One of the great achievements of India is our free and vibrant press. This is an accomplishment of direct relevance to the working of democracy. Authoritarianism flourishes not only by stifling opposition, but also by systematically suppressing information. The survival and flowering of Indian democracy owes a great deal to the freedom and vigour of our press. There are so many occasions when, sitting even in Europe or in America,...
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New chief of UN’s food and agriculture agency outlines plans as he starts work
-The United Nations The new head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has begun work, pledging today to increase the agency’s support to poor countries experiencing prolonged food crises. “Ending hunger requires the commitment of everyone: neither FAO nor any other agency or government will win this war alone,” said Director-General José Graziano da Silva at a press conference in Rome, where the agency’s headquarters are located. He stressed...
More »The saga of the Lokpal Bill by Prashant Bhushan
The drama in the Rajya Sabha showed that the UPA government was not willing to go even by the will of Parliament. This gives rise to fundamental questions about the functioning of Indian democracy. The year 2011 will be remembered in India as the year of the campaign against corruption and for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The campaign began in January 2011 in the backdrop of the publicity that accompanied the...
More »A Real Priority by Bhaskar Dutta
The Union government has tabled two bills in the Lok Sabha in the last week of the winter session. Since one of them is the lok pal bill, it has hijacked virtually all the public attention. This is a pity for two reasons. First, there is considerable doubt whether the lok pal bill — in any form — can really be the magic solution that Team Anna would like us...
More »States' consent necessary for setting up Lokayuktas by Vinay Kumar
Bowing to the demand of the Opposition parties who charged the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government with trying to disturb the federal structure and encroach upon the powers of the State governments, the Lokpal and the Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was amended in the Lok Sabha to allow the States to have their say in notifying the Lokayuktas. Yet another amendment relates to applicability of the provisions of the anti-graft legislation to...
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