BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde has been appointed Chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), a post vacated by expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
Amid furore over coal blocks allocation, the government will place its views before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee by September 14 on the observations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General. "The coal ministry will submit its comments to the PAC on CAG's observations on coal blocks allocations by September 14," said a top coal ministry official.
Criticising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for making a statement on the CAG report on coal block allocation in Lok Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it will continue to demand his resignation and boycott the "corrupt" government in Parliament.
Though the 2G scam may be revolving around A Raja, Parliament's Public Accounts Committee chief M M Joshi has rejected demands from some members for calling the former telecom minister who is in jail. Joshi has argued that calling Raja would involve long processes as he in judicial custody and that there are enough records and witness statements to "draw conclusions".
Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati and Law Secretary D R Meena have been called by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee to give evidence in its probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.The committee, which has also called Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Principal Secretary in Prime Minister's Office T K A Nair and Central Bureau of Investigation Director A P Singh, have asked all of them to depose before it on April 15-16.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said Murli Manohar Joshi will continue as chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee for 2011-12, currently looking into anomalies in the 2G spectrum scam, as he is doing a "good job".
The 2G controversy rocked Parliament's Public Accounts Committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday with opposition parties demanding that former director general (Audit) R P Singh be summoned and asked why he differs with the Comptroller and Auditor General on the quantum of loss. With differences persisting, the meeting was adjourned. The meeting scheduled for Tuesday has also been postponed reportedly as Chhath festival falls on that day.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of spreading anarchy in the country on the coal block allocation issue, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Sunday said no one can force Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign till he enjoys the support of people.
Appears before PAC, admits voice in Radia tapes his, but denies influence over Cabinet formation.
The Congress enjoyed a majority in the PAC when Natarajan was part of the panel. It is believed that it was her dissent vote that saw the report on the 2G Spectrum case prepared by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi being rejected.
A day after a chaotic meeting of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, its Chairperson Murli Manohar Joshi along with National Democratic Alliance, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Biju Janata Dal and Left members are exploring the possibility of submitting the draft report on 2G scam to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar before its term expires on Ffriday.
Etisalat DB Telecom chief executive officer Atul Jham was also questioned by the panel headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao on Thursday appeared before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) probing the 2G spectrum scam to explain his position during his term as the finance secretary.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Parliament's Public Accounts Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi hit out at Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal for questioning the Comptroller and Auditor General report on the 2G Spectrum scam. He said that Sibal's comments showed both the PAC and the CAG in poor light and said that the telecom minister's conduct was unbecoming.
The PAC had called the chiefs of the three defence services for a hearing after a CAG report pointed out irregularities in the supply chain management of rations by Canteen Stores Department. Singh appeared before the PAC headed by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi at around 1100 hrs and senior Army officials made a presentation of management of rations in the Army.
Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Wednesday rejected reports that there was pressure from Parliament's Public Accounts Committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi to expedite audit work of 2G spectrum allocation and said no findings were ever shared with the PAC.
A fresh controversy broke out in the 2G case on Tuesday with the surfacing of a letter which suggested that Parliament's Public Accounts Committee chief Murli Manohar Joshi had called up a CAG official to press for expediting auditing work into spectrum allocation.
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
Radia, chairperson of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications and Tata, chairman of Tata sons Limited, have been asked by the PAC to appear before it on April 5 at 11 AM and 3 PM respectively to give 'oral evidence' on the subject 'recent developments in the telecom sector including allocation of 2G and 3G spectrum'.
Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh found an ardent supporter in former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today when the latter praised his book on Pakistan-founder M A Jinnah and also appeared to reprimand the party for asking him to quit Parliament's Public Accounts Committee chairman's post.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer to present himself for questioning appeared to have weighed in on the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee with the PAC giving him a clean chit in its draft report, while indicting arrested former telecom minister A Raja and seeking re-tendering of the 2G licences he had given for a song, causing a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore (Rs 1.76 trillion) to the exchequer.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee has called leading industrialists, including Ratan Tata and Anil Ambani, and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to appear before the panel in connection with the 2G spectrum scam which it is probing.
All-party parliamentary delegations on Friday met leaders and diplomats from several countries to galvanise international action against terrorists and decisively counter the tactics of those who perpetrate, support and sponsor cross-border terror activities against India.
Inputs from religious texts, scriptures of local dialects and inspirational word-of-mouth stories will also be included.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday (local time) highlighted how India responded in a measured and calibrated manner towards terror bases and headquarters in Pakistan, following the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.
Or do you think there is a realistic chance of the government being brought down?
Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, was suspended on Thursday for allegedly attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and disturbing the ministers.
The boycott is on the issue of government's refusal to part with a CVC report to the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.
As part of the investigation, EC officials visited Sudhakaran's residence on Thursday and recorded his statement. They said the matter would be submitted to the district collector for further actions.
The Indian government is planning to repeal a 65-year-old law that disqualifies MPs for holding office of profit and introduce a new one aligned with current needs. The draft bill proposes to simplify the existing law, remove the negative list of offices that cause disqualification, and address conflicts with other statutes. It also seeks to empower the central government to amend the schedule of offices by issuing a notification, replacing the existing provision for temporary suspension of disqualification.
The panel has questioned the purchase of properties with 'avoidable' expensive appurtenances by the MEA for envoys posted abroad.
Former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar has argued for replacing the existing collegium system for judicial appointments, asserting that public sentiment leans toward an alternative mechanism, potentially resembling the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). He believes that the government has the authority to propose a revised constitutional amendment for judicial appointments that would withstand judicial scrutiny. Kumar also urged the Supreme Court to establish a robust internal process to address concerns within the judiciary, including allegations against judges.
A meeting of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday witnessed a verbal slugfest between its chairman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and MPs from the ruling National Democratic Alliance as the Congress leader sought to raise the issue of COVID-19 vaccination drive for discussion in the panel, sources said.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it a 'brazen assault' on the Constitution and part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a 'permanent state of polarization.' She also spoke out against the One Nation, One Election Bill, calling it a 'subversion of the Constitution.' Gandhi further accused the Modi government of ignoring the women's reservation bill and other demands for reservation, and of 'dragging the country into an abyss' where the Constitution will only exist on paper. She also criticized the government for limiting the speaking time of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and for not allowing discussions on important issues like the working of the defense and external affairs ministries and the challenges posed by China on the border.
Over a million officials are said to have been punished in Xi's anti-corruption campaign according to the official media accounts. The intensity of the campaign also attracted criticism that Xi made effective use of it to silence his critics and rivals within the party.
The opposition is demanding the defence ministry provide the Central Vigilance Commission's report on arms purchases during the Kargil conflict to the Public Accounts Committee.
An Income-Tax Department internal committee reviewing the old direct tax law to pave the way for a new one has "largely" received suggestions for "simplifying" the language, better "structuring" the provisions and enlarging the ambit of schemes like presumptive taxation, CBDT chairman Ravi Agrawal said Sunday. Speaking to PTI during a post-Budget interview at his North Block office, Agrawal said the panel also "studied" the deliberations and processes of countries like the UK, Australia and some others where a similar tax law simplification exercise was undertaken.
'Each state is unique, but when it comes to finance, the fundamentals cannot be different.'
Ahead of the Winter session of Parliament beginning on December 4, the Congress' Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday wrote to Speaker Om Birla, saying the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra from Parliament is an 'extremely serious punishment and has very wide ramifications'.
The chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, K V Thomas, on Monday said a meeting with finance ministry officials has been deferred to February 10 in view of the Budget preparations.
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