Page 3 - Corruption

J-K shuns 'corrupt' label, transforms into best governed UT in 3 yrs

While moving the J&K Reorganization Bill 2019 on August 5, 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in his historical speech in Rajya Sabha had linked widespread corruption in Jammu and Kashmir with terrorism.

Thane peon dismissed for demanding Rs 500 bribe to issue birth certificate

A peon with a ward office of the Thane Municipal Corporation has been dismissed for taking a bribe of Rs 500 to issue a birth certificate, an official said on Friday. The complainant in the case had applied to the Majiwada-Manpada ward office of the TMC for a birth certificate after his wife gave birth to a daughter. The peon demanded a bribe of Rs 500. The man paid him but later tweeted about his experience. Taking a serious note of the issue, commissioner Abhijit Banger dismissed the peon, the civic official said.

Jharkhand CM allows graft charges probe against govt staffers, contractors

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has approved a proposal to register a case against 29 people, including government employees, in connection with alleged irregularities in the drinking water and sanitation department, an official said on Wednesday. The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) will register an FIR against the accused state government employees and contractors, he said. "The chief minister has permitted Anti Corruption Bureau, Ranchi to conduct a probe by registering an FIR against 29 public servants and others involved in the corruption," the official said. The alleged irregularities were related to installation of tube wells in the 2010-11 and 2013-14 financial years in panchayats of Govindpur and Nirsa blocks under the Dhanbad district besides other schemes of the drinking water and sanitation department", he said. Several engineers, an officer of accounts, and many contractors were accused of being involved in the corruption. An FIR has already been registered by the .

Imran Khan found guilty of corrupt practices by Pak EC; disqualified

The four-member bench headed by Pak CEC Sikander Sultan Raja unanimously disqualified Khan for five years as the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a member of the national assembly

Eradicating corruption is Haryana govt's utmost priority: CM Khattar

Eradicating corruption is the Haryana government's utmost priority and concrete steps have been taken in that direction, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Saturday. He was speaking at a function organised in his honour at Nayagaon village here. He said that eight years ago, when he took over, no one in the state could have thought corruption can be eradicated. "But today, 'Bhrashtachar ka Kaal, Manohar Lal (Manohar Lal is a slayer of corruption)' has become the slogan of the public," he said. "Removing corruption from roots is the utmost priority of the government. Concrete steps have been taken in this direction." Khattar said he has made power a means to serve people and dedicated efforts are being made to raise the living standard of the poor through government schemes. "Efforts are also being made to resolve all pending grievances (of people)," he said. Mahamandaleshwar Swami Dharamdev of Pataudi Hari Mandir Ashram and Sohna MLA Sanjay Singh also attended the ...

Focus was on saving lives: Shailaja refutes Covid corruption allegations

Ex-Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja rubbished the corruption allegations levelled against her in buying of Covid PPE kits, saying the need of the hour then, was to act quickly and save lives

No action against senior bureaucrats involved in corruption, alleges Mufti

Low rank officers are fired without any investigation, while no action has been taken against senior bureaucrats involved in corruption in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti charged on Friday. Her remarks came after the J-K government ordered premature retirement of 36 police personnel for their alleged involvement in corruption, lack of performance and anti-social activities. "Odd that LG admin hasn't taken action against senior bureaucrats involved in cash for govt jobs scams-FAA, JKSI,etc. Post 2019 a new ecosystem of officers have emerged who are amassing millions without any accountability while low rank officers are fired without any investigation," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister wrote on Twitter.

Economy doing well despite external headwinds, Oppn criticism wrong: BJP

Party spokesperson accuses Rahul Gandhi of 'crony socialist attitude', says Kejriwal govt corrupt

Lokayuktas' report card: Only seven of the 29 release their annual reports

There is no official website for the Lokayuktas of 10 states, including Delhi

Lula leads polls as Brazil votes in tense presidential contest

Most polls have shown Lula with a solid lead for months, but Bolsonaro has signaled he may refuse to accept defeat, stoking fears of institutional crisis or post-election violence

Corruption made its way even to Kerala CM Vijayan's office: BJP's Nadda

Nadda said that the CPI-M government in Kerala was creating a debt trap, claiming the debt has almost doubled in Kerala.

Congress pushes to make 'corruption' a key political narrative in Karnataka

In poll-bound Karnataka, the Congress has mounted an aggressive pitch with the 'PayCM' QR code campaign seeking to put the ruling BJP on the mat as it pushes to make corruption a central theme of the state's political narrative. The campaign targeting Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has rattled the BJP which is preparing to launch a similar offensive against the Congress. Bommai has termed the campaign as 'dirty politics' of the Congress in Karnataka, where Assembly elections are due in about seven months. "The Congress is under illusion that it can come to power through its dirty politics of misleading people. This will never be possible in Karnataka," the Chief Minister said. According to a BJP insider, the party is planning a QR code campaign of vast scale to counter the Congress and expose its "wrongdoings in the past". The BJP was taken by surprise as the Congress-sponsored 'PayCM' posters dotted many public walls in prime areas of the city last week. Resembling payment plat

SC stays proceedings against B S Yediyurappa in alleged corruption case

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed proceedings against former Karnataka chief minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa in an alleged corruption case. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli issued notice to the private complainant on a plea challenging the Karnataka High Court order restoring the complaint against Yediyurappa and others. "There shall be a stay of proceedings so far as the petitioner is concerned," the bench said. The Karnataka High Court on September 7 had restored a private complaint against Yediyurappa and his family members. The complainant had accused him of taking bribe for awarding government contracts. A Sessions court had earlier dismissed a plea seeking a probe into the allegations of corruption against Yediyurappa as the then Governor had refused to sanction it. T J Abraham, a social activist, had lodged the complaint alleging that Yediyurappa and his family members had taken bribe from Ramalingam Construction Company and other shell ...

Centre gets over 46,000 corruption-related public grievances, most for DFS

Over 46,000 corruption-related public grievances were received by the Centre in the last eight months of this year, a maximum of them against the Department of Financial Services (DFS), according to a latest official report. Department of Financial Services (banking division) received the maximum number of grievances under the aforementioned category of corruption, with the department recording 14,934 receipts this year, whilst the Department of Financial Services (insurance division) secured 2nd position with a distant number of 3,306 receipts this year alone, it said. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), nodal authority for the anti-corruption matters among others, got 2,223 such grievances, according to the report. These plaints were received through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), an online system that allows citizens to raise complaints against government departments. As many as 46,627 grievances have been received this yea

Oppn leaders under CBI scrutiny rise to 95% under NDA from 60% under UPA

Under the NDA government, since 2014, the number of political leaders facing investigation has gone up to 124 and 118 of them are Opposition leaders

Lokpal gets 1,719 graft complaints, 136 were registered inquiry this year

Anti-graft ombudsman Lokpal has got 1,719 corruption complaints so far this year, of which 136 were registered for conducting inquiry, according to an official data. In reply to an RTI query, the office of Lokpal said that out of the total complaints received during 2022-23 (till August 21, 2022), 134 were in the prescribed format and 1,585 were in non-format. A total of 133 complaints received in the format -- prescribed for filing of graft complaints -- were registered and 83 of them were disposed and 50 were pending (of these 12 were pending due to inquiry or investigation), it said. Of the non-formatted complaints, only three of them were registered, the office of Lokpal said in reply to the RTI application filed by this PTI journalist. A total of 1,635 graft complaints, out of the 1,719 received in 2022-23, were pending, it said. The central government had in March 2020 notified the Lokpal (Complaint) Rules, which prescribe the format to file a complaint. The Lokpal had last

Venezuela rearrests brother of former oil czar Ramirez in corruption probe

Venezuela has thrown back in prison the brother of the country's former oil czar as part of an ongoing investigation into a multi-billion dollar embezzlement scheme at the state-run oil company. Fidel Ramirez was arrested last Wednesday after failing to appear in court as required by the terms of his bail, Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a brief interview Sunday with The Associated Press. Ramirez was originally arrested in early 2018 for his alleged involvement in a decade-old scheme to siphon to a bank account in the tiny European country of Andorra USD 2 billion from state-run oil giant PDVSA. At the time of the alleged crimes, PDVSA was under the direction of his brother, former Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, a harsh critic of the socialist government he once served. Specifically, Fidel Ramirez is accused of amassing 250,000 euros at an account at Banca Privada d'Andorra, or BPA, stemming from allegedly fraudulent medical services he billed PDVSA through tw

EU recommends withholding funds for Hungary over graft concerns

The European Commission has today proposed budget protection measures to the Council under the conditionality regulation

Lokayukta police registers case against Yediyurappa, family members

The Lokayukta police in Karnataka have registered a case against former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and several members of his family in connection with a corruption case. The case was registered on Friday following a special court direction to the Lokayukta police to book the senior BJP leader and his kin, including his son B Y Vijayendra, who is the BJP state vice president, his grandson and the then BDA commissioner. The FIR was registered under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal on a complaint by a social activist T J Abraham, alleging that the accused obtained bribes in return for granting BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) contracts. The case pertains to awarding tender for the construction of BDA apartments at Konadasapura in Bidarahalli in the city. It is alleged that the accused took kickbacks from a builder, which were routed through shell companies owned by them, when Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister from 2019 to 2021.

Chance to reform, redeem India's distorted electoral funding system

With the long-frozen hearing on the challenge to the Modi government's anonymous electoral bonds finally listed by the Supreme Court, India will see one last opportunity to fix the system