India: Anna Cancels Hyderabad Tour to Attend Par Session

NEW DELHI (NNN-PTI) -- Anticipating that the Lokpal Bill will be tabled in Parliament, Anna Hazare has cancelled his visit to Hyderabad and will return to Delhi to be in the House. -- NNN-PTI

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INDIAN GOV'T EXPECTED TO INTRODUCE ANTI-GRAFT LOKPAL BILL IN PARLIAMENT THIS MONTH: MINISTER

NEW DELHI, Dec. 18 (NNN-Xinhua) -- The Indian government Saturday said that it will introduce the Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill in the current session of Parliament.

"The Lokpal Bill will certainly be introduced in this Parliament session," Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The Minister's assurance came hours after India's anti-graft activist Anna Hazare has threatened to go on a hunger strike again if the Lokpal Bill is not introduced in the current session of Parliament.

In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the 74- year-old Gandhian wrote: "You (Prime Minister) yourself assured in your letter that the bill will be passed in this session. We postponed our agitation based on your assurance. The session is ending on Dec. 23."

"I am doubtful that the Lokpal bill will be passed in this session. You and your government has assured us a number of times the bill will be passed in this session. If a strong and effective bill doesn't get passed, then I will be forced to sit on an indefinite fast from Dec. 27."

Hazare is currently in the southern city of Bangalore to hold a protest march. -- NNN-XINHUA