-The Times of India   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has offered a new formula to end the Lokpal deadlock with Team Anna. Replying to the debate on corruption in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister said the government is ready to debate all versions of the Lokpal Bill in circulation at present. The PM said the aim was to give the country a strong Lokpal and for that the government was ready to involve all sections...

The BJP has slammed the Centre for mishandling Anna Hazare’s protest but signalled that it is not entirely on the side of the agitators and will take a nuanced stance on their demands. The party said it rejected Hazare’s Jan Lokpal bill, would not take dictations from the Gandhian and his associates on a deadline to pass the bill and would not circumvent parliamentary procedures. The government has convened a meeting of...

-PTI   A breakthrough in the deadlock over Lok Pal continued to elude Team Anna and government despite hard negotiations with differences persisting over seven issues, including bringing the Prime Minister under its ambit. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight candidly admitted that the government was in a "bind" from which it has to come out with "practical and pragmatic" solutions. Singh's comments came after Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid and three key members of...

-The Times of India   A day after TOI front-paged an 'appeal' to both sides to seek common ground for the sake of the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Anna Hazare, who has been on fast for eight days, saying the government would request the Lok Sabha Speaker to "formally refer the Jan Lokpal Bill to the standing committee". This panel would consider all versions, including the government's, Team Anna's...

A group of people, with placards showing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, staged a demonstration in Delhi a few days ago against Anna Hazare's proposals on the Lokpal and the methods used by his team. More often than not, Dalits look with suspicion on any attempt to tamper with the Constitution. Team Anna has, however, suggested that its Lokpal bill would benefit Dalits more than anyone else. This led me to look...