India's enemies be warned: The Rafale deal will bring a sea change in India's defence preparedness.
Lockheed, which has a longstanding relationship of 25 years with India, unveiled the F-21 during the Aero India show in Bengaluru in February, saying it will address the Indian Air Force's unique requirements.
He claimed the NDA government bought the planes at Rs 1,600 crore a piece as against the Rs 526 crore for each aircraft fixed by the UPA.
Cutting down competition as of now to just two fighters -- F-16 by Lockheed Martin and Gripen by Saab -- Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said India will select one more single engine aircraft other than Tejas for indigenous manufacture under 'Make in India' route.
The Congress has launched an offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party government over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and violation of rules by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded answers from him.
French sources say Hollande was motivated to speak out after an Indian media report revealed that the Reliance Group had part-funded a film venture by his domestic partner, French actress Julie Gayet.
With the Rafale fighter deal stuck over price negotiations, can the prime minister step in and find a way out for both countries?
As the Cabinet approves the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, Nitin Gokhale/Bharatshakti.in reveals how India brought down the price of the Rafale deal.
With the United Progressive Alliance-II's tenure coming to an end, France had wanted India to sign a pact to provide government guarantee for completion of negotiation for 126 fighter aircraft with Dassault company but Defence Minister A K Antony has refused to do so.
The apex court said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal.
The ministry had on Friday decided to replace Chatterjee as joint secretary and acquisition manager (Air), in-charge of handling the chopper deal, which is facing cancellation in view of bribery allegations, and the multi-billion dollar 126 combat aircraft deal of the Air Force.
Justice Gogoi's tenure as judge and as CJI was marked by some controversies and personal allegations but that never came in his way of his judicial work that was reflected in the last few days when benches headed by him delivered some path-breaking judgments.
Two former union ministers have sought registration of an FIR into the fighter jet deal between India and France alleging "criminal misconduct" by high public functionaries.
In the early hours of Tuesday, 12 Indian Air Force Mirage-2000 fighter jets entered Pakistani airspace and dropped 1,000-kg laser-guided bombs on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror launch pads across the Line of Control.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
The integration of the Rafale jets will allow the IAF to hit targets inside both Pakistan and across the northern and eastern borders while still staying within India's territory.
Making it clear that one car cannot travel on two roads at the same time, India said all future deals for Rafale fighters would also be through government to government route, indicating that the USD 20 billion MMRCA tender has virtually been scrapped.
Randeep Surjewala also accused the government of "doublespeak" and "sacrificing" national interests.
Gandhi's attack came a day after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had refused to share the details of the deal on the grounds of security agreement signed between India and France.
Gandhi's remarks came after the Supreme Court gave clean chit to the Modi government on the purchase of 36 fully-loaded Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault Aviation.
In a two-page letter written on December 12, 2017, the Reliance head said he was "personally saddened" by the "unfortunate statements" against him and his group by several functionaries of the Congress party.
Rahul targets the Modi government on Twitter, using the hashtag "BikGayaChowkidar".
"They probably ran the Defence Ministry with a lot of brokers and 'dalals' in between," she said.
India may scrap negotiations with Dassault for 126 Rafale fighter jets. Instead, it is likely to buy over 60 jets in a flyaway condition.
'The arrests of Sanatan Sanstha members for committing murder and stockpiling explosives with the alleged intent of committing mass murder must be embarrassing to a majoritarian government,' notes Devangshu Datta.
The army is planning to procure 100 self-propelled artillery howitzers and three Indian vendors, including two private companies, have been selected for trial of their equipment, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha on Monday.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday.
The Centre said media reports cannot form the basis for seeking review of the judgement since it is well settled law that courts do not take decision on the basis of media reports.
Congress chief urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to answer the questions raised by the Congress on the multi-million dollar fighter jet deal.
The government is looking into the complaints about the procedure to determine the winner of the multi-billion dollar combat aircraft deal, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Thursday while admitting that there was no money to sign such a big deal in this fiscal.
The company wants to make F 16-Block 70 "for India, from India and export to the world".
On the pricing issue, Eric Trappier said that the present aircraft are cheaper by 9 per cent.
The armed forces are quite happy with the attention paid to their concerns, reports R S Chauhan.
Rahul accuses govt of weakening HAL to benefit Anil Ambani while Sitharaman said doubts raised over HAL contracts are misleading.
In their review plea, they alleged that the judgment "relied upon patently incorrect claims made by the government in an unsigned note given in a sealed cover" to the apex court.
The apex court at the same time made it clear that it does not want information on pricing and technical parameters relating to the fighter aircraft.
Gandhi accusing the minister of 'lying' on HAL's capability to build the jet fighters, saying her position is untenable.
The deal which is worth 7.87-billion (Rs 58,363 crore) comes with a saving of nearly 750 million (Rs 5,611 crore).
The French government has rejected Indian negotiators' demand for a 50 per cent offset clause citing sharp cost escalation but offered to participate in 'Make in India' projects to carry forward the talks for 36 Rafale fighter jets that have hit turbulence.
In its order, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, gave some more leeway to the government which has been arguing that pricing details are so sensitive that they have not even been shared with Parliament.
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