From the beginning of the proceedings today, speakers from Team Anna appeared to be pressing home one point above all: they had returned to Jantar Mantar with an agenda larger than the (Jan) Lokpal. The Bill must be passed this winter session, or else there would be a “jail bharo aandolan”, said Anna. “Not a single jail will remain empty,” he promised. But the larger goal was another law, or...

Idea to keep promise made in ‘sense of the House' resolution   The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which in recent days indicated that it was not keen on including the lower bureaucracy within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill, as it was billed as an instrument to deal with corruption in high places, is now veering round to the view that the Group C employees could be included in the Bill...

-IANS The deadlock in Parliament over the government's decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail ended on Wednesday after an all-party meeting passed a resolution to suspend the move till a consensus was reached. Both houses of Parliament functioned normally and took the crucial Question Hour for the first time since the winter session began on November 22. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee who chaired the meeting made a brief statement in...

-PTI   With the Mullaperiyar dam issue continuing to dominate Kerala's agenda, state Advocate General K P Dhandpani is today expected to explain to the cabinet his position on the controversy generated by some submissions made by him in the high court on the matter.  As campaigns are on in full swing in Idukki district where the dam is located, CPI(M) veteran V S Achuthanandan is holding a one-day fast at Vandiperiyar, pledging...

A parliamentary committee is set to reject the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010, inflicting a severe blow to Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani and raising doubts about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's pet project. Former IT czar Nilekani, who holds cabinet minister rank as UIDAI chief, had been keen on the enactment of the Bill so that a statutory National Identification Authority could be established. The Bill,...