Debate and accountability must co-exist, says leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley
Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday indicating that it would continue to obstruct the Parliament to demand Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over Comptroller and Auditor General's report on coal block allocations, the government is likely to make an attempt on Monday to convene an all-party meet to end the logjam.
The government on Friday launched a counter-offensive on the coal block allocation controversy maintaining that Comptroller and Auditor General's concept of presumptive loss was flawed and there was no loss because no mining has taken place as yet.
Will the current session of the Lok Sabha, which is witnessing turmoil due to Bhartiya Janta Party's demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over the Coalgate, get adjourned sine die? As the deadlock between the United Progressive Alliance and BJP continues, the adjournment of the Lok Sabha sine die seems to be the only option left, notes Sheela Bhatt.
With the Opposition targeting the government over Comptroller and Auditor General report on coal allocation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is geared up to rebut in Parliament the charges, contending that there were 'inaccuracies' in the 'misleading' assessment of loss of Rs 1.85 lakh crore.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said it will continue to mount pressure to demand resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the government on the issue of CAG report on coal block allocation, in an indication that Parliament is likely to be stalled for the second successive day.
Union Minister Rajiv Shukla was on Tuesday caught in a controversy as he was heard telling Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the House after the opposition created uproar over Comptroller and Auditor General report on coal blocks allotment to private firms.
The Comptroller and Auditor-General's report on the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) as a public-private partnership (PPP) project makes several valid points, but presents a seemingly factual but fundamentally misleading picture of the total financial outcome.
We are going to deliver 36 aircraft. If the government of India wants more aircraft, we will be pleased to deliver, he said.
With the Comptroller and Auditor General reports on three critical sectors expected to be tabled in Parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that the government will effectively counter any Opposition attack on these issues.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit also cancelled the leases of Amrapali's properties granted by the Noida and Greater Noida authorities and directed the Enforcement Directorate to investigate alleged money laundering by CMD Anil Sharma and other directors and senior officials of the group.
The curious dealings of Robert Vadra have become even more curious, with a bank mentioned in the balance sheet of one of his companies denying it ever undertook a transaction clearly stated in the firm's auditor's report.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has come down heavily on the Department of Space, particularly on its former Secretary G Madhavan Nair, in the controversial Antrix-Devas deal alleging numerous rules and policies were violated and facts concealed to favour a private company.
The company had initially objected to audit by CAG for time barred years as per Production Sharing Contract and had not accepted the 'exceptional circumstances' advanced by the ministry
DLF extends fall on corporate governance issues, down 10% in two days DLF is trading lower by 2.2% at Rs 219, extending its previous day's over 7.4% after Arvind Kejriwal, a social activist-turned-politician has accused the real estate developer of favouring Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, with easy loans for some undue gains.
Audit firm points out that the accounting rules do not permit companies to give interest-free loans even to their subsidiaries.
The report noted that the 2007 UPA deal included a 15 per cent bank guarantee against advance payments.
Vicky Nanjappa accessed the CAG report on illegal mining in Karnataka and finds out that the in the face of losses worth thousands of crores, the state administration had only been able to recover just Rs 7.22 crore
Observing that the "CAG is not a munim (accountant)" the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the Comptroller and Auditor General's power to conduct performance audit of controversial allocation of coal blocks by the UPA government.
These recommendations are based on interactions held by the Banks Board Bureau with eligible candidates from PSBs towards appointment against vacancies in PSBs for the period 2018-19
Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia on Saturday said loss is a matter of fact and profit and gain is a matter of opinion, remarks that came against the backdrop of raging controversies over valuation of natural resources.
Against the backdrop of claims made by a former Comptroller and Auditor General official on its report on 2G spectrum, the government on Monday favoured a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the "serious" matter.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is understood to have questioned the government's reasoning to order 111 planes for Air India for almost Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) in 2006.
Former Comptroller and Auditor General official R P Singh, who has stirred a controversy, has rejected the allegations that the Congress has put him up to defend the government on the audit report on 2G spectrum allocation which had estimated the presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
Softening its stand on CAG audit, Reliance Industries has agreed to a scrutiny of its expenses in the flagging KG-D6 gas block by the official auditor even after expiry of the contractual period.
Amid allegations and counter-allegations over the Comptroller and Auditor General's figure of presumptive losses in 2G allocation, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Saturday demanded that the CAG explain the issue to clear the air over the matter.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan is likely to approach the Supreme Court next week to seek cancellation of the controversial allocation of coal blocks and an independent probe on the lines of the 2G spectrum allocation case he had filed. Bhushan said he is collecting documents regarding the coal block allocation, which the Comptroller and Auditor General has found fault with, and preparing a detailed complaint.
In a proposal to FinMin, the Banks Board Bureau suggests asset sales to PSUs within a deadline to recover bad loans.
After attacking the Comptroller and Auditor General, Union Minister of State in PMO V Narayanasamy Sunday demanded an apology from Bharatiya Janata Party for "misleading" the people that the 2G spectrum allocation in 2008 had resulted in a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
The minister joined other Congress leaders in questioning the CAG for the estimated loss, in the wake of the current auction.
Close on the heels of his indictment by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal has come under the lens of the office of the Charity Commissioner which has ordered inspection of a building owned by his family-run trust for violation of rules.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday targetted Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for his alleged involvement in illegal land allotment to a prominent movie producer and demanded that he should be sacked if he does not step down immediately.
The Comptroller & Auditor General of India has castigated the Maharashtra government for alleged irregularities in the sale and allotment of land in the past eight years, resulting in loss to the exchequer.
Indira Awaas Yojana, a social welfare programme started to provide homes to the poorest of the poor, has fallen prey to rampant corruption in Bihar, the latest Comptroller and Auditor General report has said.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh took a dig at Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Thursday asking why does he not stop leak of reports from his office, a day after the latter deprecated the "brazenness" with which the decisions were being taken by the government.
The Comptroller and Auditor General on Tuesday declined to join a public debate on the controversies over its findings on the coal blocks allocation, which have come under attack from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Congress and critics.
Delhi airport has been losing money for the past six years because of the heavy interest burden on loans.
The United Progressive Alliance government in its robust defence has rubbished Comptroller and Auditor General's charges against the allotment of coal mines and its estimate of losses to the exchequer.
Reliance Industries on Saturday said it had never contested the government's right to get the company's spending on KG-D6 gas fields audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General but hoped it will not be subjected to a performance audit."RIL has at no time contested the government's right to conduct an audit by any agency, including the CAG, as provided in Section 1.9 of the Accounting Procedure of the PSC," the company said in a statement on Saturday evening.
Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party paralyses Parliament on the allocation of coal blocks by the Centre, its own government in Chhattisgarh had come under attack from Comptroller and Auditor General for allocating coal blocks at 'abnormally low' rates that led to a loss of over Rs 1,052 crore.
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