Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Green Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Summits
Business Video
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Afghan Journal
Africa Journal
India Insight
Global News Journal
Pakistan: Now or Never?
World Video
Politics
Politics Home
Front Row Washington
Politics Video
Technology
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
Felix Salmon
Breakingviews
George Chen
Bernd Debusmann
Gregg Easterbrook
James Pethokoukis
James Saft
John Wasik
Christopher Whalen
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
The Great Debate
Unstructured Finance
Newsmaker
MuniLand
Money
Money Home
Analyst Research
Global Investing
MuniLand
Reuters Money
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Life & Culture
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Left Field
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our top photos from the past week. Full Article
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Puerto Rico braces for Tropical Storm Irene
21 Aug 2011
Rebels enter Tripoli, crowds celebrate in streets
|
21 Aug 2011
Three generations of family die in car crash
21 Aug 2011
Pope tells 1.5 million youngsters to spread gospel
|
21 Aug 2011
Five headless bodies found in Acapulco
20 Aug 2011
Discussed
254
GM says bankruptcy excuses it from Impala repairs
243
UPDATE 3-White House denounces Perry as Republicans target Fed
183
Stop coddling the super-rich: Buffett
Watched
Una Healy got naked on holiday
Sat, Aug 20 2011
Lockheed Martin presents airship of the future
Thu, Aug 18 2011
Libyans celebrate rebels in Tripoli
Sun, Aug 21 2011
India tentatively moves for talks with anti-graft activist
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
India anti-graft activist says ready for dialogue
Sun, Aug 21 2011
India's PM open to talks as anti-graft protests gather
Sat, Aug 20 2011
India graft activist leaves jail to huge cheers
Fri, Aug 19 2011
Anna Hazare to launch public fast as government relents
Thu, Aug 18 2011
India protests swell as Anna Hazare fasts
Wed, Aug 17 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Probable Lokpal Bill: Neither Anna’s nor govt’s version
Of the Tea Party, by the Tea Party, for the Tea Party
Related Topics
World »
A supporter of veteran Indian social activist Anna Hazare waves India's national flag during a protest march towards Ramlila grounds where Hazare is conducting his fast in New Delhi August 21, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Parivartan Sharma
By Alistair Scrutton
NEW DELHI |
Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:47am EDT
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's government tentatively moved to open talks with an anti-corruption activist who has shed five kgs (11 lbs) in a week-long hunger strike that has earned him more public support at the expense of embattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The 74-year-old Anna Hazare spent the seventh day of his fast lying down on a makeshift stage on an open ground in the capital as electric fans cooled him in the humid monsoon heat, where temperatures were reaching the mid-30s Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).
Both sides said at the weekend they are open to talks, with Singh saying there was a "lot scope for give and take." Singh was under pressure to end the impasse after a widely panned crackdown last week saw Hazare and thousands of his supporters briefly arrested and sent to jail.
"The government sent an innocuous three page, unsigned note yesterday which summarized their position -- as if we need to know that," Kiran Bedi, a former police officer and one of India's best known anti-graft campaigners who works with Hazare, told Reuters.
Local media said the government has nominated mediators for the crisis, but Bedi said so there had been no request so far a meeting. The government was not immediately available for comment.
With key state elections next year that pave the way for a 2014 general election, the government is keen to end a crisis that has paralyzed policy making and parliament and added to Singh's unpopularity amid high inflation and corruption scams.
At least 50,000 people protested on Sunday to support Hazare and on Monday, a holiday in the capital, thousands began to gather again. Many waited under makeshift tents, flapping newspapers in their faces to beat the heat.
Hazare is demanding that the government pass a tough corruption bill in parliament by the end of the month and millions of Indians, from Bollywood stars and models to poor villagers, were inspired by his protest to take to the streets.
His campaign has struck a chord with India's rising middle class, many sick of endemic bribes and angry at a series of corruption scandals that have touched top politicians and businessmen in Asia's third largest economy.
"Our demand that they pass the bill by the end of the month remains unchanged. It's what the people want," Bedi said.
Hazare's team members have said this is not a fast to death -- he is also drinking water. The activist has carried out scores of hunger strikes against governments in the last few decades.
Criticism of Hazare's hunger strike has also surfaced from activists who say it is setting a bad precedent by holding democratic institutions hostage.
Critical of Hazare's bill, the civil rights organization, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), said it would introduce its own anti-graft bill to parliament.
"While his means may be Gandhian, Anna Hazare's demands are certainly not," Booker prizing-winning novelist and social activist Arundhati Roy wrote in The Hindu newspaper.
"The (Hazare) bill is a draconian anti corruption law in which a panel of carefully chosen people will administer a giant bureaucracy." Roy added.
In a sign of tentative efforts by a fumbling government to take the initiative, a ruling Congress party lawmaker has also sent Hazare's bill to a parliamentary committee for consideration, meeting a demand of the protesters.
Hazare was briefly jailed on Tuesday in a bid to prevent him from massing support for his fast, but he refused to leave prison until the government allowed him to continue his vigil, in public, for 15 days. He was released on Friday to huge cheering crowds and widespread media coverage.
For many, the pro-Hazare movement has highlighted the vibrant democracy of an urban generation that wants good governance rather than government through regional strongmen or caste ties -- a transformation that may be played out in 2012 state polls.
Several scandals, including a telecoms bribery scam that may have cost the government up to $39 billion, led to Hazare demanding anti-corruption measures. But the government bill creating an anti-graft ombudsman was criticized as too weak as it exempted the prime minister and the judiciary from probes.
The main Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is organizing a nationwide protest against the government on Thursday, while a group of left parties is planning a national protest on Tuesday.
(Editing by Matthias Williams and Ed Lane)
World
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Mobile
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.