-The Hindu   They will weaken anti-corruption regime As campaign against corruption gathers momentum, the Central Bureau of Investigation will tell the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Law, Justice and Personnel that both the civil society's Jan Lokpal Bill and the government's Lokpal Bill appear “unworkable” and will weaken the anti-corruption regime. In a presentation scheduled for Thursday before the committee, CBI Director A.P. Singh will present the agency's views on the Bills. As for the...

Arvind Kejriwal is part of the brains trust behind the Anna Hazare movement, which has the potential to further undermine the Delhi order. The engineer-turned-civil servant-turned-RTI activist is now a mass campaigner for the Jan Lokpal bill and plans to expand the movement. He spoke to Saba Naqvi about his ideological convictions, faith in “the people”, dealings with the Aruna Roy-led National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) and...

Anna Hazare isn't taking his eyes off Parliament yet and his next campaign, announced on Saturday, will demand annual performance audits of MPs, right to recall elected representatives, right to reject candidates contesting elections and mandatory approval of gram sabha before acquiring any land. "Hazare will send the letter shortly and seek Prime Minister's views on these three vital issues", said Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal, who briefed the media after...

About 30,000 farmers in Maharashtra are feeling cheated. The soybean seeds they had purchased from the state seed corporation, Mahabeej, failed to germinate this season. About 40,000 hectares (ha) of farms in seven districts have been affected. Mahabeej has 45 per cent share in the soy seed business in the state. The blame game Government officials and the state agriculture department blame the farmers for the crop failure. M T Gondeswar, agriculture...

'We want to pressure the government and assert our rights as citizens.' Arvind Kejriwal received the Magsaysay award in the Emergent leadership category in 2006. A mere five years later, he has far surpassed that milestone, winning acclaim and notice for the way he conceived and crafted Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement. He talks to Vidya Subrahmaniam about the Jan Lokpal campaign, what it accomplished and why it often became controversial. The scale...