-The Telegraph The government today introduced the Lokpal bill in the Lok Sabha amid protests by Anna Hazare’s group on the streets and the BJP in Parliament. While Hazare’s group dismissed the bill as a joke and burnt its copies, the BJP said that excluding the Prime Minister from the Lokpal’s ambit violated the constitutional scheme. As soon as the minister of state for personnel, V. Narayanasamy, moved the bill, Opposition leader...

The past couple of months have seen a renewed attack on the National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC has been decried as an unconstitutional, undemocratic, “super-cabinet” where unaccountable “jholawalas” hatch harebrained schemes guaranteed to run the government aground. Another line of criticism has focused on the process of the formation of the NAC, its space within the Indian Constitution, and its capacity to influence policy. The two criticisms merge with...

-IANS   The present version of the Lokpal bill is useless as it will cause confusion and discourage the common man from complaining against corruption, lawyer Prashant Bhushan said Thursday opposing its tabling in parliament. 'The present Lokpal bill is not drafted to deal with corruption at all. In fact, it will deter people who want to complain against corruption,' Bhushan told reporters. Bhushan is a member of the civil society group led...

Mining firms have criticised the Indian government's decision to make them pay more tax to help develop tribal areas affected by the Maoist uprising. Various trade associations have denounced the bill, under which firms will pay upto 26% extra tax on profits. The new legislation is to be introduced during the new parliamentary session which started on Monday. Maoist rebels say they are fighting for the rights of indigenous tribal people and the...

Reputable foreign institutions may not come to India if a provision in a proposed law preventing them from taking back surplus from education activities is retained, a parliamentary panel has said. The Foreign Educational Institutions (Entry and Operations) Bill prescribes a time-bound format for granting foreign universities approvals but bars them from repatriating profits. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on May 3, 2010, and referred to the standing committee...