Rediif.com's Sahim Salim reports from Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi, where yoga guru Baba Ramdev will begin his indefinite fast against corruption on Saturday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today promised to review and reform of the taxation system in the country, saying the existing structure is a burden on common man.
The CPI-M leader accused the yoga guru of violating labour laws in his pharmacy and the Uttaranchal goverment of covering it up.
The Supreme Court on Thursday castigated the Delhi Police and yoga guru Ramdev for the midnight violent incident at the Ramlila Maidan last year and said it was a "glaring example of trust deficit" between the people and the government.
The midnight crackdown on Ramdev and his followers at the Ramlila ground during their protest against corruption was a result of "entire mess" created by them and yoga guru should take "responsibility" for it, Delhi Police told the Supreme Court on Friday.
Balkrishna had gone "missing" from his Divya Yoga Mandir Trust residence in Haridwar on July 25, a day after CBI registered a case against him for cheating and criminal conspiracy for procuring fake degree and violation of section 12 of Indian Passport Act for furnishing fake documents to get a passport.
Raj Bala, who was undergoing treatment for spinal injuries sustained in police action during yoga guru Ramdev's fast at Ramlila Maidan on June 4, died on Monday.
Alleging that the Congress government at the Centre was cheating Anna Hazare on the Lokpal Bill issue, Baba Ramdev on Tuesday said that he would campaign against the parties opposing to bring back the black money stashed away in foreign banks.
Dubbing Ramdev and Anna Hazare as 'masks' of destabilising forces, the Congress on Tuesday alleged a conspiracy of national subversion has been undertaken jointly by the forces of right reaction and left anarchism.
Strongly condemning police action against Baba Ramdev and his supporters at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, the United States unit of Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party said its chief has joined the yoga guru in India on behalf of overseas Indians.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it will hold peaceful protests across the country against the crackdown on Baba Ramdev's agitation and meet President Pratibha Patil to demand convening of a special session of Parliament to discuss the issue.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders -- LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari -- spent the night at Delhi's Rajghat in protest against the government's controversial handling of Baba Ramdev and his fast against corruption.
The Congress on Saturday targeted Baba Ramdev's fast, alleging it has been "remotely controlled or hijacked" by vested political interests. The party claimed that the BJP and the RSS and their several frontal organisations were trying to destabilise the government through the campaign."By conceiving, controlling and coordinating the movement like the one at Ramlila Maidan, they are destabilising not only the government but the nation," Abhishek Singhvi said.
Aiming to "awaken people about corruption and black money", Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday started the 1,00,000-km-long Bharat Swambiman Yatra from Jhansi. "My yatra, 2012 Mahasangram, will awaken people in the entire country on the issue of black money and corruption. The Mahasangram, which started from the land of Veerangana Rani Lakshmi Bai, will reach Parliament one day," he said on the first day of the yatra.
Neerja Chowdhury explains why the government was soft where it could have been tough. And tough where it could have demonstrated more patience
Neerja Chowdhury explains why the government was soft where it could have been tough. And tough where it could have demonstrated more patience
A local court in Muzaffarpur on Monday accepted a complaint seeking to register a case of sedition against Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh for allegedly describing yoga guru Ramdev as a 'fraud'.
Indian students in the United States have condemned the police action against yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his supporters in New Delhi, saying the government has lost "moral authority" and people's faith.
Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan on Thursday said that Baba Ramdev's proposed hunger strike against corruption and repatriation of black money stashed in foreign banks, is politically motivated and he would not support the agitation.
Delhi Police on Friday justified in the Supreme Court its midnight crackdown on yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his supporters protesting against corruption and black money at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, saying permission had been given only to hold a yoga camp.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday sought to distance itself from yoga guru Baba Ramdev's plan to set up a force as part of his anti-corruption crusade, saying the party never propagates violence. "We will not support anything like that as the party never propagates violence," BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. He said BJP would extend moral support to anybody who will come forward to fight corruption.
Addressing media persons, Soni said: "India is a proud nation. Mahatma Gandhi uprooted the British empire through power of satyagraha from the Indian soil. Violence has no place in Indian society."
The National Commission for Women on Monday said it has sought a report from the Delhi Police on the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev's supporters at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.
Back-channel talks are on between the government and Baba Ramdev to resolve the standoff in the wake of his going ahead with the indefinite hunger strike on corruption and other issues. Though there are no official meetings scheduled between the two sides, sources said, "Talks are one and it is not necessary to meet for holding a dialogue." They hoped something positive would come out of this exercise.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Wednesday praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi but took potshots at Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi in the context of prime ministerial candidates.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Bharat Swabhiman Trust run by Baba Ramdev, saying it wants to hear its version over the eviction of the yoga guru and his supporters from Ramlila Maidan. A vacation bench comprising justices P Sathasivam and A K Patnaik issued a notice to Acharya Virendra Vikram, the president of the Delhi unit of Bharat Swabhiman Trust. The apex court said it wants to hear the other side as a chance should be given to them.
The main issue is the high risk that government took in a midnight swoop where things could have gone horribly wrong! Apart from illegality of use of force against sleeping citizens, the utter insanity of the decision making and panic syndrome is an issue of concern, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
51-year-old Raj Bala was one of the 71 people injured in the pre-dawn police crackdown at Ramlila Maidan, where yoga guru Ramdev was holding his indefinite hunger strike.
"Was he some terrorist that he had to be picked up amid such high drama and urgency?" Justice Santhosh Hegde, member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, said about Baba Ramdev's arrest.
The Himachal Pradesh government is understood to have cancelled the land lease of yoga teacher Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth sanctioned by the previous Bhararatiya Janata Party regime.
In his first comments on the police action at Ramdev's protest congregation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday termed it as "unfortunate" but justified it saying there was "no alternative".
As National Democratic Alliance leaders joined Yoga guru Ramdev in his protest against black money, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition disrupted Parliament over the issue on Monday by demanding that the government should announce a time-bound plan to bring back such unaccounted money stashed abroad.
The Bharatiya Janata Party should project Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its leader in the next Lok Sabha elections and change its priorities if it wants to return to power, yoga guru Baba Ramdev said on Sunday. He said that the Congress cannot return to power due to its "anti-people policies" but the BJP can do so, provided it changed its priorities.
Supporting Baba Ramdev were many of his ardent supports. From students to farmers to office-goers -- people from all walks of life -- turned out at the Ramlila Ground on Saturday, tough in their resolve to join the fight against corruption. Sahim Salim reports.
Baba Ramdev on Wednesday again took up the issue of police crackdown on his supporters, saying he would set up a 11,000-strong force to deal with police and anti-social elements attempting to disrupt his anti-corruption movement.
Ramdev, who is carrying out research in the curative benefits of yogic exercises and Ayurvedic drugs, will give demonstrations of the techniques and speak about Indian heritage at the camps.
The Uttarakhand high court on Thursday granted bail to yoga guru Ramdev's close aide Balkrishna, nearly a month after he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case pertaining to fake documents. After hearing the bail application, a single judge bench of Justice Tarun Agrawal granted bail to Balkrishna.
"The Congress has failed to develop Assam despite being in power for such a long period and its first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had virtually bade farewell to the people of a part of the state during the 1962 Chinese aggression.
Yoga guru Ramdev told a Delhi court on Tuesday that he has no "grudge" against the man, who had thrown black ink on his face while he was addressing a press conference in New De last year, and pardoned him.
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