-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Government and opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday presented a joint front to indict judiciary on diverse counts - from corruption, favouritism and nepotism to compromises due to lust of post-retirement jobs and benefits - as they approved a bill which seeks to scrap the collegium system of appointing judges. The Constitution amendment ending judiciary's monopoly in appointing judges by giving executive a crucial role...

-ANI WASHINGTON: Volunteers and Friends of Aam Aadmi Party in the United States, Singapore and Australia organized protests during the weekend against the planned amendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act in the upcoming parliament session. The protests were planned to show the strong public demand for transparency in political parties as well as the anger against the any amendments to the act by vested interests. Protesters gathered in front of the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: When the Union cabinet yesterday decided to amend the Right to Information Act to exempt political parties from its ambit, it argued that citizens already have several legal avenues to find out about the donations the parties receive and details of their poll candidates. The cabinet approved the draft bill to be introduced in the coming Parliament session to amend the 2005 act, excluding political parties from the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Facing allegations of trivializing poverty for tom-tomming Planning Commission figures that show a decline in the number of poor, the Congress changed its tune on Saturday to dub the poverty line as "unrealistic". The all-round assault on Congress seems to have resulted in the course correction that reflected in the disapprovals issued by Digvijaya Singh, Kapil Sibal and Rajiv Shukla. Union minister Kapil Sibal and AICC general...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Yesterday's Supreme Court judgment debarring convicted lawmakers from continuing in their Houses has raised a tricky question: what happens if and when a convicted and thus disqualified legislator secures an acquittal from a higher court? Consider this hypothetical scenario: Some 160 candidates who face criminal charges are elected to the Lok Sabha in next year's elections. (Some 162 among the current Lok Sabha's members face criminal charges, so the...