Noted filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and eminent historian K N Panikkar have raised questions on Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, accusing him of adopting an "authoritarian" approach in selecting civil society members in the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill.
The joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill on Saturday had its first meeting when civil society representatives presented a new draft of the legislation to the government with both sides expressing hope that the new law will be brought in the monsoon session of Parliament.
'Article 370 offered very important protections that were related to people's day to day lives.'
'If democracy does not exist, if there are no political spaces, there is no media, there is no civil society, what do we rejoice?'
Anna Hazare's decision to end his fast on Saturday comes after the United Progressive Alliance government virtually bent over backwards to accommodate all his demands, including the formation of a joint committee with five representatives of the government and five from civil society. The Centre has also agreed to bring a government order to announce the formation of the committee that will have a co-chairman from civil society.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
Chief Minister Zoramthanga, deputy CM Tawnluia, ministers, and MLAs of the state cutting across party lines took part in the massive protest rally in Aizawl.
The Anna Hazare team on Wednesday met Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat in New Delhi to explain the civil society's position on the Lokpal Bill ahead of the all party meeting on the issue.
The roller-coaster ride of the government-civil society joint drafting committee on the Lokpal (ombudsman) Bill has ended in a draw, but left both sides badly injured. Whether the tie will be broken when they present their separate recommendations to a proposed all-party committee in July remains an open question.
The United Kingdom's Department for International Development launched its biggest civil society project on Thursday to mark World Human Rights Day. The Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme and the International NGO Partnerships Agreement Programme is worth 45 million (Rs 360 crores) spread across the next five years.
Noted social worker Swami Agnivesh differed with Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejiriwal -- members of the civil society on the Lokpal Bill drafting panel -- that the talks with the government failed to yield substantial results.
Civil society led by Anna Hazare on Monday hit back at the government over the charge that it was undermining Parliament and Constitution and asked why an "honest" man like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is "scared" of being investigated by the Lokpal.
"The US is committed to promoting and defending civil society around the world. And we will continue to remind leaders of their responsibilities to their citizens under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Clinton said in a statement issued on the occasion of Human Rights Day on Friday.
In the whole sordid series of happenings after Anna Hazare broke his fast, the only side to emerge with credit is the government. In fact, it is outshining the civil society, says B S Raghavan.
Terming the joining of hands of civil society and government on the Lokpal Bill issue as a step that augurs well for democracy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the government intended to introduce the "historic legislation" in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The government is "extremely disappointed" with the latest report of the Moody's rating agency on India's economic outlook. The report, a senior government official said, was highly contradictory and called the rating agency's credibility into question. Referring to the Moody's statement that "India's fiscal strength remains a key weakness in the sovereign credit profile...", the official remarked: "How can my strength be my weakness? Moreover, they are unwilling to have a like-to-like comparison with India."
In the wake of the killing of 24 EFR jawans by the Maoists in West Bengal, the Congress has asked the civil society to ostracise individuals and organisations providing legitimacy to and "romanticising" such violence and described them as Fifth Columnists.
Pakistani civil society groups and political and religious parties on Thursday protested the perceived snub of the country's cricketers in the auction for the lucrative Indian Premier League tournament in India, even as an association of cable television operators said they would boycott its broadcast.
Amid a war of words between the government and the civil society members over Lokpal Bill, both sides will meet in New Delhi on Wednesday to draft the bill.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked civil society activists not to reply to every charge levelled against them by the Congress saying it was a "trap", even as it asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify whether he wanted the top post to be included under the ambit of the Lokpal.
The resolution moved by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio was adopted by voice vote during the one-day special session of the Assembly held to discuss the AFSPA, 1958, and its application to Nagaland in the aftermath of the killing of 14 civilians by security forces, including six in a botched anti-terrorist operation, and eight others in subsequent incidents in Mon district on December 4 and 5.
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
Take a look at the highlights of the draft Lokpal Bill and let us know if you can spot any loopholes in the draft and suggest corrective measures
The farm bills passed by Parliament mark the watershed in the liberation of India's farming community from the shackles of exploitative practices that slow-pedaled their progress, the former civil servants said.
The Congress on Wednesday asserted that the only way to comprehensively investigate the Adani issue is through a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and claimed that the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee would be a 'clean chit' panel for the government.
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The situation in minority-dominated Lilong Chingjao area in Manipur's Thoubal district, where four villagers were gunned down by unidentified assailants, remained calm but tense on Tuesday as additional security forces were deployed, an official said.
Senior bureaucrat Smita Sabharwal courted controversy by questioning the need for reservation for the differently-abled people in the All India Services (AIS).
Sullivan indicated that President Biden would raise his concerns on human rights with Modi.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Nagrota MLA Devender Singh Rana, brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, died on Thursday at a private hospital in Haryana's Faridabad. He was 59.
'Everyone's voice must be heard. We will be talking to both Kukis and Meiteis'
'Till the time the chief minister continues to have command over the state forces, we don't think that gives any hope of peace coming back to Manipur.'
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India next week to attend the meeting of G20 foreign ministers and meet senior Indian officials to reaffirm America's strong partnership with the country.
'It is not his doing, but Rahul Gandhi is forced by circumstances.' 'In taking political decisions, everything has to get his clearance.'
The petition, likely to come up for hearing within next few days, sought to investigate if the illegal hacking into the phones using the Pegasus spyware represented an attempt by agencies and organisations to muzzle and chill the exercise of free speech and expression of dissent in India.
The privileges enjoyed by MPs and MLAs are "tethered intrinsically" to the functioning of the legislature collectively, the Supreme Court said on Monday while holding that lawmakers taking bribe to vote or make a speech in the house are not immune from prosecution.
Separately, the poll panel also issued a notice to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, asking him to respond to the complaints filed by the BJP against him and the main opposition party's senior leader Rahul Gandhi regarding their remarks.
Responding to media queries on the development, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that "such interference in India's internal affairs is unacceptable, and reflects a colonial mindset".
Moody's Investors Service on Friday affirmed India's rating at the lowest investment grade of 'Baa3', with a stable outlook, saying high growth will support a gradual increase in income levels, but flagged risks of populist policies due to rise in political tensions. Moody's said although India's potential growth has come down in the past 7-10 years, the growth would outpace all other G20 economies through at least the next two years, driven by domestic demand. Moody's said the restoration of robust growth prospects post-pandemic, the effective commitment to inflation targeting and the rehabilitation of the financial system aided by reform supports its view of strengthening monetary and macro policy effectiveness.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she had suggested to the Congress that an advisory council comprising prominent personalities from civil society be set up to give a direction to the opposition, but rued that the plan did not materialise.
