Political and Social Issues:

On August 27, Parliament urged the Standing Committee on Lokpal to consider the ‘sense of the House' resolution moved by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during the deliberations on the government Bill.
It read: “This House agrees ‘in principle' on the following issues — (i) citizens' charter, (ii) lower bureaucracy under Lokpal through an appropriate mechanism, and (iii) establishment of Lokayuktas in the States.”
Inclusion of the Citizens' Charter under the Lokpal would entail all government departments having a time frame to address the grievances of the committee.
Citizens could approach the Lokpal if any department fails to address a complaint within the time frame and if it is convinced of the genuineness of the case, the department would face penalty.
At Wednesday's all-party meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated that the government was flexible on the three subjects mentioned in the ‘sense of the House' resolution.
On the logistics of getting the Lokpal Bill in the current session, scheduled to end on December 22, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the government had no problem in extending it till December 23 and, if necessary, for a few more days after the Christmas break.

Former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde on Thursday suggested “social boycott” of those who “appear to be corrupt” to act as a deterrent against indulging in corrupt practices besides a strong Lokpal and Lokayukta Act.
Do not invite such people on any public forum, no one should approach them for anything so that they are made to feel that they are not wanted by the people
Justice Hegde turned down a suggestion to resume the office of the Karnataka Lokayukta — the post he vacated recently.
According to him 90, per cent of corruption thrived only because people wanted to get some illegal things done or wanted to get some legal things done in a hurry bypassing the procedural delays.
He agreed with a suggestion that people should not pay the taxes for any service provided by the government or the civic authorities if the service was not satisfactory.
Pointing out that enormous public wealth was being wasted by Parliament and sometimes by the State Assemblies by not allowing the Houses to function on one ground or the other, Justice Hegde said the secretariats of Parliament and State Assemblies should every year publish “performance audit” to inform the people what their elected representatives were doing for them.
It would be desirable to make the institution of Lokpal and Lokayukta a constitutional body, but since that would take at least about a year's time to complete the process, it should be immediately started with a statutory body, he said.

Nitte Santosh Hegde is a former justice of the Supreme Court Of India, former Solicitor General of India and was Lokayukta (ombudsman) for Karnataka
His successor was Justice Shivraj Patil. But, barely two months after he was appointed Lokayukta of Karnataka, Justice Shivraj Patil on September 19 resigned after a controversy erupted over allotment of housing sites for him and his wife allegedly in violation of rules.
He retired as Lokayukta of Karnataka on 2 August 2011.

The Indian Army paid hundreds of crores for software used to identify enemy troop locations and military assets, even though the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said it was entitled to them for free
CAG raised objections to Rs. 38-crore contract given to Indian firm Rolta in 1996 for image analysis equipment, which is used by the Directorate of Military Intelligence to scan raw images gathered by satellites and unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicles.
the terms of contracts signed post-2008 to Rolta had been controversially manipulated to allow it to cease supplying upgrades for key software — and that the Army was poised to place another Rs. 165-crore contract in spite of the company's failure to meet its past commitments.
A.K. Antony ordered an investigation into the contracts
Between 1996 and 2008, the Army awarded 12 contracts worth approximately Rs. 500 crore and maintenance contracts worth more than Rs. 200 crore to Rolta.

Asking the Internet companies to give their opinions on how to use social media and e-governance to empower citizens, Mr. Sibal, the government, along with the Internet fraternity, was trying to find ways to improve citizen engagement in policy formulation and implementation of its projects and programmes.
however, pointed out that the government was committed to protecting privacy and identity of individuals besides addressing security concerns about data, including personal data.

In a measure to open up greater avenues for ex-servicemen, the government has agreed to fill 10 per cent of the Group B posts in paramilitary forces from this pool of disciplined and talented workforce.
there is a provision for reservation of 10 per cent in Group C and 20 per cent in Group D.

Veteran journalist M.S. Prabhakara has described the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) as “a lawless law,” and urged law students to study the provisions of the controversial legislation.
“Though it has been justified for its effectiveness in allowing the armed forces to operate effectively in disturbed areas, it has only created a mindset of impunity,” he said.
text of the law was only 534 words
He referred to a recent instance of a 14-year-old boy who was shot dead while jogging near a tea garden in Kurseong district in Assam.
it is unlikely that the armed personnel who shot the boy will ever be brought to justice for the murder
Mr. Prabhakara traced the genesis of the AFSPA to 1942, when the colonial government promulgated the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance to control the mass protests across the country.
Mr. Prabhakara observed that the legislation in Assam was aimed at “quelling the Naga revolt.”