AFTER the new governments of KP and Punjab passed their respective, internationally acclaimed Right to Information (RTI) laws and established their independent information commissions in 2013, it was only natural to expect Sindh and Balochistan, and the federation to replace their restrictive freedom of information laws with more progressive RTI laws. Unfortunately, this has not […]
KARACHI: The right to information law of Sindh, with all its proposed amendments and recommendations of civil society, has been finalised and will be presented in the assembly soon. Environment minister Sikandar Mandhro shared this at the ‘Provincial Roundtable’ at Mehran hotel on Tuesday afternoon. The event organised by non-governmental organisation Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) […]
THE right of citizens to have the state and bureaucracy answer questions is of such significance and has such a wide-ranging impact that the first session of the UN General Assembly in 1946 adopted Resolution 59-1 calling for an international conference on the freedom of information. It noted that this “is a fundamental human right […]
The orders passed by Federal Ombudsman (FO) and Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) under Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002 (FOI) shall be final and no further appeal has been provided by the legislature in the Right to Information cases under FOI, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled in a latest judgement. It is learnt that the […]
KARACHI: The Coalition on Transparency and Access to Information (C-TAI) undertook yet another attempt to convince the government to pass the Sindh Right to Information (RTI) Bill, 2015. Members of C-TAI, which is a coalition of 26 Sindh-based NGOs, gathered at an advocacy and consultative session to discuss the draft of the bill at Movenpick […]
ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Right to Information Act, 2013 has secured first position with a score of 73% in a consolidated assessment of Right to Information/Freedom of Information (RTI/FOI) laws and their implementation at federal and provincial levels. The comparative RTI scorecard was launched on Tuesday by Pildat in a ceremony here.Speaking on the occasion, […]
KARACHI: Just as the internet is helping extremists spread their message of hate, the same medium can be used to rehabilitate people, said the founding director of Moonshot CVE UK, Ross Frenett. He was addressing the audience on the second day of the International Conference on Issues of Radicalisation in Migrant Urban Societies: A Comparative […]
ISLAMABAD: Some 13 years after passing legislation guaranteeing its citizens right to information, Pakistan still awaits a comprehensive, progressive law which ensures the right is exercised effectively. With the enactment of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Ordinance in 2002, Pakistan became the first country in South Asia to pass legislation on the right to information […]
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is an ‘if’ away from grabbing the top global ranking as it can proudly claim to have the best Right to Information (RTI) legislation in the world to promote transparency if the draft RTI Act 2014 is passed into law from parliament. The Canada-based Center for Law and Democracy (CLD) that does international […]
There are two factors that directly change the perception of an individual in a given society: the environment and their relativity to it in terms of dignity, quality of life and sense of responsibility. Unless it is realised, a healthy democracy cannot take shape. There is, however, a constant tussle between the wants of humans […]
Karachi: There is no denying the fact that both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab took the lead in adopting the Right to Information (RTI) laws, but simultaneously a lack of attention by the Sindh and Balochistan lead to weak legislation, in both 2005 and 2006, which consequently resulted in a dire need of an overhaul of […]
I SEEK a clarification from information czars, the ministry of law and experts on citizens’ right to information. Can a citizen seek information from the Presidency relating to expenses incurred on the President House, his official visits, and the various secretaries and staff deputed for the ceremonies and upkeep of his establishment? All this is […]
KARACHI: I would like to seek an important clarification from the information commissioners, the Ministry of Law and experts on the citizens’ right to information. Can a citizen seek information from the presidency relating to expenses incurred in the presidency, his official visits, and the various secretaries and staff deputed for the ceremonies and upkeep […]
The blockage of the popular video-sharing website, YouTube, which was shut down in Pakistan on September 17, 2012, to prevent access to a blasphemous video continues. Video excerpts from the aforementioned movie sparked protests and violence across the Muslim world. During one of the spates of violence, the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, was […]
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