In a bid to expedite the processing of initial public offerings (IPOs), the markets regulator will now seek additional information from lead managers (LMs) when they file draft documents. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) sent a letter to bankers, listing over two dozens of new disclosure requirements. The average time Sebi takes to clear the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) - a document companies must file before accessing public funds - has dropped to less than three months in 2024 (until May 31).
On July 25 and 26, the regulator's team carried out the surveillance of Air India in the areas of internal audit, accident prevention work and availability of required technical manpower.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir sought response from the Centre and the three intelligence wings for bringing the agencies under the oversight of Parliament and the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India report for 2010-11 on direct taxes, tabled in Parliament on Friday, revealed that 958 lakh (95.8 million) PANs were issued up to March 2010 but IT returns filed in the last fiscal were only 340.9 lakh (34.09 million).
The high court had dismissed the PIL relying on the apex court's decision of August 18, 2020, which refused a plea by NGO CPIL for the CAG audit of PM-CARES Fund.
The audit is under progress and the report is yet to be finalised. The information cannot be given under Section 8(1)(C) of the RTI Act as the disclosure would cause breach of Parliament, the CAG said.
Even the CBI has filed a case against some unknown officials of the DoT for conniving with private companies for manipulation of licence terms and conditions.
Amid a war of words between the government and the opposition over the recent Comptroller and Auditor General reports, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday cautioned that attempts by any organ of the state to overreach will unnecessarily lead to dissonance within the system.
Under attack from the opposition over the Comptroller and Auditor General report on coal blocks allocation, the government is all set to counter it through a nation-wide campaign by key ministers and partymen.
India discard Virender Sehwag scored a breezy 48 off just 20 balls as CAG (Comptroller &Auditor General of India) were involved in a tie with Mumbai Customs, in a concluding Group C league match of the Rs 12 lakh tenth All India Dr D.Y. Patil T20 Cup, organised by the D.Y Patil Sports Academy, under the auspices of the Mumbai Cricket Association, at the D Y Patil Stadium, in Nerul, Mumbai, on Wednesday.
This comes on the heels of the department of telecom appointing private auditors to look into the books of telcos after it was detected that some of the operators were diverting revenues in segments which attracted lower licence fee.
Taking potshots at Vinod Rai over his comment that placing reports in Parliament can't be the Comptroller and Auditor General's only role, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Friday asked whether the former intended to become the country's prime minister, if not an accountant.
Maharashtra Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Milind Deora has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into Rs 12,000 crore spent by Mumbai's civic body on road works between 2017 and 2022.
Defying doctor's advice, an unwell Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met CAG Shashi Kant Sharma to discuss the issue before going into a Cabinet meeting.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
With audits being taken up in a host of areas including private firms now, the process demands trained manpower.
The comments by a former official of the Comptroller and Auditor General over the report on 2G spectrum allocation on Friday kicked up a row with Congress President Sonia Gandhi suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party had been exposed while the government demanded answers from Parliament's PAC chief M M Joshi over his alleged role.
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.
Report says ineligible farmers given benefits.
Last month, then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had ordered a CAG scrutiny of private power distribution companies.
In his first response to the issue, Stalin, president of the ruling DMK, said Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) has already responded to the matter twice.
The 2G controversy rocked Parliament's Public Accounts Committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday with opposition parties demanding that former director general (Audit) R P Singh be summoned and asked why he differs with the Comptroller and Auditor General on the quantum of loss. With differences persisting, the meeting was adjourned. The meeting scheduled for Tuesday has also been postponed reportedly as Chhath festival falls on that day.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up the Defence Research Development Organisation pointing out "deficiencies" and "procedural irregularities" committed by it in taking up new projects and splitting sanctions for them to bring it within financial powers of the organisation head.
A special court on Saturday granted bail to four former Indian Air Force (IAF) officers in the AgustaWestland chopper deal corruption case after they appeared before it following summons issued on the last date of hearing.
The winter session of the Parliament will begin on November 22, it was officially announced on Friday.
Giving another twist to the 2G spectrum allocation controversy, a former comptroller and auditor general official has questioned the CAG's estimates of presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. "After completing the audit of the ministry of telecom, which was under my direct charge, I prepared a draft audit report covering each and every aspect. My report did not contain any loss figure," said former director general of CAG R P Singh.
With investors asking for a change in the board structure at Byju's, the edtech giant's founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Byju Raveendran, is now asking them to put $300 million into the company for more control. The company has rung up $5.8 billion from investors such as General Atlantic, Sofina, the Qatar Investment Authority, Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, BlackRock, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia, Silver Lake, Bond Capital, Tencent, and Tiger Global.
We will now get CAG to do the audit for the last 3-4 years, says the secretary.
Every third child in Gujarat is underweight, says the CAG
The fresh remarks made by Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai against the UPA dispensation Friday triggered a war of words, with the government attacking him and the opposition throwing its weight behind him.
The situation raises concerns about whether the promised freebies will once again push the state into a revenue deficit.
A high level committee, which went into alleged financial irregularities in Commonwealth Games, has strongly indicted suspended Prasar Bharti CEO B S Lalli and Doordarshan Director General Aruna Sharma, accusing them of "collusion" with a UK-based firm which benefited Rs 135 crore in the broadcast deal.
Did former CAG Vinod Rai exceed his brief? Was he, as some in the government alleged, planning a post-retirement life in politics (which he had refuted many times)? Or did he strengthen the agency's constitutional mandate by refusing to toe the government line and maintaining a fierce independent streak?
The Public Accounts Committee of Delhi assembly has started examining the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the Commonwealth Games, which had indicted Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her government for alleged irregularities in the implementation of various projects. In its first meeting on Tuesday, a number of senior officials from the public works department deposed before the nine-member PAC headed by senior Congress member Prahlad Singh Sawhney.
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.
Activist Arvind Kejriwal's allegations against Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid are based on an inspection report by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Armed with the Supreme Court observation, the government on Friday said constitutional authorities like the Comptroller and Auditor General should take note of the ruling that auction is not the only method for allocating natural resources.
It wasn't Kumar Mangalam Birla alone; the Hindalco mine allocation turned the spotlight on the PM and the Odisha CM.
