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.
Amid the ruckus over the CAG report on coal block allocation issue, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill that would allow the government to set up All India Institute of Medical Sciences-like institutes across the country by a notification.
Is the BJP right in stalling Parliament thus, leading to virtually no business being transacted, or should they roll back their tactic and abide by parliamentary norms and submit to a debate in the House?
On instructions from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior Union ministers were asked to brief Congress MPs on the allocation of coal blocks and the CAG report.
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.
Contrary to the CAG report, the true scam is not exclusive to the UPA, or one for which it bears the prime culpability. Rather, it's a collective or collusive scandal, with both the UPA-ruled Centre and the non-UPA states reaching a nice 'match fixing'-style arrangement to snatch away coal mines from public sector companies and allot coal-mining leases to shady business interests, says Praful Bidwai.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is facing sharp criticism from the opposition over the CAG report on coal block allocations, on Monday made an earnest appeal to the Bharatiya Janata Party to debate the issue in Parliament and not disrupt proceedings.
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.
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 BBMP advocate informed the court that the number of potholes being filled up is being updated every day and a total of 2,010 potholes had been filled and only 221 potholes remained till September 14, 2022.
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 plan of action ranges from drawdown of loans to seeking additional guarantees, to even recalling some of the loans, if the situation so warrants.
The chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force have been called on January 12 by the PAC for a hearing on the committee on Canteen Stores Department based on the audit report, which has pointed out irregularities in the supply chain management of rations in the Army.
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.
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.
In a stinging attack on the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Congress on Monday alleged the government auditor was as much responsible as the Bharatiya Janata Party for the disruption of the just-concluded monsoon session of Parliament on the coal mine allocation issue.
The apex court also said the CAG report on the 2G spectrum allocation placed in Parliament was 'revealing.'
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 Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up Jammu and Kashmir forest ministry for allegedly diverting 1,883 hectares of forest land for non-forest purposes in violation of rules in Jammu district of the state.
Centre objected to the review petition and said that the basic grounds for seeking review of the verdict are the same as they were in the main petition.
Lt Governor says discoms must cooperate or face cancellation of licences. Ficci cries interference.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the government to respond to the CAG report that points towards large-scale irregularities and favouritism allegedly by Telecom Minister A Raja in the Rs 70,000-crore (Rs 700 billion) 2G spectrum allocation scam in 2008.
The state government allotted 50 acres of land near Visakhapatnam to Satyam Computer in December 2008 at a concessional rate of Rs 10 lakh.
"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.
Rejecting the contention of private power distributors, the Delhi government on Wednesday ordered an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of their finances, fulfilling yet another election promise of the Aam Aadmi Party.
"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.
Cairn India and UK's BG Group too replied to audit observations.
He replaced Vinod Rai, who superannuated on Wednesday after five-and-a-half years of eventful tenure as the head of CAG.
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.
Slamming the Defence Ministry over the nine-year delay in awarding contract to French firm Thales to build six Scorpene submarines in Mumbai, a Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday said the indecisiveness resulted in cost overruns and undue favour to the vendor, besides adversely impacting Navy's operational preparedness.
After a CAG report rapped the Delhi government for irregularities in CWG projects and dragged the prime minister's office in the 2G spectrum case, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday appeared all set to raise these issues in Parliament and even force adjournment of the two Houses.
With the exit of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader A Raja from the Union government in the wake of the massive telecom scam and President Pratibha Patil accepting his resignation late on Monday evening, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to table the CAG report on the 2G spectrum controversy in Parliament on Tuesday.
DoT though failed to implement TRAI's recommendations to levy spectrum usage charge
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said he intends to work with CAG to erase the impression of adversaries in an attempt to restore trust and confidence in all institutions.
Addressing a Comptroller and Auditor conference in New Delhi, Chidambaram said the official auditor and the government have been cast as adversaries to each other in the aftermath of recent audit findings.
In 2019-20, the capital expenditure of Indian Railways (IR) increased 60 per cent over 2016-17. The draft National Railways plan envisages a further increase in IR's capital expenditure, but an analysis by Business Standard shows that IR has come to depend more on borrowings and budgetary support. In 2016-17, while 11 per cent of its capital expenditure (capex) was funded by internal sources, in 2019-20 the ratio dropped to less than 1 per cent. A 2015 Committee on Restructuring Railways had flagged that over-reliance on borrowings could exacerbate the financial situation of Railways.
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