Whispers Forum

No government has done enough to solve the Assam-Mizoram border dispute. Boundary disputes between Mizoram and Assam are not new. The two sides have argued where exactly the line falls on a 193-square-mile strip of land since the 1980s, when Mizoram and three other Indian states were carved out of Assam, a sprawling state that borders Bhutan and Bangladesh. Had the governments shown their resolve to solve the dispute, things would have not gone so volatile. Still there is time for the governments concerned to wake from their slumber.
Girish

Congress party is not that weak as it appears to be. It still has its core base intact to a great extent and it just needs a charismatic leader to uplift the party from ashes. But the problem is that neither the “crown prince” is himself ready to lead the party from the front nor is he allowing to let anyone else become the commander. The party has always risen from heavy political defeats in the past when it was written off (after defeats in 1977, 1989, 1998, 1999 etc.). But it has always risen from ashes like Phonics only because of its strong and foresighted leadership which is missing today. Now, the party has become a private limited company sort of thing and its leadership is like later Mughals. Mughal Emperor Shah Alam’s empire was from Delhi to Palam. Similarly the Congress Empire ranges from 10 Janpath (Sonia Gandhi’s official home) to Rahul Gandhi's residence. Yes, the party is in power in many states like MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Punjab etc. but Gandhi family has little or no control on regional satraps. To cap it all, Congress just needs a leader who is full time politician and who doesn't personally hates Modi and is willing to learn from Modi to defeat Modi.
Rajesh Kumar

True sir. Congress High command should realise that while Gandhi family brings unity and stability to the party and always has chance to form government, the regional heads by Dreaming family and useless children promotion policy brings great losses to party. Minus these children promotion business in MP, Rajasthan, Assam, UP etc Congress would have easily crossed 100 seats in last parliamentary elections and would have been ruling in MP, Assam etc.
Good Gandhi family has now realised the fault lines and started repairing from Punjab.
C N Singh

The film industry in India is known to have produced some of the finest talents but the arrest of businessman Raj Kundra in a case relating to the alleged production of adult films, has come as a shock. While Kundra has denied any wrongdoing, a thorough investigation is required. Several controversies like the drug pedalling and the charge of the casting couch in the film industry have come to fore quite often, Of late, Bollywood has seen a spate of suicides, the most notable among them being of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The probe should not only determine culpability in all the cases but also suggest reforms, before it is too late, to keep the glory of the cineworld intact.
Anil Khanna

In a lighter vein - While transparency is certainly good for the country, it produces interesting situations as illustrated in the case cited. A husband - wife relation, held pious, is now bound by the Act where officially, one cannot ask for information about the spouse, as they are "third party" to each other. Who says there cannot be someone in between husband and wife? Each of them have information which is "private" to other person. In summary, the Act which brings about openness in the society adds to privacy between the couple.
Swati

Information regarding a copy of the affidavit submitted by appellant’s wife Mrs Bhavya Sharma to the sanctioning authority for grant of maintenance allowance was denied u/s 8(1)(e) & 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The appellant contended that the exemption claimed by the PIO is not proper as he was seeking information about his wife so as to know if the contents of the affidavit filed by her for grant of maintenance allowance are correct or not. The CIC held that even if there is a husband- wife relationship between the appellant and the third person regarding whom he is seeking the information but under the RTI Act, a husband is considered as a third party to his wife and the same applies vice-versa. Unless and until there is an involvement of larger public interest in disclosure of the information, no relief can be given in such cases.
Comments
Section 2 (n) of the RTI Act defines ‘third party’ as a person other than the citizen making a request for information and includes a public authority. The definition of a third party is vast and everyone other than the applicant is covered under it. A relationship does not entitle an individual to overlook the privacy of the third party.
Citation: Manish Kumar v. Headquarters Northern Command in File no.: - CIC/IARMY/A/2019/138225, Date of Decision: 02/06/2021
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

Such annual yatras take place in other States also during the month of Shravan. In West Bengal, Kanwar Yatra to the temple of Tarakeshwar, a Shiva temple, is very popular. Devotees collect Gangajal from river Ganges at a place called Sheoraphuli and then walk a distance of 26 km to the temple. In normal time, daily more than a lakh of people, may be more, visit the temple in this month of Shravan. News Channels should cover all such places so that either such yatras are cancelled or restricted to minimum number of devotees.
Kumar
Revised HRA rates
Revised HRA rates should be 27%, 18% and 9% for X, Y and Z class cities respectively. Not the other way round.
K Prakash