Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Monday briefed the Public Accounts Committee about his report in the 2G spectrum allocation. His report on a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2G spectrum allocation had created a storm in Parliament and outside. The PAC, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party veteran leader Murli Manohar Joshi, is examining the controversial allocation of 2G radio waves and Rai apprised the committee of how the audit looked into the whole issue.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja was being questioned again at the headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation in New Delhi on Saturday in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom firms.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja today questioned in the Supreme Court the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) finding that the exchequer had suffered a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in the allocation of 2G spectrum, terming the figure as "mind boggling and speculative".
For over a year Sanjay Chandra, managing director of the Unitech group, has been under a cloud for various reasons.
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.
Flanked by the Trinamool Congress chief, Naidu attacked the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre alleging that institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department, Reserve Bank of India and Comptroller Auditor General are under "severe pressure".
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
Nine companies were given new licences in January 2008.
The cross-Line of Control surgical strikes, policy towards Pakistan, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, besides One Rank, One Pension and the plight of farmers were also among issues that were raised at the meeting with parties demanding discussion on them.
Altogether 41,663 farmers in 383 villages in Washim, Yavatmal, Amravati and Buldhana districts of Vidarbha region were covered in the sample survey. Those reporting land holding in range of two to six hectares were 40 per cent and around six per cent reported land holding of more than six hectares, CAG said. Only eight per cent farmers confirmed visit of any government official in 2006, the report said.
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'.
"Before entering into any contract, the government will go through all details. We will assess the criticism, including that of CAG, on the issue. At present, the Gorshkov price escalation is in negotiation stage. Nothing has been finalised," Defence Minister A K Antony said during Question Hour.
The Defence Ministry on Saturday said it would probe allegations of the Army spending Rs 1.17 crore on golf carts from special funds. Referring to the Comptroller and Auditor General slamming chiefs of the Army's Northern and Western Commands for alleged misuse of special financial powers during April 2002 and August 2007, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said that "irregularities, if any, will be addressed."
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Monday reported multiple irregularities in the accounts of units under the IT and telecom ministries, including purchases of hardware and software worth Rs 890 crore by NICSI in contravention of rules. In its audit report for financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged anomalies in the decision taken by state-run telecom firm BSNL, C-DoT, the Department of Posts, ITI Limited and CDAC that had adverse financial implications. "NICSI procured hardware and software costing Rs 890.34 crore through the 'Strategic Alliance' route in contravention of General Financial Rules, 2005 and departmental instructions and thus failed to ensure transparency and competitiveness in the procurement process," according to the CAG report tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday.
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.
The Comptroller and Auditor General slammed the army for the poor quality of food items supplied to troops in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast on Tuesday, noting that the rations had rotted in some cases.
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.
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."
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 DoT is acting as a liaison between telecom companies and the CAG for an audit by the latter.
The state government allotted 50 acres of land near Visakhapatnam to Satyam Computer in December 2008 at a concessional rate of Rs 10 lakh.
State owned public sector undertakings have turned into white elephants for one of the most poor states.
CAG has come a long way from an institution created to set the British finances right after the 1857 revolt.
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.
According to an interim report of the government audit body, the loss should have been Rs 8,589.1 crore (Rs 85.89 billion), instead of Rs 5,551 crore (Rs 55.51 billion) as has been shown in the account books, sources said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General on Monday said that the audit of certain activities of Department of Space were under way but made it clear that media reports on alleged scam in a deal between ISRO and a private firm cannot be concluded as its "findings".
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India plans to focus on infrastructure companies and banks for special audit during the current financial year.
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.
"The figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore (Rs 1.76 trillion) arrived at by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India is utterly erroneous," Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs has decided to prescribe time limits for various activities following representations from the trade and recommendations from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India
More than 120 eminent citizens, including retired high court judges and former bureaucrats, have written to President Droupadi Murmu opposing what they called "highly objectionable attempts" to legalise same-sex marriages.
This follows a letter by RIL to the ministry, justifying the increase in capex.
The defence ministry's new procurement policy is causing delays.
Replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, he said CAG in its audit observations has pointed out financial irregularities of Rs 1404.32 crore (Rs 14.04 billion) in its 2008 report and Rs 4547.63 crore (Rs 45.47 billion) in the 2007 report. Deshmukh said CAG has also pointed out reasons for deficiencies in the accounts of PSUs.
"At several occasions our leadership has given public statements on the issue. Each and every step in the process of the refit of the aircraft carrier is monitored by Indian navy's technical team and they have never raised objections," Vyacheslav Davidenko, the official spokesman for the Rosoboronexport state corporation, told PTI in Moscow.
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.
Tribal students in Jharkhand, who were given textbooks free of cost, could not use them as there were no "qualified teachers" to teach tribal languages, a Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report has said. The government in 2003 decided to introduce tribal languages for class I to V, it said.
In 2001, George Fernandes was in the cross hairs of the Comptroller and Auditor General over the purchase of allegedly overpriced coffins for soldiers killed in battle. Seven years later, the CAG has zeroed in on Fernandes' pet project -- a new ordnance factory in his parliamentary constituency, Nalanda, to manufacture 155 mm ammunition for Bofors guns -- slamming it as a poorly planned project that was rushed through urgently.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Friday criticised the previous National Democratic Alliance government for undervaluation of a number of public sector units, including Balco and VSNL, where equity was divested.\n\n
