Veteran social activist Anna Hazare Monday said he is starting a 'fast unto death' to press for the demand to involve civil society in formulation of the anti-graft Lokpal (ombudsman) Bill. 'I will fast unto death, as announced earlier, as the prime minister has refused to form a joint committee with civil society members in it for the formulation of the Lokpal Bill. Even if I lose my life, I will...
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PMO appeals to Hazare to give up fast plan by Smita Gupta
National Advisory Council starts discussions on Lokpal Bill The Prime Minister's Office (PMO), late on Monday evening, issued an appeal to noted social worker Anna Hazare to abandon the hunger strike he had announced he would resort to, starting Tuesday, to force the government to accept his version of the Lokpal Bill. The appeal came a few hours after the National Advisory Council (NAC)'s Working Group on Transparency and Accountability met civil...
More »Consultation shows consensus on Lokpal Bill may not be easy by Smita Gupta
The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) and civil society groups are clearly not happy with the government's draft of the Lokpal Bill, intended to check corruption in high places. But a public consultation, a day ahead of the discussions that the NAC's Working Group on Transparency and Accountability is due to have with government representatives and others, demonstrated how difficult it will be to get a consensus on a...
More »High food prices keep millions in Asia-Pacific region in poverty – UN
High food prices prevented more than 19 million people in the Asia-Pacific region from lifting themselves out of poverty last year, the United Nations said in a new study released today, warning that soaring food and fuel inflation will keep large sections of the region’s population below the poverty threshold. The assessment by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) says that rising food prices can...
More »Lokpal Bill: ‘no precedent for a joint committee' by Smita Gupta
The pressure on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to enact the Lokpal Bill to check corruption by public servants is mounting, 42 years after another government first attempted to create such a law, as civil society representatives and the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) have joined hands to push for the early enactment of a tough law. On April 3, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI)...
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