An FAQ on the controversial anti-corruption bill
Controversy dogged the joint committee set up to draft an effective Lok Pal even before it starts its work with Gandhian Anna Hazare on Monday asking Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal to resign from it "if he feels nothing will come" out of this institution.
The Indian Parliament has passed a bill amending the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019, focusing on biological discrimination and excluding social orientations from its scope. The bill aims to provide legal recognition and protection to transgender individuals facing discrimination due to biological issues, while also introducing graded punishments for harm inflicted on them.
Under attack from social activist and anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday quit the Group of Ministers on corruption, saying he does not want to be "associated" with the panel anymore.
The Lok Sabha rejected a resolution seeking the removal of Om Birla as Speaker by a voice vote amidst opposition protests and demands for an apology from Home Minister Amit Shah.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday lashed out at TMC MP Saugata Roy for objecting to her speaking in Hindi on a bill, pointing out that the translation technology allows members to listen to speeches in any language.
Appointed the co-chairman of the much-talked about Lokpal Bill panel, former law and justice minister Shanti Bhushan speaks to rediff.com's Onkar Singh on the urgent need of ant-corruption law, why Ramdev finds no place on the committee and more.
The joint committee of Parliament examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday. The panel adopted the report by a majority vote, with changes suggested by members of the ruling BJP. Opposition members, who submitted dissent notes, called the exercise an attempt to destroy Waqf boards and termed the bill an attack on the constitutional rights of the Muslim community.
According to sources in the government, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is firmly against activist Anna Hazare's demand for formally constituting a joint committee, with representatives from the civil society and the government, to draft a strong anti-corruption bill. Hazare has been on an indefinite fast in New Delhi since Wednesday to press for his demand.Mukherjee has stopped the government from issuing a notification to make the joint committee formal.
It is the anti-rape law that poses the biggest challenge.
The parliamentary panel's meetings have become a virtual battleground between the opposition and the ruling party members, who have been vociferously debating the changes to the Waqf Bill proposed by the government.
Following is the text of the Gazette Notification issued by the government constituting the Joint Drafting Committee comprising ministers and civil society activists to prepare the draft Lok Pal Bill.
All opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday amid continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal of steam-rolling through the proceedings.
Speaking to rediff.com about social activist Anna Hazare's indefinite fast, Fali Nariman, constitutional expert and a former member of Rajya Sabha said that was nothing wrong in co-opting five eminent Indian citizens in drafting the Lok Pal Bill. He, however, made it clear that this does not mean the government should have people from outside to draft a bill every time.
'I have always broken my image every time I went on screen. I don't know what it means to be a Greek God but people used to call me one.'
As Parliament gears up for a stormy start next week over the Adani issue, the government has listed 16 bills, including one to amend the waqf law and five new ones, for the winter session.
Former Law minister Shanti Bhushan, co-chairman of the joint committee to draft the Lok Pal bill, and his son Prashant Bhushan, also a member of the committee, are likely to be in a new controversy, just a day before the first Lok Pal joint draft committee meeting.
'They want to snatch the land and give it to their friends'
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to name the committee's chairperson soon.
Opposition MPs, some of whom have given their dissent, slammed the exercise as undemocratic, claiming that they were given little time to study the final report and frame their dissent notes.
The government has amended its laws to have a bigger say in the decision making of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by having two members on the central bank's board as compared to one now.
Reform in economic governance and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's unimpeachable integrity could be the answer.
The parliamentary committee scrutinizing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has been granted an extension until the last day of the next Budget Session. This decision follows a heated meeting marked by a walkout from opposition members who expressed concerns about the committee's draft report. The committee will visit several states to meet stakeholders and finalize its report.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Wednesday said that the debate on Lokpal Bill does not have any link with the Election Process as the model code of conduct does not apply to Parliament.
In an interview with rediff.com's Sahim Salim, Arvind Kejriwal, who played a key role in convincing the government to allow a joint panel, consisting of government and civil society members, for the drafting of the Lok Pal bill, explains why the Anna Hazare-led movement was such a huge success.
Raising concern over the nearly 1.25 crore feedback submissions received by the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party member Nishikant Dubey has called for a probe into their sources, including in the possible role of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and China.
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Hundreds of Indian-Americans came out in support of social activist Anna Hazare's anti-corruption crusade in New York. Rediff.com's Aseem Chhabra reports.
Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy's remarks that Mahatma Gandhi would have turned corrupt in the present day politics on Monday drew sharp reaction from leaders including Gandhian Anna Hazare, who wondered how the country could eliminate corruption if leaders talk like this.
A meeting of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday witnessed fireworks with members vociferously opposing certain provisions of the draft legislation, leading to a brief walkout by opposition members.
Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy on Thursday alleged that Team Anna was behaving like "naxalites" as they were "not keen on solutions" and instead bent on dragging the issue of corruption.
Infosys founder, N R Narayana Murthy, otherwise an admirer of the government, says he's unhappy at the way Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have handled the Lok Pal Bill issue.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday attacked social activist Anna Hazare for agreeing to include the father and son duo of Shashi Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan in the committee to draft an effective Lok Pal bill and questioned whether exclusion of a representative of opposition was good for democracy.
Rediff.com's Onkar Singh caught up with Swami Agnivesh as he recounted talks with the government on the drafting of the much-talked about anti-corruption bill.
The Congress has sought to politically tackle the issue of Anna Hazare holding an indefinite fast -- to demand the involvement of civil society in the formulation of the anti-graft Lok Pal bill -- with party president Sonia Gandhi stepping in to resolve the issue on the third day of the activist's fast.Gandhi has directed the government to show the same level of sincerity while forming laws to combat corruption that Hazare has exhibited while pursuing the issue.
"I think only after he quits office should the Prime Minister come under the Lok Pal bill. I have my concerns over bringing him within its purview while holding office," the AICC general secretary told media persons in Bhubaneswar.
Bhushan's claim is based on the grounds that the heart is a plant and the expenditure has been incurred on current repairs.
Even if Anna Hazare's protest is not an enduring solution, it would most certainly be a brake on the incorrigibility of the political and bureaucratic class, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Lok Pal Bill has some disastrous simplistic provisions that need serious repair.
Curtains were drawn on the anti-corruption campaign that drew instant nationwide support with a little girl giving the 73-year-old activist a glass of water at 10.45 am at Jantar Mantar, the nerve-centre of the agitation for a strong legislation to combat political and administrative graft.
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