Make Lokpal a Constitional body: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI, Aug 26: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has proposed to make Lokpal a constitutional body accountable to Parliament like the Election Commission of India and also asserted that Lokpal Act alone will not help eradicate corruption.

Disapproving of Anna Hazare's hunger strike, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said democratic processes should not be weakened by "individual dictates" which could set dangerous precedent and rejected the belief that Lokpal alone would eradicate corruption.

Breaking his silence, he said a political will and a comprehensive framework would be required to fight the menace and suggested a "game changing idea" of creating a Constitutional institution of Lokpal like the Election Commission accountable to Parliament.

Gandhi, speaking during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, agreed that "corruption is pervasive" which operates at "every level" but warned that there was a "risk" that an unaccountable Lokpal "might itself become corrupt".

Referring to the anti-corruption campaign of Hazare, he said it has "helped the people to articulate" their disillusionment and "I thank him for that".

At the same time, he warned "individual dictates, no matter how well-intentioned, must not weaken the democratic process.

A tactical incursion, divorced from the machinery of an elected government that seeks to undo the checks and balances created to protect the supremacy of Parliament sets a dangerous precedent for a democracy.

"Today, the proposed law is against corruption. Tomorrow, the target may be something less universally heralded. It may attack the plurality of our society and democracy."

As his sister Priyanka watched from the visitors' gallery, Gandhi's speech was disrupted by NDA members, protesting against his making a statement on the issue during Zero Hour.

This triggered heated exchanges with Congress members shouting back. Speaker Meira Kumar ruled that she had allowed Gandhi to speak, after which he continued his speech.

"We speak of a statutory Lokpal but our discussion cease at the point of its accountability to the people and the risk that it might itself become corrupt," the Congress General Secretary told the packed House with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being among those in attendance.

"Why not elevate the debate and fortify the Lokpal by making it a Constitutional body accountable to Parliament like the Election Commission of India? I feel the time has come for us to seriously consider this idea," he said.

India funds bailouts in Europe

NEW DELHI, Aug 3: Indian Government has sought Parliament's approval to provide over Rs 9,003 crore (over $2 billion) in loans to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), a fund whose corpus was raised to over $500 billion in March when the debt crisis in Europe showed no signs of abating.

This marks India's dramatic role reversal from 20 years ago when it went knocking on the doors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avert a balance of payments crisis.

So, from Greece, which has received $300 billion so far, to Portugal's $100 billion bailout, India could be playing a part in the international rescue operations.

There are already suggestions that more funding would be required from the European Union as well as multilateral bodies.

Over the past two years, amid increased stress in the global economy, the IMF has been pressed into service on several occasions and has financed bailouts in European countries facing a crisis due to high levels of debt.

The 10-fold rise in the NAB corpus was the result of the new global financing order created by G20, a group of the world's most powerful economies, in the post-financial crisis era. Along with the jump in corpus, membership to the elite club of NAB contributors was also expanded to include 13 emerging economies, which included India.

"The NAB is the facility of first and principal recourse in circumstances in which the IMF needs to supplement its quota resources," the agency said on its website.

Russia offers to help India set up disaster crisis centre

NEW DELHI, Aug 2: Russia has offered to help India establish a National Disaster and Crisis Management Centre, the government informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

During the visit of the Indian delegation headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram, Russia had highlighted the need to rapidly concertise cooperation under the Inter Governmental Agreement on Disaster Management signed in December 2010 and urged early setting up of the joint commission envisaged under it, Minister of State for Home Mullapally Ramachandran said.

"Russia further offered to help India establish a National Disaster and Crisis Management Centre. The details of the proposal for setting up a crisis management centre in the country are being ascertained," he said in Lok Sabha while replying a question.

The Russian National Crisis Management Centre carries out operational management of on-duty forces in emergency situations and ensures population warning in case of major accidents and disasters.

It further integrates the unified information network of all the structures involved in emergency prevention, forecasting and response.

The Russian Emergency and Disaster Management Command Centre (EMERCOM) deploys GLONASS signals.

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