Solutions to Change

New Delhi (PTI): Amid a debate on whether organised retail kill livelihood of mom and pop store owners, an official study on Monday said there was no real threat to neighbourhood 'kirana' stores from modern retail chains. In fact, farmers as also consumers stand to gain from organised retail in terms of competitive pricing, says the government-sponsored study. There is "no evidence of a decline in overall employment in the unorganised sector as a result of the entry of organised retailers," said the report by think tank ICRIER. However, it admitted that initially, mom-and-pop stores located in the vicinity of big malls have seen drop in sales and profit, but the impact would disappear in the long run. It said farmers benefit significantly from direct sales to organised retailers. "Profit realisation for farmers selling directly to organised retailers is about 60 per cent higher than that received from selling in the mandi." At a time when inflation is ...

I have been working on a transport project for some time. During the visits to Government offices, I asked them about the standards prescribed by Government in cases of road construction, pedestrian sidewalks, pedestrian crossway's etc. Everyone gave me the usual answer; it will be available in the other office. when i repeat the same question in the next office, they would also have some other offices to enquire. After three months, i realized that there is no standard available in these offices. Some one referred to Indian Road Congress website. Unfortunately, their website reflects how chaotic our transport system is; we may need to put up signal system there also to search for the paths we need to take to search for the document. Some one suggested Bureau of Indian Standards. When i went to their website, i could not digest the value of existence of such an organization in India. Later, I downloaded many standards from other websites. But there has not been any Indian website i...

In a move that could open the floodgates for Right to Information (RTI) applications in the defence forces, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has allowed approach papers and notings (documents with remarks related to the officer by his superior) to be put before the review selection board, to be disclosed within 10 days. CIC had earlier ordered that proceedings of the department promotion committees (DPCs) could be disclosed. In his recent order, chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said that since DPCs were not treated as documents exempted under the RTI Act, except those that dealt with annual confidential reports, the documents demanded by the appellant should be disclosed. Lucknow resident Col (retd) Inder Paul had appealed to the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) — the medical wing of the defence forces — for approach papers related to review selection board meetings held on January 14 and August 8, 2003. The appeal was rejected by the first appellate...

You can ask for I-T returns of political parties CIC Allows It Under RTI Act New Delhi: In a ruling that will open financial activities of political parties to public scrutiny, the Central Information Commission has said citizens can seek income tax returns of the parties to get details on their funding. he landmark decision, bringing political parties within the ambit of the RTI Act, came on an appeal of an NGO — Association of Democratic Reforms — seeking disclosure of income tax returns and assessment orders pertaining to such organizations. “The laws of the land do not make it mandatory for politi cal parties to disclose sources of their funding and even less so the manner of expending those funds. In the absence of such laws, the only way a citizen can gain access to the details of funding of political parties is through I-T returns filed annually with I-T authorities,” information commissioner A N Tiwari said. CIC said since political parties influence the exercise of political p...