No one’s buying the government’s desperate arguments to keep the prime minister above Lokpal scrutiny Points Of Friction   Government and civil society representatives have sparred on the question of including the prime minister in the proposed Lokpal Bill on seven key grounds: Point: The Prime Minister is accountable only to Parliament, and to the people of India Counterpoint: Does this mean a PM can never face action for criminal liability, however serious the charge,...

-PTI   A desperate government's efforts failed today to achieve any breakthrough with Baba Ramdev deciding to go ahead with his indefinite fast here from tomorrow amidst indications that a compromise was likely in a day or two. For nearly five hours, two senior union ministers Kapil Sibal and Subodh Kant Sahay negotiated with the yoga guru over his demands on eradication of corruption at a posh hotel, a venue totally different...

-The Times of India   While participation of the Anna Hazare group in the drafting of the Lokpal Bill to check corruption in public life is uncertain, the government is set to draw a line that will see a conditional inclusion of the prime minister and exclusion of higher judiciary and actions of MPs in Parliament. Despite having opened the web of consultations wide with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee seeking the opinions...

-The Hindu   The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India on Sunday criticised the Manmohan Singh government for its handling of the Baba Ramdev hunger strike and questioned the stealthy manner in which it negotiated with the yoga guru. They, however, deplored the police action at Ramlila Maidan and demanded immediate steps to bring back money illegally stashed abroad. Terming the police action against Baba Ramdev and...

-The Deccan Chronicle   Acquiring farmers’ lands for industrial and other non-agricultural uses has been a cause of tension and unrest in different parts of the country in recent years. If Singur in West Bengal dramatically made history and firmly placed Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamul Congress in the lead in the politics of the state, the recent case of the twin villages of Bhatta-Parsaul at Noida in Uttar Pradesh, not...