The Left parties said on Monday that the August 30 deadline set by anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare for the Centre to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill was not feasible and suggested that the government convene a special session of Parliament next month for passing the Bill. Asserting that the CPI(M) wanted an effective Lokpal Bill, general secretary Prakash Karat termed the Bill pending with Parliament “inadequate.” “We are not satisfied with...
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Widespread Graft Is Found in India’s Iron Ore Mining by Lydia Polgreen
Illegal iron ore mining involving hundreds of Indian officials and powerful politicians has devastated local communities in the southern state of Karnataka and cost its treasury more than $3.5 billion in revenue, according to a scathing report by an official anticorruption panel that was released on Wednesday. “In the illegal mining and irregularities committed in the export of iron ore, we have found the involvement of some 100 mining companies,...
More »The Institutions of Democracy by Andre Beteille
This essay describes and compares Parliament and the Supreme Court and examines the relationship between them. Parliament may still be a great institution, but its members are no longer great men. How long can a great institution remain great in the hands of small men? The SC has held its place in the public esteem rather better than the Lok Sabha, despite the occasional allegation of financial impropriety. Parliament, the...
More »Who will watch the watchmen? by Minhaz Merchant
The audited balance sheets of the six largest political parties in India are hard to get and harder to decipher: they hide more than they reveal but are nonetheless worth close examination. Between them, the Congress, BJP, BSP, SP, NCP and CPM reported total income of Rs 1,046.76 crore for the year ending March 31, 2009. That was the year in which most of the funds for the 2009 Lok...
More »‘At the first meeting, Shanti Bhushan said something about how we are here, writing the Constitution afresh’ by Ravish Tiwari
Team Hazare has been very critical of the responses of the government representatives in the drafting committee. They even said the Lokpal had become a Jokepal. During the discussions, we did not want to do anything that would upset the applecart. We did not go to the media, except for Kapil Sibal who held a daily briefing. The Hazare team did not want a joint briefing. We agreed. We did a...
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