Following is the test of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan SIngh's opening remarks at the all party meet on the Lokpal bill:
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.
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.
The text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's opening remarks at the all party meeting on Lokpal Bill
Right To Information activist Subhash Aggarwal is a pleased man today. After waiting for four months, his application, which appealed to make public the deliberations of the joint Lokpal drafting committee, has been finally heard on Sunday.
The first meeting of the newly-constituted joint committee comprising ministers and civil society activists to draft the Lokpal Bill will be held on Saturday.
Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore in a freewheeling chat with Prashant Bhushan, member of the Lokpal bill joint drafting committee.
Prashant Bhushan, a member of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee, on Sunday said the CD carrying purported telephone conversation between his father Shanti Bhushan, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh was "doctored".
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday told media persons that only govt officials will be members of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill.
Social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday virtually dismissed allegations against Shanti Bhushan, the co-chair of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee, in a CD controversy and backed his presence on the panel.
Reacting to Mayawati's objection over the absence of any Dalit on the Jan Lokpal Bill draft committee, Agnivesh said, "I do welcome her objection and thank her for raising the issue. But I would also like to ask the UP chief minister to declare whether she had taken any effective steps to curb the rampant corruption in her government.
Reflecting a rift within Team Anna Hazare, Justice Santosh Hegde has disapproved of the anti-Congress campaign by activist Arvind Kejriwal during the Hisar bypolls, saying it was not the right thing to do and "we jumped the gun".
Member of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill, N Santosh Hegde, on Friday strongly disapproved of Anna Hazare's insistence on "having his way" in Parliament and sought to make out a case for ending his fast even while continuing the anti-corruption fight.
Member of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill, N Santosh Hegde, on Friday strongly disapproved of Anna Hazare's insistence on "having his way" in Parliament and sought to make out a case for ending his fast even while continuing the anti-corruption fight.
Member of Lokpal Bill Joint Drafting Committee Prasant Bhusan on Saturday said he was 'unhappy' at the presence of Sangh Parivar leader Sadhvi Ritambhara on the dais, where Baba Ramdev is on a hunger strike against black money, saying the platform should not be used by 'communal' forces."I am unhappy with the presence of Sadhvi Ritambhara. You cannot prevent anyone from supporting a cause but the platform should not be allowed to be used by communal forces," said Bhusan.
Justice N Santosh Hegde, a representative of the civil society in the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill, on Saturday said that there is nothing wrong in the presence of Sangh Parivar leader Sadhvi Ritambhara on the dais where Baba Ramdev is on a hunger strike against black money. When informed that Ramdev had assured Anna Hazare on Friday that no communal element will be allowed to join his satyagraha, Hegde said, "Suppose the Muslim League comes out on Sunday?"
Noted constitutional expert Fali Nariman has advised Gandhian Anna Hazare to refrain from sitting on fast again to press for his demands pertaining to the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, a member of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill, on Monday said that he would not like to continue in his chair after the expiry of his five-year term in August.
"I have been assured by the Delhi Police that there would be free, fair and thorough probe. The CD will be examined in at least two different labs for separate reports," Chidambaram told media persons in New Delhi.
The post of Prime Minister may be brought under the purview of Lokpal with certain riders like holding the enquiry only after the person demits office, notwithstanding the intense face-off between the government and Anna Hazare team.
You cannot have an Executive outside the constitutional framework, answerable to nobody, because the chances of such an organisation corrupted by the sheer lust for power are much greater than the Executive functioning within a constitutional framework, writes Union Cabinet Minister Kapil Sibal.
On the eve of the second meeting of the joint Lokpal Bill drafting committee, social activist Anna Hazare's supporters held a rally across India on Sunday demanding early implementation of a strong Ombudsmen legislation.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare will observe fast unto death from Tuesday until the government enacts a comprehensive law such as the Jan Lokpal Bill to tackle the menace.
Vicky Nanjappa and Sharat Pradhan ask a few intellectuals on the campaign against the Bhushans and what happens next.
Rarely known to see eye to eye on any issue, ever since the days of the Jan Lokpal movement, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday greeted and embraced each other on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi at a Delhi mosque.
A fresh controversy involving anti-corruption campaigner Shanti Bhushan broke out on Wednesday over allotment of priced farmhouse plots to him and his son Jayant in nearby Noida and demands have cropped for the lawyer's resignation from the joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill.
After a not so pleasant experience of engaging with Anna Hazare's team in drafting of the Lokpal Bill, the government says that there will be no such experiment in the future.
Devinder Sharma, distinguished food security expert who has been with the NGO India Against Corruption since its inception, gives excusive insights into the making of the Jantar Mantar hunger strike and the people's outbursts that followed.
Arvind Kejriwal, member of the panel drafting the Lokpal bill, responds to criticism that civic society is trying to usurp democracy and also explains the need for stronger Lokpal bill to tackle corruption.
Rejecting contention that Lokpal proposed by it was aimed at creating a 'parallel' government, veteran social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday said he will undertake fast-unto-death from August 16 and would not be go back on his decision even if the government makes any request.
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.
Followers of activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday declared that they didn't want a confrontation with the Delhi police, in an apparent reaction to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's strong statement against the "abusive language" allegedly used by the activists.No defiance of prohibitory orders, no courting arrest by insisting on a fast at Jantar Mantar and no boycott of the joint committee the government formed at the insistence of Hazare to draft the Lokpal Bill, the group decided.
The central government on Thursday opened a channel of communication with anti-corruption protestors led by Anna Hazare with Union Minister Kapil Sibal meeting activists Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal to find a way out the demand for a joint committee on drafting Lokpal Bill.
'This is not a small change, it's a BIG change. People wanted to hear the voice of their PM. They can do so now. This is a big parivartan.'
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