AAP's Internal Lokpal's Progess/changes P-1

See latest state of internal lokpal here

In October last year, Kejrival had announced that an internal lokpal of the APP(lokpal that will investigate against irregularities in the party) consisting of  three-member panel of retired judges headed by Justice AP Shah would investigate charges of impropriety against its members including Prashant Bhushan, Anjali Damania and Mayank Gandhi. 
Apart from Shah Justice BH Marlapalle (retd) of Bombay high court and Justice Jaspal Singh (retd) of Delhi high court were members of the internal lokpal of the APP.
Another lokpal termed as 'National lokpal' for the party is set up having Justice Bhagwati Prasad(Retd. chief justice of Jharkhand HC ) and  former Navy chief Admiral L Ramdas 

Kejriwal however on Friday(Feb ,2 2013) said the panel could not begin work due to paucity of time. He also said that according to the code devised by their internal lokpal, it would not take suo moto cases but only investigate cases referred by a complainant. The internal lokpal has also decided to pursue cases of national executive members only.
This means  that at present, internal lokpal will only be looking at case of Mayank Gandhi only against whom allegations have been raised . He added that a report on Gandhi would be made public in less than two months. 
However Kejrival said that there is no complainant against Prashant Bhushan so he will not be investigated. Also he said that Damania is a member of the state unit so she can be investigated by the lokpal's state unit.

Editor's View: First they announced probe against all the three i.e Bhushan, Mayank and Damania. Now the check-list is reduced to just one! Well honestly it was not a decent thing to be done by APP. They should change this decision.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aam-Aadmi-Partys-internal-lokpal-still-to-submit-report/articleshow/18300047.cms

Arvind Kejriwal targets Sheila Dikshit on power distribution:Complete Coverage

•  Arvind Kejriwal today(1, Feb 2013) targeted Sheila Dikshit Government(Delhi) alleging that  power distribution companies in the capital "fudged" their records and "committed fraud" to show losses in their revenue while actually making profits. 

•  Kehrival claimed that Delhiites are paying two times the electricity bills they should actually be paying .According to Kejrival Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chief  Brijender Singh had concluded that power companies would make profits of Rs 3,577 crores which if passed on to the consumers would result in 23 per cent reduction in tarrifs. That's why he was to pass an order on May 5, 2010 to reduce tarrif  but Delhi Government wrote a letter to Brijender Singh on May 4 under pressure from distribution companies (discoms )and stopped him from issuing the order 
• For proof he circulated copies of the letter written by Joint Secretary (Power) S.M Ali on May 4 to Brijender Singh.
• He alleged that BSES Yamuna and BSES Rajdhani owned by Anil Ambani group were showing zero bills for a number of consumers including the Delhi Airport and the Delhi Jal Board.These were done to show losses.
• He attacked the opposition as well saying that the BJP did not raise these issues despite having proof by not doing justice to its role as Opposition party.
• Kejrival demanded that hat FIRs for alleged cheating be registered against the discoms and performance and financial audit of discoms by the CAG should be arranged.He also demanded to dismiss the current chairman of DERC.

RESPONSE

• Dikshit's office termed the allegations as "bunch of lies".
• Power Minister Harun Yusuf  in defense said "The tariff order he was referring to was not signed by all the three members of the DERC. So you cannot call it a tariff order. Even Delhi High court had held that it was not a DERC order,"
• Yusuf also said Berjinder Singh had made calculations on assumptions that power would be available from newly built power plants at low rates. But actually those plants could not generate power as per expectation due to various reasons.
• Yusuf also said Delhi Government did not have any problem with CAG audit of accounts of the distribution companies.
• "In last 10 years, there has been 83 per cent hike in power tariff against 137 per cent increase in power purchase cost. We always tried to be very transparent," said Yusuf.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/arvind-kejriwal-targets-sheila-dikshit-on-power-distribution/1068009/0

Dizzy Lokpal Bill cleared by the Cabinet:complete Report

Cabinet on Thursday( 31,Jan 2013) cleared the amended version of Lokpal Bill suggested by the standing committee of Rajya Sabha. Out of 16 amendments suggested by the standing committee 14 were accepted(click here to see the suggested amendments).
However as usual the bill is still in critically weak state. Major points that were demanded by the public to strengthen the bill are still missing.

WEAKNESSES of the cleared lokpal amendment

• Most stupid point the bill cleared by the cabinet is that political parties are out of the jurisdiction of the anti-corruption institute. |i.e even if such a bill passed then the lokpal will not be able to investigate the corruption in the political parties of the nation!Then what the hell will the lokpal be investigating?|
• The demand for the appointment of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) chief by a group comprising the PM, leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of India in order to prevent the government control on CBI was also rejected by the the cabinet. | i.e CBI will still be under the control of government as appointment of the chief will  not be made by the independent group|
• The amended draft also leaves the implementation of Lokayukta bill(state version of lokpal)) and appointment of Lokayuktas to the states.|This decision of making lokayukta a state defined creation is wrong as it will make Lokayukta different in every state leading to difficult usage of bill in multi-state corruption cases.Moreover state governments may also use their own scissors on the bill to hide their level of corruption Click HERE for complete point-wise analysis on this  |
• Public servant facing an inquiry by the Lokpal will be given an opportunity to be heard at the stage of the preliminary inquiry.
• Lokpal  will have a prosecution wing of its own but will not have a say in the transfer of officials investigating a case taken up by it. |Another epic non-sense|
• The CBI will report to the lokpal with regard to cases under lokpal scrutiny and the body will be able to ask any relevant agency to take up an investigation. |However CBI is still under the potential control of government. So this step can't undo that flaw|

Arvind Kejriwal had demanded, "Why does the government not fulfill one single demand and make the CBI independent. There is no point making committees after committees."

 Anna Hazare had also demanded that the CVC and CBI be brought under the Lokpal. "I have written a letter to Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister asking whether CBI and CVC will be under the Lokpal. If they're not, how will we check corruption," questioned Anna. 

Source:http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/cbi-under-lokpal-supervision-as-cabinet-clears-bill_816333.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-clears-Lokpal-Bill-with-amendments-keeps-parties-out-of-its-ambit/articleshow/18280578.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/it-makes-no-sense-to-exempt-political-parties-from-lokpals-ambit/articleshow/18282642.cms

Anna Hazare launches 'Janatantra Morcha'

At the today's rally (Jan, 30 2013) held at the historic Gandhi Maidan(PATNA)  Anna Hazare  announced formation of an apolitical outfit 'Janatantra Morcha' to work for 'change of system' and warned the UPA government that it 'must fear' being ousted from power if it did not bring a strong Lokpal bill. 

• He said it would not contest any polls but serve the people 'without any allurement of power or related benefits'. 
• He called upon the gathering to join the new outfit for 'Azadi ki dusri ladai' (second freedom struggle) and realise the dream of a political system that would cater to the aspirations of all. 
• He said the lokpal being discussed in parliament doesn't incorporate the public view and interest and accused that UPA was scared of losing power that's why it didn't went by the draft given by the civil society which says autonomy for CBI and CVC and other stern measures.
• Congress president Sonia Gandhi had written a letter to Hazare recently to assure him that Lokpal would be passed in the coming budget session of Parliament which commences in the second half of next month. In his reply Hazare said political class is disconnected with the public sentiments."Parliament must make laws, but the same should represent public views." he said.
• Hazare, however, said that the Lokpal Bill was not a magic wand to completely remove corruption from politics and society but only 50-60 per cent of of present corruption can be tackled lokpal .| Of course Lokpal isn't a magic ,in fact no act on paper by itself can completely uproot the present level of corruption in our nation, apart from legal acts we also require the democratic acts on street and act of humanity in our society ! And only then it will be possible to tackle the 100% of graft|

Interestingly Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday expressed support to Hazare and said he favoured a 'jan andolan' (people's movement) to strengthen democracy in India. Maybe he said so as to promote his image before public because Nitish is Anti-Modi in the BJP for the 2014 election.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/anna-hazare-launches-janatantra-morcha-to-work-for-change-of-system/articleshow/18258829.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anna-Hazare-announces-Jantantra-Morcha/articleshow/18256798.cms

Anna Hazare to undertake nationwide tour from January 30

• Anna Hazare has announced that he will undertake a nationwide tour from January 30 from Bihar(Patna) for strengthening farmers organisations. 
• He also said that he will tour Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Panjab and Karnataka and start agitation by organising farmers community
• Anna was presented with prestigious ‘"Basava Krushi" (agricultural award named after 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara) award instituted by 'Kudalasangama Lingayat Panchamasali Mahapeeth' .
  Kudalasangam seer Jayamrutyunjay Swamiji presented the award to Hazare.
• While addressing the gathering at the award function Hazare said that "Keeping in mind the need to strengthen farmers organisations, I decided to start nationwide tour for one and half years and sit for satyagraha before Lok Sabha polls at Ramleela maidan, New Delhi,"
• Maharashtra Member of Parliament Raju Shetty, 'Krushi' Mission President SA Patil and former Union Minister Babagouda Patil were present at the function.

Source:http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_anna-hazare-to-undertake-nationwide-tour-from-january-30_1789595

Anna to march from Delhi to Ahmedabad for Lokpal

• Anna Hazare and supporters have conduct a rally  from Delhi to Ahmedabad for Lokpal which began on January 7. They will reach Ahmedabad on January 10(today).Rally is named as 'Swaraj Sanvad rally'
•  The rally is being taken out to create pressure on the government to bring a strong Lokpal and bring about other changes in the functioning of the government.
• “There will be a night halt at Ambaji and a mashaal rally. We will also hold a public meeting to inform people about the need for a strong Lokpal,” said Shailesh Josh(coordinator of rally in Ahmedabad) Joshi added the rally will reach the city on January 10 and will first go to Sabarmati Ashram, before going to other parts of the city. It will then move to Baroda and to Surat before heading to Mumbai, said Joshi. A public meeting will be held wherever the rally halts.

Source:http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/GUJ-AHD-anna-hazare---s-rally-to-reach-ahmedabad-on-january-10-4143329-NOR.html

Lokpal to come up in Budget session of Parliament: Narayanasamy

The government has agreed on most of the recommendations of a Parliamentary select committee on Lokpal Bill(click here to see agreements and disagreements) and the legislation is likely to come up in the Budget session of Parliament, union minister V Narayanasamy said.

The minister of state in the PMO said that the amended bill will first be approved in the union Cabinet following which it will be brought in Parliament.

When asked to elaborate on the points on which the Government has disagreed with, the minister said they were "minor ones".

The bill, along with the select committee's recommendations, will have to be considered by the Union Cabinet. Once the Bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha, it will travel back to Lok Sabha for approval of the amended version. 

Source:http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-04/india/36148286_1_budget-session-v-narayanasamy-lokpal-bill