-The Telegraph   Mamata Banerjee today questioned the “hue and cry outside Parliament” over Anna Hazare’s demand for a strong Lokpal bill and warned against making it a “one-point” issue, breaking her silence on the countrywide anti-corruption protests. “Many persons have been giving their views and they have the right to do so. But I must also ask that when the issue is yet to be discussed in Parliament, why should there be...

The Left parties said on Monday that the August 30 deadline set by anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare for the Centre to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill was not feasible and suggested that the government convene a special session of Parliament next month for passing the Bill. Asserting that the CPI(M) wanted an effective Lokpal Bill, general secretary Prakash Karat termed the Bill pending with Parliament “inadequate.” “We are not satisfied with...

Our country is poised at a dangerous place right now for many reasons. There are all kinds of battles for supremacy. There are real resistances, there are theatrical and false resistances, revolutions from the top, revolutions from the bottom. And sometimes all of this is interpreted by an increasingly hysterical media which doesn't allow space for reflection, for thought, that will only bombard, control the public imagination.   At times like this,...

Hard To Ignore...     * Farmers of East Godavari and West Godavari districts in Andhra Pradesh have declared a crop holiday this kharif season     * No paddy will be sown across 1.5 lakh acres in the two districts     * Farmers are demanding better minimum support price and subsidies on inputs     * They say the rising cost of inputs causes farmers to lose Rs 10,000-15,000 per acre     * If the farmers stick...

Garhwali villagers resist new central farming plans, stick by age-old ways attuned to nature Jardhargaon is a sprawling cluster of villages tucked away in the Himalayan folds in Tehri district of Garhwal. A panoramic view of pine- and sal-covered mountains, green and freshly showered, surrounds us, as little streams spout out of boulders at every turn of the winding hill roads and clouds hang like a dark cover overhead. But...