Page 17 - Corruption

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

Former Minister of State Vipul Chaudhary arrested on corruption charges

His personal secretary, Chartered Shailesh Parikh, has been detained in the case

Karnataka HC orders FIR, probe against Yediyurappa in corruption case

The Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge court on Wednesday ordered an FIR to be registered and investigation taken up on a private complaint alleging corruption by former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa and his family members. The order comes exactly a week after the High Court of Karnataka on September 7 directed the Special Court to hear the complaint of corruption afresh. The lower court had on July 8 dismissed the complaint, as the Governor had refused to give sanction to the complainant, T J Abraham. The HC, however, ruled that the complainant was not the competent authority to seek sanction from the Governor. The complaint is against Yediyurappa, the then chief minister, and his family members, alleging that they obtained bribes in return for granting BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) contracts. Reacting to the order, Yediyurappa said he has full confidence in the judiciary. "There is no truth in any of these allegations. I will come out of all these (case

Siddaramaiah challenges K'taka CM Bommai for open discussion on corruption

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday challenged Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for an open discussion on corruption at the time and venue of his choice. Calling the present administration as a "40 per cent sarakar" filled with "looters and scamsters", the former Chief Minister, in a series of tweets, pointing out that BJP leaders claiming that they will expose scandals of his government, challenged them to do so. Siddaramaiah was reacting to the ruling BJP leaders on Saturday going after him at their party's massive 'Janaspandana' rally in Doddaballapur. In a fierce speech, Bommai had even said that the real face of the Congress will be out in the days to come and all of Siddaramaiah's scams will be exposed soon. "Let Bommai first clean his own house. 40 per cent sarakar is filled with looters and scamsters. Bommai, I challenge you for an open discussion on corruption. We are always ready. You fix the time and venue, and we will come," Siddaramaiah said. "BJP

In Pakistan, PTI's Billion Tree Project hit by claims of corruption

The province had claimed that one billion trees has been planted, but as per the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) documents, only 250 million trees have been planted

Corruption bane of country, will be dealt with seriously: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that corruption will be dealt with seriously as that's the bane of the country and new developments have begun

Malaysia's former first lady Rosmah Mansor guilty, week after Najib jailed

Malaysia's former first lady Rosmah Mansor was convicted on Thursday of soliciting and receiving bribes during her husband's corruption-tainted administration on Thursday, a week after her husband was imprisoned over the massive looting of the 1MDB state fund. Rosmah was found guilty on three charges of soliciting bribes and receiving 6.5 million ringgit (USD 1.5 million) between 2016 and 2017 to help a company secure a project to provide solar energy panels to schools on Borneo island. She is expected to remain out on bail for her appeal to higher courts. High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said prosecutors proved beyond reasonable doubt that Rosmah corruptly solicited bribes and received money as a reward for herself. He said her defense was a bare denial. Najib began a 12-year prison term last week after losing his final appeal in one of the five graft cases against him involving the multibillion-dollar pilfering of 1MDB. Before the verdict, the court heard Rosmah's applicatio

Twin Towers in Noida is living proof of SP's corruption: Deputy CM Maurya

He said that the state government under the leadership of chief minister Yogi Adityanath is acting on all such illegal encroached sites