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.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said there is a broad agreement that public functionaries, including the prime minister, should be brought within the ambit of the proposed law.
'A man who brought about the greatest set of economic reforms in the country, who changed the course of Indian history, cannot be considered weak.' 'A man who fought for nuclear reforms even though his majority in Parliament was threatened, he cannot be considered weak.'
An FAQ on the controversial anti-corruption bill
Simply put, the fight against corruption in India cannot be left to an institution manned by a handful of officers from the government despite a Lok Pal of impeachable integrity.
However, there was no official word from the Lokpal.
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.
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.
In a novel suggestion, A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday favoured that the post of President be brought under the purview of Lokpal.
One fallout of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification will be reflected in the Opposition's role in Parliament and related institutions.
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.
A 36-year-old constable posted at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp in south-west Delhi's Chhawla area was killed on Wednesday allegedly after being shot by the son of an officer residing on the same campus of the border guarding force, official sources said.
More than 120 eminent citizens, including retired high court judges and former bureaucrats, have written to President Droupadi Murmu opposing what they called "highly objectionable attempts" to legalise same-sex marriages.
Satyamev Jayate 2 has a dated, circa 1990s script which won't find acceptance with today's generations, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'She will forever be remembered for being a disrupter - a disrupter in a positive sense - as she disrupted the hierarchies that existed in society!'
Corruption, subsidies and infrastructure problems are still pockmarks on India's face.
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.
It is in no way a government of the economic Right. The Right is limited to religion and nationalism. The rest is as Left as the Congress or any other party, observes Shekhar Gupta.
It is the anti-rape law that poses the biggest challenge.
Reform in economic governance and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's unimpeachable integrity could be the answer.
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.
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.
Briefing mediapersons about Saturday's first Lok Pal joint draft committee meeting after a three-hour closed door meeting between Anna Hazare, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal and Justice N Santosh Hegde on Friday, the members declared their assets to the press, claiming they had nothing to hide.
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.
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.
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 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.
The government is introducing an ordinance to constitute an extraordinary anti-corruption mechanism in deference to a five-point agenda for its battle against corruption enunciated by Congress President Sonia Gandhi in her inaugural address to the All India Congress Committee plenary session in New Delhi on December 19, stressing that there should be no tolerance towards corruption or misconduct.
He said they will need to strive for excellence while personally upholding high ethical standards and values.
Following is the text of the statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha
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.
Now that the crowds have gone home, Anna Hazare is back in Ralegan Siddhi, and the TV Rottweilers are looking for other ways to boost their rating points, we can have a rational debate about not just the Lok Pal but the larger issue of corruption.
Here's what your favourite celebrities are tweeting.
The announced plans of social activist Anna Hazare to go on a fast unto death from August 16 in support of the demand of the anti-corruption movement headed by him for a stronger Jan Lok Pal Bill than the one introduced by the government in Parliament poses an executive and moral dilemma to the government of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, says B Raman.
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.
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