Even as the Centre is set to junk most of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Whistleblowers Bill, the government has proposed that the penalty for frivolous or malafide complaints in the proposed Bill would be a jail term up to one year and/or a fine up to Rs 30,000. Also, the Centre says that it would be for the trial court to decide on the quantum...

-The Times of India   Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has returned centrestage, though armed with a political and electoral agenda this time. He has warned the ruling Congress that he will campaign against it in five states going to polls next year - unless the government adopts the Jan lokpal bill in Parliament's forthcoming winter session. The Gandhian seems to have abandoned his earlier non-political stance, now identifying the Congress as a...

-The Indian Express   Anna Hazare goes for broke again — after having ensured that Parliament was committed to taking his version of the lokpal bill as a starting point, he now threatens another insurgency against the Congress-led government at the Centre if the bill does not become law by the end of the winter session. He and his team will campaign in the five states that head for elections next year,...

-The Economic Times   The Central Vigilance Commissioner has reopened the debate on the mandate of the proposed Lokpal by suggesting that corporates should be brought under the purview of the proposed anti-corruption bill to check graft effectively. He also said that corruption in higher levels of bureaucracy, as also among political executives, should be dealt with by Lokpal, provided there was a proper demarcation of work to avoid overlapping of powers...

Comprises lokpal bill, laws on poll reforms, public disclosures and accountability of judges The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is planning to introduce a slew of anti-graft laws in the winter session of Parliament: apart from the lokpal bill, which is with a Standing Committee of Parliament, in the works are laws on electoral reforms, public procurement, service delivery to citizens, public disclosures, and accountability of judges, among others. Union Ministers and...