-The Telegraph   Anna Hazare’s dipping health indicators pushed the government and his team into formal talks on the Lokpal impasse tonight. There was no breakthrough at the end of the two-and-a-half-hour dialogue but neither side suggested a breakdown either. Senior ministers and Congress leaders gathered at the Prime Minister’s house late tonight and the meeting stretched till 2am in two phases. Sources said several issues had been more or less sorted out and...

-PTI   A breakthrough in the deadlock over Lok Pal continued to elude Team Anna and government despite hard negotiations with differences persisting over seven issues, including bringing the Prime Minister under its ambit. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight candidly admitted that the government was in a "bind" from which it has to come out with "practical and pragmatic" solutions. Singh's comments came after Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid and three key members of...

-The Times of India   A day after TOI front-paged an 'appeal' to both sides to seek common ground for the sake of the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Anna Hazare, who has been on fast for eight days, saying the government would request the Lok Sabha Speaker to "formally refer the Jan Lokpal Bill to the standing committee". This panel would consider all versions, including the government's, Team Anna's...

-The Hindu   As the public support for Anna Hazare's fast swells by the day, the United Progressive Alliance government's reaction is a bewildering mix of dithering, denial, moral confusion, and fear. On the face of it, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that there was a “lot of scope for give-and-take,” and the opening of backroom channels to talk to Mr. Hazare, may suggest flexibility and conciliation. But if the back-of-the-mind calculation...

-The Telegraph   Anna Hazare’s team today demanded that Parliament enact the group’s version of the Lokpal bill by the end of this month, claiming an Emergency-era precedent when both Houses passed an amendment within a very short time. Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan said the government should withdraw the bill it had introduced in the Lok Sabha and table the Jan Lokpal bill when Parliament meets on Tuesday. Monday is a holiday. Bhushan, law...