Social activist Anna Hazare, whose fast for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal Bill last month made global headlines, has spurned the Rs 1 crore 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize announced by the Indian Institute of Planning and Management. "I cannot tell why I decided to reject the award. But my mind said 'no' to accepting the award," Hazare said
Civil society members of the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill on Monday submitted two documents to the government outlining "principles and objects" for the proposed legislation.
Social activist Anna Hazare will kick off his nation-wide campaign against corruption from Uttar Pradesh next week. The renowned Gandhian, whose satyagrah compelled the Union government to concede his demand for a Jan Lokpal bill, will renew his movement in a big way from Varanasi, where he is scheduled to arrive along with his comrade-in-arms former top cop Kiran Bedi, right to information activist Arvind Kejriwal, and activist Swami Agnivesh on April 29.
Justice Santosh Hegde on Saturday indicated that he may not resign from the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement that the government was looking forward to enacting a strong anti-corruption legislation.
"If Sonia Gandhi admits in public that she does not like a vilification campaign then I would like to ask her why she hesitates to pull up her own colleagues who engage in such campaigns," said Justice Santosh Hegde, a member of the drafting committee of the Lokpal bill. Hedge threatened to quit on Thursday following statements from Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who had said that he (Hegde) had failed to control corruption in Karnataka.
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.
While Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh demanded resignation of father-son duo Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan from the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, the civil society members raised doubts over the forensic test report.
In this interview with rediff.com's Sahim Salim, Advocate M L Sharma says that he is not against an effective Lokpal bill, but that he is against the inclusion of five members, who by "no stretch of imagination represent the public."
Team Anna today unveiled its campaign plans for the Assembly polls in five states starting with Uttarakhand on January 21 and spending a major part of February in Uttar Pradesh but will not ask people to vote in favour or against any particular party.
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.
Asking the government to give up its "vindictive" attitude, the Gandhian said it "must try to create trust and bridge the gap in the hearts after the nation-wide agitation for Jan Lokpal Bill instead of sending out a wrong messege."
The joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill on Saturday had its first meeting when civil society representatives presented a new draft of the legislation to the government with both sides expressing hope that the new law will be brought in the monsoon session of Parliament.
Here are some of the confrontations between Jung and the Kejriwal-led Delhi government.
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.
Here's looking at movies that went on a warpath to bring about change.
After the so called flop show in Mumbai, if one thought that the Anna movement was on the wane, one needs to be careful. In fact Anna Hazare remains top recall in people's mind and irrespective of what happened in Mumbai, they still believe the Gandhian is right and his Lokpal will successfully combat corruption.
Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday visited Anna Hazare, who ended his 13-day fast for an effective Lokpal Bill, at a private hospital in neighbouring Gurgaon.
Anna Hazare, who was admitted in a hospital in Gurgaon after he ended his 12-day fast for a strong Lokpal Bill, is stable and moving towards normalcy, doctors said on Monday.
Immediately after Parliament agreed to Anna Hazare's three key demands on Lokpal Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday sent him a letter conveying the same and urged the Gandhian to give up his 12-day fast. "As you know, Parliament today discussed Lokpal related issues. You will be happy to know that both Houses of Parliament have passed a resolution on the three points raised by you," Dr Singh said in the letter which was handed over to Hazare.
Prasanna D Zore and photographer Sanjay Sawant travel to Ralegan Siddhi, the Maharashtra village where Gandhian Anna Hazare started his long journey in the path of social activism
The prime minister has to blame himself because he refused to make up with Anna Hazare when the social activist from Maharashtra was willing to meet him more than half way, says Kuldip Nayar.
In an interview with rediff.com's Sahim Salim social activist Medha Patkar said that Team Anna expected a deadlock between the Congress and BJP when the BJP took a stance on the matter.
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.
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.
In an interview with CNN-IBN, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy urges activist Anna Hazare to end his indefinite fast for the implementation of the Jan Lokpal Bill
The sight of Rahul Gandhi moving around swiftly in his SUV in Lutyens' Delhi, playing a crucial role in resolving the crisis created by Anna Hazare's fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill, is a new one for many Congress leaders. After returning from the United States, where his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is under treatment for an undisclosed ailment, Gandhi has been working behind-the-scene. He has been working round-the-clock to break the deadlock over Hazare's fast.
Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, slamming the reaction of his government and the Congress to his indefinite fast on Lokpal Bill issue, and urged him to show courage to take unprecedented steps to fight the menace.
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.
The Ramlila Maidan becomes a safe haven for eve-teasers and late night revelers, reports Toral Varia.
Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat says that the time has come for the 'corrupt' government led by Manmohan Singh to bow down to public pressure over the Lokpal impasse.
The Centre should talk to all political parties before arriving at a consensus on the Lokpal Bill, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said and stuck to her stand that it should be left to the states to set up Lokayauktas on models they choose.
Amidst speculations that the number of protestors at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi will dwindle at the end of the extended weekend, people turned up in large numbers on Tuesday to support Anna Hazare who is on an indefinite fast to press for a stronger Lokpal Bill.
Prashant Bhushan is a lawyer and one of the senior leaders and brains behind the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement for a stronger Lokpal bill. The movement is set to add a historic, new chapter in India's parliamentary democracy.
Team Anna member and former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice (retd) N Santosh Hegde on Tuesday appealed to Anna Hazare to end his eight-day fast, saying everyone is "honestly" concerned about his health.
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the 57th Annual Convocation and Launching of Diamond Jubilee of IIT, Kharagpur on Monday, some IIT students and others held a demonstration near the campus of the premier technical institute here in support of Anna Hazare's movement hours.
In an apparent answer to crusader Anna Hazare's team mobilising the masses suffering corruption of the lower level bureaucracy, the government has quietly kicked of drafting of a Bill for creating a mechanism for the public services grievance redressal.
As Anna Hazare's fast against corruption and the Lokpal Bill continues, his movement is raging like wildfire in the rest of the country and abroad.
With Team Anna stepping up the heat on the corruption issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government was open to reasoned debate on the Lokpal Bill but made it clear that there was no single solution to tackle the problem.
The team that is forming the strategy to take on Anna Hazare is so confused and incoherent that in spite of Team Anna's few missteps, the UPA government is unable to counter them. Says a senior minister and a leader with political sense, "We are worried about losing the battle for minds." Sheela Bhatt reports.
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