Stung by the CAG's interim report which has found discrepancies in some deals, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) on Thursday defended its broadcasting rights deal with Fast Track despite a high commission paid to them, saying the UK company had doubled the revenue target.
Mergers to create at most six state banks
There is nothing sinister or diabolic about Union minister Kapil Sibal's latest argument regarding the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India pertaining to the loss to the exchequer from 2G telecom licences in 2007.
The day after the closing ceremony, the Prime Minister's Office had asked the OC to make sure all documents were kept safe.
With the heat over the 2G telecom spectrum scam rising, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Thursday recommended the cancellation of 34 telecom licences of companies, including Etisalat, Uninor, Loop Telecom and Siestema, due to non-compliance of roll-out obligations.
He may be cooling his heels in Delhi's Tihar Jail for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam, but the developmental work and the projects he executed in this reserved constituency are the main plank of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is facing a tough competition from arch-rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
In its communication to DoT, the DGA said the department had granted new unified access service licences to certain companies without proper verification of their eligibility and other credentials.
Apex auditor CAG on Friday lamented that private telecom operators are not providing their account books to it, despite a request from the government.
Nearly 800 employees started the strike on February 3 alleging gross mismanagement of funds by the top management and demanded a thorough audit of ICAI by comptroller and auditor general.
Bureaucrats's memoirs are usually insipid versions of events and steer clear of controversy. Former Union home secretary C G Somiah, who retired as India's Comptroller and Auditor General, has chosen to take a refreshingly frank route in his autobiography The Honest Always Stand Alone (Niyogi Books).
The government on Tuesday tabled in Parliament the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on 2G spectrum allocation, whose reported extracts have created a political storm and led to the resignation of Telecom Minister A Raja.
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).
Many will hope this is the beginning of a new phase in Dr Singh's tenure, when he lets his office, the government, his council of ministers, his party and coalition and the country know that he means business, that the buck stops with him, that his colleagues and officers must shape up or ship out, says Sanjaya Baru
Equity investments in 82 public sector enterprises have been completely eroded due to accumulated losses, an audit of financial statements conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India revealed.
In what is seen as a significant move, the DAP featured measures to reduce delay in procurement of essential items by the three services as it proposed a new enabling provision to acquire them through capital budget under a simplified procedure in a time-bound manner.
The Defence Minister should make a statement and clarify what is the reason and why it is being purchased after its price has been escalated 20 times," CPM leader Basudeb Acharia said in Lok Sabha. He was promptly supported by former Defence Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
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.
'These trends put at risk not only minorities or the media or some other out-of-favour group, they can and do concern everyone,' warns T N Ninan.
Seeking the government's assurance to the House that it would not henceforth enter into "such dubious deals" with the United States, Basudeb Acharia of the Communist Party of India-Marxist asked why the government bought the 1971 vintage vessel for $50 million when the US Navy had decided in 2003 that it was not suitable for modernisation and should be decommissioned in 2006.
The Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG) of India has rapped Maharashtra Government for giving 'undue benefit of over Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million)' to controversial Satyam Computer Services Ltd by selling land at lower rates in Multimodal International Hub Airport (MIHAN) project at Nagpur.
The auditor of government accounts, CAG, has faulted the Income Tax department for levying Rs 708.6 crore less in taxes from companies including State Bank of India, Tata Sons, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bharti.
The accrual-based financial statements are expected to provide more appropriate presentation of financial performance and position of the government, said the government statement. The Union and states would have a common format of financial statements that would include a balance sheet, a statement of financial performance and a cash flow statement.
With the expected launch of The People's Liberation Army (Navy)'s second aircraft carrier on April 23, China will match India in carrier numbers.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India no longer enjoys the tax exemptions it got in the guise of being a charitable organisation but the government does not plan to bring it under the ambit of audit by Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the apex audit body, has decided to audit the accounts of five telcos-- Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Tata, Vodafone and the state-run BSNL-- for 2009-10.
The report for the period ended March 2009, presented in the assembly by Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi, who holds charge of the finance department, said revenue receipts between 2008-09 increased by Rs 4770.97 crore (Rs 47.7 billion) mainly due to grants-in-aid and share of Union taxes from the Centre.
In its report for the year ended March 31, 2008, the CAG has expressed serious concern over deficiencies like 'non-provision of the envisaged job guarantee to rural poor, fake payment of wages and delay in payment of wages to labourers'.
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.
He also cautioned against politicisation of defence purchases, suggesting that this had earlier led to the delay in the army acquiring the Bofors gun.
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) on Monday sacked some of the previous officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, including Team India's media manager Nishant Arora.
If suitable action is not taken in corruption cases, it becomes normalised in society, the prime minister said. When a generation sees that a corrupt person in the family is let off without or very little punishment, their courage to indulge in corrupt activities grows manifolds, he said.
It was planned to add 2,000 kms of new lines, convert 10,000 km of metre/narrow gauge into broad gauge, double the 6,000 km of single track and electrify 3,500 km of routes during the 11th Plan.
If CAG indicts Raja, will action be taken? asks Business Standard.
The police department had 49,143 units of weapons, of which 11,232 or about 23 per cent, were obsolete, the CAG report for the year ended March 31, 2009 said. There was also shortage of weapons as per Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) norms.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night alleged that a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had found that Rs 50,000 crore was unaccounted for and 'missing from the central government's coffers'."The country wants to know from Prime Minster Manmohan Singh about this money that has simply vanished," Modi said. Training guns on Dr Singh, Modi said the country should know whether the huge sum of "missing money was being used for the elections."
"This is a big scam. The country is being looted. Please allow us to speak," Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
This follows a letter by RIL to the ministry, justifying the increase in capex.
Acting as external auditor to World Health Organisation, CAG flagged a number of risks associated with the execution of the Global Management System project, where Satyam happens to be the key contractor. The $55.5 million project was initially targeted to go live in September 2007, but was given its first extension until December 2007, then a second until March 2008 and a third until June 2008, the auditor said.
A new Congress leader may make an electoral impact by his very presence. Congress voters who had moved away from the party, after being influenced by the BJP's 'family rule' campaign, can now return with a certain moral satisfaction, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Comptroller and Auditor General report for 2008, released in New Delhi, also questioned the prudence of the Ministry in buying the second-hand Russian warship, which now comes at 'half its life-span and about "60 per cent more expensive' than a new aircraft carrier.
