The revised draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill, put forth by the civil society at the meeting of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal on Saturday, has amendments to the original bill and provides for inclusion of Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha in the committee to select Lokpal and its members. It also proposes to give the body power to intercept telephones and internet communication.

A day after the co-chairman of the Lokpal Committee, Shanti Bhushan, who is caught in a new CD controversy, filed an FIR under a cognisable offence at the IP state police station in Delhi, sources on Saturday pointed out that the Delhi police has made an arrest in connection with the case.

Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia has cautioned the judges against accepting any political patronage, interfering with the lower court’s administrative issues and stop being “super legislature”. He also asked the political class not to protect the corrupt judges. Though asking the judiciary to be prepared for fair criticism of judges and judgments, the Chief Justice also expressed concern over illegitimate and irresponsible criticism meted out to the issues involving judiciary.

The Congress has clearly indicated that there will be no poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the coming Assembly polls.
The Samajwadi Party has already ruled out any such possibility.

Uttar Pradesh figures on top of the Congress agenda as the state is going to polls early next year. While a section of party leaders, including some of its MPs, feels the Samajwadi Party could be the post-poll ally of the party, the high command is yet to formulate a strategy on whether to fight the electoral battle on its own or not.

The Congress government in Meghalaya is in trouble with a group of legislators unhappy with chief minister Mukul Sangma and seeking his removal.
Though Mr Sangma is confident of completing his term, the Congress high command has asked AICC in-charge of Meghalaya affairs Dhaniram Shandil to meet the legislators to defuse the crisis.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, brought to its knees after consecutive electoral debacles in Bihar, has framed an elaborate strategy to revitalise the organisation and project itself as the only credible alternative to the ruling NDA.

Newly-appointed Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Kantilal Bhuria and state BJP president Prabhat Jha are on warpath. Addressing mediapersons here on Saturday, Mr Bhuria described the state BJP government as “most corrupt” and said he would do everything in his command to uproot it.

On Friday, when the Supreme Court granted bail to Binayak Sen, a doctor who was sentenced to life for links with Maoists and disputed sedition charges, the members of the civil society while welcoming back Dr Sen to the “free world”, said they had every reason to believe that the bail will only “reach its logical end” and that Sen will finally be acquitted.

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kantilal Bhuria on Saturday demanded that all allotments of land by the BJP government in the state to organisations run either by the ruling party or the RSS should be cancelled immediately.