Opposing the United Progressive Alliance government's Lokpal Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday said we do not want a weak and hollow law.
Anna Hazare's fast entered into the 12th day on Saturday as Parliament is all set to discuss the Lokpal issue which could lead to the Gandhian calling off his hunger strike.
Illegal mining activities in Karnataka have wiped out 2,800 acres of forest land in the state, according to the probe report by Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde.
The Bharatiya Janata Party high command, meanwhile, has indicated that it could accept Yeddyurappa's option of setting up an internal committee to look into the allegations against the CM and his sons. This would give the BJP time.
"Opposition parties hoping that I would quit would be disappointed," Yeddyurappa told media persons at the Bangalore Airport, on arrival from Mauritius, where he was on a six-day holiday with his family
In the wake of Karnataka Lokayukta's indictment of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on the illegal mining issue, Congress on Thursday gunned for his removal, but a defensive Bharatiya Janata Party said the report had "lost sanctity" as it has been leaked.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reacted sharply to Team Anna's remarks on state government's draft bill on Lokayukta, describing it a "copy" of the Centre's Lokpal draft, by saying that he did not require a certificate from any one.
It said no payment has so far been made towards rental charges for the Lokpal office at 'The Ashok' hotel.
As the government prepared to table the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha, its key partner Trinamool Congress on Wednesday indicated that it could act difficult as it had objections to the provision on setting up of Lokayuktas in states
The way appears to have been cleared for Anna Hazare to end his fast possibly on Friday when Parliament will discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill along with other civil society drafts on the subject after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the ice-breaking offer.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Thursday said he was reconsidering his decision to be on the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, apparently upset over the vilification campaign against the anti-graft panel.
Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh's recent statement that no economic activity, including illegal mining, would be allowed in forest areas has sounded alarm bells in Bellary.
D Sadananda Gowda will be sworn in as the new chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday at 4.30 pm, according to a communication from the Raj Bhavan.
Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as judicial members in the anti-corruption ombudsman.
A crucial meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party, chaired by B S Yeddyurappa, will be held at 4:30 am on Friday at Hotel Ashok.
The Karnataka high court on Monday granted bail to former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, who was arrested in connection with the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board land scam.
The government and opposition on Saturday appeared to be on the same page in Lok Sabha during the debate on the Lokpal issue with both sides emphasising that Anna Hazare should end his fast.
Sharpening his attack on Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi today said the Bharatiya Janata Party leader would have "ousted" even Atal Bihari Vajpayee like party veterans Jaswant Singh and L K Advani had the former PM continued being in public life.
Taking a dig at Narendra Modi, the Congress on Friday said that instead of trying to cash in on activist Anna Hazare's campaign against corruption, the Gujarat chief minister should first appoint a Lokpal in the state. Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil said, "It is an irony that Modi is talking about the campaign by Hazare when he has not appointed a Lokayukta in Gujarat". Gohil was referring to the statements made by Modi while addressing a public rally in Assam.
Lok Sabha member D V Sadananda Gowda was on Thursday sworn-in as chief minister of Karnataka, succeeding B S Yeddyurappa, who quit in the wake of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining that indicted him.
It seems that the Bhartiya Janata Party leadership is at odds on whether to ask Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddurappa to let go of his post, or let him continue following serious allegations of corruption by the Lokayukta.=
Justice Shivraj Patil will take over as the Lokayukta in Karnataka once Justice Santosh Hegde retires in August.Justice Patil, who belongs to the Lingayat community of Karnataka, was recently in the news when he was the appointed to probe the lapses in the sale of 2G spectrum by the telecom ministry. Justice Patil will take over as the top anti-corruption official of Karnataka at a crucial time, when the state government is trying to play down the report on illegal mining.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on Friday dismissed as 'totally wrong' reports that he has named External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in his report on illegal mining in the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who is holidaying in Mauritius issued a statement stating that he will complete his term as the CM.
Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal, who had frosty relations with Narendra Modi when he was chief minister of the state, was tonight sent off to Mizoram in a reshuffle of governors effected by the government.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday took on Narendra Modi on his home turf of Gujarat, saying the state was nowhere near "swarg" (heaven) as claimed by him, and accused the BJP's prime ministerial hopeful of being concerned only about his chair.
He said the "countdown has begun for Narendra Modi," citing the results of Rajasthan by-polls in which the ruling BJP faced an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Congress which won two Lok Sabha seats and one assembly segment.
In yet another embarrassment to the government, former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas on Monday turned down the offer to head Lokpal search committee, days after jurist Fali Nariman opted out of the panel.
Retired Karnataka High Court Judge S B Majage was sworn as the state's Upalokayukta at a brief ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. The Upalokayukta post had been lying vacant for seven months.
Claiming that over three crore tons of iron ore worth over Rs 12,000 crore was illegally shifted out of the country since 2003, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said on Monday that he will quit if he failed to put an end to plundering of the natural resources in the state.
The Lokpal chairperson, all of its eight members and support staff are being allocated space in the hotel premises.
Leader of the Opposition in Gujarat assembly and senior Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela on Monday termed the transfer of Governor Kamla Beniwal as a "vindictive" step.
Controversy shrouds the expansion of the Akhilesh Yadav ministry on Monday with a social activist throwing a spanner by challenging before Governor Ram Naik the possible re-entry of tainted former Mines Minister Gayatri Prajapati.
After much delay, the landmark Lokpal Bill was on Tuesday passed by the Rajya Sabha, marking a step closer to enactment of a new law under which an anti-corruption ombudsman would be set up.
The Centre has declined to divulge details of persons who have applied for the posts of chairperson and members of anti-corruption body Lokpal, saying these are "personal" in nature and cannot be disclosed.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has submitted a "chargesheet" to President Pranab Mukherjee demanding the ouster of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over graft allegations.
Ganapathy was found dead at Madikeri in Karnataka on July 7 last year.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav on Thursday made public a "note", jointly written with Prashant Bhushan, which he had sent to the party on March 17 claiming that they had proposed their resignation from all party posts conditional to acceptance of their demands.
'Is this building a legally valid building? In this, there are no rules. It is built in violation of rules, against the law and built with corruption'
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for levelling "unfounded corruption charges" against her party and questioned as to why Lokayukta was not appointed in Gujarat for ten years.
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