-The Hindu Even as UPA-II and the Opposition are bracing themselves for confrontation in and outside Parliament over coal blocks allocations during 2004-09, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Coal Ministry are ready with their defence: the policy imperative was to augment production by supplementing Coal India’s efforts with private participation within the parameters of law. According to documents available with The Hindu , the arguments, which the government hopes to present...

-IANS The service records of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai "are not traceable", the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has revealed in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application. Lucknow activist Arvind Shukla had filed the RTI application last month, seeking details about the most powerful accountant of the country, who has gained renown as a vigilant anti-corruption watchdog and who is once again in the spotlight after...

-The Economic Times The government is ready to give up its monopoly over coal mining to meet the requirements of the economy, if BJP supports a long-pending legislation to amend the Coal Mine Nationalisation Act (CMNA). "We are ready to take up the bill and open up the coal sector to increase production. This is the only way forward and there is a consensus within the government on this. Once BJP comes...

-Live Mint The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the allotment of captive coal mines is a scathing narrative on the mis-governance and mismanagement of the country’s natural resources. As early as 2004, the government realized that the then prevailing system of allotment of mines was not transparent. An internal debate kicked off with the coal secretary pushing for a 28 June 2004 deadline for reforms in the...

-The Hindu One of the first principles that students of auditing are taught is that auditors are watchdogs and not bloodhounds. The Manmohan Singh government would have us believe, in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s reports first in the 2G case and now in the coal mining issue, that this basic principle is being violated by the incumbent CAG. Why should the CAG comment on the...