Reacting to Comptroller and Auditor General reports on defence preparedness, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said that the army has been given World War II vintage "toy-guns" to fight nuclear powers, an issue the government is "diverting" attention from by raising the differences between the Army chief and the defence minister.
CAG in the audit report on land issues in three IT parks also said 64% land given for IT development remained unutilised since 1990
Even as her party demands the prime minister's resignation, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj has asked the government to announce cancellation of the controversial coal block allocations and institution of an independent inquiry.
Government is considering a proposal to make Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) into a multi-member body, a move that came under sharp criticism from the opposition and civil society.
The Comptroller and Auditor General on Friday pulled up the previous NDA government for diversion of funds and incurring unauthorised expenditure of Rs 63.23 crore (Rs 632.3 billion) for the 'India Shining' media campaign.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar directed the CBI to conduct the probe on the basis of the survey reports provided by the petitioner, CAG report and the National Institute of Rural Development.
The government on Friday asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to suggest ways to curb its rising subsidy bill on food, fertiliser and petroleum products without hurting the targetted population.
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 CAG, in its much-awaited report tabled in Parliament on Thursday, did not say if the capital expenditure for KG-D6 being raised from $2.4 billion proposed in 2004 to $8.8 billion in 2006 was unjustified or inflated.
Describing these as non-working companies, the CAG in its latest report on the state tabled in the Maharashtra Assembly stated that since no purpose may be served by keeping these units in existence, the state government needs to expedite closing down of these non-working PSUs.
The Comptroller and Auditor General can do a performance audit of production sharing contracts
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.
Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday for its stand on the coal controversy, the Congress alleged that there was a clear similarity between the anti-Bofors campaign and the present one on the coal blocks allocation. "Between 1985 and 1990, there was a campaign after the CAG report on Bofors against Rajiv Gandhi, with foreign journals also publishing articles. There is a similar pattern to it from 2009 to the present times," said Digvijay Singh.
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.
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.
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 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.
The apex court also said the CAG report on the 2G spectrum allocation placed in Parliament was 'revealing.'
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.
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 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 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.
Lt Governor says discoms must cooperate or face cancellation of licences. Ficci cries interference.
The state government allotted 50 acres of land near Visakhapatnam to Satyam Computer in December 2008 at a concessional rate of Rs 10 lakh.
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.
