Team Anna to begin campaign on Jan 21

Team Anna Today ( Monday)  unveiled its campaign plans for the Assembly polls in five states starting with Uttarakhand on January 21 and spending a major part of February in Uttar Pradesh but will not ask people to vote in favour or against any particular party.
However, they will not target a single party during the campaign but put forward the need for a strong Lokpal.

• team Anna would visit Uttarakhand fistly, where they would tour for three days till January 23 followed by Punjab for two days on January 24 and January 25.
• After this they will return to Uttarakhand on January 27 and January 28.
• In February campaign will be focused on Uttar Pradesh elections. Team Anna would visit UP from February 2nd till February 25
• On February 28, 29 and March one, the campaign will be in Goa.
  

"The nitty-gritties of the visit like the cities which Team Anna would visit, the members visiting the rallies, etc are yet to be finalized. The campaign meetings in different cities are being organized by small committees that are being formed especially for this purpose," Team Anna spokesperson said.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/team-anna-to-hit-the-campaign-trail-on-jan-21/221368-3.html

Cabinet approves Lokpal Bill (but disapproved many of Anna's demand)

The Lokpal Bill draft has been cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday. The government has decided that the CBI will not be under the Lokpal .The cabinet met in the parliament house complex under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

• The government has decided that the CBI will not be under the Lokpal's control  and also decided not to hive off the Directorate of Prosecution from the investigative agency.

1. The Lokpal, with Constitutional status, will, however, have superintendence over the cases referred to CBI
2. Lokpal will also have the powers to carry out preliminary inquiry to be headed by a Director of Inquiry and will have a prosecution wing under a Director.  The Inquiry Wing will be headed by a Director for preliminary inquiry. The Lokpal can also ask the CBI to conduct the preliminary inquiry, which should be completed within 180 days.  Ideally, the preliminary inquiry should be completed within 90 days and extension if necessary should be sought in writing. 
3. Sources also say that the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, CJI will choose the CBI chief. The Lokpal will have no say in the matter.
4. Appointment of SPs and above in CBI will be done by a committee consiting of CVC, Vigilance Commissioners, Home Secretary and Secretary, DoPT. 
5. Lokpal cannot initiate any inquiry suo motu and a complaint will be required. 

• Prime Minister will be under the purview of the Lokpal with certain safeguards that will keep out aspects like international relations, public order, atomic energy, space, internal and external security from the inquiry.  Probe on any complaint against the Prime Minister will be decided by the full bench, of which at least three-fourth should agree. 

• According to sources, the government has proposed in the draft that the the Lokpal selection committee will comprise of the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India and a government-nominated jurist.But Anna is against more political volume in the selection committee

• According to the proposal, Lokpal will be an eight-member body and former CJI or SC judge or an eminent person will be Lokpal Chairman.  
• The government has now proposed 50% reservation for SC/ST, OBCs, Minorities and Women in the Lokpal bench and in the search committee. 
• 
  

Sources said that the bill will be tabled in the Parliament as early as on December 22.

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was quick to hit back. He rejected the Citizens' Charter bill and his team had demanded this should be part of the Lokpal Bill.

Anna on Tuesday rejected government's Lokpal draft and Citizen's Charters' Bill, saying he will go on fast, hold a 'Jail Bharo Andolan' and campaign against the government in the five election-bound states.

Expressing disappointment with the new draft Lokpal Bill to be tabled in Parliament, Anna said he would fast for three days from December 27, followed by a three-day 'jail bharo' agitation.

"I will fast on December 27, 28 and 29. This will be followed by a three-day jail bharo from December 30. After this, I will go to five states (where Assembly polls are due) and campaign against the (Congress-led) government," Anna said.

Editor's View: Well government is not arming lokpal with much powers, and without these powers lokpal will be merely a report filing institute. 
My question is why government is showing so resistance in giving lokpal powers and is making selection committee of lokpal full of political dominance?

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-approves-Lokpal-draft-CBI-out-of-its-control/articleshow/11182920.cms
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cabinet-approves-lokpal-bill-cbi-not-under-it/213649-37-64.html 

Two more BJP states mull Lokpal akin to Anna version

After Uttarakhand, two BJP-led states, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh, are closely examining the Jan Lokpal bill. Both states have a Lokayukta in place, but have shown interest in amending the existing legislation to bring it closer to the bill drafted by Team Anna. 

Chhattisgarh has put in place a committee under the chief secretary to examine the Jan Lokpal billand the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act. Sources said Chhattisgarh was looking at restructuring its existing Lokayukta Act to bring in an independent investigation wing under the ambit of the law, besides other changes. 

However, the Chhattisgarh government is likely to wait till the Centre passes the Lokpal bill and examine its provisions. The state assembly session is scheduled to start in December and unlike Uttarakhand there are no elections coming up in the state, and hence there is no immediate political compulsion to expedite the process. Sources said the state may wait a while before restructuring its legislation to fit the Jan Lokpal's provisions. ``We want it to be in tandem with the Centre's act,'' a source said. 

The activists have been in talks with several states after the early success with Uttarakhand that has adopted the Jan Lokpal bill in toto. The team, however, ran in to rough weather with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar as Team Anna members criticized the state Lokayukta draft as ``weak''. Kumar hit back, saying he did not need a certificate of approval from anyone except the public. 


Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Two-more-BJP-states-mull-Lokpal-akin-to-Anna-version/articleshow/10886725.cms

Team Anna may not insist on bringing judiciary under Lokpal

1. Team Anna Hazare on Thursday indicated that it may not insist on the judiciary being brought under the ambit of the Lokpal if the govt brings out a “good” Judicial Accountability Bill.
“PM has to be within the ambit of the Lokpal. As far as the judiciary is concerned, if a good Judicial Accountability bill can be brought along with the Jan Lokpal Bill then we are open to it,” Arvind Kejriwal told reporters outside Tihar jail. 


2. He further said it is not necessary that the fast will continue for 15 days. It depends on how the government responds to the demands put before it


3. When asked why Mr. Hazare was still at Tihar jail, Mr. Kejriwal said Anna could not go to Ramlila Maidan as it was not ready.


Thanks to: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2369512.ece