Commission the reasons why some people are being allocated rations and the appellant is not being allocated any rations before November 15, 2010," Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said in his order.

Exercising his powers under the Right to Information Act, Gandhi directed the department to display on its website names of persons who have been given BPL cards but are not entitled to received supplies of food grains and kerosene alongwith the reasons.

He said the directive has to be complied before November 30, 2010 as obligation under Section four of the RTI Act which mandates proactive disclosure of information on part of public authority to increase transparency in the governance.

Gandhi instructed the department to intimate him the compliance of the order through email and the address of the web page where these details have been uploaded.

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[HumJanenge] Mumbai: Corporation website will tell you if your favourite restaurant is legal

 

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/mumbai-corporation-website-will-tell-you-if-your-favourite-restaurant-is-legal-64043

Now, it is easy to find out if the hotel where you had gone for lunch or dinner is authorised or not. Not just that; you can even find out if the hotel has the right permissions, courtesy: the BMC's new software that it has installed in its website.

The BMC has put all the information about the licenses issued to the various establishments under the BMC act. "Anyone can go to the www.mcgm.gov.in website and find out any information on the web," said Aseem Gupta additional Municipal commissioner." The web has information on those licenses that are especially needed to run a particular business."

The BMC is planning to display all licenses for the common public to see. The aim is to make the information public. The civic body has dispensed with the need to seek it under RTI.
"The information on hospitals, hotels and maternity homes, shops have also been displayed," Gupta said. "If a shop is illegal, it will be easier for a citizen to inform the authorities to take action," said Gupta.

The city has about 4.8 lakh shops and establishments registered with the BMC including shops, commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants and eateries and theaters. The website will continuously provide updates on the renewed licenses and the new ones given by the civic body.

Many times the citizens are not aware whether the shop near their residence, where they used to purchase households every day, is authorised or not.

Many people seek the information through Right to information act (RTI), which takes more time. "This new system will also curb the unauthorised commercial activities in the city," Gupta added.

On the anvil is BMC's plan to offer a registration and renewal of licenses for shops and other establishments.

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Monday, November 1, 2010

[HumJanenge] Promoters had eyes on another Colaba plot

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Promoters-had-eyes-on-another-Colaba-plot/articleshow/6856275.cms

The controversial Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society (ACHS) had plans to undertake another residential project. It had even approached the Maharashtra government for allotment of a 7,500 sq m plot situated near the Spastic Society of India in Colaba.
ACHS had applied to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) in November 2007 and the state revenue ministry in December 2007 for the allotment of the second plot.
TOI has documents related to the applications by ACHS to both the authorities. The documents were procured under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. ACHS had proposed to develop the plot to build cheap houses for the ''weaker sections, defence personnel and other deserving classes''.
MCZMA's permission was necessary as the plot is in the CRZ-I belt. It's a foreshore land on the seaward side of residential development area.
In a letter dated November 2007 to the MCZMA chairman, the society requested the state government to redraw the high tide line (HTL) to clear the project from the ''CRZ point of view''. HTL is the line of intersection of the land with the water surface at the time of high tide. Restrictions are imposed on development activity within 500m of the HTL. Minimal construction activity is permitted in these parts.
This plot was located close to the high tide line, where no construction activity is usually permissible. Arguing that there were at least two other buildings which had previously been permitted to be set up right next to the HTL, Adarsh promoters requested processing of their proposal and even urged the state government to modify the HTL to override CRZ concerns.
In another letter to revenue minister Narayan Rane on December 3, 2007, ACHS requested the plot's allotment by arguing that the site was free from mangroves and that development (construction activity) had been permitted in its vicinity.
Following the controversy, Sharma has now offered to surrender her flat.

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[HumJanenge] Life's a dredge for Olive Ridleys in Gahirmatha

 

http://www.dailypioneer.com/293889/Lifes-a-dredge-for-Olive-Ridleys-in-Gahirmatha.html

The world's largest nesting site of Olive Ridley sea turtles — at Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in coastal Odisha — is under threat.
This turtle season — migration has started — may spell doom for these endangered creatures since their nesting beaches have eroded drastically, thanks to alleged illegal sand-dredging by Essar Steel Orissa Ltd (ESOL) at the mouth of Mahanadi river.
ESOL is setting up a steel pellet factory at Paradip, with an annual capacity of 6 million tonne, along with a captive power plant of 225 MW, at an investment of Rs 10,721 crore.
According to information obtained through an RTI application filed by environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty, the company was given environmental clearance on May 29, 2008. However, it suppressed material information by not disclosing that the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) was part of the total projected land requirement of 1,925 acres. The company managed to get away without even applying for CRZ clearance.
According to experts, portions of Mahanadi river, including the applicable shoreline lands, come under CRZ due to the tidal effect in these areas.
According to the RTI response, the company was fully aware that its project site was in CRZ. This has been revealed in its correspondence with Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) in December 2008. Even senior officers like the Secretary of Steel & Mines had directed the company to seek CRZ clearance in a review meeting this January.
Regardless of all this, ESOL has been dredging sand in the CRZ area of Mahanadi river. According to reports, at least 12,00,000 cubic metres have already been dredged.
The RTI response also showed that a site inspection was carried out as early as in 2008, by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), when the company was found filling up the site with sand dredged from the Mahanadi. Nonetheless, neither the SPCB nor the Environment Department seem to have stopped ESOL.
The company also seems to have violated the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The project requires a total of 18.83 hectares of forest land and ESOL has started work since 2008 on non-forest lands without obtaining forest clearance. (According to norms, it is mandatory to get forest clearance prior to undertaking any construction.)
The forest clearance diversion proposal and application was filed only in December 2009 with the State Government and is yet to be forwarded to Environment Ministry. Pipeline construction is almost complete in non-forest areas of Keonjhar and Jajpur districts, though there is no forest clearance.
Meanwhile, ESOL technical assistant to the director Smriti Ranjan Das claimed, "Dredging is being done with the approval of the State Water Resource Department." On being questioned further on whether the company had made CRZ applications, he was evasive, saying the needful must have been done as, "I joined the company after 2007".
The Olive Ridley is a Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

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[HumJanenge] Essar Steel in the dock for violation of forest laws

 

http://sify.com/finance/essar-steel-in-the-dock-for-violation-of-forest-laws-news-equity-klcblFhbgjc.html

After Posco India, Vedanta Aluminium, and Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), Essar Steel has come under fire from green activists for alleged violation of environmental and forest laws.

Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), on the basis of documents obtained under the Right to Information Act, has alleged that Essar Steel Orissa (ESOL), a subsidiary of Essar Steel, has violated the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) norms, by carrying out sand dredging work at Paradip. ESOL is setting up a six-million tonne per annum steel plant and a 225-megawatt captive power plant over 1,925 acres in Paradip. The investment outlay is Rs 10,721 crore.

WSO also accused the company of violating the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 by illegally starting construction work on non-forest land since 2008 without prior forest clearance. The project needs 18.83 hectares (46.52 acres) of forest land.

"ESOL was accorded environmental clearance on May 29, 2008. The company had concealed information while obtaining environment clearance since it never disclosed that Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas were involved. ESOL has been dredging sand in CRZ area of the Mahanadi river, but has failed to apply for CRZ clearance. A site inspection in 2008 by Pollution Control Board revealed that the company was filling up the site with sand dredged from the river," said Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of WSO.

"The company has also violated the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. A total of 18.83 hectares of forest land is required. The company has illegally started work since 2008 on non-forest lands without obtaining forest clearance, which is illegal. The forest clearance diversion proposal and application was filed only in December 2009 with the state government and is yet to be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests," he said.

WSO demanded that the environment ministry should keep in abeyance the environmental clearance granted to the company in May 2008, as the clearance was illegally obtained by concealing the fact that the area came under CRZ.

The ministry should order the company to stop all activities there till the inquiry into violations of CRZ rules and Forest Conservation Act, 1980, was completed, said Mohanty.

However, the company denied all allegations. "Our project does not fall under the CRZ area. Moreover, ESOL has obtained the permission of the water resources department of the state government for dredging sand from the Mahanadi river. We have not started construction work on non-forest land as has been alleged by WSO," a company source told Business Standard.

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[HumJanenge] RTI impact: Punjab district courts get website

 

http://www.igovernment.in/site/rti-impact-punjab-district-courts-get-website-38708

All district courts in Punjab would have continued to function without a web portal, had an Amritsar resident not sought information under the Right to Information Act.

The website is under construction and once it is ready, litigants can know the status of their cases and any important announcements in relation to that.

This all happened after one Parbodh Chander Bali sought the website address and official email address of the Amritsar District and Sessions Judge and that of courts under his jurisdiction.

However, the complainant's plea was turned down on the pretext that it amounted to invasion of privacy. The Public Information Officer of the Judge asked him the purpose for which he had sought information. As a result, nothing was disclosed to the complainant.

When the matter came to Chief Information Commission's notice, it directed the court to comply with Section 4 of the Act and disclose the information sought by Bali.

In its direction, the commission said it was the legal obligation of the District and Sessions Judge to create a website and post all the relevant information on it.

As a result, the complainant received a letter from the public information officer of the Amirtsar District and Sessions Judge, saying the web address of the Punjab division had been received from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and he could access all the information sought by him through it.

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[HumJanenge] Activists lament courts going soft on RTI offenders

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Activists-lament-courts-going-soft-on-RTI-offenders/Article1-620907.aspx

The trend of government officials approaching the High Court against the Central Information Commission's (CIC) decision imposing fines on PIOs for delay in information to applicants under the RTI Act has started a debate amongst the RTI activists. Activists said very few information commissioners have levied monetary fine on the Public Information Officers (PIOs), who do not comply with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

And now the decisions of those who impose fine are being challenged in the court.

Two recent instances saw the Delhi High Court reduce the penalty imposed on the PIOs for not providing information on time.

In case of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) vs Atma Prakash Mehta case, justice S Muralidharan had reduced the penalty.

He ordered for the penalty on the MCD official to be reduced from Rs 18,500 to Rs 7,000, to be recovered from him in two equal installments of Rs 3,500 per month in view of the "facts and circumstances" of the case.

Gaurang Kant, the lawyer who represented Mehta, said, "The CIC had imposed the fine in excess by way of two orders against the same appeal."

In the RA Haritash vs Anand Bhushan case, the Delhi High Court took it on record that the information was ultimately

provided on March 27, 2010, when the application under RTI was originally filed on November 4, 2009.

The PIO claimed he had joined on November 18, 2009, 14 days after the RTI application was filed.

The HC ordered reduction of the penalty from Rs 25,000 (to be recovered from the official's salary) to just Rs 2,500 (to be recovered from his salary in 10 installments).

Vibhav Kumar, an activist-member of NGO Kabir, said, "Overall it seems that the judiciary is working to weaken the RTI Act. Orders like this wherein penalty amount is reduced will encourage more PIOs to not give information on time."

However, RTI activist Lokesh Batra, points out another aspect.

"Only if the Honourable High Court is convinced by the PIO that the delay was beyond his control for a certain period, then the Court is justified in reducing the penalty."

"However, even if the penalty has been reduced, the High Court has held the PIO guilty of delay and thus upheld the CIC decision."

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Sunday, October 31, 2010

[HumJanenge] RTI boss blocked info on Adarsh

 

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/nov/011110-Ramanand-Tiwari-Adarsh-Society-allotted-flat-RTI-Vihar-Durve.htm

Even as the Adarsh Housing Society scam threatens to cost the CM his chair, a recently unearthed fact implicates the State Information Commissioner for allegedly stonewalling information disclosing his assets.

The issue, overlooked till now, came to light after Ramanand Tiwari's son Onkar's name figured among the flat owners of Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society. According to RTI activist Vihar Durve, he had repeatedly attempted to obtain information on the assets owned by Tiwari and other senior government officials. But Tiwari had stonewalled all his efforts, he claims.
"I first applied to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the General Administration Department of the state government in November 2008. In December the same year, an undersecretary and PIO of the state government replied that as the officers had retired, the information of their assets could not be made available.
The RTI reply also said that since the information was not in public interest, it was not binding on the state to provide it to the applicant," said Durve.
When Durve appealed to the appellate authority, his efforts were blocked again with claims that he had not signed the application.
Said Durve, "They tried to avoid giving the information as well.
A particular reply by the PIO (copy of which is available with MiD DAY) said that the information on the assets of the concerned officials was destroyed at the level of the joint secretary Seema Vyas, who was authorised to destroy it, as the officials had retired from service."
Incidentally, even Vyas's name figured among the beneficiaries of Adarsh Society. Eventually, Durve went on to appeal before the Information Commissioner in March 2009.
"In reply, the office of the information commissioner said that June 11, 2009 had been set as the date of hearing.
Immediately after that, another letter informed me about the hearing being cancelled because of certain unavoidable circumstances. I am still waiting to hear from them," Durve said.
"If the Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi can disclose his assets, what stops the state information commissioners from disclosing theirs? They just did not want to disclose their assets," he added.
The Other Side
When we called Tiwari's mobile phone, a woman answered and asked what the issue was. When we disclosed the issue, she said he was not at home and would be available for comment only the next day. Messages to the number went unanswered after that.
Shailesh Gandhi starts the trend
Activist-turned-CIC member Shailesh Gandhi first raised the issue of declaration of assets by information commissioners. Gandhi had said that he made his property statement public in the interests of "transparency" of the office, and that other commissioners should follow suit too.
After a letter from a Pune-based applicant asking information commissioners to reveal their assets, Gandhi gave details of his personal income and family wealth amounting to Rs 5.38 crore.
Other Officials
Other officials under the scanner in Adarsh scam:
Uttam Khobragade, former Food and Drugs Administration commissioner
Jairaj Pathak, former municipal commissioner
Pradeep Vyas, collector in 2004, when the plot was handed over to Adarsh CHS
IA Kundan, former Mumbai collector
P V Deshmukh, former Urban Development deputy secretary
D K Shankaran, former state chief secretary, and his wife Joyce
Ranjit Sangitrao, son of former suburban collector C S Sangitrao
Arun Pawar, a former Income Tax commissioner

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[HumJanenge] Awareness programme on right to information

 

http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=50854

Nav Smradhi Community Welfare Society organised awareness programme on the topic `Right to Information' for girls of Roop Nagar slum area situated in Govindpura. In the beginning of the programme member of the committee Anita welcomed all the girls and said that Government has given a right to citizens through which common man can get information about the decisions taken by the Government.
To ensure this right, Government has made Right to Information Act. Giving more information on this subject member of the committee Sangeeta informed that to ensure accountability of Government towards people lot of efforts were made so that transparency in work can be maintained and corruption can be controlled. Owing to these efforts on October 12, 2005 law of right to information was made. The objective of this law is to ensure such transparency of information which is necessary to make Government accountable. He added that after framing this law responsibility of its implementation was of the government. Therefore Government has appointed one public information officer in every department. Responsibility of making the information available is of the public information officer of the concerned Department. In this programme 38 girls were given information of the subject.

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[HumJanenge] Cops suspect arson in 2009 RTO fire

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Cops-suspect-arson-in-2009-RTO-fire/Article1-620577.aspx

The fire at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Thane in 2009 was not an accident. This is what the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) suspects. On February 5, 2009, a fire burnt all records of details about two and four-wheeler vehicles registered with the RTO, including professional taxes paid by commercial vehicles. The police suspect foul play as the fire had mysteriously broken out 16 days after an Right to Information query sought details on vehicle registration and professional tax.

The RTI, filed on January 19, 2009, sought details on imported vehicles, their customs bill of entry, taxes on such vehicles, cess tax, and proof of residence provided by the importers in the past four years. Moreover, information pertaining to professional tax paid by commercial vehicles, the number of vehicles from outside Maharashtra registered with the RTO in these period (among others), had also been sought.

For the query on imported vehicles, the RTO, in its reply furnished on February 18, 2009, said the records were gutted. For the professional taxes, the RTO did not give records of three-and-a-half years. The remaining six months — June 2007 to December 2007 — it said that though it had received payments of over Rs 17 crore from owners, the receipts for the same were not available. For outstation vehicles' registration, the RTO reiterated that the records were gutted.

"It is unlikely that all the records were kept in one section. This was never investigated," said a senior ACB official, who is investigating the professional tax fraud at the RTO.

On October 22, the ACB had raided the Thane RTO following a tip-off that a racket was being run in the collection of professional tax from commercial vehicles. During the raid, the ACB team had come across Rs 10 lakh unaccounted cash stashed inside a locker.

The ACB on Friday conducted searches and truckloads of documents were seized —mostly fake bank challans. A senior ACB official, requesting anonymity since he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the RTO had not furnished details of the professional taxes collected by it to the transport commissioner's office since the past three years.

ACB sources said a senior clerk, Gharat, has emerged as the key `coordinator' in the scam which has been running for the past four years. They said the amount of the fraud is feared to be more than Rs 400 crore — at least Rs 100 crore every year.

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