State oil firms are under the scanner of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India for supplying diesel at a discount to defense establishments and Indian Railways and claim compensation on the revenue loss from upstream companies and the government. Executives in state-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum have accepted that they offer small discounts to these customers and denied recovering any part of the amount from the...

-The Telegraph   Law minister Salman Khurshid today unveiled a slew of bills to be taken up in Parliament’s winter session to demonstrate the government’s commitment to fighting graft, other than the Lokpal Bill that he said would address the “concerns of the common man”. The whistle-blowers’ bill, sports bill and the judicial accountability bills are among those on the agenda, the minister told a news conference in the run-up to the session...

-The Hindu   “In a world of growing complexities and uncertainties, not every decision by the government is likely to be the most optimal. The possibility of institutional failures, oversight and ignorance impacting the decision-making process cannot be ruled out,” said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He was addressing a concluding function here on Wednesday to mark the celebration of 150 years of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG). Mr. Mukherjee pointed out that...

Opposes changes in bid norms, extra land acquisition and move to allow bidders to develop more than one UMPP The government’s Auditor has come down hard on irregularities in the government’s policy on so-called ultra mega power projects, or UMPPs. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), parts of which have been seen by Mint, is with the power ministry for its comment, and could cause further embarrassment...

‘There is no such thing as self-regulation, every institution is accountable to the people.' We publish here an edited excerpt from a clarification issued by Press Council chairman Markandey Katju. The full text of his clarification can be read at www.thehindu.com. ‘No doubt, the media should provide some entertainment also to the people. But if 90 per cent of their coverage is devoted to entertainment, and only 10 per cent...