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Ahmedabad, August 26: Bollywood actors Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif on Thursday extended their support to the ongoing nationwide protest against corruption being spearheaded by veteran activist Anna Hazare. While promoting their forthcoming film, ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’, in Ahmedabad, the actors applauded the campaign led by Hazare. Imran added that if time permits he would also like to get associated with the national campaign against corruption.
Source: Yahoo

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan has expressed his support for the anti-corruption movement by veteran social activist Anna Hazare, saying that it has helped bring the issue into focus.

Replying to a question on the campaign that has gripped India since the beginning of this week Khan, at a news conference said, "I think the cause is fantastic and it has been brought to the forefront." "The implementation, the parliamentarian aspects, the constitutional rules and laws needs to be given a serious thought," he added.

Self-styled Gandhian Hazare has been on a hunger strike since Tuesday, protesting the government’s ‘weak’ draft of the anti-graft Lokpal Bill and spent three nights jail before being bending the government to permit him take his fast public.

The movement, which Hazare calls India’s second fight of Independence, has amassed thousands of supporters and put immense pressure on the government which has been severely flogged for its ham-handed handling of the issue.
Source: Glamsham

Anna "fine" but signs of reaction to food deprivation set in; he says ready for dialogue.

New Delhi: Activist Anna Hazare had lost five kg of weight as he entered his seventh day of fast for a strong anti-corruption bill Monday, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said.

"Ketone particles have been traced from his blood and urine… He has lost five kg of weight, his health is all right otherwise," Kejriwal told reporters at Ramlila Ground where Anna Hazare is sitting on fast.

Ketones are particles created by the body during starvation, and are meant to provide an alternate source of fuel from fatty acids.

Anna Hazare was detained Aug 16 and taken to Tihar Jail, where he remained until Friday when he shifted to Ramlila ground.

Anna ready to talk but with riders

Earlier, on the sixth day of his hunger strike, social activist Anna Hazare said the door for talks with the government was open but he vowed to continue his protest to maintain pressure for an anti-graft legislation drafted by his team.

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Well-known south Indian film personalities have thrown their weight behind Anna Hazare’s demand for a strong anti-corruption bill, with actor Nagarjuna urging the people to support the Gandhian "for a brighter India" and director Ramesh Arvind saying "Anna Hazare and his team’s demands are not unjust".

"Hello my friends – support Anna Hazare today for a brighter India tomorrow. Help eradicate corruption. jai hind! Jai Jan Lokpal," Nagarjuna posted on his Twitter page.

"It looks like that with every move of central government makes to curb Anna’s movement; the overwhelming support for him will increase. The agitation is backed by middle-class people who are very badly affected by corruption. This agitation is sure to succeed and I don’t think Anna and his team’s demands are unjust. What is wrong if every person in the country is subjected to scrutiny by the Lok Pal bill," Arvind maintained.

"In Karnataka, the (former) chief minister (BS Yeddyurappa) was been severely criticised (by the Lokayukta). He had to resign. I think any person who is accused should quit his office and face the enquiries," he added.

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Chennai/New Delhi, Aug 18: Stating that the treatment meted out to Anna Hazare was totally wrong, Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre should apologise to the anti-graft crusader for putting him and his supporters behind bars.

"This kind of treatment was totally wrong. Our name internationally is being spoilt. There is no use blaming other countries for making allegations that Anna Hazare is supported by America and all that," Swamy told mediapersons in Chennai.

"The fact is that the government of India owes an apology to Anna Hazare and as a part of the atonement, the Home Minister, who is directly responsible for it should be removed," he added.

Taking a dig at the UPA Ministers, Swamy further said the Prime Minister of the country only speaks, but it is others who decide on what action should be taken.

"The Prime Minister only speaks but the action is taken by Ahmed Patel and other people. Ahmed Patel and Sonia Gandhi and she through her son now, they are the ones who are taking the decision. All the other ministers are servants," he added.

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New Delhi, Aug 18: US Senator John McCain Thursday brushed off the allegation by a Congress politician hinting at a US hand in stoking protests led by social activist Anna Hazare and stressed that the US does not involve itself in internal affairs of the world’s largest democracy.

‘People are entitled to their opinions and views. The US does not involve itself in the affairs of what is happening in the world’s largest democracy,’ McCain, who is on a six-day visit to India, told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi’s remarks about US ‘support’ for Hazare and a foreign power trying to destabilise India.

McCain, who was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 US election, responded tactically when asked about mass protests against corruption in India.

‘Our democratic politics will be energetic and contentious. We value our relationship as the world’s two largest democracies,’ said the senator.

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The congress government seems to be dabbling with a two edged sword. On one hand, there is Anna Hazare who has begun a momentum in the entire nation much to the discomfort of the Congress Netas.

On the other hand, the government has shown its muscle power by getting into the deep quarters of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in the name of corruption and CBI enquiry.

At the end of the day, how much is all this going to benefit the current government and how this is going to affect the future of Jagan, a crucial force for the future of Andhra Pradesh. 
Raghunath, a clerk in a bank said, "Jagan has strong support in the Andhra region so this attack of congress on his properties will result in nothing but extra sympathy for him. On the other hand, the main objective of Anna Hazare’s fight is against corruption and he has been getting an overwhelming response from the citizens of India. Given the large number of allegations that Jagan is currently facing, it sure makes him look like a top ranker in the list of corrupted politicians. But still it is not going to affect his vote bank as voters hardly hate corrupted politicians".

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Delhi Police gives in; fast to begin at Ramlila Ground from 3pm today; no other conditions

New Delhi: In a late night breakthrough in the deadlock between Anna Hazare and Delhi police over the duration of his anti-corruption protest, the Gandhian accepted the offer for two weeks of hunger strike beginning today at the Ramlila Maidan.

"Anna has accepted the DP (Delhi Police) permission for two weeks (of fast). Anna now shall be at the Ramlila Ground post 3 pm", Hazare’s aide Kiran Bedi tweeted. The breakthrough came after a nearly 30-minute meeting Hazare aides Bedi, Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal had with Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta at the latter’s residence in Chanakyapuri shortly after midnight.

Bedi said the Police Commissioner offered permission for 15 days of protest at the Ramlila Ground, after which she, along with Bhushan, Sisodia and Kejriwal went back to the Tihar Jail to apprise Hazare of the offer.

Source: MSN

New Delhi, Aug 18: Taking a cue from Anna Hazare, a 68-year-old Pakistani businessman is set to go on hunger strike in Islamabad from Sep 12 to declare war on endemic corruption in his country.

Expressing his admiration for Hazare, Jehangeeer Akhtar complained that corruption was a far more serious disease in Pakistan.

Activist Akhtar wants the Pakistan parliament to pass an anti-corruption law — like what India is now planning.

‘I demand that an anti-corruption bill be presented in the National Assembly,’ said Akhtar, who has closely followed the anti-corruption war in India.

He said the Pakistani bill should be on the lines of what gets passed in India’s parliament.

‘Corruption in Pakistan is more than in India… bahut zyada (much more),’ Akhtar told IANS in a telephonic interview from Islamabad where he runs a photography business.

It is not the first time Akhtar will be taking up cudgels for a cause.

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New Delhi, Aug 17 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday criticized the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, over his statement on the arrest of veteran social activist Anna Hazare.

"If the Prime Minister concedes that he (Anna Hazare) has the right to protest, then conditions cannot be laid. The conditions that were laid were ridiculous. He (Hazare) asked to sit for one month, he would have sat for one month. To limit him to three days, which magic formula that works in three days? Gandhi told mediapersons outside the Parliament here.

"And then to arrest and then to release him on equally specious grounds, seems to make a mockery of democracy," she added.

Emphasising that Hazare may be inspired by high ideals in his campaign to set up a effective Lok Pal, the Prime Minister earlier in the day said the former had sought to impose his version of the Lokpal Bill which was "totally misconceived".

Making a statement on Hazare’s arrest in Parliament, Dr. Singh said: I acknowledge that Hazare may be inspired by high ideals in his campaign to set up a strong and effective Lok Pal. However, the path that he has chosen to impose his draft of a Bill upon Parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy."

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