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No-trust move by own MPs embarrasses Congress
Last scion of Mysore royal family dead
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SC: Price cut orders cover unsold medicine stocks
Tejas’ induction into IAF on Dec 20
First course correction of Mars Orbiter today
Lokpal: Hazare begins indefinite fast
Social activist Anna Hazare on the first day of his indefinite fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill at Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra on Tuesday. PTI
Cong rout: Dissidents gun for M’rashtra CM
BJP says pehle
AAP, but Delhi logjam continues
Speaker clarifies decision on JPC report
Gold, cash worth Rs 2.41 crore stolen
Modi nominee is new MCI chief
SC verdict in gay rights case today
After passing budget in hurry, UP House adjourned sine die
SP backs Cong candidate for RS seat
Cooking gas cylinder gets dearer by Rs 3.46
SC: Price cut orders cover unsold medicine stocks
Shinde: Govt keen to bring three key Bills this session
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No-trust move by own MPs embarrasses Congress
New Delhi, December 10 In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Meira Kumar allowed the no-confidence motion to be moved at noon. Luckily for the Congress, sloganeering in the well of the House forced an adjournment for the day even before the motion could be put to test. Six MPs from Andhra Pradesh had brought the no-confidence motion to lodge their protest over bifurcating Andhra Pradesh to create a separate state of Telegana. Four members of the TDP and three of the YSR Congress Party also brought similar motions. In their letter to the Speaker, the Congress MPs sought permission to move a motion expressing no-confidence in the Union Council of Ministers under Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha. Later at a press conference, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde hinted the MPs could face action. "They (MPs) are from a disciplined force. If there is any indiscipline, the party will take care of that," he said. He was replying to a question whether the Congress was going to initiate action against the party MPs. Later, Congress general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijay Singh said he had asked the agitating MPs to take back the notice. Digvijay earlier said, "I talked to some of the MPs from Seemandhra and requested them to reconsider their decision. This kind of a move is against the grain of the Congress." The party, meanwhile, was prepared to meet any eventuality tomorrow. "A whip will be issued to all MPs to be present," said a senior party leader. In the Rajya Sabha, the protest by the Opposition BJP was over allowing a debate on the JPC report on 2G Spectrum allocation. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad raised a point of order, saying the dissent note given by his party members was changed by the JPC Chairman. "This report should not be allowed to be defended on the floor of the House," Prasad said. Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley requested the chair to give a ruling if any committee chairman could "alter the substance of a dissent note". Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, however, said the he could not make a comment as he had not read the report. Kurien added there was no rule "that permits discussion on a report before it is tabled". A similar ruling was given in the Lok Sabha yesterday when the Speaker had clarified that there was no provision to allow a debate before the report was tabled.
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Last scion of Mysore royal family dead
Bangalore, December 10 Wadiyar did not have any children. According to a local legend, this was the result of a curse dating back to 1610. According to the legend, a widow, enraged by a Wadiyar King’s plot to rob her of her jewels, had cursed the Mysore royals that they would never have biological children. The curse, barring an exception (a deaf and dumb son was born to one of the kings), has survived for 400 years spanning 17 Maharajas. In fact, a definite pattern had emerged wherein none of the natural heirs to the throne born to a king (adopted or otherwise) could beget children.
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SC: Price cut orders cover unsold medicine stocks
New Delhi, December 10 As a consequence, no medical shop can sell medicines at prices higher than those announced under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order 1995. A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and Kurian Joseph delivered the verdict on a batch of six appeals against two judgments, one by the Karnataka High Court and the other by the Delhi HC. The SC upheld the Karnataka HC verdict which had taken a similar view and set aside the Delhi HC ruling which was contrary to this. A combined reading of the provisions of DPC “makes it clear that every manufacturer and distributor is duty-bound to issue a revised price list within 15 days from the date of the notification,” the apex court ruled. Rejecting the drug companies’ contention that revised prices would not apply to the existing stocks, the Bench said the price cut would hold good even to the formulations manufactured prior to the date of notification or those manufactured within 15 days from the date of notification. The government periodically keeps fixing the prices of essential drugs on the basis of input, manufacturing and marketing costs and a reasonable profit margin. The SC accepted the government’s contention that under the price control regime “once the price is notified for a formulation, the sale to the consumer can only be at the notified price” and this imposed “an absolute obligation” on all persons not to sell any formulation at a price exceeding the price specified in the “current price list.” However, if the maximum retail price (MRP) printed on the pack was lower than the notified price, the MRP would be applicable.
Rejects pharma cos contention
* No medical shop can sell medicines at prices higher than those announced under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order 1995 *
Rejecting the drug companies' contention that revised prices would not apply to the existing stocks, the SC said the price cut would hold good even to the formulations manufactured prior to the date of notification or those manufactured within 15 days from the date of notification
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Tejas’ induction into IAF on Dec 20
New Delhi, December 10 Powered by US company General Electric’s GE 404 engine, the LCA will be accorded initial operational clearance and will be part of the IAF fleet. The IAF will then integrate the jet into its fleet, communications net, its radars and use the plane for various missions. Once this integration is done, the plane will be given final operational clearance, meaning it would be ready to be deployed in any scenario. The IAF has ordered two squadrons -- some 40-odd planes -- from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. An upgraded version called Tejas mark II is under development. It could possibly have a more powerful GE 414 engine and could even be twin-engined with better missiles and weaponry. On Sunday, the last of the tests was completed. An infrared seeking air-to-air missile was fired. “It hit the target with precision and destroyed it,” Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said today. The test, demonstrating required parameters, was conducted off the coast of Goa in the Arabian Sea. This has taken the aircraft closer to its induction in the IAF, the DRDO said. Defence Minister AK Antony had set the target of achieving initial operational clearance (IOC) for Tejas by the year end and had publicly reminded the DRDO that the deadline should not be missed.
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First course correction of Mars Orbiter today
Bangalore, December 10 Tomorrow’s “course correction” operation has to do with the adjustment of the speed of the spacecraft in view of the excessive force applied on the spacecraft during the trans-Mars injection operation carried out on December 1. However, the three future operations have been planned anticipating the effect of turbulence on the spacecraft resulting from solar wind and solar radiation that the orbiter will come across in the course of its 680 million km journey to reach the Red Planet’s orbit. These course corrections are slated to take place in April, then in August and the last one on September 14, 2014. “So far, the journey of the spacecraft has been very smooth. If it continues like this, then the number of course corrections to be carried out next year will be less than what we had initially planned,” M Pitchaimani, deputy director of ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), told The Tribune. ISTRAC, having massive antennas at its disposal, is in charge of communication with the spacecraft and for monitoring its progress. The spacecraft’s main 440 Newton engine will not be pressed into action for the “course correction” operation. Instead, the eight small engines of the spacecraft, each having 22 Newton force, would be used. The small engines will be fired for a duration of 46 seconds for the operation and 2 kg of spacecraft’s precious propellant will be consumed in the process. “The spacecraft will be 29 lakh km away from the Earth when the ‘course correction’ will be carried out tomorrow morning,” Pitchaimani said.
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Lokpal: Hazare begins indefinite fast
Mumbai, December 10 "I am prepared to die fasting for the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill," Hazare told reporters at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district. The activist, whose fast in New Delhi two years ago forced the government to get legislation passed in the Lok Sabha, said the government was only giving false assurances about getting the Bill passed. "There are many reasons for the Congress’ defeat in four states (where Assembly elections concluded). But the main reason is that the Congress betrayed the people by going back on its promise to bring in the Jan Lokpal Bill," Hazare said. The activist began the day as usual by going out for his morning walk early this morning. After that he went to the shrine at the Yadavbaba temple and offered prayers to the deity before beginning his fast near the adjacent room which he calls home. "I prayed that God give the government subuddhi to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill," Hazare said. He said if the government was unable to bring about this legislation in parliament it should quit at the earliest. "They kept promising that the Jan Lokpal Bill would be passed in parliament. But nothing has happened for more than a year," Hazare said. This is his fifth fast to bring about the Jan Lokpal institution in the country. Hazare and his followers have floated a new organisation called the Jantantra Morcha to agitate across the country. Hazare's supporters across Maharashtra have begun token fast to express solidarity with him. Around the time, Hazare was scheduled to begin his fast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called him to assure that the government will bring in the Jan Lokpal Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament.
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Cong rout: Dissidents gun for M’rashtra CM
Mumbai, December 10 Senior Congress party leaders like Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Manikrao Thakre and state Industries Minister Narayan Rane have joined several MLAs of their own party as well as the NCP leaders in taking potshots at Chavan. Thakre was the first to sound off telling reporters that the CM needed to speed up decision making. "We need to take decisions quickly so that people are not disappointed. A clean image is not enough," Thakre said. Industries Minister Narayan Rane who used to defend Chavan in the past is also said to be distancing himself since it became clear that the Congress would be on the back foot across the country. However, Rane is letting his son and Congress Member of Parliament Nilesh do the talking. "State leaders have to be chosen wisely before we fail totally," Nilesh said in a tweet. Minister for Women and Child Welfare Varsha Gaikwad is said to be another malcontent since she has been banking on the redevelopment of the Dharavi slum which is now stuck in red tape. MLAs from the Nationalist Congress Party have now taken the extreme step of submitting their resignations to protest what they say is Chavan's slow decision making. Two MLAs from the NCP and two Independents from the Pimpri-Chinchwad belt submitted their resignations to the office of Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil as part of their demand that the government regularise illegal constructions. A few MLAs from Mumbai who are backing the beleaguered residents of the Campa Cola society in Mumbai are also thinking of following suit.
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BJP says pehle AAP, but Delhi logjam continues
New Delhi, December 10 The BJP made it known that it preferred another round of polls to forming a government without clear majority, while AAP appeared eager to deflect any criticism for the logjam, which could lead to fresh elections. The Election Commission today formally notified the results, which will allow the Lieutenant Governor to explore the possibility of forming the next government in the 70-member hung Assembly. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said the Centre would not intervene and allow the process to run its course. ``What can we
[Centre] do? We will have to wait and watch...We cannot do anything. Whatever is to be done, has to be done by the two parties
(BJP and AAP)'', the Minister said in response to a question on the formation of a new government. The BJP has 31 members, AAP 28 and the Congress 8. While the Shiromani Akali
Dal, Janata Dal (United) have one seat each. An Independent has won on one seat. Delhi BJP legislators met to formally elect Harsh Vardhan as the leader who let his reluctance to form the next government known even if the party, which has emerged as the single-largest group with 32 seats, including the SAD, was to be invited by the LG. After a meeting, BJP's CM choice said: "We don't have enough numbers to form a stable government and we are ready to fight the election once again, if such a situation arises''. Party sources said the calculation in the BJP is that it would be in a better position if re-polls as it could be held along with the Lok
Sabha, and hope the Modi factor will also bring in advantage. Technically, if the BJP declines an offer the LG could ask AAP and on its refusal would have little option but recommending central rule or re-polls. On his part, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal maintained that having emerged as the single largest party, the BJP should try and form the government by taking support of the Congress.
BJP ‘ready’ for repoll
* The EC on Tuesday notified the results, which will allow the Lieutenant Governor
(LG) to explore the possibility of forming the next government * Delhi BJP legislators met to formally elect Harsh Vardhan as their leader who said the party doesn’t have enough numbers to form a government even if its is invited by the LG. *
The calculation in the BJP is that it would be in a better position in case of re-polls
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Speaker clarifies decision on JPC report
New Delhi, December 10 The BJP and CPI were highly critical of Speaker Meira Kumar's ruling yesterday disallowing any discussion on the issue at the presentation stage during Zero Hour. The report, which gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the 2G spectrum scam saying he was "misled" by the then Telecom Minister A Raja, was tabled in the Lok Sabha by JPC chairman P C Chacko. — PTI
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Gold, cash worth Rs 2.41 crore stolen
Mumbai, December 10 Identified as Kamlesh Choudhuary, the accused who is believed to hail from Rajasthan, was hired by Ambika Jewellers by its owner Lalchand Jain, about 10 days ago, the police said. Allegedly, Kamlesh decamped with 10 kg of gold ornaments valued at Rs 2.40 crore and Rs 1.25 lakh in cash yesterday, the police said. — PTI
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Modi nominee is new MCI chief
New Delhi, December 10 Jayshreeben Mehta, Vice-Chancellor of Sumandeep University, Waghodia (near Vadodra), the only private medical university in Gujarat and one of the two deemed universities in the state, was elected president of the MCI in an unopposed move today. Her name was unanimously cleared by all 82 new members of the MCI who have come through the election process held at the level of each state. These 82 people now form the General Body of the reconstituted MCI which will replace the BOG system introduced in 2010 after former MCI president Ketan Desai was arrested on corruption charges. Importantly, Mehta heads a university which was probed by the CBI for “possible favours” by Desai when he was MCI chief. The CBI teams had raided the said university but not got objectionable leads at the time. Mehta now replaces Desai as the chief of the MCI whose elected character is being restored after a long time. Incidentally, both Mehta and Desai come from the same state - Gujarat. That apart, former VC of the MGI University, Tamil Nadu, was today elected vice-president of the new MCI whose 10 executive members were also elected by the 82-member general body that met at the MCI’s Dwarka headquarters today. Among the executive members are Dr Baldev Singh Aulakh, Professor of Urology and Transplant Surgery at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana. He was among the unanimous choices for the executive committee members and is a nominee of the Punjab Government to the MCI. The new members of the executive committee include the state government nominated VN Jindal from Goa, GB Gupta from Chhattisgarh and Aulakh from Punjab; the state medical university nominated Dr Venkatesh from Andhra Pradesh and Radha Tripathi from Odisha; the state medical council nominated Vijay Singh from Bihar, Anil Mahajan from Jammu, KK Gupta from UP and HN Ravindran from Karnataka. Today’s sole agenda for the MCI was its reconstitution and election of the new office bearers. The MCI will soon call a meeting to set the future agenda for medical education reform that has been pending since Chairperson of the first MCI BOG SK Sarin exited. The Central Government had earlier rejected the nomination of Ketan Desai to the reconstituted MCI even though he had been nominated on the behalf of the Gujarat Medical Council which he heads. Ever since the rejection, apprehensions about his influence in elections have remained.
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SC verdict in gay rights case today
New Delhi , December 10 A Bench of Justices GS Singhvi, who retires tomorrow, and SJ Mukhopadhaya had reserved the verdict on March 27, 2012 after hearing arguments for over a month. Anti-gay right outfits, including social and religious bodies, had appealed against the 2009 verdict of the HC. Prior to the HC judgment, gay sex was a crime under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code entailing punishment up to life term. During the hearing in the SC, the union Home and Health ministries supported the HC ruling holding that the section ran counter to the fundamental right to liberty. Among those who opposed the HC’s findings were senior BJP leader BP Singhal, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Utkal Christian Council and Apostolic Churches Alliance.
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After passing budget in hurry, UP House adjourned sine die
Lucknow, December 10 According to the agenda decided in the Business Advisory Committee, the present session was to continue till December 13, but after pushing through the supplementary budget, the House was adjourned amid loud protests by the Opposition parties much on the lines of the Mayawati-led BSP government. Earlier, raising a point of order on the issue, Meerut MLA and state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai questioned the constitutional validity of the present session which was summoned at a short notice of less than a week while the UP Legislative Assembly rules of procedure and conduct of business clearly mentions a notice of 14 days for an ordinary session. Uttar Pradesh BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai said that if the present session was an emergency session then also it was invalid as the notice issued to the members in such a case had to compulsorily mention the reason for summoning
the House at such a short notice. In the present case, it had not been mentioned. Refusing to admit anything amiss in convening the present session, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey maintained that
it was not an emergency session. The Speaker claimed that information for the session had been sent to the members through the district administration and, in some cases, there may have been a delay in receiving it.
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SP backs Cong candidate for RS seat
Lucknow, December 10 With only two nominations filed for the two vacant seats on the last day of filing nominations, the unopposed victory of Samajwadi Party’s aspirant Kanaklata Singh and Congress MLA Tiwari is a foregone conclusion. Amid rumours of the Samajwadi Party’s possibility of laying claim to the second seat of Masood as well, it was just an hour before the expiry of the last date for the filing of papers that the veteran MLA from Rampur Khas in Pratapgarh -- accompanied by UP Congress president Nirmla Khatri -- filed this nomination before the returning officer and principal secretary (Assembly) Pradeep
Dubey.
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Cooking gas cylinder gets dearer by Rs 3.46
New Delhi, December 10 "The commission paid to dealers has been increased by Rs 3.46 per 14.2-kg cylinder to Rs 40.71. Consequently, the retail selling price of domestic LPG too has been increased in the same proportion," an Oil Ministry official said. The increase in commission — which as per practice is passed on to consumers — has been effected from today. LPG in Delhi costs Rs 410.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder and after the increase, it will cost Rs 413.96. The last revision in cooking gas prices happened in October last year when because of an increase in dealers' commission, the rates were raised from Rs 399 per cylinder to Rs 410.50. Also, dealers' commission on 5-kg LPG cylinder has been increased by Rs 1.73 to Rs 20.36 per bottle. A 5-kg LPG cylinder costs Rs 353 in Delhi currently.
The official said the annual revision in dealers' commission is being proposed keeping in view the increase in expenses like salary and wages. He, however, said that no revision in the additional distributor commission of 75 paisa paid on sale of non- subsidised sale of 14.2-kg cylinder was required for the time being. The 75 paisa is over and above the commission of Rs 40.71. Non-subsidised LPG is sold at market price of Rs 1017.50 per cylinder in Delhi. — PTI
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Congress mulls revamp after election debacle
New Delhi, December 10 Senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar was unsparing in his attack when he sought the removal of PM Manmohan Singh saying the decision to have it was wrong and should have been reverse long back. “We must sit in the Opposition and reinvent ourselves. The promise of revamp which Rajiv Gandhi made in 1985 must be fulfilled. When I talk about revamp, I don’t mean replacing one minister with another. I mean a solid reinvention,” Aiyar said predicting Congress’defeat in the next elections. Though the Congress officially dismissed Aiyar’s remarks saying he was a “leader given to controversies”, senior leaders privately admitted that the issues he raised were critical. “The Congress leadership must not lose the precious connect with the people which was its hallmark through the days of former PM Indira Gandhi,” said an AICC leader, pointing to the need of addressing dissent in a positive way. “There is for instance a feeling that Seemdnahra MPs’ aspirations in the Telangana discussions was ignored,” said another leader in context of Congress’ Seemandhra MPs unprecedented move of giving a notice of no confidence motion against their own oovernment in the Lok Sabha. One of these MPs, L Rajagopal today openly said the Congress had lost the moral authority to sit in the government and had stopped caring for its people. Earlier, ministers like MM Pallam Raju have repeatedly said the Seemdnahra MPs were not adequately engaged in the process of Telangana formation. With internal frustration growing (many Delhi workers are simmering over party’s decision to field outsiders) while Congress workers were ignored), some Congress leaders said it was time to address issues frankly. It was in this context that a senior AICC functionary admitted today that “organisational changes could not be ruled out in states where party had suffered a drubbing”. Revamp of state Congress units in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, could happen to lift the morale of party workers before next LS polls. In Chhattisgarh, for example, the Congress would have to address the concern that internal sabotage led to Congress defeat.
Unpopular economic decisions
At the introspection meet on Monday, some leaders pointed out that the party had paid a price of unpopular economic decisions like capping of subsidised cooking gas cylinders per family per year and frequent fuel and diesel price hikes. The party has taken note of that
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SC: Price cut orders cover unsold medicine stocks
New Delhi, December 10 As a consequence, no medical shop can sell medicines at prices higher than those announced under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order 1995. A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and Kurian Joseph delivered the verdict on a batch of six appeals against two judgments, one by the Karnataka High Court and the other by the Delhi HC. The SC upheld the Karnataka HC verdict which had taken a similar view and set aside the Delhi HC ruling which was contrary to this. A combined reading of the provisions of DPC “makes it clear that every manufacturer and distributor is duty-bound to issue a revised price list within 15 days from the date of the notification,” the apex court ruled. Rejecting the drug companies’ contention that revised prices would not apply to the existing stocks, the Bench said the price cut would hold good even to the formulations manufactured prior to the date of notification or those manufactured within 15 days from the date of notification. The government periodically keeps fixing the prices of essential drugs on the basis of input, manufacturing and marketing costs and a reasonable profit margin.
Rejects pharma cos contention
* No medical shop can sell medicines at prices higher than those announced under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order 1995 *
Rejecting the drug companies' contention that revised prices would not apply to the existing stocks, the SC said the price cut would hold good even to the formulations manufactured prior to the date of notification or those manufactured within 15 days from the date of notification
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Shinde: Govt keen to bring three key Bills this session New Delhi, December 10 Addressing a press conference, he said the Communal Violence Bill had been pending for a very long time. The Union Home Secretary held a meeting with state Home Secretaries recently and discussed the issue at length, he added. "This is one of the promised actions that we have to do and we will do. We will try (to bring it in this session)," he said. Asked about some state governments' opposition to the Bill, he said if any state had any reservation over any clause, the authorities could talk to him directly or communicate to him and also to his officers. "If they have any reservation on any particular point, we are ready to discuss," he said. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had objected to the Bill and written to the Prime Minister. On the Lokpal Bill, Shinde said it had gone to the Rajya Sabha that sent it to the Select Committee. "The Select Committee has recommended some amendments and with these amendments, the Bill is now pending in the Rajya Sabha. The minister concerned has already given a notice to the Rajya Sabha to take up the Bill immediately," he said.
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New Delhi, December 10
Social social activist Anna Hazare today began a fast-unto-death to force the Central Government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing winter session.
"I am prepared to die fasting for the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill," Hazare told reporters at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.
