-Outlook   A farmer sitting on a dharna along with other peasants to protest acquisition of land for the proposed nuclear power plant in the district died today at PGIMS, Rohtak. Ishwar Singh Siwach, a Gorakhpur village farmer, was shifted from the Civil Hospital, Fatehabad, to Rohtak last evening in a serious condition, police said. He died this morning, they said. The 60-year-old farmer was taken ill when he was sitting on the dharna...

Anna Hazare's campaign may lead to a new Lokpal Bill, but it has legitimised middle-class vigilantism and other kinds of civil society mobilisation. NOW that Anna Hazare has declared victory, it is time to take stock of one of the most powerful recent mobilisations of people in India, focussed on influencing policy or lawmaking processes. The victory, however, is largely symbolic. The original demand of the movement, carefully built around Hazare's...

Babasaheb Ambedkar was the chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution, and so Dalits have an emotional attachment to the Constitution. If a movement sets itself above the Constitution and challenges democracy, a key pillar of the Constitution, Dalits will refuse to support it, says Bhanwar Megwanshi Anna Hazare's 'anti-corruption' movement has received considerable support across the country. The 'mainstream' media is awash with stories about Anna and his...

-The Hindu   The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday urged the Government to reconsider the present design of Below Poverty Line (BPL) census expressing apprehension that the current format would result in “undercounting” of the poor. Referring to the Independence Day speech of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat found it “objectionable” that Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh called the BPL census design “non-negotiable.'' “I find...

Not a comprehensive draft, says Medha Patkar The first major opposition to the draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 will be in the form of a three-day dharna here beginning on Wednesday by the project-affected people. Various peoples' movements under the banner of SANGHARSH have decided to stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar protesting the new draft and demanding that the government come up with a comprehensive National...