-The Times of India   It's welcome that political parties across the board have evolved a broad consensus on some key elements of the contentious Lokpal Bill. Big strides have been taken in the process of framing a cogent anti-corruption legislation. After months of acrimony, the majority of political parties have come around to endorsing two of Team Anna's salient recommendations: placing the prime minister as well as the lower bureaucracy under...

-The Economic Times   The extent of control that Lokpal should have over CBI remained a sticky point at the all party meeting here on Wednesday. NDA representatives at the meeting insisted on the investigative independence of the CBI and its complete disassociation from government. The all-party meeting was essentially aimed at hearing out the views of various political parties on the anti-graft body. BJP, Left and BSP insisted that the Bill...

-EPW   The ruling party and the opposition have become partners in the crime of destroying Parliament. The first nine days of the winter session of Parliament were completely lost due to repeated disruption of the house and adjournments. Most of the blame can be put at the door of the opposition parties which seem to have taken a decision not to allow the smooth functioning of Parliament, though some ruling party members...

-The Economic Times   The movement against corruption that the erroneously labelled 'Gandhian' Anna Hazare has spearheaded has had some positives. For one, it brought into sharp focus wide public anger against the malaise of endemic corruption. Two, it reaffirmed the role of civil society members in intervening and shaping public discourse. And, three, it generally shook up a system inert to, if not actively resistant to, any genuine measures to tackle...

Two days after major opposition parties extended their support to the demand for a strong Lokpal (ombudsman) as proposed by the anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare during his one day fast at Jantar Mantar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati also offered her conditional endorsement. Mayawati on Tuesday rejected the Parliamentary Standing committee's report on Lokpal bill. She described the Lokpal report drafted by the committee...