After bringing the nation's attention to the massive 2G losses, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) has blown the lids off what looks like a far worse financial mess created by the government. Over 6 times worse than the 2G fiasco, to be precise.
According to media sources, the nation's top auditing body said in its draft report that between 2004 and 2009 the government lost a whopping Rs.10.7 lakh crore by giving coal blocks to to commercial bodies without following the auction route.
In its draft report, CAG said 155 coal acreages were given to some 100 private firms apart from some PSUs for the 2004-2009 period.
Reacting to the unprecedented scale of the alleged losses, chief opposition party BJP has given a notice in Rajya Sabha to discuss the CAG report on the coal scam.
"Coal Ministry was under PM, this is the biggest scam ever. This govt has looted the country," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar in response to the 110-page-draft report.
Shailendar Kumar from the Samajwadi Party said, "We have asked for an adjournment motion on question hour to discuss this scam."
Meanwhile the earliest reaction from the government emerged from the Law Minister who refused to comment on allegations made by newspaper reports.
"You don't ask the Law Minister to comment on newspaper reports," Salman Khurshid said.
Taking note of the draft report of the 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 in knee-deep corruption," BJP leader Prakash Javedkar told reporters outside Parliament.
"Why coal blocks were alloted without auction?" Javdekar asked.
According to the CAG draft report, the government extended undue benefits totalling a Rs. 10.67 lakh crore to commercial entities by giving them 155 coal acreages without auction between 2004 and 2009.
Referring to major scams, Javdekar said, "The CWG scam is (is to the tune) of Rs. 70,000 crore, 2G scam is Rs. 1.76 lakh crore. But, now the new coal scam is Rs.10.67 lakh crore. It is a government of scams... from airways to mining everywhere the government is involved in scams."
He said, "In 2006, the government introduced the Bill for auction of coal blocks...But the government did not pass the Bill till 2010. 17 billion tonnes of coal reserve in 73 blocks were distributed to private companies. It is a huge scam. There are many cases where people have sold the licences."
உத்தரபிரதேச மாநிலத்தில் காங்கிரஸ் துணைத் தலைவர் ராகுல் காந்தியின் தேர்தல் பிரச்சார பொதுக்கூட்டங்களுக்கு மக்கள் வருகை குறைவாக காணப்பட்டதால் அதிர்ச்சியடைந்துள்ள அக்கட்சியின் மேலிட பொறுப்பாளர், இனி நடைபெற உள்ள கூட்டங்களுக்கு அதிக அளவு மக்களை திரட்டுமாறு காங்கிரஸ் மாவட்ட நிர்வாகிகளுக்கு உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.
நாடாளுமன்ற தேர்தல் பிரசாரத்தை தொடங்கி உள்ள ராகுல் காந்தி, உத்தரபிரதேசத்தில் இதுவரை அலிகார், ராம்பூர், ஹமிர்பூர் மற்றும் சலேம்பூர் ஆகிய நான்கு இடங்களில் நடைபெற்ற பொதுக் கூட்டங்களில் கலந்துகொண்டு பேசினார்.
இந்நிலையில் மேற்கூறிய 4 பொதுக்கூட்டங்களில் எதிர்பார்த்ததைவிட குறைவான மக்கள் கூட்டமே காணப்பட்டதாகவும், குறிப்பாக அலிகார் மற்றும் ஹம்ரிபூர் ஆகிய இடங்களில் நடைபெற்ற கூட்டத்தில் சுமார் 20,000 பேர் மட்டுமே வருகை தந்திருந்ததாகவும் கூறப்படுகிறது. இது அம்மாநில காங்கிரஸ் தலைவர்களிடையே அதிர்ச்சியை ஏற்படுத்தியது.
இந்நிலையில் ராகுல் காந்தியும் மக்கள் கூட்டம் குறைவாக காணப்பட்டது குறித்து உ.பி. காங்கிரஸ் தலைவர்களிடமும், அம்மாநிலத்திற்கான மேலிட பொறுப்பாளர் மதுசுடன் மிஸ்ட்ரியிடமும் தனது அதிருப்தியை வெளியிட்டதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
இதனைத் தொடர்ந்து ராகுல் காந்தி இம்மாதம் கலந்துகொள்ள உள்ள அமேதி உள்ளிட்ட 4 இடங்களில் பங்கேற்கும் கூட்டத்திற்கு அதிக அளவில் கூட்டத்தை திரட்டி காண்பிக்குமாறு மாவட்ட, ஒன்றிய காங்கிரஸ் தலைவர்களுக்கு உத்தரவிடப்பட்டுள்ளதாக அக்கட்சி வட்டாரங்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.
Congress MP gets Rs 100-crore Maharashtra land for cheap
It seems the Congress and the scams are the two sides of the same coin. From 2G to coalgate to Adarsh housing society yet comes another scam as activists raised serious objections after documents showed Government used 1976 rates to sell the prime land in Mumbai suburb in 2008 to Congress MP Rajiv Shukla’s BAG Films Education Society.
According to Mumbai Mirror report, a recently released data revealed that 2,821-sq-m Government owned plot in Andheri Which was primarily reserved for School, was sold to BAG Films Education Society (BFES) for Rs 98,735 in 2008.
Several activists have slammed the Government after procuring relevant documents which reveals that current market value of the two plots – located near Andheri’s Country Club is staggering Rs 100 crore.
“It is obvious that the plot went to a particular institution because of the people involved in it. What is astounding is that allotment was done as per 1976 rates. Moreover, if the state was so keen on starting a school there, they should have invited reputed institutions with several years of experience. The allotment is nothing but a scam and we have already urged the district collector and chief minister’s office to conduct a thorough inquiry. Until the inquiry is completed, the allotments should stand cancelled,” said Ashoke Pandit, convenor of Save Open Spaces, an NGO.
Mumbai: The recent murder of a young Right to Information activist from Bhiwandi was no aberration for a state that has seen the highest number of attackson RTI activists. Data gleaned by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) shows Maharashtra has seen 53 attacks on RTI activists,including nine murders,since the Acts debut in 2005.Gujarat comes second with 34 attacks,including three murders.Delhi,Bihar,UP,Haryana,Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka follow with over 10 reported attackson RTI activists during the last eight years. The data points to 251 cases nationwide of people being attacked,murdered,harassed or having their property damaged because of the information they sought under RTI.The data throws up 32 alleged murders and two suicides that were directly linked with RTI applicationsfiled. While there is no official,countrywide data on the number of peoplewhofileRTI applications,or the number of RTI activists assaulted in India,CHRI used publicly available data to gather theinformation.Theorganization has appealed to the public to send in additionaldata on attackson RTI activists that have not made it to the English media and are untraceable on the web.CHRI built on data initially collected by Nachiket Udupa of the National Campaign for Peoples RighttoI nformation. Available data shows that Maharashtra receives the highest number of RTI applications every year and so it is statistically possiblethatthe number of attacks arehigher in the state, saidVenkateshN ayakof CHRI,adding that there is no data availableon the number of RTI applications filed in UP.Its possiblethat,being a largely Hindi-speaking state,attacks on RTI activists may be covered in local language papers which are not accessible over theinternet, he added. As for the large number of assaultsin Gujarat,Nayaksays this challenges the establishments view of good governancein thestate. While Maharashtras chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad points to the large number of appeals under theRTIActthatthestate receives,virtually equivalent tothe number receivedby Central Information Commission,he addedthatthe number of attacks on RTI activists is unacceptable for a state like Maharashtra.He sought police protection for RTI activists under threat.
30 Karnataka MLAs on 2.25cr junket to Amazon rain forests
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore: Thirty Karnataka MLAs are heading for the Amazon rain forests in January,ostensibly to understand its flora and fauna.After the expensive holiday that will cost the exchequer Rs 2.25 crore,they hope to replicate the ecosytem in the state.Thats not the only objective of their South American junket to Argentina,Brazil and Peru. They will also study the waterfalls in the Amazon forests and sporting activity,especially football matches in Brazil. The junket is on,confirmed Congress MLA Mallikaiah V Guttedar who heads the legislatures Committee on Estimates.He told TOI on Wednesday that theres nothing wrong in the fortnight-long trip. We legislators get only one opportunity to undertake a study tour abroad in five years,whereas MPs go often.Theres nothing wrong in us going on these junkets. The trip is slated some time after a brief assembly session in January.The dates are yet to be finalized,Guttedar said.The trip will cost Rs 7.5 lakh per member.Well visit the Amazon forests and study the waterfalls there to see how they can be replicated in Karnataka,as we have thick forests here.Well visit Brazil to see the sporting activity there, he maintained. A travel agency has drawn up the itinerary for the 15-night trip to the three Latin American countries.The MLAs will stay in starred hotels and will have to bear the cost of Englishspeaking tour guides in each of the cities.
STAYING PUT Meira gets dads bungalow for 25 yrs
Mohua Chatterjee TNN
New Delhi:Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will have access to the bungalow at 6,Krishna Menon Marg in Lutyens Delhi for at least another 25 years.It has been allotted to a foundation in her father and former deputy prime minister Babu Jagjivan Rams name that was launched on March 14,2008. It took the government a while but 6,Krishna Menon Marg was allotted by the Directorate of Estates (DoE) to Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation on August 2,2013 till July 1,2038,according to the DoEs website e-Awas. The last official occupant of the bungalow,where Babu Jagjivan Ram lived till his death in 1986,was Kumar after she became Union minister in the UPA-1 government in 2004. She became the Lok Sabha Speaker in 2009 in the UPA-2 regime and moved to the Speakers residence at 20,Akbar Road.But she continued to occupy the Krishna Menon Marg bungalow,according to records kept by the CPWD,which is responsible for maintenance of government property.Allotments are made by DoE,under the urban development ministry. Between 2009 and 2013,DoE claimed there were no claimants for 6,Krishna Menon Marg while the CPWD records acquired by RTI activist S C Agrawal show that it was allotted to Kumar,and a rent bill of Rs 1.98 crore was also sent to her.However,the government seems to have waived it,claiming it was sent under pressure of RTI. On December 15,2010,the Lok Sabha secretariat wrote to Agarwal,Subhash Chandra Agarwal filed an RTI application dated 11.10.2010 which was received in this secretariat on 13.10.2010 and replied to by this secretariat on 10.11.2010. On May 26,2013,Agrawal wrote,This bungalow has been continuously under authorized or unauthorized occupation of family members of late Babu Jagjivan Ramji ever since he expired in the year 1986 Different departments of MoUD speak in different tones about occupant of this prime government property.The CPWD response was that this bungalow was under the occupation of Meira Kumar while the DoE for more than a decade recorded this bungalow as un-allotted.Even a rent bill of Rs 1.98 crore issued in the name of Meira Kumar was immediately taken back as having been issued under RTI pressure.
Lack of evidence forces CBI to close VKs bribery case
Neeraj Chauhan TNN
New Delhi: After months of deliberation,the CBI is set to close the General V K Singh bribery case as no substantial evidence was found to prove the allegations that Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh had offered him a bribe of 14 crore for clearing a tranche of Tatra trucks.Sources said a closure report would be filed in court in January. CBI had examined the CD provided by V K Singh,visitors register of defence ministry and questioned several persons to ascertain the bribery charge but officials said prosecutable evidence could not be found against Tejinder Singh. When contacted,CBI director Ranjit Sinha refused to comment on closure but confirmed that the case would be finalized within a few weeks.CBI investigated the link between Vectra chief Ravi Rishi and Tejinder Singh to probe the allegation of bribery offer of 14 crore made to the former Army chief to clear a tranche of 1,676 high mobility Tatra vehicles for the Indian Army. CBI sources said it was proved that Tejinder Singh had met V K Singh but the agency could not prove the bribery offer.For example,CBI had established from the register entry that Tejinder Singh had met V K Singh at the latters office on September 22,2010.V K Singh had provided a compact disc,which was examined by CFSL experts,but nothing substantial could be found in it,said sources. CBI had registered a case on October 20 last year in the matter converting a sixmonth-long PE into an FIR. Tejinder Singh had refuted the allegations against him and also slapped a defamation case against V K Singh.Tejinder Singh is prime accused in the case registered under section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi has said he is ready to take up any responsibility given to him by the Congress leadership,refuelling speculation that he might be anointed the partys prime ministerial candidate at the AICC session in Delhi on Friday. There is no word called reluctance in my life, he said in an interview to a Hindi daily when asked if he was wary of accepting responsibilities.The people will decide through their representatives who will be the PM.In national interest,it is a must that the Congress return to power.And to fulfill that objective,I will discharge with full dedication every responsibility that the party has given to me or will give me in the future, he added. Rahul also clarified that his earlier comment,quoting Sonia Gandhi,that power was like poison did not connote an aversion to power.
Old allies Cong,DMK revive talks
Despite DMK chief Karunanidhis rejection of a tie-up with the UPA and his recent praise of Narendra Modi,the Congress has revived talks with its ex-ally,apparently after indications that the hostility has softened over last month.The March UNHRC session will be a likely catalyst,given that the DMK wants India to move a resolution against Sri Lanka,allowing Congress to project its sensitivity to Tamils and push its case for a tie-up.P 14
Congress remains split on naming Rahul as PM pick
New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi,while expressing his willingness to become the Congresss PM choice,has emphasized that he was never averse to power.He clarified that when he quoted Sonia Gandhi to say that power is like poison,he only meant that power should be used for the betterment of others,not for self-aggrandizement.Speaking to a Hindi daily,he did evade a direct response to a question about the possibility of a specific and direct declaration,saying this has never been the partys style.He also expressed reservations over the obsession with individual personalities and individual posts a reference to the incessant will he be,wont he be talk about whether he will be declared the PM nominee. Yet,Rahuls remarks were interpreted as his readiness to be announced the PM candidate.There has been stubborn clamour within the Congress for the young leader to be named the partys PM pick.Significantly,the interview did not lift the uncertainty on what might unfold at the AICC session on Friday.The Congress seems to be divided on whether it should name Rahul as the PM candidate or should it stick to the old policy of going into elections without a formal PM nominee.The party has in the last week or so oscillated between the ambitious desire to declare Rahul as its PM nominee at the AICC huddle on the one hand,and the hardnosed recognition that doing so could be risky and might dent Brand Rahul at a time when the going is not good for the party. A section in the party believes there is little to be gained by keeping the ambiguity about leadership since Rahul is anyway seen to be leading the Congress and applause and criticism are bound to be directed at him.This group believes that naming Rahul would give a sense of direction to the party and show it as a confident player in the 2014 elections.But opinion is divided because there is also another group that holds that putting Rahul up for the contest would harm the partys prospects.With the BJP having announced Narendra Modi as its PM candidate,it would bring Rahul directly in contest with the Gujarat chief minister and open him to closer scrutiny. It is felt there is little to be gained from changing the party policy of not going into elections with a PM candidate.Many believe that facilitating a Rahul vs Modi battle will reduce the LS elections to a direct battle between two aspirants while keeping Rahul out of the PM race will let the battle become an aggregate of state elections. Interestingly,the interview was marked by almost unprovoked reference to three figures from Indias history.India has witnessed Samrat Ashok,Akbar and Aurangzeb.Ashok is famous for integrating people,Akbar too worked in this direction and this is why people take their name with great respect.However,Aurangzeb is known for other reasons, he said.Many wondered whether the allusion was a dig at Modi. Rahul also made his first direct criticism of the AAP.I dont agree with many of their recent decisions because our decisions should not be based on short-term gains,instead the decision should be made while keeping long-term benefits and a secure future for people, he said.
Times View:
Although an online poll by this newspaper suggests that popular opinion is against Rahul Gandhi being projected by the Congress as its prime ministerial candidate,we feel he should take the plunge.There are two reasons for this.First,a strong perception has grown that the Gandhi scion is averse to taking up responsibility that comes with accountability.If he steps up to the plate for the upcoming PMs contest,he may or may not succeed,but he will certainly dispel this impression and will be taken seriously by the people.It can only help him.Secondly,for long Rahul has been hovering in the wings,exercising considerable authority without any formal responsibility for instance,the way he intervened to scupper an ordinance.But it is no substitute for real responsibility.Nor is it a happy situation.It's time for him to stand up and be counted.
New Delhi: Buoyed by the public response it has received so far,Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has drastically scaled up its ambition for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and now plans to contest over 400 seats across the country.Only three partiesthe Congress,BJP and BSPhad contested more seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. The party,which had set its sights on around 200 seats,has ramped up its plans following what it called an unprecedented response from across the country. We are looking at contesting over 400 seats in the coming general elections, AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said on Tuesday when asked how many seats the party would consider contesting. Bhushan was speaking after discussions in the AAPs political affairs committee,its top decisionmaking body,on the broad strategy for the Lok Sabha elections.
AAPs first list for LS candidates on Jan 20
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party has scaled up its ambitions by announcing to contest 400 Lok Sabha seats.Although it may be difficult to replicate AAPs Delhi feat on the national stage,its strategists,on the basis of the response to the membership drive,may like to aim for national party tag after their maiden outing in the Lok Sabha arena. A party needs to be recognized as a state party in at least four states or mop up at least 6% of the vote to be declared a national party by the Election Commission. Over 12 lakh people have joined the party in the past four days,according to last count of online membership forms and text messages.This coupled with the growing number of people who have expressed support for the party by either seeking a nomination or working in policy or fundraising,has encouraged the party to aim higher. However,another AAP leader and PAC member Gopal Rai struck a cautious note saying the party had not fixed any cap on the number of seats and was still exploring all options. Speaking on the overwhelming response,Bhushan said,This is a political revolution that we are witnessing.We have received support from every part of the country,urban and rural.There is hope and expectation from people who see the emergence of an alternative politics in the country. Bhushan said the ninemember PAC had extensive discussions on the political scenario in the country.On one hand,the Congress and the UPA stand discredited while on the other is the BJP that represents a change of face without a change in system.People are yearning for a change and AAP represents a very radical change in the nature of government in the country, he said. The meeting also discussed individual candidates who are likely to be finalized in the next few days.The party plans to announce its first list of 15-20 candidates on January 20. AAP members had earlier admitted that they faced a constraint in creating a strong party structure in a short span of time.The partys initiative to start a membership drive is expected to create an army of volunteers that is the partys core strength.Volunteers played a significant role in amplifying the partys message.