Whispers Forum

Where are the members of the Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam being taken in this century? The twenty first century born have a better idea, as they are natives to the smartphone, internet & AI culture and foresee the future with aplomb unlike the worried earlier born gen. In their view Covid in all its variants is experiment for population control as it has already reached 8 billion. Those in the 80 to 100 plus years age add to the planners worry as there is not enough food or shelter or health facility for all of them after 2050. Besides, AI is going to replace more than 90% of workers and jobs. Employment etc. are going to become a thing of the past. Moreover, the human mind can’t match the speed of AI in finishing a job with almost 100% accuracy. Currency is going to die in a few months as UPI is going to become safer, faster and hygienic. The technologically super powers are likely to tone up the planet earth by slimming & trimming humans and their operations. Almost every industry and business will need upgrading or upskilling, if there is any hope to do business and we will have no newspapers, TV channels, cinema or opera houses.
M L Gupta

BJP is preparing to make the Sandeshkhali incident in West Bengal the biggest issue in the Lok Sabha elections. The party has prepared a strategy to not only keep this issue alive till the elections but also to launch a powerful statewide movement. It is being said that under this, PM Narendra Modi may frequently visit Bengal. As a counter strategy, Trinamool Congress has also decided to launch the party's election campaign through a brigade rally on March 10, just after the Prime Minister's visit. It remains to be seen amidst all this politics, whether justice will be done and the perpetrators brought to book.
Ankita Kumari

Information pertaining to crash of an Attack Helicopter (IA 2148) of Indian Army on 25 January 2021 in an operational area near international border was sought by Mr Manik Chopra who was Commanding Officer of the said attack helicopter unit when the incident took place. A Court of Inquiry was initiated to investigate the circumstances in which the accident occurred. A certified copy of Preliminary Report received by HQ Western Command on 15 Jun 2021 was denied by the PIO under section 8 (1) (e) & 8 (1) (h) of RTI Act. The appellant alleged that certain officers arranged a copy of Preliminary Report and used it to attach and subsequently post out him (appellant) without providing a copy of the report to defend himself as per the provisions of natural justice. The respondent stated that purpose of the Preliminary Report in the instant case was limited to identify any immediate concerns relating to the safe operation of the attack helicopters and recommend precautionary measures to arrest similar occurrences in the highly active operational area, and the same had no relevance to either investigation by the court of Inquiry in the matter or subsequent departmental action against the appellant. In addition to the above, the communication of the said report to any person not authorized, may prejudice the National Security and also adversely affect the war preparedness of the Indian Army. It was also submitted that the information sought was held with their Headquarters Western Command in fiduciary capacity, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the security of the state and no public interest was involved in the request of the appellant. The CIC held that the reply given by the respondent is in consonance with the provision of the RTI Act and no interference is required.
Comments
As a Commanding Officer of the attack helicopter unit, the appellant was privy to all the records of the relating to the unit. In matters where national has been cited, the decision tends to be against the appellant. Ordinarily, any person charge-sheeted is given an opportunity to defend himself.
Citation: Manik Chopra v. Western Command, CIC/IARMY/A/2022/147250; Date of Decision : 19-02-2024
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Visakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books, RTI Right to Information - Law and Practice and PIO’s Guide to RTI. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and Third party audit. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link www.rtifoundationofindia.com

People are angry at the irresponsible conduct of the agitators in the name of farmers. It is a ruse only. Green revolution has hurt the interests of countries like Canada, USA and others who have lost a huge market like India to sell their grain and other agri-products (recall PL-480 and its weaponization). India has started exporting instead- a double whammy. Holocaust is known to Indians but hardly “holodomor”, which is deadlier than holocaust as it is mass killing/genocide by starvation. For India the problems are many (akin to more thieves than police, more patients than doctors, more litigants than judges, more “for corruption parties” than those “against corruption”). We are told about the Bengal famine and blame the British for it (but it is not called holodomor). Why? Everyone of us must ponder this issue in the context of the farmers agitation 2024. It is part of a triple attack: K2 plan, food insecurity through Kisan Andolan and economic disruption by way of Hindenburg/Soros style abuse of the due process of laws. The sponsors want only Pappus for Modis. The farmers are going to be starved first by such agitation by creating artificial food shortage and liquidating the Soviet dictator J Stalin way later.
M L Gupta

The appellant sought for certain information from University Grants Commission (UGC) - a photocopy of the rules that education institutions cannot keep original documents of students such as marksheet, passing certificate, Migration certificate and other documents. He further asked for the number of members of NAAC team visit a college during inspection, the checks carried out by them, cost for NAAC inspection per college / per university, source of UGC revenue etc. Dissatisfied with the response received, the Appellant approached the CIC. The CIC observed that the appellant communicated to the Registry that he had received the requisite information and was not willing to pursue the second appeal any further. The CIC held that there is no scope for further intervention in the matter.
Comments
The UGC website contains some information on their website such as Annual reports. However, most of the information sought in the RTI application ought to have been provided suo-motu by the UGC. In this case, the CIC should have directed the UGC to put the information on their website. It would be prudent for the UGC to consider putting up a series of FAQ’s for the benefit of the students and their parents.
Citation: Abhishek Ranjan v. University Grants Commission, Second Appeal No. CIC/UGCOM/A/2023/622787; Date of Decision: 16.01.2024
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Visakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books, RTI Right to Information - Law and Practice and PIO’s Guide to RTI. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and Third party audit. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link www.rtifoundationofindia.com