-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Parliament on Wednesday passed the crucial lokpal bill with the Lok Sabha adopting the measure as amended by the Rajya Sabha after a short discussion. Following are the salient features of the amended lokpal bill. 1. Lokayuktas: The new bill mandates states to set up Lokayuktas within 365 days. States have the freedom to determine the nature and type of Lokayukta. The old bill said the law...

-NDTV A Parliamentary standing committee has agreed with the government that political parties do not come under the Right to Information or RTI Act. The landmark transparency law, passed by the UPA I government in 2005, is often flaunted by Congress Number 2 Rahul Gandhi as a precursor to the anti-corruption lokpal bill, currently being pushed by the government in Parliament. All political parties barring Odisha-based Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party...

-IANS The Communist Party of India-Marxist Tuesday said private firms giving bribes for government contract should also be probed by the Lokpal. Participating in the Rajya Sabha debate on the amended Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, CPI-M member Sitaram Yechury said "supply side" of corruption should be addressed along with the "demand side" to curb corruption. "There is always a demand side and a supply side. Lokpal addresses the demand side of corruption, but...

-The Hindu The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) has sought the simultaneous passage of the lokpal bill, the Grievance Redress Bill and the Whistleblower Protection Bill, contending that these laws formed a basket of inter-linked measures that constituted the much required accountability regime. Addressing a press conference, the NCPRI's Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bharadwaj and Shekhar Singh said that though the lokpal bill was not entirely to their satisfaction and...

-IANS NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, which provides for creation of an anti-corruption ombudsman. The most prominent of the group of anti-graft bills on the anvil, the lokpal bill establishes a lokpal at the central level and asks states to establish lokayuktas in a year's time from the date of notification of the law. The format of the lokayukta will be left to the...