L A T E S T      N E W S

Ex-CAG official disowns 2G report

New Delhi: In a revelation that has the potential to turn the tables in the government-opposition war over the much debated 2G spectrum allocation scam, a key retired officer of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said that he was forced to sign the controversial report on the scam.

The Indian Express reported on Friday that RP Singh, former director general, Post and Telecommunications at CAG, has said that he was made to sign the controversial report that pegged the 2G scam presumptive loss at a whopping Rs 1.76 lakh crores, even though he had disagreement with the report’s findings.

Singh, who was the officer behind the CAG’s 2G spectrum allocation audit, revealed that officials of the auditor had met senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who is also the chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), at his residence on a holiday to assist him in the preparation of the report on the 2G spectrum allocation.

It may be noted that the PAC report on the CAG’s 2G findings had strongly criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Attorney-General GE Vahanvati for their roles in the spectrum allocation.

Panel to present report on Lokpal in RS

New Delhi: In an apparent show of unanimity, the report of the Select Committee on Lokpal Bill, which has recommended delinking creation of Lokayuktas in states from the Central Bill, is scheduled to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday by the Congress and the BJP.

According to the revised list of business of the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley will table the report along with Shantaram Naik of the Congress who is also the chairman of the department-related Standing Committee on Law and Personnel.

Usually, Select Committee report is tabled by its chairman. Satyavrat Chaturvedi is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Lokpal.

After its passage in the Lok Sabha last year, the Bill faced opposition hurdles in the Rajya Sabha on various provisions, following which it was referred to the Select Committee. The panel, which was to submit its report during the Monsoon Session, adopted it on November 19.

Sehwag plays his 100th Test in Mumbai

Mumbai: Opener Virender Sehwag today became the ninth Indian cricketer to complete a century of Test appearances when he took the field here in the second match of the ongoing series against England.

The 34-year-old amassed 8,448 runs at an average of 50.89 and a staggering strike rate of 82.45 before the Test that started today.

The swashbuckling batsman has 23 hundreds under his belt over the last 12 years, including four double and two triple centuries with a highest of 319 against South Africa at Chennai in March 2008.