The Congress appears to have put the cat among the pigeons by suggesting that the proposed Lokpal Bill — currently before a Standing Committee of Parliament — be given constitutional status to give it more muscle. Taken aback, both the Opposition parties and the Team Anna have objected to the move, saying it is a ploy to delay the passage of the Bill as it would require a Constitutional amendment —...

-The Times of India   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday endorsed the concerns of his ministerial colleagues over Right To Information (RTI), saying the transparency enabler should not adversely affect deliberations in the government and deter honest officials from expressing their views on file. While hailing RTI's extensive use and underlining his government's intent to strengthen the law, the PM said there was a need to strike a fine balance between the...

-The Times of India   Cracks have appeared in Team Anna just a couple of months after they pushed the political class to agree to create a strong Lokpal and galvanized popular opinion against corruption, as members pursue their individual agendas. On Friday, Anna Hazare and other members of the group distanced themselves from their comrade Prashant Bhushan's advocacy to allow a plebiscite in Kashmir Valley on whether it should remain with India,...

-The Business Standard   PDS no prerequisite for grain entitlement to general-category families. The contours of the Food Security Bill are firming up, what with the proposed legislation now stipulating a monthly minimum of seven kilograms of grains per person for the country’s priority households. In fact, this category of families — with a pregnant woman, dependent children or a differently-abled member — will get even higher quota depending upon the availability, as...

-The Hindu   It speaks to the deeply divisive times we live in that Team Anna activist and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan was savagely assaulted in his own chamber — and in the full glare of television cameras — for the “crime” of saying something that his attackers disapproved of. In the past, intolerant groups who seem to have no problem breaking the law with impunity, have targeted writers, artists, journalists,...