-PTI 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 CAG conference in Delhi, Mr. Chidambaram said the official auditor and the government have been cast as adversaries to each other in the aftermath of recent audit findings. “Unfortunately, however, some dissonance has crept into the public discourse and for...

-Mainstream Weekly Intense and motivated propaganda, powerful national and international diplomatic pressure, verging on pure and simple arms-twisting of the kind the Third World has been facing for decades by means of the active role of the econo-mic hit-men in the policy establishments, huge cash-back lobbying, both in India and abroad, blunt attempts to bamboozle the persons holding key positions in India’s policy establishment through a combination of hissing and kissing...

-The Times of India Comptroller and auditor general Vinod Rai on Monday defended his audit reports and said they were carried out with objectivity and in a professional manner. "To ensure that our professional and personal conduct is above reproach, we have adopted a code of ethics comprising the general ethical requirements of integrity, objectivity, professional secrecy and competence," he said addressing an accountants general (AGs) conference in the Capital. The three-day conference...

-The Telegraph Union minister Kapil Sibal has promised measures to ensure that the Centre’s curbs on cooking-gas subsidy would not derail the midday meal scheme that serves eight crore children in 12 lakh elementary schools. The Telegraph had reported on Wednesday that self-help groups had stopped preparing midday meals in over 50 primary schools in North 24-Parganas since Monday saying they could not afford the cylinders’ new price. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had...

-Outlook To protect BPL families from possible price rise, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today gave its approval for selling imported pulses and edible oil at subsidised rates through ration shops. The CCEA also approved an outlay of Rs 884 crore for computerisation of public distribution system (PDS) that is aimed at, among other things, elimination of bogus ration cards. Announcing the decisions, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "The CCEA today...