Two confederations that represent most Indian Christians have voiced fears that Team Anna’s version of the proposed Lokpal law will disturb the separation of powers among the three wings of democracy. In a memorandum submitted to the Centre, the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) also suggested ways to strengthen the government’s Lokpal bill, which they said was weak. The confederations said though...

Putting aside their earlier differences, the teams of social activists Anna Hazare and Aruna Roy have broadly agreed to come together on the anti-graft Lokpal bill ahead of Parliament’s winter session, which begins next week. The development followed a series of meetings between Hazare-led India Against Corruption and Roy’s National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) to narrow down their differences on the bill. Both sides confirmed the development. “We had...

-The Indian Express   Bihar is ready with the draft for a new Lokayukta Bill, which it plans to finalise by November 26 before getting it passed in the winter session of the Assembly. It is the second state, after Uttarakhand, to have prepared or reworked its Lokayukta laws before the Centre haspassed a Lokpal Bill. Unlike the Bihar Lokayukta Act, 1973, the new law will bring the chief minister under the Lokayukta’s...

-The Hindu   Aruna Roy writes to PM The National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI) has sought a new provision in the government's draft Citizen's Right to Grievances Redress Bill, 2011, to compensate a complainant for entitlements wrongly denied or delayed. The government's draft empowers the independent appellate authority to penalise for denial or delay in entitlements but does not provide for compensating a complainant. Rather than have the Grievance Redress as part...

-The Hindu   Vice President Hamid Ansari has come out in favour of a media regulation framework, agreeing with Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju that self-regulation has failed. “Collective self-regulation has yet to succeed in substantive measure because it is neither universal nor enforceable. Individual self-regulation has also failed due to personal predilection and the prevailing of personal interest over public interest,” said Mr. Ansari. He was speaking on the occasion of National...