From the beginning of the proceedings today, speakers from Team Anna appeared to be pressing home one point above all: they had returned to Jantar Mantar with an agenda larger than the (Jan) Lokpal. The Bill must be passed this winter session, or else there would be a “jail bharo aandolan”, said Anna. “Not a single jail will remain empty,” he promised. But the larger goal was another law, or...

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare made an impactful return to the "anshan-andolan (fasting-protest)" arena on Sunday, drawing an enthusiastic and youthful crowd to Jantar Mantar and rallying major non-Congress parties to his cause. Three months after his epic 13-day fast at Ramlila Maidan, the response to Anna's seven-hour protest is proof that the Gandhian has not lost traction with popular sentiment despite his now familiar anti-government announcements. He also succeeded in splitting...

Our democracy is creaking, but it works—nominally at least. What it needs is not dilution, but deepening. When “Too Much Democracy” Works     Pressure in Parliament pushes PM Manmohan Singh to secure the resignation of telecom minister A. Raja in the 2G affair     The angst and trials of tribals in the Maoist bastion of Dantewada is sensed in Delhi after the media highlights their plight     People power at the sites of...

Patna, Dec. 9: Health hubs in the state capital are ill-prepared to fight a fire like the one that claimed more than 80 lives today at AMRI Hospitals in Calcutta. Most hospital and nursing homes in the city lack fire-fighting equipment or plan to evacuate patients and employees in case of a blaze. The state does not have any fire prevention rules, as the draft of the law has been entangled in...

Assailed from all sides, does the UPA really hope to recover its ‘image’ by muzzling online dissent? Kapil Sibal ko gussa kyon aata hai? Butt of online jokes: Politicians in 'tweaked' cinematic avatars. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. The UPA government has made it something of a fine art. Hardly had the ruckus over the decision to open up the retail sector to FDI died down than...