◇ It is the duty of the Commission to receive and inquire into a complaint from any person: (a) who has not been able to submit an information request because of non-appointment of a Public Information officer. (b) who has been refused information that was requested; (c) who has not received response to his information request within the specified time limits.(d) who thinks the fees charged are unreasonable; (e) who thinks information given is incomplete, misleading or false; and (f) any other matter relating to obtaining information. ◇ The Commission can order inquiry into any matter if there are reasonable grounds (suo-moto power). ◇ While inquiring, the Commission has the powers of a civil court in respect of the following matters: (a) summoning and enforcing attendance of persons and compelling them to give oral or written evidence on oath and to produce documents or things; (b) requiring the discovery and inspection of documents; 5.2K08:44 PM(c) receiving evidence on affidavit; (d) requisitioning any public record from any court or office; (e) issuing summons for examination of witnesses or documents.
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NDMA [PART 2]
◇ The NDMA consists of a chairperson and other members, not exceeding nine. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of the NDMA. The other members are nominated by the chairperson of the NDMA. ◇The chairperson of the NDMA designates one of the members as the vice chairperson of the NDMA. The vice chairperson has the status of a cabinet minister while the other members have the status of aMinister of State. ◇The NDMA is the apex body for disaster management in the country. It works under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. ◇The NDMA was established with this vision: ‘To build a safer and disaster resilient India by a holistic, pro-active, technology driven and sustainable development strategy that involves all stakeholders and fosters a culture of prevention, preparedness and mitigation.’
ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS OF THE NDMA
◇ It recommends guidelines for the minimum standards of relief to be provided to persons affected by disaster. ◇ It recommends, in cases of disasters of severe magnitude, relief in repayment of loans or grant of fresh loans on concessional terms to the persons affected by such disasters. ◇ It exercises the general superintendence, direction and control of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). This force has been constituted for the purpose of specialist response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster. ◇ It authorises the concerned department or authority to make the emergency procurement of provisions or materials for rescue or relief in any threatening disaster situation or disaster. In such case, the standard procedure requiring inviting of tenders is deemed to be waived. 5.3K09:59 PM◇ It prepares an annual report on its activities and submits it to the central government. The centralgovernment causes it to be laid before both Houses of Parliament
REGIONAL LANGUAGES
◇For the time being, the official language of the Union (i.e., English) would remain the link language forcommunications between the Union and the states or between various states. ◇ But, two or more states are free to agree to use Hindi (instead of English) for communication between themselves. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar are some of the states that have entered into such agreements. ◇The Official Languages Act (1963) lays down that English should be used for purposes of communication between the Union and the non-Hindi states (that is, the states that have not adopted Hindi as their official language). Further, where Hindi is used for communication between a Hindiand a non-Hindi state, such communication in Hindi should be accompanied by an English translation.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1919[PART 3]-
◇ It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in London and transferred to himsome of the functions hitherto performed by the Secretary of State for India. ◇ It provided for the establishment of a public service commission. Hence, a CentralPublic Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants. ◇ It separated, for the first time, provincial budgets from the Central budget andauthorised the provincial legislatures to enact their budgets. ◇ It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to inquire into and report on its workingafter ten years of its coming into force