Under pressure from big business to end the political stalemate, India’s self-proclaimed anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare yesterday broke his 12-day fast at the Ramlila Maiden, a public ground in New Delhi. On Saturday, the Indian parliament passed an “in principle” resolution agreeing to include three of Hazare’s demands in proposed Lokpal or ombudsman legislation. Though tensions have eased, nothing has been settled. Hazare, who headed large anti-corruption protests, has backed away...

NGOs differ on Jan Lokpal, pick on Team Anna’s shortcomings Conflict Amongst NGOs?     * Great response to Anna seen as success of civil society     * NGOs agree on wiping off corruption in government, not on solutions     * They celebrate the middle class finding voice; but mourn lack of reach among villagers     * Divergence in views seen as healthy for debate; onus on govt to take final call *** First the good news:...

During the Emergency, the citizens of India weren’t merely exposed to Indira Gandhi’s 20-point programme. They were subjected to the additional torture of being exposed to the five point-programme of ‘youth leader’ Sanjay Gandhi. One of Sanjay’s more memorable nuggets of wisdom was: “Work more, talk less.” I recall it being carefully painted on a billboard somewhere close to the “Leader is right, future is bright” hoarding in Delhi’s Connaught...

What can power do to a political party’s financial health? Quite a lot, it seems. An RTI query by a Chennai-based activist shows that the income of India’s longest-ruling national party, the Indian National Congress, increased from Rs 69.55 crore in 2002-03 to a whopping Rs 467.57 crore in 2010-11. Documents accessed by activist V Gopalakrishnan show that the jump is even more evident when figures from 2003-04 are compared with...

-The Hindu   Following is the note placed by the CPI(M) at the all-party meeting held by the Government on the issue of the Lokpal today. August 24, 2011 Stand of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Lokpal: For An Effective Anti-Corruption Body Introduction Corruption has become a major public concern in the wake of successive scams unfolding over the past few years. In a country like India, where millions of people still suffer from acute poverty,...