The Union Government has announced that it would bring the Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament which is expected to pass it in the winter session. The all-party meeting held on the Lokpal issue damned the civil society and passed a one-line resolution: “The all-party meeting agreed that the government should bring before the next session of Parliament a strong and effective Lokpal Bill following established procedures.” The...

-The Times of India   In what is expected to be an action-packed day, Parliament will discuss on Tuesday the CAG indictments of the Prime Minister's Office and Delhi CM Shiela Dikshit under the garb of a debate on the privilege motion which the BJP has brought against sports minister Ajay Maken for allegedly misleading the Houses by blaming Suresh Kalmadi's appointment as CWG boss on the NDA government. The Congress had...

The battle lines are drawn: it is the government versus "civil society" in India now. A controversial anti-corruption bill has been tabled in parliament, and a showdown with "civil society" representatives, backed by an energetic section of the media, looms. After months of wrangling with activists led by folksy anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare, the government says it has cobbled together the best possible legislation. It is called the Lokpal bill but Mr Hazare...

-IANS   Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday said the food security bill in its current form will curtail the food security as it caters to certain sections of society. "This will not be a good food security legislation as they are trying to restrict the food security to certain sections of society. They have already given a quota - 46% of the population in rural areas...

Union Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s made a last-ditch effort to win support for his controversial Seed Bill, 2010 by calling an all-party meeting in Parliament earlier this week. He was candid about the fact that this legislation tops his “must do” list. But the Opposition — supported by a section of the Congress—weren’t having any of it. “The proposed bill is not only anti-farmer but also brazenly favours multinationals in the...