The brief gap between the World Cup and the Indian Premier League would have been painfully boring but for the display on national TV of the collective meekness of the Congress/UPA leadership in the face of the challenge to India's parliamentary system mounted by Anna Hazare and his bandwagon. The bandwagon comprises civil rights activists, RSS/Hindu Mahasabha/Baba Ramdev foot soldiers, ex-bureaucrats in search of a cause, sections of the urban...
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Nepotism cry in Anna camp
On their “day of victory”, leaders of Anna Hazare’s movement faced nepotism charges over the inclusion of the father-son duo of lawyers Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the joint drafting committee for the Lok Pal Bill. Many protesters refused to break their fast when Hazare broke his at 10.45am. They wanted to know why ex-cop Kiran Bedi wasn’t picked while both the Bhushans were in. “This is nepotism. Why is there no...
More »NAC refers draft bills for legal vetting by Smita Gupta
With the United Progressive Alliance government clearly unhappy with the drafts of two laws on food security and communal violence being framed by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, the NAC has referred them to lawyer Indira Jaisingh. “Indira Jaisingh is examining the two drafts from the legal angle, not for content,” an NAC source told TheHindu, adding the expectation was the bills would be ready in a month. If the NAC's...
More »Why was Niyamat Ansari Killed? : The Politics of NREGA and the Maoists by Avanish Kumar
The gruesome murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari has shocked the progressive civil society and political groups in the country. According to reports (one, two), Niyamat Ansari had exposed a case of corruption in NREGA and an FIR was lodged against a former BDO and another Panchayat Sevak of Manika block, Latehar (Jharkhand). On 2nd March 2011, Niyamat Ansari was picked from his house and beaten to death. The reports...
More »Food inflation zooms to 18.32 per cent
Much to the DISCOMfiture of the Centre and in a further jolt to the common man, food inflation zoomed to almost a year's high at 18.32 per cent for the week ended December 25, 2010, owing to a spurt in the prices of vegetables, onions and milk. The sudden spurt in the wholesale price index-based food inflation from 14.44 per cent a mere week ago — and more than double...
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