Differences on lokpal bill narrowed down: V. Narayanasamy

V. Narayanasamy on Tuesday (april 24,2012) said that "Differences on lokpal bill narrowed down"
"To my mind after discussions withthe political leaders , differences of opinion has been narrowed down to 5 to 6 points" , he said to media.
He reported 197 amendments were moved in the Rajya Sabha when the Bill was tabled last year. “They have since lapsed and now there are 149 amendments which are under the consideration of the government.”

He also said that government is meeting with various political leaders to to bring consensus on major issues and to bring amended lokpal before parliament.

Last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened a meeting with the floor leaders of the Rajya Sabha in a bid to evolve consensus and assured them that the government would come back with an amended Bill.
However, he said that bill is govt's priority but 'things' depend on discussion with other parties and their support.

Editor's view: Last year many positive comments were given from political stage, by both Government and opposition about bringing a strong lokpal, but a drama happened and now just like Women's reservation act  lokpal is possibly struck in Rajaya Sabha. We now want work more than conversation and comments by political stage to get the results.

source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3346407.ece
|||||||||||Times of India (tue, april 24) as newspaper source

Mufti Shameem Kazmi leaves Team Anna.

Mufti Shameem Kazmi on April 22(2012)

 a member of team Anna during Team's Core committee's meeting was accused of secretly recording proceedings of a core committee meeting.After accusion Kazmi dismissed the charge and claimed he quit the camp as the group was turning anti-Muslim.
However, soon after his outburst, Team Anna members Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi alleged that Kazmi was ousted from the group as he was "found three audio-recording" the proceedings on his mobile phone.The sources said they believed that he was sending the audio to some journalists.

Earlier Agnivesh was also expelled from T.Anna for leaking Team's information to politicians, while   two activists P.V. Rajagopal and Rajinder Singh had quit the team due to differences over the way in which decisions were taken. 
Quotes:Their words

•  Shazia Ilmi (another muslim member of T.Anna) said "You (Kazmi) are a member of the core committee, the discussion is going on and you are recording and relaying it outside. Further, you are claiming that you are doing this since you are a Muslim? It was a very unethical thing to do and using one's religion to excuse an inexcusable action is even worse,"

• "When we asked him why he was doing this (recording), he left the meeting, saying he was doing so as other members did not trust him. Shanti Bhushan has requested him not to attend the meeting for some time, since he had breached the trust of the members," Vishwas told reporters. 

• "We found three recordings when we checked. He had been relaying the recordings outside. In fact, we got messages from reporters who were trying to verify the information in the recordings. Religion has no connection to this episode and it was very unethical of him," she added

• On his part, Kazmi alleged that Kejriwal was acting as an authoritarian  "I have been with the movement since its beginning. Anna is a good man. Kejriwal and Sisodia were using Anna Hazare for their own purpose," Kazmi claimed.

• Asked whether he was miffed with Team Anna's association with Ramdev, Kazmi said he was not against taking the support of the yoga guru. "I don't have any problems with Ramdev. But Kejriwal and Sisodia do not want him because if he is on board, then they will lose their importance. They don't want this to happen," he alleged.

Editor's view:Transparency of decision making in T.Anna before public  is needed but secretly sending information to third party (and not public) can't be termed  transparency

Well its a tragedy and leads us to conclude that either

• There are some people in T.Anna who may be sending information to politicians or journalist about inner atmosphere and inner strategy of team. Agnivesh and  Kazmi  are already alleged. 
• Or there is imbalance of power in T.Anna due to which  Kazmi commented that "I was doing this(recording) because  other members did not trust him"  Khazmi also said that Khejrival and Sisodia wants their importance in team. 

T.Anna should learn something from these conclusions. As lokpal is already chocked and due to such  internal fight ,lokpal will loose or will not gain its acceleration!

Source:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/team-anna-core-committee-meeting-qadri/1/185580.html

Anna will will not tour with Ramdev.

Earlier on April 20(2012) at a press conference Anna and Ramdev had announced about their joint campaigns and tours. 
There was an unease within Team Anna and in public about Anna-Ramdev joint tours and rallies.
So Anna Hazare on Monday said he will not tour with Baba Ramdev,  He and Ramdev will share stage wherever they meet during their all-India tour. However, there will be no joint tour. 

Quotes:Their worlds:-

“I have told you before that we (me and Ramdev) are not touring together, but we are fighting for the same purpose of getting black money and the Lokpal and Lokayukta bills. We shall stand together and share the same stage wherever needed,” Hazare told reporters.
Team Anna member and lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, "We have begun a movement against corruption and on that pretext, Ramdev supports us but we have no common platform or any consensus.”  

New schedule 

1. Hazare  would undertake a tour of Maharashtra from May 1 to mobilise public opinion on the issue of having a strong "Lokayukta" in every state.  
2. After Maharashtra tour he will start his countrywide tour by the end of June.
3. Ramdev will also perform a countrywide tour, however this will not be joint to Anna's tour.
4. Ramdev and Anna may share stage whenever needed or  when they meet during their tours

Editor's View:| life-jacket  decision|

This decision by T.Anna will prove a life-jacket to the campaign which was sinking due decision of Anna-Ramdev joint campaign.
Anna-Ramdev joint campaign was wrong because more people support Anna than Ramdev. So those who oppose Ramdev but support Anna may not support Anna-Ramdev bond. Hence, this decision is truly lifesaving to the campaign. 

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Will-not-tour-with-Ramdev-but-share-stage-wherever-needed-Anna/Article1-844805.aspx
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/won-t-tour-with-baba-ramdev-anna-hazare_771212.html

Anna met Baba Ramdev for future steps and andolan: Is it a right step?

Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev met on Friday (April 20, 2012) and addressed the media about their future co bonded plans .They asked government leave aside ego and pass a strong lokpal.
Demand to bring back black money in Swiss accounts was also raised by Anna-Ramdev bond.

Anna said that every government and party is same and equally corrupt.



FUTURE PLANS

1. Anna Hazare and  Baba Ramdev will jointly sit on a day's token fast in Delhi on June 3 for Lokpal demand and awareness.  A joint rally will also take place on same day
2.  Ramdev said that he will start a massive agitation against black money from May 01.  “I will tour Chhattisgarh in May and awaken people on the issue of black money,” said Ramdev.
3. Hazare  would undertake a tour of Maharashtra from May 1 to mobilise public opinion on the issue of having a strong "Lokayukta" in every state. 
4. Both will continue to campaign and tour the country till 2014 General Elections and will make people aware so that they raise their voice against corruption

Quote: Their worlds:- 

• Anna made it clear that in his view every political party is equally corrupt.  "Making the government fall is not our intention. If this government is graduate in corruption, the next government will do PhD. But a government that can't understand people's voice, it's not a (matter of) concern if it falls," Hazare said.
  
  
• While Ramdev gave a statement contradicting to Anna's view of "every party is equal" saying that   "present government had no right to rule."

Editor's View: | WRONG STEP TAKEN !|
According to Janlokpal Bill Center this step taken by team Anna is not appropriate. Simple reason is that those who don't support Ramdev or oppose him even support Anna or in simple worlds more people support Anna than Ramdev. So those who oppose Ramdev but support Anna may not support Anna-Ramdev bond.
Moreover ideologies of Anna and Ramdev are not truly equal, Anna said that every party is equally corrupt, on the other hand Ramdev blamed congress saying that it has no right to rule. Religious row may also occur, so Team Anna should dilute this decision of working with Baba Ramdev.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/anna-ramdev-vow-to-fight-for-strong-lokpal_770846.html
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Anna-Hazare-teams-up-with-Ramdev-to-fast-on-June-3/Article1-843445.aspx

Govt approves amendments to Lokpal Bill passed by Lok Sabha

 Amendments to the Lokpal bill were recommended when it was passed in the Lok Sabha in December last year. These amendments received approval by government.

Earlier Amendments 
While being passed in the Lok Sabha, government had already agreed to some amendments.Like
when bill was earlier introduced in Lok Sabha then the bill provided that  an inquiry against the PM has to be approved by a three-fourths majority of the full bench of the Lokpal. However this ratio was amended to  two-thirds majority of the full bench of the Lokpal while being passed in the Lok Sabha


Recently Ammended

• One amendment was that once passed, the Bill will be applicable to states if they give consent to its application. 
• Changes also include keeping personnel of the armed forces out of the purview of the anti-corruption watchdog and increasing the exemption time of former MPs from five to seven years.The bill in its amended form is likely to be taken up by the Rajya Sabha when Parliament session resumes in the second half of the budget session from April 24.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Govt-approves-amendments-to-Lokpal-Bill-passed-by-Lok-Sabha/Article1-839635.aspx

Updates of IAC movement by Anna SMS card

IAC has introduced an SMS card which will provide subscribers with round the year updates about the campaign. "We have procured one crore cards, each priced at Rs. 20 and activists of IAC are distributing them among people" Hazare's associate Datta Awari told PTI from Ralegan Siddhi.The SMS card will ensure that the holders are informed about the Hazare-led campaign's activities for a year, Awari said."The users have to SMS the serial number of the scratch card, to 9223334545 and they will be given regular updates on our programmes throughout the year, in Hindi and English," he said.

The cards have been sent to Delhi and Chennai from where they will be distributed to other parts. We are not going to make any profit out of selling or distributing these cards, Awari said.

In Ralegan Siddhi, the distribution started on April 7, he added.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Anna-SMS-card-to-inform-people-about-Hazare-s-movement/Article1-837846.aspx

Katju favours strong Lokpal, but not in present form

Retired Supreme Court judge and chairman of Press Council of India  Justice Markandey Katju, wants a strong lokpal and hence he rejected the current form of lokpal bill made by government.

Actually current lokpal (which is in Rajaya Sabha ) made by government has a large number of weakness (click here to see its weakness) which makes this bill beneficial for corrupts and highly impractical for those who are victims of corruption.He also noted out problems in Anna's janlokpal (see those problems)So  Katju on sunday urged parliament to send the bill back to the standing committee for considering creation of a workable probe agency against corruption.Katju,warned that the present form of lokpal could create a parallel bureaucracy that could emerge as a "Frankenstein" (monster) to increase corruption in the country two or three times the present levels.He also noted that though social activist Anna Hazare was an honest person, his ideas were not scientific.  "Some people thought that all problems of corruption will be solved by shouting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' or 'Inquilaab Zindadbad' from Jantar Mantar or Ram Lila Ground," he said."Surely one person cannot enquire into the lakhs of complaints which are bound to pour in. It will require thousands of Lokpals, may be 50,000 of them to do this," he said, noting that these persons too would be paid salaries and other facilities such as houses, offices and subordinate staff members.

Editor's view: Katju is right in his opinions about present form of lokpal in Rajaya Sabha, and also about the problems in Anna's Janlokpal. But he can't be considered correct in saying that Anna's Anshan policy is unscientific because its only because of Anna's movement that lokpal's implementation has got heat.Moreover Anshan is DEMOCRATIC and hence scientific!

Source: http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a290952.html 

Team Anna Attacked BJP for its weak Lokayukta bill in HP.

Recently passed Lokayukta Bill for Himachal Pradesh(ruled by BJP) faced thorns from Team Anna.
Team Anna said that Himachal's Lokayukta is 'very weak and ineffective' and proves that both BJP and congress have same weak and corrupt concepts about LOKPAL. Team Anna also raised questions  'about BJP's commitment in fighting corruption'

QUOTE:-

• Arvind Khegrival said that  "it appears BJP and Congress were on the same page on the legislation."
•  Khegrival  also asked whether BJP was disowning the "strong" law passed by a BJP-led government in Uttarakhand earlier this year by bringing such a bill in the state.
• He further said   "The Bill is very weak, ineffective and seeks to provide illegitimate protection to corrupt people rather than punish them. "
• He said that  this weak bill by HP could undo the powerful bill passed by Uttranchal. "Instead of adopting the model provided by Uttarakhand, the Himachal Pradesh government has adopted by Congress. This raises questions about BJP's commitment in fighting corruption," he said.

This attack on BJP prompted BJP  to cancel a meeting in New Delhi on Monday with the group's key member Arvind Kejriwal.

Editor's View;  In simple words, this is a slap to those who think that Team Anna is agent of rss or bjp, because Team Anna is now blaming BJP more that congress. Its true that TA blamed congress early when lokpal was in lokshaba, because in lokshaba congress was in majority and hence pressure on congress was needed, now as soon as lokpal is in Rajaya Sabha, BJP and other parties who have majority in Rajaya Sabha are facing blames and questions by TA. And its  truly constructional to bring pressure on politicians to make them listen to DEMANDS 

Sourcehttp://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_team-anna-locks-horns-with-hp-govt-over-weak-lokayukta_1670623