Mahesh Kundu paid 2,500 rupees for a driving licence, Rupam Bhatia 5,000 rupees to be admitted to hospital and Vishrant Chandra 6,000 rupees for a marriage certificate. These are the commonplace bribery stories experienced by middle-class Indians who have poured into the streets to say "enough is enough". Corruption in India is as old as the Ramayana, when the evil demon Ravana bribed a guardian of hell to avoid punishment in...

The Anna Hazare fast has seen an outpouring of support across the country. The government Lokpal Bill is unacceptable. A fresh Bill is needed for an effective Lokpal. There has been an outpouring of support all over the country in favour of the fast conducted by Anna Hazare for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The agitation has found support predominantly from the urban middle classes and a substantial section of youth belonging...

Prime Minister manmohan singh on Thursday restored NAC member Aruna Roy's place in the Lokpal debate, telling Parliament that along with Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal bill, it would also discuss the drafts by Roy and JP Narayan of Loksatta. The comment came a day after BJP dislodged Roy as the reference point for the new Lokpal bill by limiting the reference to non-government input to Jan Lokpal bill in the resolution...

In the current hullabaloo about the lok pal bill and the Anna agitation, one question has frequently been raised, both by protagonists of the Congress and the government and by constitutionalists and legal experts: however laudable the goals of Anna and his supporters, aren’t the methods adopted by them illegitimate? Doesn’t a fast unto death amount to blackmail of the legislature? Isn’t it an attempt by the unelected to usurp...

-The Hindu   Following is the text of letter written by Prime Minister manmohan singh to social activist Anna Hazare over his indefinite fast against corruption at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. "Over the last few days, I have watched with increasing concern the state of your health. Despite the differences between the Government and your team, I do not think that anybody is or should be in any doubt about the deep...