Jammu and Kashmir: Recent amendments to the Right to Information Act of 2010 have weakened the State Information Commission, a watchdog agency tasked with safeguarding the law's provisions, Hindustan Times reported. Civic groups and opposition politicians criticized the changes; the chief information commissioner, G.R. Sufi, accused the state government of trying to make the commission a “toothless body.â€
Arunachal Pradesh: The junior minister for external affairs,  E. Ahmed, informed the Rajya Sabha, or upper house of Parliament, that “China illegally refers to Arunachal Pradesh as ‘southern Tibet' †and claims about 90,000 square kilometers of Indian territory there, the Web site E-Pao reported, citing The Sangai Express. The statement came ahead of a three-day visit starting Sunday, by the Chinese defense minister, Gen. Liang Guanglie, for bilateral talks, including discussions of confidence-building measures between India and China.
Nagaland: The Thai government has donated a condom vending machine to the state government, according to a news agency report on the Assam Tribune site. Members of Nagaland's Legislative Forum on AIDS received the gift from the Thai public health minister during a recent visit to Bangkok.
Uttar Pradesh: The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered four new cases against state government officials and others in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds allocated to the state under the National Rural Health Mission, a federal program intended to improve health services, according to a Press Trust of India report on NDTV's site.
Rajasthan: Residents of the village of Madrampura in the state capital, Jaipur, received an unusual surprise when streets that had been flooded were cleaned up overnight,  IBN Live reported.  But the makeover apparently was not for the benefit of villagers, but in preparation for a visit from the Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi. Residents of the village had been warned by “some anonymous people†not to criticize the state government during Mrs. Gandhi's visit, The Times of India reported.
Maharashtra: Addressing the much-debated crackdown on nightlife in Mumbai in recent months, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said the government was trying to “sort out†issues related to letting restaurants and bars stay open at night, according to a report on the Times of India site. “People will get the feeling that they have come to a foreign city,†he said.
Tamil Nadu: Scores of demonstrators were arrested when they tried to force their way into the Wellington cantonment on Monday to protest training being offered to two Sri Lankan Army officials at the Defense Staff Services College there, The Hindu reported.
