NEW DELHI: The government prepared on Thursday to introduce an anti-corruption bill in parliament, which activists have panned for exempting the prime minister from the scrutiny of a powerful new ombudsman.
The much-hyped ” Lokpal Bill” would allow citizens to approach a newly-created anti-corruption watchdog with complaints about officials, including federal ministers and senior bureaucrats who are shielded under India’s current laws.
SRINAGAR, India – Kashmiris shut down shops and businesses Wednesday in a general strike to protest a man’s death in police custody in the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed Himalayan region.
At least three clashes broke out between government forces and rock-throwing protesters in the main city of Srinagar, but police managed to disperse the crowds and no injuries were reported, police said.
A spate of exceptionally brutal rapes in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has shocked India. Many of the victims were young girls. The BBC’s Geeta Pandey reports from Lucknow.
For Sarika, 16, it was like any other day when she went out to the fields for her evening ablutions with her friend Chhaya.
It was a cold February evening and it was pitch dark. “I was feeling a little scared so I wanted to get back quickly,” she tells me.
On the way back, she says, she was attacked by Shivam and three other men from the village.
B G Verghese
BJP-parivar is preparing to take power from what it believes is a tottering Congress. Battleground of choice is to be the UP.
The prime minister has spoken belatedly and, rather than address a televised press conference, done so through a select group of print editors. This admittedly was not the ideal choice but it was a genuine effort at communication by an essentially reserved and soft-spoken leader. The outcome has been greeted with dismay by critics. But, despite the reservations expressed, it would be fatuous to dismiss Manmohan Singh’s remarks.
He warned against creating a climate of cynicism and despair, amplified by a media often prone to playing God’s magistrate.
The recent statement by the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal, expressing concern over the process of wider consultation in the drafting of the anti-corruption law, the Lokpal Bill, calls for reflection and debate. The Minister has said that the government would not in the future consider involving the civil society for drafting legislations. The Minister’s view against a wider consultative process also found support within the Congress Working Committee (CWC). The CWC in a meeting held on 24 July has said that the government felt as if it was held at ransom by a section of the civil society in the country concerning the Lokpal Bill. Not surprisingly other political parties in the country also hold a similar view on the issue
Eminent commentator and rural affairs editor of The Hindu newspaper, P.Sainath speaks to Newsclick on media discourse and other issues related to the “Fourth Estate”. The video can be accessed at http://newsclick.in/international/indian-media-politically-free-prisoners-profit-psainath