-The Times of India   While participation of the Anna Hazare group in the drafting of the Lokpal Bill to check corruption in public life is uncertain, the government is set to draw a line that will see a conditional inclusion of the prime minister and exclusion of higher judiciary and actions of MPs in Parliament. Despite having opened the web of consultations wide with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee seeking the opinions...

12 party workers killed, 425 injured in last three weeks The Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Surya Kanta Mishra, met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the State Secretariat here on Friday and expressed concern “over the amount and dimension of the violence” which had been inflicted upon supporters of the Left Front since the results of the Assembly elections were announced three weeks ago. An 11-member delegation met...

Proposes that the percentage of land to be acquired by state agencies should be decided by their governments. The modified Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill is likely to suggest giving state governments the power to determine their roles in acquiring land for industry. Also, in a positive for farmers, the Bill proposes that if the land remains unused for five years, it should be automatically returned to them. If sold to a third...

Is it the end of the road for the Lokpal panel? Talks between the government and social activists could be headed for a collapse after they disagreed on all key issues – Anna Hazare's team has threatened a walkout if the prime minister is exempted from the bills ambit. Fearing a repeat of the Anna movement, the government is trying to persuade Baba Ramdev to call off his hunger strike that...

Jairam Ramesh's order of May 6 rescinding his earlier stop-work notice with regard to the Maheshwar dam surprises many. ON May 6, Jairam Ramesh, the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, made a confession while responding to a questioner at a public meeting. He said he had been under “pressure” to overlook environmental violations while clearing certain projects. “Regularisation of illegality is a peculiar Indian characteristic. First you...