-The Hindu   A couple of days ahead of the next meeting of the Joint Drafting Committee on the Lokpal Bill, the five civil society members have written a joint letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his response to the proposal that his post should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal. The letter seeks to counter the alleged tirade against them by the Union Ministers on the Lokpal panel. Signed...

The Government proposal to make cash transfer in place of food grain to poor families has drawn mixed reactions. Raghuvir Nagar on the western outskirts of Delhi has of late turned into a turf for a war between two schools of thought. The war has not been limited to campaigns and debates and purportedly escalated to the level of allegations, even intimidation, so much so that the Government of the national...

As the Lokpal Bill gets mired in a tortuous birthing, the debate shifts to who exactly has the right to pass a law Why Politicians Hate Civil Society     * Unelected activists stealing Parliament’s right to make laws, undercutting role of parliamentarians     * Demands like an all-powerful Lokpal directly impact political-bureaucratic class and the status quo     * Rigid deadlines, fasts unto death to press home issues are akin to holding government...

-The Hindustan Times   The Congress in Himachal Pradesh wants cancelled an allotment of land made by the state government to yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s aide Acharya Balkrishna at 50% of the market price. Former prime minister Indira Gandhi had wanted to build a holiday home for the National Cadet Corps on the plot, the ownership of which vests in the governor of Himachal Pradesh. A makeshift Indira Holiday Home exists but the...

Beginning his day-long hunger strike at Rajghat to protest against corruption and the recent police brutality, the 73-year-old-Gandhi devotee Anna Hazare said that if the Lokpal Bill was not passed, he would fast unto death at Jantar Mantar from August 16. Anna described his movement as the second battle of independence but underlined Gandhi's non-violent path. He said his Wednesday fast was to condemn the police action on Ramdev's supporters at...