2G scam - Mukherjee's all-party meet ends without compromise - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The all-party meet called by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here on Monday to break the logjam in Parliament over the 2G scam, ended without compromise as the Opposition refused to let the Session work till the government agreed to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe. Prior to the meeting, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj said: "The BJP will not compromise on the need for a JPC." The decision to call an all-party meet over the issue was decided at a meeting of Congress Core Group on Sunday evening, which was attended by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. On Monday, both Houses of Parliament were adjourned till Tuesday as opposition members continued to demand a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The Winter Session of Parliament began on November 9 and has witnessed repeated adjournments over the opposition's insistence for a JPC probe into the scam, even after A. Raja resigned as Communications and IT Minister last Sunday. Both the BJP and the Left have noted that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the matter cannot be taken seriously. The 2G spectrum allocation has reportedly caused an alleged loss of Rs1.76 lakh crores to the Government, the CAG has stated in a report. The report further states that Raja had no apparent logical or valid reason to ignore the advice of the Law and Finance Ministries while allocating telecom spectrum to several firms in 2007-08. Passenger strips to avoid 'naked scanner' Melbourne , Nov 22 (ANI): A traveller has been arrested for shedding his clothes in a bid to avoid being frisked by airport staff. Sam Wolanyk was planning to fly to Barbados but declined to go through the full-body scanner, reported the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was then singled out for a pat-down search instead. Wolanyk allegedly stripped down to his underwear instead, said his lawyer Jason Davis of Orange Country. "It was obvious that my underwear left nothing to the imagination," News.com.au quoted Wolanyk, as saying. "I was not willing to be molested again. "I figured that this way everyone would be happy: I don't get scanned or groped, they can verify that I'm not a danger to anyone and the line would actually move more quickly because those pat-downs take time," he said. Wolanyk will appear in court on January 7 next year.

2G scam: Mukherjee's all-party meet ends without compromise