The CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharya has taken a nuanced position on the three demands of Anna Hazare in the Lok Sabha debate today. Acharya was the first speaker from the left parties to speak on the matter. He dismissed the Government’s version of the Lokpal bill, calling it useless, but refused to fully support the […]
I do have a strong set of issues with the supposed ‘intelligentsia’ response to the Anna Hazara / IAC movement / Jan Lokpal bill – I use the terms loosely and interchangeably. The key stands, summarising Nitin Pai, Amba Salakar, Arundhati Roy et al seem to be: 1. “We (the civil society experts / bloggers […]
Even as minutes remain for the beginning of the debate in the Indian Parliament on Anna Hazare’s three demands for Lokpal, uncertainty remains over whether or not there will be a vote on the three specific demands. A vote-less discussion is likely to simply postpone the current conflict and agitation by a few weeks or […]
Medha Patkar, one of India’s biggest mass leaders and part of the Anna Hazare group, has confirmed that Team Anna is giving feedback to the Government on the statement to be made by leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee in a few minutes. Patkar said a team of Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi […]
The Editors’ Guild, one of the most powerful media organizations in the country, today approached the Information and Broadcasting ministry to seek sweeping reforms in the country’s defamation laws. The guild urged the government to repeal provisions of the current defamation rules under which editors of newspapers and TV channels may be put in jail […]
Congress leader Sandip Dixit, son of Sheila Dixit, refused to support Anna Hazare’s demand to include the lower bureaucracy within the investigative powers of the Lokpal. He was the first speaker from the Congress party speaking on merits at the Parliamentary debate on Anna Hazare’s three demands today, inaugurated by Pranab Mukherjee. While he supported […]
Thanks to an unprecedented outpouring of support and emotion from across the country, the government is learnt to have issued an order to release Anna Hazare. According to unconfirmed reports, the government has released a warrant for his release to the Director General of Prisons, Delhi. The order/recommendation has to be processed and agreed by […]
Veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare may not be able to continue his fast for much longer as he is reported to be refusing water as well. Hazare had warned that if there had been police crackdown on his agitation, he would stop taking water as well. While Hazare could go on for several days without taking […]
Retail prices increased by 6% in January, compared to the same month a year ago, according to data released by the government today. The increase in consumer prices was higher in rural areas (7%) compared to urban areas (4%), according to the data. As expected, the highest increase was in the prices of vegetables. Veggies […]
The Government has sent a huge police force to scatter would-be marchers from the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement in Delhi. According to an appeal by Prashant Bhushan, one of the top leaders of the anti-corruption agitation, many protesters were turning up at the Pragati Maidan metro station in New Delhi for a mach. The Pragati […]
The main opposition, Bhartiya Janata Party, has mocked the government’s defence of cracking down on Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption protests. Senior leader and leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley mocked the argument that Hazare was arrested because he refused to limit his supporters to 5,000 in number. Jaitley said the Congress Party led government is crushing […]
The Central Government has not been able to get a large number of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to declare their assets, according to numbers from the Department of Personnel & Training. Despite a clear directive to the estimated 5,200 IAS officials — the back-bone of Central government bureaucracy — to declare assets by June […]
India’s major opposition parties, including the right-of-centre Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communists and regional parties have come together to determine the oppositions’ next move on the Anna Hazare agitation. Minutes after both houses of the Indian Parliament were adjourned after a shouting match between the opposition and the governing sides, leaders of opposition parties […]
The Delhi Police have detained 1,400 followers of Anna Hazare, police commissioner BK Gupta said. He said Anna has been arrested under the preventive arrest provisions of the Indian Criminal Procedure Code. Anna has been produced before a Magistrate and is currently in a police office. He has been ordered to 7 days in judicial […]
Google is the search king, but twitter is not far behind, going by the latest move by Firefox-maker Mozilla Foundation. A month after Twitter ended its search-agreement with Google, it has partnered with the Mozilla Foundation to bring the Twitter search feature to Mozilla Firefox browsers. Mozilla has even launched a special ‘Twitter edition’ of […]
The government seems to have been taken by surprise by the outpouring of support in favor of anti-corruption crusaders led by Anna Hazare. According to sources, it is considering holding talks with the group once again. Meanwhile, Anna Hazare has been reportedly moved to the Tihar jail after he refused bail conditions including not calling […]
BJP president Nitin Gadkari, in a grand press conference attended by most senior leaders, has accused the Congress Party led government of slipping into an emergency mentality. BJP, which does not agree with several of the protesters demands as well, asked Congress to respect other people’s right to popularize their opinion, even if they are […]
Not so long ago when a 21-inch bulky, traditional CRT (picture-tube) TV would cost Rs 10,000-12,000. Then came the attack of the panels, first plasma, then LCD and then LED-LCD. In the meanwhile, production of ‘normal’ tube TVs, which used to come for around Rs 7,000 to 11,000, has almost come to an end. Instead, […]
Union Information & Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni today expressed “full confidence” in the non-violent nature of Anna’s movement. She, however, justified the crackdown. “I have full confidence in Anna’s movement.. I know they won’t resort to violence,” she said, asked about the arrest. She, however, pointed out that any march, even if non-violent, can be […]
More bad news for the government. According to the latest wholesale price index (WPI), prices of essential commodities in India are at a historic high, higher than they were even during the worst price rise phase at the beginning of this year and 2010 (see chart 1 below). While prices had hit a record level […]
