The Lokpal Bill is in danger of skidding off the rails. As it is introduced in Parliament, eminent activist Aruna Roy tells Shoma Chaudhury why we should not rush into it. THE LOKPAL BILL is now being debated in Parliament, almost 40 years after the idea was first mooted. Unfortunately, parented on one side by decades of wilful government inertia and, on the other, by the panicked hustle of ‘Team...
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Lokpal bill tabled, Anna dubs it a ‘joke’
-The Telegraph The government today introduced the Lokpal bill in the Lok Sabha amid protests by Anna Hazare’s group on the streets and the BJP in Parliament. While Hazare’s group dismissed the bill as a joke and burnt its copies, the BJP said that excluding the Prime Minister from the Lokpal’s ambit violated the constitutional scheme. As soon as the minister of state for personnel, V. Narayanasamy, moved the bill, Opposition leader...
More »Jan Lokpal goes elitist by Dipankar Gupta
If the Lokpal Bill presented to Parliament is a dud, Anna Hazare and his team must accept their share of the blame. They took their eyes off citizens and concentrated almost exclusively on big people in important positions. What tempted them to take this stance? Is it because enemies in high places are better ego boosters than humble friends? For ordinary people it is of little consequence if the Prime Minister...
More »CAG report on CWG to be tabled in Parliament today
-IANS The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report on irregularities in the October 2010 Commonwealth Games will be tabled in Parliament on Friday, according to the business listed for the two houses. The report, which has already caused much uproar after being leaked to the media, is expected to point fingers at Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and even the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Opposition parties have been raising the matter and are...
More »Monsoon worries bothering PMEAC
-The Economic Times The latest forecast of the Met office suggesting a weakening of the south-west monsoon during the second half of the monsoon season is not cause for panic. It is the distribution of rainfall across space and time rather than the aggregate percentages that matter for the farm sector. The good news is that both the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall has been satisfactory so far. A good reservoir...
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