The government continued to give away coal blocks without bidding even after a meeting headed by Manmohan Singh (in his role as coal minister) on October 14, 2004 decided that all future allocation would be through the competitive route, says a CAG report. The government auditors' draft report on performance of coal block allocations also says the Centre opted for the longer process of amending mining laws when it could have...
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Coalgate: FM downplays CAG findings
-The Times of India Faced with a looming embarrassment over the disclosure of irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday sought to play down the findings of the auditor, asserting that his final report would spare the government. Speaking against the backdrop of Opposition's criticism and its demand for a CBI probe into what is being called " Coalgate", Mukherjee said that that the report scooped...
More »Coal scam: BJP demands CBI probe after CAG report on allotment of coal blocks
-PTI Taking note of the draft report of the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) on allotment of coal blocks without Auction, the BJP on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the allotment of coal blocks and monitoring of the probe by a court. "The coal allotment scam is a major scam. We demand a CBI probe and a court should monitor the probe. It is a government of scamsters (that is) involved...
More »Put transparency first-MJ Antony
Unlike in some countries as the US, the judges of the Supreme Court of India sit in some 13 Benches and deliver judgments. Each judgment is taken as that of the court. One Bench might take a harsh view on a subject while another may be lenient. This was evident from two judgments delivered by two different Benches on the simmering issue of the “first-come, first-served” (FCFS) policy. One dealt with...
More »RTI applicants in Dang 'threatened'-Yagnesh Mehta
They had waited for six years to know the status of their dues from forest department. Brothers Pandurang and Narayan Gaekwad, tribals from Dang district, had expected a favourable reply to their application filed under Right to Information (RTI) Act. However, what they received on Friday was a threat from an official for seeking to know by when will they receive their money for the 12 teak trees worth Rs...
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