-The Indian Express Three new reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India increased the heat on the embattled government on Friday. The statutory auditor’s report on coal block allocations, implementation of public-private partnership at the Delhi International Airport and the award of ultra mega power projects (UMPP), tabled in Parliament, accused the government of indulging in favouritism, irregularities in bidding processes, and causing massive losses to the exchequer. The...

-The Hindu Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has rejected the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s conclusion that coal blocks allocation helped private companies gain Rs. 1.86 lakh crore. Talking to journalists after the report was tabled in Parliament on Friday, he said: “The policy adopted to allocate coal blocks was not faulty. There could not be a more transparent policy for allocation of coal blocks [since 2004 when there was no competitive bidding].” The CAG...

-PTI Flaying post-bid concessions to Reliance Power, the CAG today said the Anil Ambani-led firm got undue benefit of Rs 29,033 crore when the government allowed use of surplus coal from blocks allotted to Sasan power plant for its other projects. CAG in its report tabled in Parliament said subsequent to award of the 4,000 MW Sasan ultra mega power project to RPL, the government granted permission to the company to utilise...

-The Telegraph Bengal should follow in the footsteps of Mendha Lekha if it wants to beat back Maoists. And so should Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. That’s what rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has advised in a letter he wrote last week. Create “more Mendha Lekhas”, he said, referring to the Maharashtra village that gave villagers community rights over minor forest resource and transit permit to sell such produce. For thousands...

-PTI Heavy rains and floods have so far claimed 31 lives in Madhya Pradesh prompting the state government to allocate Rs 12.47 crore additional funds for flood-affected 23 districts. Eight persons lost their lives in Hoshangabad district, followed by Bhopal where six people were killed due to rains and floods, an official release said here today. Three deaths each were reported from Ujjain and Dewas districts, two each in Damoh, Betul and Chhindwara,...