-The Hindu   It speaks to the deeply divisive times we live in that Team Anna activist and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan was savagely assaulted in his own chamber — and in the full glare of television cameras — for the “crime” of saying something that his attackers disapproved of. In the past, intolerant groups who seem to have no problem breaking the law with impunity, have targeted writers, artists, journalists,...

The National Campaign for the People's Right to Information (NCPRI), which — along with other civil society groups — held a two-day convention here on its draft Bills on Grievance Redress and Whistleblower Protection, has urged the government immediately to put up the drafts for wide public consultation. Earlier this year, the NCPRI unveiled a “Basket of Lokpal measures” intended to address corruption and grievances relating to delivery of services. Among...

-The Economic Times   The government on Tuesday said it would confer constitutional status on the proposed Lokpal , embracing the idea mooted by Rahul Gandhi.  "We are working on a very strong Lokpal bill. A Lokpal bill that will come with a constitutional amendment . That amendment will give the Lokpal the status of a constitutional authority," law minister Salman Khurshid told PTI on Tuesday.  Khurshid, who gave Rahul the credit for the...

When activists of the Right to Food campaign attacked Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia over the Rs 32 per capita per day cut-off for poverty line, Vijay Jawandhia — a farm activist from Vidarbha — asked a counter question: “Why are you happy with a minimum wage of Rs 100 per labourer per day under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), when salaries have been revised several...

-The Times of India   Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has returned centrestage, though armed with a political and electoral agenda this time. He has warned the ruling Congress that he will campaign against it in five states going to polls next year - unless the government adopts the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament's forthcoming winter session. The Gandhian seems to have abandoned his earlier non-political stance, now identifying the Congress as a...