Some projects under the Smart Cities Mission would not be able to meet the June 30 deadline and the respective state governments would be responsible for completing them thereafter, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs. In its report on the …
PMO snubs former coal secretary for his bid to ensure transparency in allocation of coal blocks. Former coal secretary P.C. Parakh, who proposed auction of coal blocks to bring in transparency, took the auctions file to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in July, 2004, after being rebuffed by minister of …
Uncertain policy framework, scarcity of cheap domestic gas hit govt plan to expand network to 200 cities SHREYA JAI & MITUL THAKKAR NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD The government’s ambitious plan to expand gas distribution networks to 200 cities by 2015 is facing hurdles of uncertain policy framework and lack of cheap domestic …
PANJIM: Directorate of Mines and Geology on Friday issued show cause notices to 40 mining lease holders, whose delay in filing the ‘J Form’ was condoned by the former Congress government. Interestingly, the directorate has asked lease holders to explain why action should not be initiated against them for unlawful …
The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Friday to explain if guidelines for distributing the coal “mines of largesse” had been strictly followed. The court questioned the “coincidence” that several blocks were secured by “politicians, their associates and a few private companies”. A bench of Justices R M Lodha and …
NEW DELHI, 14 SEPT: The alleged irregularities in coal block allocations came under judicial scrutiny today with the Supreme Court issuing notice to the government asking it to explain whether it had followed its own policies and guidelines in the allocation of 194 coal blocks. The Bench of Justices R …
The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is an essential instrument for enforcing the accountability of the executive to Parliament. It is wrong, as in the coal blocks and other recent cases, to cast aspersions on the CAG for pointing out the omissions and commissions of the government. The …
Commerce and Industry minister Anand Sharma on Tuesday said that special economic zones (SEZ) have lost their attractiveness after the imposition of the minimum alternate tax and that new guidelines are in the offing. “We are now looking at issuing new guidelines on SEZs and are conducting very serious negotiations …
Diesel Prices: Prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene may be raised from Tuesday when the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) meets. Though the listed agenda for the CCPA meeting is to discuss the BJP boycott of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, sources said the Petroleum Ministry’s comprehensive proposal on …
Rapped by the Supreme Court for its failure to eliminate manual scavenging 65 years post-Independence, the government introduced in the just-concluded monsoon session of Parliament a new Bill to prohibit the practice and bar manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers across India. The law, “The Prohibition of Employment as …
Even while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was saving the world at the NAM summit in Tehran, confident that he had said enough in Parliament to exonerate his government in the scam swirling around the allotment of coal blocks, a group of senior bureaucrats finalised a draft report recommending cancellation of …
Has the CAG been too simplistic and selective in its assessment? A retired Principal Auditor-General of Bihar, Santosh Kujur, remembers chatting with a bank manager in one of the coalfields. The salary accounts of all Coal India Ltd (CIL) managers were maintained in his branch, he was told, but very …
Amid furore over coal blocks allocation, the Government will place its views before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) 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 allocation by September …
Next FIR by month-end likely to throw up new names After the first salvo, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is gearing up to register cases against at least another half a dozen companies in the coal block allocation case. In what looks like a replay of the 2G telecom …
New Delhi Consumers may have to brace for steep hikes in the prices of petroleum products such as diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and petrol after Parliament’s monsoon session ends on September 7. Sources say the petroleum ministry has moved a Cabinet note proposing a hike of R5 per litre in …
“They need to be dealt with firmly and their blocks de-allocated as per the terms” The Coal Ministry has acknowledged that the conduct of the coal block allottees, some of whom are among those who were issued show-cause notices and raided by the CBI, had not been above board as …
The government conceded in Parliament Wednesday that the accuracy of long-range monsoon forecasts in the last four years had only been about 50 per cent, an admission that is expected to strengthen critics of the Met department who have questioned the credibility of its estimates. Every year, the India Meteorological …
New Delhi Castigating municipal bodies for the high level of pollution in cities, Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai said on Wednesday the urban bodies must cleanse and update their books of accounts in order to tap the bond market as it is the practice in developed and emerging economies. …
GAIL pulled up for undue benefit of Rs 246 crore to private firms The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for hiring a drilling rig from Reliance Industries (RIL) without calling for competitive bids. It also indicted GAIL (India) for giving over …
Ahir alleges 2 ‘Coal To Liquid’ project allocated in 2009 without panel nod BJP has punched holes in the government’s claim that all allocations of coal blocks were cleared by the steering committee. It said allotments were made to two private companies for Coal To Liquid (CTL) project in 2009 …
NEW DELHI, 4 SEPT: Under attack from the BJP on the coal block allocation issue, the government today said the policy followed by it in allotting the mines was “100 per cent correct” and those who resorted to wrongdoing will go to jail. Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal (file photo) accused …
