Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
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 …
India’s coal sector is governed by opaque rules that promote discretion and graft This column isn’t about the limited agenda of Coalgate and the CAG report. It is about broader issues that led to Coalgate. Some of this may be known and some may be a trifle unfamiliar. Initially, coal …
The financial costs associated with coal-fired electricity generation are set to rise given the need to increase coal import, according to a study report of Equatorials. The study on coal fuel supply agreements by Coal India Ltd and recent developments commissioned by Greenpeace bring to the fore how the costs …
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 …
Agency to raid more cos and question people with doubtful credentials who have bagged blocks The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is expected to deepen its probe into the controversial allotment of coal blocks, raid more companies, and question people for bagging lucrative coal blocks despite having doubtful credentials. The …
New Delhi: State-run Coal India Limited’s pleas for coal blocks at home may have fallen on deaf ears but the government did not hesitate in asking the Maharatna company to go as far overseas as Mozambique in south-east Africa to prospect for coal. For over four years, Coal India repeatedly …
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. …
FIRs against 5 companies, raids in 10 cities, captive block holders face charges of misrepresentation of facts, criminal conspiracy & cheating After the telecom scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has turned the heat on the allocation of coal blocks. It has registered FIRs against 20 accused, including five …
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 …
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 …
Guwahati, Sept. 4: A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit of the National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) has revealed that several factors have been responsible for the tardy progress of the Lower Subansiri hydroelectric project apart from the oft-highlighted law and order problem. In its recently released report — …
New Delhi: The comptroller and auditor general (CAG)has slammed state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for deviating from standard procedure to hire a drilling rig without sufficient reason from Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd in 2009. ONGC “deviated from standard tendering procedure and hired a rig, viz Dhirubhai …
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday rejected the Opposition demand for cancellation of coal blocks that have come under the CAG scrutiny, saying the government had to hear out the allottees and could not enforce cancellation by diktat. “A fair procedure has to be followed and this is already under …
To check the adverse impact of a possible cancellation of the coal blocks allotted to companies that have failed to fulfil the norms for making them operational by March 2013 and prevent a “fuel crisis,” the government proposes to hand over all cancelled blocks to Coal India Limited (CIL). This …
Had written to ministry in Nov 2011 to cancel blocks if cos fail to meet output deadlines The Prime Minister’s Office had written to the coal ministry in November 2011 to ensure thorough monitoring of the performance of coal blocks allocated to captive mines since 1993, urging the administrative ministry …
RPower awarded three captive coal mines for its 4,000-Mw Sasan UMPP -Moher, Moher Amlohri extension and Chhatrasal Reliance Power Ltd on Monday announced it had commenced coal production at two of its Sasan power project’s captive coal mines—Moher and Moher Amlohri extension. The company did not divulge any details on …
Reliance Power has started producing coal at two mines attached to its 4,000-megawatts ultra mega power project at Sasan, Chief Executive JP Chalasani said on Monday. Mining operations began at a time when the government is reviewing the progress of captive coal mines allocated to various companies. Blocks that have …
The CAG issued a press release on Aug 31, 2012 for its “Performance Audit Report No. 10 of 2012-13 of hydropower projects for the 11th 5-year plan ending on March 31, 2012. This CAG audit is an extremely weak and inadequate work of the CAG. In fact it does not …
Govt has already issued notices to 58 blocks: 33 allotted to govt firms & 25 to pvt entities Amid the raging row over coal block allocation, as many as 90 mines face the threat of de-allocation as these are under scanner for non-production. Of these, 58 coal blocks are in …
