CONTENTS Overview I SECTION I INDIAN SCENARIO 1. Right to Information: Path to Swaraj 3 Shailesh Gandhi 2. The Notion of Transparency 11 Shekhar Singh 3. Interpretation of the Right to Information Act - Its Implementation and Legal Issues 19 Tanvish Bhatt 4. Science and the Right to Information 25 Madhav Gadgil 5. Right to Information Act: Loopholes and Road Ahead 48 O P Kejriwal 6. Changing Discourse 54 Sowmya Sivakumarand Eric Kerbart 7. Right to Information: Impact on Banking Sector 66 V Gopala Krishna and Phani Ratna Surampudi 8. Fighting for the Right to Know in India 86 Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey 9. RTI in Indian States: Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra Experiences 102 Anandan Pillai SECTION II GLOBAL SCENARIO 10.The Irrepressible Rise of a Right 115 Nirmala Rao Khadpekar 11.Freedom of Information Laws Added to the Development Agenda 121 Toby Mclntosh 12.Freedom of Information in the Pacific 135 Commonwealth Parlimentary Association 13. Freedom of Information: United Kingdom 152 Sheena Mohanadasan 14. Information Acts of USA and Canada 163 Nirali Parikh 15. Business Confidentiality versus Human Health: The Role of Japan's Information Disclosure Laws 176 Lawrence Repeta 16.Right-to-Know in Mexico 200 Talli Nauman 17. Openness, Access to Government Information and Caribbean Governance 206 Fay Durrant 18. Media - Dual Role as Watchdog and User 221 Nirmala Rao Khadpekar Appendices 229 Index 237