http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/biodiversity/

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Curb rampant corruption, appoint Lokayukta: Agnivesh to Mayawati

http://twocircles.net/2011may01/curb_rampant_corruption_appoint_lokayukta_agnivesh_mayawati.html

By IANS,

Lucknow: Social activist Swami Agnivesh Sunday hit out at Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for the "rampant corruption" in her
government and asked her to appoint a Lokayukta (ombudsman) in the
state.

Reacting to Mayawati's objection over the absence of any Dalit on the
Jan Lokpal Bill drafting committee, Agnivesh said: "I do welcome her
objection and thank her for raising the issue, but I would also like
to ask the UP (Uttar Pardesh) chief minister to declare whether she
had taken any effective steps to curb the rampant corruption in her
government."

"If she were truly concerned about the plight of poor Dalits, then it
was time that she initiated concrete anti-corruption measures and one
of these could be to pass the new Jan Lokayukta Bill and have a Jan
Lokayukta in place in the country's most populous state," he said,
addressing a press conference with activist Arvind Kejriwal, a civil
society member of the Lokpal Bill drafting panel.

Kejriwal and Agnivesh arrived here Sunday morning along with satirist
Jaspal Bhatti to represent Anna Hazare, whose sudden illness prevented
him from visiting Lucknow to address a public rally Sunday evening.

Replying to questions, Kejriwal said the civil society activists have
"neither allowed any political party to share our forum nor do we have
any intention to associate ourselves with any political outfit in any
manner".

"There are good and bad people in all political parties, just as there
are good and bad people in the bureaucracy and other areas of
governance; therefore, if anyone with a clean reputation comes forward
in his individual capacity to extend support to this movement of the
common masses, we will accept such support," he added.

Reposing a lot of faith in the youth, Kejriwal said he would like to
call upon youth leaders in different political parties to raise the
issue of corruption.

Noting how Anna Hazare's movement had spread throughout the country,
he said: "As I speak here today, thousands of people are voluntarily
taking out marches and demonstrations in different cities of India to
express their support for Anna."

"As many as 6,000 people gathered at the Marina Beach in Chennai this
morning, while several thousands gathered in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur and
a huge march that was taken out from Jantar Mantar to the Boat Club in
New Delhi to express solidarity with civil society a day before the
second meeting of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Monday."

The committee comprises five cabinet ministers and five activists.

Earlier in the day, Agnivesh and Kejriwal were joined by leading local
activists including former Allahabad high court judges Kamleshwar Nath
and S.C. Verma, former state director general of police Prakash Singh,
among others for an interaction with intellectuals, professionals,
religious scholars and trade union leaders on the burning issue of
corruption.
--
उर्वशी शर्मा
"सूचना का अधिकार " हेल्पलाइन: 8081898081
yaishwaryaj-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org

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http://www.dailyindia.com/show/437512.php

Arvind Kejriwal appeals for complete transparency in drafting of Lokpal Bill
From ANI

New Delhi, May 1(ANI): Social activist and member of Lokpal Bill
drafting committee, Arvind Kejriwal, on Sunday appealed for complete
transparency in the Bill drafting.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a rally organized by a
non-governmental organisation, India Against Corruption (IAC) in
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

In a bid to gather public support and suggestions in the draft of the
anti-corruption law, the voluntary group is organizing nationwide
rallies at various places in the country.

He said the five-member representatives of the civil society are
trying their best to bring transparency in the drafting process.

"We do not want in this joint committee that we 10 members would sit
inside the room and come up with a law. We rather wish that the whole
process should be transparent. We have requested for a videography of
the meeting, so that the public get to know what was going on inside,"
Kejriwal said.

He also ensured that the people of India would succeed in their
campaign against corruption.

"We are small people. We do not have money or man-power. We are small
people. We have only one thing, our truth and honesty. We have
confidence that at the end only truth wins," he said.

The Central government had issued a notification on April 9 to appoint
a drafting committee of the Bill after five days of indefinite hunger
strike by veteran social activist Anna Hazare.

The panel consists of 10 members, five each from the government and
the civil society, which includes Hazare, Kejriwal, lawyers Shanti and
Prashant Bhushan and former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde.

The first sitting of the draft panel of the Bill took place in New
Delhi on April 16.

Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com

--
उर्वशी शर्मा
"सूचना का अधिकार " हेल्पलाइन: 8081898081
yaishwaryaj-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org

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Recent Activity:

01) http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/save-trees-in-university-of-mysore-campus/   Created: Monday, May 02, 2011   Last update: Monday, May 02, 2011 at 05:35 hours   02) http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/biodiversity/   Created: Sunday, May 01, 2011   Last update:  Monday, May 02, 2011 at 05:35 hours

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Don’t pay bribe, file RTI application
Equally Effective In Ensuring Service: Study
Rukmini Shrinivasan TIMES INSIGHT GROUP

New Delhi: Transparency measures like the Right To Information Act are intended
to reduce levels of corruption, but is there any proof that this actually
happens? Two

field experiments in Delhi by Yale University researchers suggest that this
might be true; transparency measures are as effective as bribes in ensuring
service delivery and, furthermore, may even erase class differences.

    Leonid V Peisakhin and Paul Pinto, two PhD candidates at Yale University’s
department of political science, conducted a field experiment in a Delhi slum,
the results of which were published in a recent paper. The subjects, all of whom
were poor slum-dwellers, did not have a ration card but wanted to apply for one.
They were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups.

    The first group applied for the ration card and then did nothing more about
it, the second attached a letter of recommendation from an NGO to their ration
card application, the third paid a bribe after putting in their application, and
the fourth enquired about the status of their ration card application through an
RTI request shortly after the initial application.

    Peisakhin and Pinto found that the group that paid a bribe was by far the
most successful, in that its application was processed faster. But
interestingly, the group that put in an RTI request was almost as successful.
Hardly anyone in the other two groups received their ration card during the
11-month duration of the study.

    Peisakhin conducted an extension of this study, and found that RTI requests
helped underprivileged applicants get results almost as fast as the middle
class.

Power To The Poor
Slum-dwellers split into 4 groups. Each group applied for ration cards
First group applied and did nothing more, second attached recommendation from
NGO, third paid bribe, fourth filed RTI request shortly after application

Group that paid bribe got best results. But group that put in RTI request almost
as successful

Hardly anyone in other two groups
received ration card in 11 months
Panel on Lokpal Bill resumes work today
    After a fortnight-long break saw civil society members battle accusations of
favouritism and lobbying, the joint drafting committee of government and Anna
Hazare nominees will resume work on Monday to draw up the Lokpal Bill amid
strong differences on its architecture. Civil society was hopeful that
discussions on the anti-graft ombudsman would start with the second
meeting. P 9 RTI erases class difference, helps poor, finds study

NewDelhi:The Right To Information act not only gives bribery a run for its money
in ensuring effective administrative action, it also makes the economic class of
the applicant redundant.

    Leonid V Peisakhin, a political science PhD candidate at Yale University,
conducted a recent study in which he divided his subjects into three groups —
the control group, those who paid a bribe and those who filed an RTI plea — as
they tried to register as voters. The study was conducted separately among
middle class subjects and urban poor.

    While bribing was the most efficient technique, filing an RTI plea too
halved the median processing time. Most significantly, when poor subjects filed
an RTI request, it erased the class disadvantage they otherwise faced — their
applications were cleared as fast as those of middle class subjects.

    “Access to information appears to empower the poor to the point where they
receive almost the same treatment as middle-class individuals at the hands of
civil servants. This is something that payment of a bribe cannot do,” says
Peisakhin.

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Friends, U would all agree that today's morning began with a very important news- "Death/ killing of Osama Bin Laden." This is a news that has spread like wild fire and has affected one and all. There are various perspective of this news. In the same way Osama also has a large number of facets which every person must have formed as per one's own out look and world view. I pose two general questions for the group members- 1. How to you personally describe and categorize Osama Bin Laden? 2. Is this the end of Global terrorism? Amitabh, Meerut, # 94155-34526

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Friends, I did not really believe that men beat their wives so mercilessly unless I saw one case in my own office where a lady constable was beaten most mercilessly by her husband, a Sub Inspector of police. In this case, when the Lady constable  Meenakshi came before me saying that she had some problem, I asked her to narrate facts. What emerged out of this was the case of a working woman being harassed and brutally beaten by her husband Amit Kumar. She had even previously registered a case against Amit in January 2010 and walked out of the house but the husband had somehow managed to cajole her back to the house. As per Meenakshi, Amit had been mercilessly beating her with assistance of his father, mother and brother. They asked Meenakshi to leave her job but she somehow did not believe their intent and had been resisting this pressure. For the last time she was beaten a few days back. When Meenakshi came before me, I could easily see the big, dark spots on her face. She had also other injuries on her hand and other parts. I immediately gave her a few suggestions- 1. Get a case registered against Amit and family 2. File divorce petition because she was being beaten so for the last 6 years of her marriage. Thankfully, Meenakshi agreed to these suggestions after which I got a FIR drafted for her and talked to the Station officer to get the case registered. Meenakshi has said that she will no longer tolerate this inhuman conduct and that she will stand against her husband and fight his atrocities. Yes, there is a possibility of Amit retaliating or trying to physically harm her because the Constable has no other person in her family, yet I personally feel that with courage and self-confidence she will be able to get thru these adversities. Ironically, Amit and Meenakshi went thru a love affair and their marriage was what is called "love marriage" in our country. I present this event as a case study to all the friends to look into the various facets of the matter, from various perspectives and discuss the related issues. Amitabh, Meerut, # 94155-34526

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Hi antibriberycampaign,

I just sent a fax to PM, Manmohan Singh and Maharashtra CM, Prithviraj Chavan asking them to respect public opinion on the Jaitapur issue.

Please read the mail below from Former Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy, Admiral L. Ramdas, and take action. http://greenpeace.in/take-action/stop-dangerous-nuclear-power-in-jaitapur/fax-manmohan-singh.php

Regards,

Dear friends,

I am taking the unusual step of sending this direct request because I believe that the announcement by the PMO on the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, to continue with the proposed French-built nuclear power park at Jaitapur is a serious mistake with long term implications for our people.[1]

Along with several others I participated in the “Tarapur to Jaitapur” Yatra (march) in Maharashtra, to protest against the proposed nuclear plant in Jaitapur.[2] We did not reach Jaitapur because many of us were detained/arrested for participating in this peaceful protest.[3]

It is well known that the Jaitapur nuclear plant is on an earthquake-prone zone [4] and the French EPR reactors have not yet been tested anywhere in the world.[5] Surprisingly the government has rejected the demands to cancel the project, which will result in the loss of land and livelihoods for many. Further, the government has shown disregard for the views of the many scientists, academics, military and other citizens from the rest of the country calling for a review of its earlier decisions on nuclear power plants.

Apart from announcing the creation of an independent regulatory board to ensure safety standards, the government has taken no action on the widespread demand for a complete fresh review of nuclear energy policy in the country. We need to tell Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he cannot ignore serious concerns raised by the people of this country. You should send a fax to the PM asking him to stop the Jaitapur nuclear plant.

http://greenpeace.in/take-action/stop-dangerous-nuclear-power-in-jaitapur/fax-manmohan-singh.php

Add your signature to the message and we will fax it to the PM for you. 73,000 petition signatures opposing this plant have already been delivered to the PM.[6] Now a large number of faxes asking him to stop the plant will make it difficult for him ignore the demand.

Safe and clean renewable energy options and energy efficiency can help meet our energy demands, all of which are available and at a much lower cost than nuclear[7]. The government needs to invest in these instead of dangerous nuclear energy. Tell the PM to stop this dangerous plant now!

http://greenpeace.in/take-action/stop-dangerous-nuclear-power-in-jaitapur/fax-manmohan-singh.php

Thank you for taking action!


Admiral L. Ramdas,
Former Chief of Naval Staff,
Indian Navy.

Sources:

1. Jaitapur plant to go ahead with greater compensation, Times of India, April 27, 2011
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Jaitapur-plant-to-go-ahead-with-greater-compensation/articleshow/8095503.cms

2. Tarapur-to-Jaitapur march against n-plant planned, DNA, April 11, 2011
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_tarapur-to-jaitapur-march-against-n-plant-planned_1530544

3. Activists of anti-nuclear plant yatra detained, The Hindu, April 24, 2011
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1761935.ece

4. 20 years, 92 quakes: Ground trembles beneath Jaitapur's feet, Times of India, March 16, 2011
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/20-years-92-quakes-Ground-trembles-beneath-Jaitapurs-feet/articleshow/7714776.cms

5. Why should Jaitapur be made a guinea pig for untested reactors, DNA, March 17, 2011
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/comment_why-should-jaitapur-be-made-a-guinea-pig-for-untested-reactor_1520843-all

6. Anti-nuclear protesters march in Indian capital, news.yahoo.com, March 25, 2011
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110325/ap_on_re_as/as_india_nuclear_protest_2

7. Energy Revolution, Greenpeace, March 23, 2009
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/2009/3/energy-revolution.pdf

Greenpeace provides an alternate energy vision for India, Greenpeace, March 24, 2009
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/news/greenpeace-provides-an-alterna/rtimahilamanchup-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org

You are receiving this email because someone you know sent it to you from the Greenpeace site. Greenpeace retains no information about individuals contacted through its site, and will not send you further messages without your consent -- although your friends could, of course, send you another message.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

This article appeared in MoneyLife on May 4
http://www.moneylife.in/article/banks-must-pay-rs100-a-day-penalty-for-delay-in-reimbursement-for-failed-atm-transactions/16109.html
Banks must pay Rs100 a day penalty for delay in reimbursement for failed ATM transactions
May 04, 2011 12:55 PM |  
Vinita Deshmukh

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