In covering Anna, TV seems to have shed its critical faculties “Corruption,” I remarked the other day on a television channel, “takes more than one form.” We were talking about—what else?—the latest incremental progression in the Anna Hazare saga. “Everyone talks of money corruption, but what about the other kind—‘Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’? And who has any kind of power now? Only two entities: Anna Hazare and television.” That’s...
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The search for a perfect Bill by Amitabh Sinha
Over the last few days, as a desperate government tried to tide over the Lokpal Bill crisis, it received over half-a-dozen variants of the draft legislation. On Saturday, both Houses of Parliament took up the subject and though the debate was mostly confined to the Jan Lokpal Bill, it made the political point that while an effective law should be devised to tackle corruption, Parliament’s supremacy must be maintained. The...
More »Death of an activist. Murder or suicide? by Priyanka Dubey
SHEHLA MASOOD’S eventful life was brutally cut short on 16 August, when her body was found in the front seat of her car. A fierce wildlife conservationist and RTI activist, 38-year-old Shehla was also a flamboyant socialite of Bhopal. The murder in broad daylight outside her bungalow in the posh Koh-e-Fiza area sent ripples across the otherwise peaceful city. With the state media jumping from one conclusion to another and...
More »Madhya Pradesh puts EOW, Lokayukta police out of RTI ambit by Mahim Pratap Singh
The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to take the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Lokayukta’s Special Police Establishment out of the ambit of Right to Information Act. In an order passed on Thursday by the General Administration Department (GAD), the government has declared that the provisions of the RTI Act will not apply to the EOW and the Lokayukta police. Several high-profile cases of corruption involving government officials and politicians are...
More »RTI activist attacked; politicians, officials on run
-Express News Service An RTI activist from Union Territory of Diu who had sought information in connection with the construction of an allegedly illegal restaurant and bogus licence issued by Road Transport Office to bike vendors has been allegedly attacked by local politicians and government officers. Jaisukh Bambhania ,39, president of Diu auto-rickshaw drivers’ association, was attacked with sharp weapons and pipes on Sunday night. Later, acid was thrown on him. Bambhania has...
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