Shanti Bhushan denies allegations on undervaluation of property Ahead of the first meeting of the newly-formed joint committee on the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill here, Anna Hazare-led members said here on Friday that they wanted the draft Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by the civil society as the “working or the base draft.” The joint committee, chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and co-chaired by former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan, is meeting here on...
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Not a very civil coup by Mihir S Sharma
Bang on schedule, a few hours before the Chennai Super Kings took on the Kolkata Knight Riders, word leaked out that the UPA would give in to Anna Hazare. Hordes, by which I mean dozens, celebrated at India Gate, by which I mean that they held ice cream in one hand and candles in the other. The Leaders of the Revolution — Hazare, Baba Ramdev and Anupam Kher — could...
More »Of the few, by the few by Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Sometimes a sense of unbridled virtue can also subvert democracy. The agitation by civil society activists over the Jan Lokpal Bill is a reminder of this uncomfortable truth. There is a great deal of justified consternation over corruption. The obduracy of the political leadership is testing the patience of citizens. But the movement behind the Jan Lokpal Bill is crossing the lines of reasonableness. It is premised on an institutional...
More »Justice for Niyamat Ansari
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari in Kope Gram Panchayat (Latehar District, Jharkhand), as well as a similar attempt — the same day — on the life of his associate Bhukhan Singh. Briefly, this murder was the culmination of a series of acts of harassment, including at least one earlier attempt on Bhukhan and Niyamat's lives. Bhukhan and Niyamat fearlessly continued to...
More »Finnish activist denies showing films in Jaitapur by Meena Menon
Lauri Myllyvirta, the Finnish Greenpeace campaigner who visited the Jaitapur nuclear power project area in Ratnagiri district last year, has denied that he showed any films or other material like photos to the local people agitating against the project. In an email interview from Indonesia, Mr. Myllyvirta said these claims were ABSUrd. He visited the area on November 20, 2010 and left the next day. On Monday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan...
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