Monday, August 22, 2011

Make Lokpal as Constitutional Authoiry to fight corruption

PodUniversal Edition 140
As I publish this Podcast, Anna Hazare's fast has entered 7th day and many youth in India have come on streets demanding Jan Lokpal bill to be accepted by the Government of India.  Already the Government has introduced Lokpal bill in the Parliament.  Jan Lokpal Bill provides more teeth to fight corruption.
With this background, I spoke to Mr Era Sezhiyan, a well known octogenarian Parliamentarian and Mr T S Krishna Murthy, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India to get their views on this bill.
Both of them are of the view that Lokpal is to be made as a Constitutional Authority like Supreme Court, CAG and Election Commission.  For this purpose, they suggest a constitutional amendment to be introduced in the Parliament, instead of a bill for an Act.  Also, Mr Krishna Murthy says that CVC and CBI are to be brought under Lokpal to fight corruption.
Please listen to their views in the Podcast (6 minutes).
This audio may also be listened from the following link.  If you want to download this audio, right click this link and save to your desktop as MP3 file. (5 MB) 

Friday, August 19, 2011

Many youngsters on indefinite fast at Chennai supporting JanLokpal since 16th August.

37 young professionals and students are on indefinite fast at IAC, Chennai for the fourth day in support of Jan Lokpal and Anna Hazare.  This includes ten college students who are in the age group of 18 and 19.  Yesterday (18th Aug 2011), I visited the venue where India Against Corruption volunteers were fasting at Chennai.  Besides, more than 50 persons were fasting on a relay fast.  
Screen shot of fourth day (19 August 2011) at 10 AM taken
through the live stream at www.iacchennai.org
There were hundreds of volunteers, who were shouldering various responsibilities like lie stream, taking care of people who were on fast, attending to media and VIPs, creating public awareness, etc. meticulously.  When I visited the venue on the third day morning, more than 5000 volunteers had already registered.
I spoke to few of the youngsters who were fasting from 16th August 2011 onwards, when Anna Hazare was arrested.  Even though, they were visibly looking tired because of three days continuous fast, they spoke to me energetically that they would not stop the fast, until the Government accepts the Jan Lokpal bill.
I made a podcast feature on the third day event by IAC Chennai.  I also took the interviews from these brave, patriotic, UnSung heroes.  Please watch this video. (6 minuts)
This video may also be viewed from

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Government Lokpal bill vs Jan Lok Pal bill - What are the differences?

PodUniversal Edition 138
Government of India has now introduced the Lokpal Bill 2011 in the Parliament recently in the monsoon session.  'India Against Corruption' team lead by Anna Hzare has rejected the draft of the Lokpal bill.  They have demanded a more powerful Lokpal bill to be passed by Parliament.  They have also drafted a 'Jan Lokpal bill' and circulated among the people. The Lokpal bill envisages to eradicate  the corruption and punish the corrupt people.
Now the Indian media is debating the difference between these two drafts.  Meanwhile, Anna Hazare team is planning to start an indefinite fast from 16th August 2011, to force the Government to make the Lokpal bill more meaningful.
It is quite interesting to note that under the recommendations of Administrative Reforms Commission, the first Lokpal bill was introduced in the 4th Lok Sabha in 1968.  For one or reason or other, the Lokpal bill is not passed by both the houses of Parliament, even after 43 years.  Now with the emergence of various scams like 2G, CWG, etc. this Lokpal bill assumes greater significance in India, to eradicate corruption.
There is a lot of confusion among the common men, about the real differences between the Government bill and Jan Lokpal bill.  To inorder to get the real insight,  we interviewed Dr Bhavana Upadyaya, a communication teacher and professional.  She was educated at US and was working in New Mexico University as a lecturer in communication.  She has been living in US for the past 10 years.  On hearing about the corruption issues in India, she returned to India to join the 'India Against Corruption' movement along with Anna Hazare and fight against the corruption.
In an exclusive interview to PodUniversal, she has explained the major differences between these two drafts.  Please listen to her interview by clicking play button. (7 minutes).
This interview may also be listened from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiCRncalg2w

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...