Agitated over its finding in the coal mine allocation issue, Congress on Monday targeted the Comptroller and Auditor General again by utilising the opinion of the Supreme Court on the 2G spectrum issue. Noting certain observations of the apex court in the 2G case, spokesperson Manish Tewari said, "If the Supreme Court can be so circumspect in its observations, is it not essential that other constitutional bodies, especially the CAG, should follow suit?".
After conducting a few pilot studies, the government is in the process of introducing a new accounting system in a phased manner that would provide an effective way to track and assess assets created out of public money.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday questioned the safety of the Signature Bridge in East Delhi after the Comptroller and Auditor General objected to allowing use of pre-fabricated steel frames imported from China for its construction. "It is a serious issue that there is no mechanism with the Delhi Government to check the quality of material and fabrication work being done in China. This raises concern about the safety of the bridge," BJP leader Vijay Goel said.
The deadlock in Parliament over the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on coal blocks allocation continued on Monday with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Opposition sticking to its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation. Both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha have been adjourned till noon.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday targeted Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai suggesting he has a political agenda like one of his controversial predecessors T N Chaturvedi, who had given a report on Bofors issue and soon after joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Railway officials also indicated that possible 'sabotage' and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
CAG's report on Hydrocarbon Exploration Efforts of ONGC, which was tabled in Parliament today, expressed concern at the company's lack of adequate efforts and results in new fields and wanted the Oil Ministry to reset annual targets set out in memorandum of understanding that the firm signs with the government.
In a draft audit report on the KG-DWN-98/3, or KG-D6, block, the Comptroller and Auditor General said the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons allowed Reliance to hike capital expenditure for developing Dhirubhai-1 and 3, the largest of 18 gas finds in the block, by 117 per cent.
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.
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.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday said that a Comptroller Auditor General inquiry should be conducted into expenditure made during Maha Kumbh Mela at Allahabad.
Politics over its critical reports on scams echoed in the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Comptroller and Auditor General on Wednesday when Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi praised Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for defending both the CAG and the PAC when they came under attack.
Communist party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat on Sunday said the letter from the Prime Minister's Office to Team Anna defending corruption allegations against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not give any clarity on the matter.
Bharatiya Janjata Party veteran L K Advani's suggestion for a collegium to appoint Election Commissioners and Comptroller and Auditor General was on Tuesday backed by United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Some of them have ambitious plans to fight the slowdown, while some would seek to revive their image.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has found gross financial mismanagement and irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission at almost every level in Uttar Pradesh.
Team Anna on Saturday clubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee with 13 other cabinet ministers, whom they accused of corruption, which the Congress dismissed as "unsubstantiated averments" that need not be responded to.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is expected to complete the special audit of the accounts of KG Basin oil and gas fields of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) by February next year, a top official said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday criticised the roles of the Department of Space and its former secretary, G Madhavan Nair, in the Antrix-Devas deal, saying the deal was a "classic case of public investment for private profit".
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha Tapan Sen, in an interview to Rediff.com, explains what he believes are the irregularities committed by Reliance Industries and how UPA government has allowed it to get away with it.
Vinod Rai, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India till May and probably the most talked-about government official in the last few years, participated in a Live Chat with readers of Rediff.com on Friday.
Under fire over allegations levelled by a former Comptroller and Auditor General official on its report on 2G spectrum allocation, Murli Manohar Joshi on Friday said the "hurried" statement of Sonia Gandhi attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party has only exposed the Congress.
Around 29,533 candidates who got registered at the state district employment exchanges are not likely to get jobs because of computer errors, caused by the staff at these exchanges, and usage of outdated technology, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
After the flop 2G spectrum auction that yielded only Rs 9,407 crore, government and the Congress on Thursday questioned the Comptroller and Auditor General's estimated loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore in the spectrum allocation of 2001, drawing fire from the opposition. Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari led the government attack by asking CAG Vinod Rai why the spectrum auction had not yielded anything close to the loss it had estimated.
Newly appointed Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma is is approachable and friendly, not forbidding, say his former colleagues.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a PIL challenging appointment of Shashi Kant Sharma as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The Press Trust of India on Sunday in its report quoted Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office V Narayanasamy as having said that converting the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) into a multi-member body was under consideration of the government. The minister, however, said that he was misquoted.
Outgoing Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Tuesday dismissed charges that he was behind the leak of controversial audit reports on 2G spectrum and coal block allocations.
The Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG) on Friday came down heavily on the environment ministry for lapses in implementation of its green schemes whether it was for afforestation, biodiversity, pollution control or creating awareness.
The Congress on Wednesday castigated the Bharatiya Janata Party for 'dragging' the name of Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Commonwealth Games mess.
The Commonwealth Games mess rocked Parliament for the second day on Tuesday as opposition National Democratic Alliance stalled the Question Hour in both the Houses and demanded resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the wake Comptroller and Auditor General observations against her.
The government on Monday firmly rejected the Opposition's contention that the CAG had indicted the Prime Minister's Office on the Commonwealth Games issue and insisted that constitutional processes must be followed before blaming anyone.
With the Opposition gunning for Sheila Dikshit, the Delhi government on Monday claimed that there was no indictment of the chief minister or any other political leader in the report on Commonwealth Games projects by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Noting that the government has gone through the report of the CAG, Delhi Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said it has neither indicted Dikshit nor any other political personality.