C & D staff will also come under watchdog Refusing to be cowed down by pressure exerted by Team Anna, the government stood its ground on maintaining the investigative independence of the Central Bureau of Investigation, as the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cleared the draft of the controversial Lokpal Bill late on Tuesday evening. It is now likely to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The...

-The Hindu   Members of various trade unions in the private and public sectors, affiliated to 11 major central trade unions, will stage a countrywide strike on February 28, 2012 against the ‘anti-labour' policies of the UPA-II government. The Railways will be exempted from the protest. G. Sanjeeva Reddy, president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), affiliated to the Congress, told journalists here on Tuesday that despite various demonstrations by the...

-The Hindu   The government on Tuesday said it would soon undertake a survey of the number of manual scavenger in the country so that they could get benefits of various schemes meant for them. Replying to a calling attention notice on need to take adequate safety measures to protect the lives of ‘safai karmacharis' by Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik said the Centre...

-The Pioneer The union cabinet is expected to meet here Sunday evening to discuss the Lokpal and the food security bills, said official sources. The cabinet meeting, earlier scheduled for Monday, would now be held Sunday evening, the sources said Saturday evening Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his way back from Russia Saturday, said the government hopes to bring the Lokpal bill to the cabinet by Sunday. "We are working day and night...

Besides taking into account the different viewpoints of parties on modalities of inclusion of the office of Prime Minister in the Lokpal Bill and the scope of the proposed ombudsman over the CBI and the CVC, the Union Cabinet would take into consideration the ‘sense of the House' resolution adopted by Parliament in August committing itself to three specific issues raised by social activist Anna Hazare. On August 27, Parliament urged...