Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday said people close to social activist Anna Hazare were "somehow close" to Bharatiya Janata Party and questioned the inclusion of father-son lawyer duo of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the ten-member joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill.
When the Majdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti -- formed by NREGA workers under the guidance of NAC member Aruna Roy -- approached the registration office, they were told that NREGA workers don't qualify as 'workmen' as defined in the Industrial Disputes Act and the Trade Union Act of 1962, because they are not engaged in a trade or industry.
The Centre, last year, had also decided to freeze the minimum wage paid under NREGA at Rs 100. Subsequently, the wages paid in many states under NREGA are lower than the minimum wages in the state.
With several versions of the Lokpal Bill doing the rounds, the Bharatiya Janata Party is in favour of inclusion of the prime minister in the ambit of Lokpal with certain riders and agrees with most of the provisions of Jan Lokpal Bill and Aruna Roy's draft, party sources said in New Delhi on Thursday.
The 69 retired bureaucrats claimed that the country's public health infrastructure was crying out for investment
The first meeting of the newly-reconstituted Central Employment Guarantee Council last week, meant to oversee the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, saw two prominent members, Jean Dreze and Aruna Roy, object to various new ideas of the government, beginning with the one of using it to build Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras, meant to serve as offices for panchayats.
He cited examples of journalists reporting about coronavirus cases and related issue such as lack of ventilators, being charged with fake news provisions.
Members protest, rural ministry assures it will not be so hereafter.
Social activists Aruna Roy, Mamta Jaitely and others were present during the entry and expressed solidarity with Dalit cause.
'The Maharashtrian Congressmen's decision to break away from their reluctant leaders in Delhi to side with the Shiv Sena is seemingly the first sign that the 'high command' is not as powerful as is believed,' says Amulya Ganguli.
A day ahead of a meeting called by dissidents Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday spelled out its warning to party members that its top-decision making panels would determine what action would be taken against those found accepting the rebel camp's invitation.
Indian women have education, inspiration and perspiration -- but not enough employment, points out Mahesh Vyas.
Sonia Gandhi's prime ministerial ambition for her son has been a major factor in the Congress's internal politics since 2004, points out Amulya Ganguli.
'Oh god, these workers will now spread the virus! Their only concern was to think about themselves.' 'The middle class was only concerned with flattening the curve of coronavirus and they were not bothered about how these workers live in one room with 10 people or 20 people.'
'If the total amount is spent, it will be highest Budget spend on MGNREGA.'
The head of the Congress's first family has never been an astute politician, points out Amulya Ganguli.
Scholars and students have cautioned that the proposed divisive and discriminatory changes would harm the country.
The CIC has invited only seven RTI activists -- Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shekhar Singh, Amrita Johri, Anjali Bharadwaj, Venkatesh Nayak and Lokesh Batra -- for the function to be held on Friday.
'Transparency is us watching the government and not the government watching us'
If Manmohan Singh was hobbled by allegations of sleaze and a stagnant economy, Modi faces the twin challenges of high unemployment and an uncertain and potentially volatile situation in Kashmir, points out Amulya Ganguli.
Varavara Rao reached home in Hyderabad on Thursday morning, while activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, were sent to Mumbai by road.
'These cow vigilantes would not even have touched a cow in their lives.' 'They are rowdy elements who are paid mercenaries...'
On the lines of the Sachar Committee for Muslims, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set up a panel to assess the status of Scheduled Tribes, to ensure their progress in socio-economic, health and education fields.
Aam Aadmi Party's eminent women supporters are backing the 'Swaraj Samwad' with a focus on women participation in politics. They also haven't given up on dreams of a united AAP. Upasna Pandey reports
"The issue is not whether India is first or third or fourth, the issue is that this perception should be taken seriously to set our house in order".
'We should not use and confuse the word Right to define Hindutva.' 'Doing so blurs the issue because it gives the BJP attributes that it does not have and does not even want,' says Aakar Patel.
The judgment was reserved after a marathon hearing which went on for 38 days spanning four months.
A key argument against the Aadhaar scheme was that it was violative of the nine-judge bench verdict that had held that Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a petitions challenging Aadhaar, said no system in the world was secure and the issue was not as to how data is collected, but how the information so collected are used or misused.
India's primary failings have been in its inability to deliver health and education for all.
A group of retired civil servants also called upon the PM to reach out to the families of the victims in Unnao and Kathua and "seek their forgiveness on behalf of all of us".
Anushu Gupta is being recognised for "his creative vision in transforming the culture of giving" in India and Sanjiv Chaturvedi for 'Emergent Leadership'
Sandeep Pandey salutes women who have contributed to social transformation in India after 1980.
Aam Aadmi Party rebels Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday stopped short of announcing the creation of a new political outfit even as they said they were starting a new "movement" while slamming the lack of scope for dialogue within the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
In a note to his students titled 'In a Background of Elections - The Development Debate', Dr Frazer Mascarenhas, principal of Mumbai's St Xavier's College, slams Narendra Modi's Gujarat and is in all praise of United Progressive Alliance's Rojgar Yojana and the Food Security Act
Taking a cue from the prevailing public mood against the political class, the Congress leadership -- Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi -- are said to have clinched the argument in favour of deferring the amendment to the Right to Information Act which seeks to keep political parties out of the ambit of the transparency law.
'If anyone is able to understand the importance of Modi's endeavours to revive the economy -- even against opposition from sections of his own saffron brotherhood -- it is the former prime minister,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Senior judges have developed a cushy arrangement among themselves: you back the appointment of so-and-so advocate's junior, and I will back so-and-so judge's nephew, says Subir Roy
Politicians, actors and eminent jurists have written a petition to the President to waive off the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict's execution, saying it 'would degrade us all'.
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