-The Hindu   Move to give more teeth in combating corruption In a move envisaged to give more teeth in combating corruption, the Bihar Assembly on Wednesday passed the Bihar Lokayukta Bill, 2011 by voice vote. State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mr. Vijendra Prasad Yadav tabled the Bill which was subsequently taken up for voting by the Speaker Mr. Uday Narayan Chaudhary, following deliberations by legislators from the ruling and Opposition parties. “We have drawn up...

-Express News Service   The parliamentary panel studying the Lokpal bill has recommended “appropriate representation” for the weaker sections in the search committee.   The standing committee on law and justice has, however, maintained that the choice of the ombudsman “has to achieve the selection of the best and the brightest at the entry point”. The committee, which adopted its final report this evening, has suggested that the search panel must include “certain sections of...

-PTI The Bihar Lokayukta Bill, 2011, has proposed constitution of a three-member Lokayukta with jurisdiction to probe corruption charges against public servants from the chief minister down to employees of the lowest rung of the administration. Public servants including the chief minister, ministers, members of the state legislature, officials, employees, companies, NGOs and chairpersons of the various boards and corporations in the state would be within the purview of the Lokayukta,...

The Bihar Government on Thursday approved the draft of the State Lokayukta Bill, 2011 after a Cabinet meeting took the decision to this effect. The Bill is expected to be passed during the State Legislature's Winter session, which commences on Friday. However, the Bill's provisions and amendments would be clear only after it had met with approval from the Governor's office and discussed threadbare by all parties in the Legislature, said Cabinet...

October 9 was a Sunday. An unusual day to call an emergency meeting of Delhi University's academic council. The main agenda was fairly routine stuff: approval of certain courses. However, tucked away as supplementary agenda was a proposal to do away with A K Ramanujan's essay, 'Three Hundred Ramayanas' from the history course - a proposal that was passed, triggering one of the fiercest debates in recent times in the academic...