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
>

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


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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