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.
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.
With Digvijay Singh causing a flutter by targeting Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai and suggesting that he has a political agenda, the government on Friday said there was no need for Constitutional authorities to be "touchy and sensitive" about criticism.
Nirupam had filed a defamation case against Rai after the former CAG in his book in 2014 made the allegation against him and repeated it in interviews to the media.
Defending the proactive approach of the CAG, Rai emphasised that the job of the public auditor was also to ensure that executive and the government are held financially accountable to legislature.
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) will demit office after the BCCI AGM here on Wednesday, ending a tumultuous 33-month tenure.
He said the benchmark against which the auditors examine and assess the performance of the departments are not created by them, but by the government itself.
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.
Atishi, former Delhi chief minister and MLA from Kalkaji constituency, was chosen as the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly at a meeting of AAP MLAs on Sunday. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was also present at the meeting. Atishi, who was proposed by MLA Sanjeev Jha, thanked Kejriwal and the MLAs for their support. She promised to play a strong opposition role in the House, raise issues with full force, and ensure the BJP fulfils its promises. The first session of the Delhi Assembly will begin on February 24, with the BJP government planning to table pending CAG reports against the performance of the previous AAP government.
Atishi alleged that the BJP had disrespected BR Ambedkar by removing his portrait from the chief minister's office.
Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Saturday said that he did not foresee any dilution in the powers of CAG if the organisation is converted into a multi-member body.
Amid the storm over alleged kickbacks in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Friday said an audit of the controversial deal is under progress and a report would be released soon.
In a first, the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) officers reached out to several ministries in the last week of April as part of a confidence-boosting measure. The meeting brought the CAG officials and those from the ministries across the table to discuss the pain points in their relations. CAG of India Girish Chandra Murmu took this novel step because of growing tensions between those audited and the auditor.
While the BJP has assured voters that these benefits will not be discontinued, AAP leaders have questioned the party's long-term commitment.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, whose report on a presumed loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2G spectrum allocation created a storm in Parliament, will appear before the Public Accounts Committee on Monday.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, whose report on a presumed loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2G spectrum allocation created a storm in Parliament, will appear before the Public Accounts Committee on Monday.
Edulji and former CAG Rai often disagreed publicly on key issues, most notably over the appointment of national coaches, both men and women.
Vinod Rai, a 1972 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, took oath on Monday as the country's new Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Rai, who replaced V N Kaul, was administered the oath of office by President Pratibha Patil at a brief function at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram were among the dignitaries present at the ceremony.
His appointment will be effective from the date he assumes charge of his office, an official statement said on Monday. An Indian Administrative Service officer of Kerala cadre, 1972 batch, Rai will take over from V N Kaul.
Former Comptroller Auditor General Vinod Rai has come out with a stinging criticism of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying integrity is not just financial but intellectual and professional too and claimed that Congress leaders had sought to apply pressure on him to keep the PM's name out of audit reports.
Former CAG Vinod Rai said he will not take a single rupee in remuneration from the government for his work.
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.
Currently, the appointment is at he discretion of the Prime Minister. It needs to be more transparent and non-partisan.
With over half the Plan funds that Parliament approves being spent through non-government channels, to cite the figure in CAG Vinod Rai's presentation to the Planning Commission, members of the Parliament have no way of knowing whether the money is properly spent.
As CAG found Reliance Industries was being favoured in gas exploration deal to the government's detriment, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the then top auditor Vinod Rai that audit should not hurt the private sector and RIL was one of the biggest and most respected.
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.
Instead of only government departments and state-owned undertakings, the CAG can now audit private companies, too.
Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Monday appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which is probing the 2G spectrum scam, to explain how the government auditor quantified the losses in the spectrum allocation at Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Rai was asked to brief the Committee, chaired by Congress leader P C Chacko, on the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum during 1998 to 2009.
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.
'Vinod Rai has been complete failure in implementing Lodha reforms'
With his new book creating a major controversy, former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Tuesday said he has nothing personal against former prime minister Manmohan Singh, but all the "acclaim and the blame" has to be taken by the head of the government.
Having cut off the "umbilical cord" that tied him to the Board, the former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) spoke to PTI on a range of issues from "giving a free hand" to the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri duo, Anil Kumble's exit as national coach, his frosty relationship with colleague Diana Edulji, sexual harassment allegations against BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and difficulties in implementing the Supreme Court-mandated Lodha recommendations.
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.
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.
'We appointed the CAC as an ad-hoc body to specifically appoint the head coach of the men's national team. We as COA found that there was no Conflict of Interest'
As industrialist Vijay Mallya fights his wilful defaulter tag, former CAG Vinod Rai has said Kingfisher Airlines' loan default is just a "trickle" and the overall problem of huge bad loans at public sector banks can be blamed on 'cronies' using connections to borrow money.
He replaced Vinod Rai, who superannuated on Wednesday after five-and-a-half years of eventful tenure as the head of CAG.
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