-The Economic Times The enacting of the Lokpal Bill has been deferred in the Rajya Sabha but that need not end the discussion on how focused the proposals are when it comes to tackling corruption. For instance, what exactly are the quotas in the Lokpal meant to do? If out of an eight-or-nine-member Lokpal, four or five should be from SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and women, what is the message going...
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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 »Dodging consumer court orders will attract fine now by Gargi Parsai
Consumers will be able to register their complaints online and any delay in complying with the orders of consumer courts could invite a fine of Rs. 500 or 1.5 per cent of the amount of penalty. These amendments, introduced to the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2011, will facilitate quicker disposal of cases and amplify the scope of some of the provisions of the Act. The Bill, tabled in the Lok Sabha in the just-concluded session,...
More »Team Anna reviews poll plan by Himanshi Dhawan
Wary of a political backlash after its campaign against Congress in last year's Hisar Lok Sabha by-poll and the lukewarm response to Anna Hazare's Mumbai stir, Team Anna is divided on whether to extend the anti-Congress movement to poll-bound states. Team Anna's concerns increased after BJP was severely criticized for accepting former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha into its fold and Congress asked whether the activists will turn their guns towards...
More »The Circus is in Town
-EPW Bereft of any meaningful vision, political parties have reduced politics to gladiatorial contests. Much was promised of the Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament. While a toothless bill was indeed passed by the Lok Sabha, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was unable to have even this endorsed in the Rajya Sabha on the last day of the session. Did this have to do with the inability of the UPA...
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