After ex-Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai attacked Manmohan Singh on 2G issue, Congress leader Kamal Nath on Friday said the former Prime Minister may have made a "mistake" in not acting despite his letter to him expressing concern over the spectrum allocation process.
Accusing the government of being under the influence of corporate houses, Left parties demanded a thorough probe into the CAG findings on the coal block allocation issue and an immediate debate on it in Parliament.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee has given a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 2G spectrum allocation, saying he was "misled" by the then Telecom Minister A Raja whose assurances stood "belied".
'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.
The apex court was hearing a plea of the NGO seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the Union home secretary and chief secretary of J-K for their alleged 'wilful disobedience' in complying with the court's May 11 order. The top court told the administration that with the change of L-G, nothing changes as the special committee is there to look into the issue.
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.
Terming as "baseless innuendos" the allegations of fraud by her Trust, Law Minister Salman Khurshid's wife Louise launched a scathing attack on activist Arvind Kerjriwal, accusing him of "doing politics using the shoulders of the disabled". She also trashed speculation about her husband resigning over the issue, saying there is no reason why her husband should step down.
The government is banking on the second round of spectrum auction and customer-centric moves such as free national roaming to rebuild the telecom sector, impacted by controversies and court judgements that have shaken investor confidence.
Amid a war of words between the government and the opposition over the recent Comptroller and Auditor General reports, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday cautioned that attempts by any organ of the state to overreach will unnecessarily lead to dissonance within the system.
Hailing Supreme Court judgement on auction of natural resources, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday said the apex court has brought "constitutional clarity" on the issue.
Dudley and Ambani, assisted by BP India head Sashi Mukundan and RIL Executive Director P M S Prasad, primarily discussed RIL-BP's oil and gas investments at the meeting that lasted nearly one-and-half hour.
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.
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.
Seeking to corner the government over the CAG report on coal block allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party is understood to have reached out to key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress.
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party for disrupting Parliament proceedings, the government on Wednesday said it was making all efforts to persuade the main opposition party to discuss the CAG report on coal block allocation.
'Investigating agencies are not acting as independent authorities; they have stopped being neutral.'
The Conflict ruling suggested in the Lodha reforms for BCCI came under criticism from several quarters as they believed it stopped the former cricketers from coming forward to help Indian cricket and cricketers.
BP Plc, Europe's second biggest oil company, and Reliance Industries will invest $5 billion in developing untapped gas reserves in the KG-D6 block as the partners attempt to reverse the fall in gas production.
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.
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.
In the recent auction, the government got total bids worth Rs 9,407.64 crore, just one-third of Rs 28,000 crore it had expected.
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?
After stalling Parliament proceedings on the coal allocation issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday made it clear that this will be followed up with countrywide protests against the government on the corruption issue.
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.
Stepping up attack after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rejected CAG's observations on coal block allocation, BJP on Monday alleged that he was directly responsible for causing delay in amending laws on auction with the aim of bringing financial benefit to Congress.
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.
A delegation of Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday met President Pratibha Patil and submitted a memorandum apprising her about findings of Shunglu Committee and CAG relating to alleged corruption involving Delhi government and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in Commonwealth Games projects.
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.
Rejecting Team Anna's allegations of corruption against him, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday declared he will quit public life if the charges on coal block allotments are proved.
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.
Modi said his government had made efforts to make all kitchens in the country smoke free.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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