Some of Bharatiya Janata Party's allies have proposed a "via media" which could end the current impasse in Parliament over "coalgate" which disrupted Parliament all of this week.
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.
A meeting of leaders of political parties, called by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari to break the deadlock in the House over coal block allocation issue, remained inconclusive on Thursday.
As the Opposition paralysed Parliament over the CAG report on coal block allocations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the government is ready for any discussion and give satisfactory answers to all issues raised.
Rapping the government for its failure to timely implement the competitive bidding mechanism for allocation of coal blocks, CAG on Friday said part of the Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss could have been partially tapped had the procedure been put in place earlier.
The attendance of former Board of Control for Cricket in India chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan and ex-secretary Niranjan Shah at a recent Special General Meeting (SGM) of the cricket body as a nominee of state cricket associations today came under close scrutiny of the Supreme Court.
RIL stated on Saturday that it had never contested the government's right to get spendings on the flagging KG-D6 gas fields audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India but added that the consent must not lead to a performance audit of a private firm.
Edulji and former CAG Rai often disagreed publicly on key issues, most notably over the appointment of national coaches, both men and women.
Launching a month-long campaign ahead of assembly elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday raised the coal issue, accusing the Congress of whipping up an atmosphere of anger against the CAG like it did against the Supreme Court in the 2G case.
CAG has said the government suffered a presumptive loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore (Rs 1.86 trillion) in coal block allocations during 2004-2008, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held the coal portfolio.
"It is reiterated that the petitioners are using documents with the intention to present a selective and incomplete picture of internal secret deliberations on a matter relating to national security and defence," the defence ministry said.
Amidst the storm over CAG report on coal block allocation, the Prime Minister's Office has expressed displeasure over inaction by the Coal Ministry in cancelling blocks where mining has not taken place and asked it to expedite the matter by September 6.
The eighth consecutive day of Parliament was lost on Friday due to the uproar created by the Bharatiya Janata Party over coal block allocations, raising the prospect of a washout of the remaining part of the Monsoon Session, which ends on September 7. Uproarious scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the last seven days, with the CAG report on the coal block allocation issue creating turmoil with the BJP paralysing the proceedings.
62-year-old Sampath will take over as CEC after incumbent S Y Quraishi demits office on June 10.
Parliament was adjourned once again on Thursday amid din as Bharatiya Janata Party persisted with its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation provoking Congress members to raise slogans.
The prime minister, who is under attack over the allocation during 2005-2009 when he held the coal portfolio, has been waiting to make a statement since last week but could not do so because of disruption caused by Opposition, mainly BJP.
The government on Tuesday scotched speculation that the monsoon Session of Parliament will be curtailed and both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will adjourn sine die.
Rejecting the Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that bribes were paid to it in coal blocks allocation, the Congress on Monday dared it to make public any proof it had and asked the opposition party to "look within" as its former president had been jailed for graft.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party disrupted the Parliament on the coal block issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday attacked the party and dared it to have a debate in the House to let the country judge the truth.
In a scathing attack on the government on the 2G spectrum auction issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party said low bidding has vindicated the CAG stand that not going for auctions in 2008 had led to a huge loss.
An advocate, who appeared for many telecom companies in 2G case, suggested that govt should ask SC to restore 122 licenses.
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.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday said it would decide its strategy on the coal block allocation issue on the basis of a statement Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may make in Parliament on the matter.
The United Progressive Alliance is expected to put up a united face on Wednesday to counter opposition demand for resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Comptroller and Auditor General reports on coal block allocation and two other issues.
According to a 2010 CAG report on warship building, this year the navy will have just 44 per cent of the destroyers it needs; 61 per cent of the frigates; and 20 per cent of its requirement of corvettes, reports Ajai Shukla.
'I would have expected that, once firmly ensconced in the director's chair by 2:15 am, the not-director of the CBI would have called for pen and paper and hand-written a few clean chits.' 'Clean chits over Rafale; clean chits to the PM's secretary in the coal bribery case; a clean chit to Hasmukh Adhia on whatever claim Subramanian Swamy has cooked up about him...' says Mihir Sharma.
Reliance Industries on Wednesday assailed reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General and expert P Gopalakrishnan, which have alleged the company got undue benefits pertaining to Krishna-Godavari basin gas and its pricing.
The coal-gate involving Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in allocation of the coal mines to private parties is set to put Parliament on fire beginning its monsoon session on Wednesday as the CAG report is ready for presentation which will provide ammunition to opposition to fire at the government for the massive scam.
This is Sourav Ganguly's second term in office after he became CAB president in 2015 following the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya.
This, said Sitharaman, would remove the possibility of unauthorised communication "and consequent harassment", which was a cause of concern for bankers.
Agrees with RIL's stand that CAG cannot do a performance audit of the company.
The erstwhile Bahujan Samaj Party government's decision to transfer over 500 acres of land to the Noida Authority in 2009 has resulted in a whopping Rs 2,600 crore loss to the state exchequer, the Comptroller General of India has pointed out.
India desperately needs to ugrade the armed forces's war-fighting capabilities and tackle the problem of ammunition deficiency if it is to fight and win on the battlefields of the 21st century, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
After the 2G spectrum scam, the focus is now on the coal scam which has cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 1.86 lakh crore.
Singhvi said for this government it seems national security is not important.
The CAG report had alleged the government had passed on financial gains of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to private companies by not auctioning the coal blocks.
"Our demand is that the PM and the government should resign. The CAG reports are not the only issue as there are so many complaints and cases of corruption. There are scams worth lakhs of crore of rupees but perpetrators are being protected. That is why we have decided that we will confront the government till the time it resigns and we will not stop," senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu told reporters outside Parliament.
The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered by over 88 points in early trade today after yesterday's losses on emergence of buying by funds and retailers, tracking a firming trend in Asian markets.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Wednesday asserted in the Supreme Court that it did not receive any favour from the government in the contract for exploration of oil and gas from Krishna-Godavari basin.
