-The Pioneer The union cabinet is expected to meet here Sunday evening to discuss the Lokpal and the food security Bills, said official sources. The cabinet meeting, earlier scheduled for Monday, would now be held Sunday evening, the sources said Saturday evening Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his way back from Russia Saturday, said the government hopes to bring the Lokpal bill to the cabinet by Sunday. "We are working day and night...

Bills aimed at making judges, public utilities more accountable, and protecting whistleblowers The Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared three crucial anti-graft Bills aimed at making judges and public utilities more accountable and protecting whistleblowers. The Bills come at a time when the government is being attacked by both the opposition and anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare​ and his team. Analysts are doubtful about the intentions of the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The...

-The Telegraph   New laws are often brought in without assessing their judicial and financial impact. The result is poor implementation, says Seetha Call it collateral damage. According to newspaper reports, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister asking for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to be put on hold during the peak season of agricultural operations. With a guaranteed income of Rs 100 a day for at...

-CNN-IBN The Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared three major anti-corruption Bills – Citizen's Charter Bill, Judicial Accountability Bill and the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill (Whistleblower's Bill) – in a crucial meeting. The Cabinet, however, met amid reports of clearing four crucial Bills, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi's favourite, the National Food Security Bill. However, a decision on the Food Security Bill was deferred to next week...

-The Times of India   The government has endorsed a recommendation of Parliament's standing committee to restrain judges from making baseless comments against constitutional and statutory bodies and their functionaries even in cases which don't concern them directly. The decision forms part of the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill that is to be discussed by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday. The government has also expanded the standing committee's recommendation that close relatives of judges...