-IANS   The present version of the Lokpal bill is useless as it will cause confusion and discourage the common man from complaining against corruption, lawyer prashant Bhushan said Thursday opposing its tabling in parliament. 'The present Lokpal bill is not drafted to deal with corruption at all. In fact, it will deter people who want to complain against corruption,' Bhushan told reporters. Bhushan is a member of the civil society group led...

Anna Hazare’s team today said the Lokpal bill was a “cruel joke” on the country and warned that people would teach the government a lesson after the Gandhian begins his fast at Jantar Mantar from August 16. The group also said the Supreme Court would strike down the legislation as unconstitutional if it kept the Prime Minister out of the ambit of the proposed anti-corruption ombudsman. “It is a deceit on...

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the draft of the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill that is to be tabled in Parliament during the upcoming monsoon session. The Prime Minister and the judiciary have been excluded from the ambit of the Lokpal Bill. According to this draft, the body will have a chairperson and eight members, including four judicial members. Information minister Ambika Soni said the chairperson would be a serving or retired Supreme Court...

Prakash Karat has decided to share a dais with civil society activists prashant Bhushan and Aruna Roy, stirring debate in the CPM which largely considers NGOs and their members “anti-Left” and accuses them of furthering the “imperialist strategy”. Some in the CPM believe the general secretary’s presence at the public meeting against corruption will amount to extending legitimacy to the “action groups”, the party’s name for voluntary organisations. Others, though, see Karat...

The Supreme Court on Thursday, refusing to stay at this stage the Madras High Court judgment striking down as unconstitutional an amendment to the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act, extended the time limit for distribution of textbooks till August 2. The High Court by its July 18 judgment had directed the State to forthwith distribute the textbooks printed under the Uniform System of School Education to enable teachers...