The defence ministry has put on hold all existing and future deals with Rolls Royce pending a CBI probe ordered into allegations of bribery and engaging middlemen in contracts worth Rs 10,000 crore for supply of aircraft engines to state-owned HAL.
On the pricing issue, Eric Trappier said that the present aircraft are cheaper by 9 per cent.
Surinder Kapur's relentless pursuit of quality made Kapur a highly efficient manufacturer of automobile components.
The success of Anil Ambani's ambitious defence plan will depend partly on whether he can persuade government officials and international partners that he can build sophisticated equipment and partly on whether the PM can get India's notoriously slow procurement process to work, say Paritosh Bansal, Sanjeev Miglani and Promit Mukherjee.
'India placed the order, primarily due to the IAF's 'critical operational necessity'.' 'The complexity of the IAF's requirements delayed the process for months.' 'It is these requirements which cannot be made public.' 'Can you image Indian politicians publicly discussing the pros and the cons of such military equipment?' 'It would provide India's enemies with indications about the IAF's tactical plans in case of a conflict.' 'It is crucial that they should remain secret to protect India's defence preparedness,' explains Claude Arpi.
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.
Marking a breakthrough in the protracted talks in the French Rafale jet deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that India will purchase 36 of these fighter planes that are ready to fly, citing critical operational requirement of the Indian Air Force.
With an aim of boosting manufacturing and exports amid sharp fall in the rupee, the government has decided to take a slew of steps, including enhancing steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes and raising textile exports by 30 per cent this year.
Thirty-four years after he traveled to space, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih that he looks forward to Gaganyan, India's first manned space mission in 2022.
'This is fake. Tyagi was made to sign on a blank paper of the register for media entry and later the names of Rahul Gandhi and others were added in the register,' Congress said.
Rather than focussing on manufacturing, Indian companies need to concentrate on conceiving, designing and branding products.
'The most ambitious part of the BAE-HAL agreement involves building an advanced version of the Hawk, which could be used as a light, manoeuvrable, fighter that could operate in the narrow valleys of India's Himalayan frontier, where high-performance fighters cannot turn,' reports Ajai Shukla.
'Let us remember that Make in India for defence must not be our goal.' 'The goal is to have a strong military to help the nation protect its identity and assert its will.'
'Over the last two decades, the India-French relationship has grown steadily, no major political difference having darkened the sky between Paris and Delhi,' says Claude Arpi.
The attorney general admitted that there is no sovereign guarantee, but asserted that there is a letter of comfort by France which would be as good as a governmental guarantee.
'If a drone can't fly airspace without the DGCA knowing about it, how did such a big plane get airborne?' 'The DGCA knows this aircraft had undergone major repairs. Now, the question is who allowed it.' 'The DGCA cannot come out of this.'
Why did Modi bypass the Cabinet before he committed India to the Rafale deal?
Amongst those who heard the message of the Bihar results would be Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, whose realm is simultaneously the country's most complex and -- when something goes wrong -- the most emotive, says Ajai Shukla.
Investor confidence has evaporated amid fears over the rising cost of funding India's gaping current account deficit, prompting New Delhi to delay plans to raise much-needed funds through partial privatisations, finance ministry sources said.
The National Democratic Alliance government has adopted half measures instead of moving decisively on defence.
'Despite frequent high-level interactions there has been little traction on substantive issues between India and France,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
Analysts say Tatas could sustain their current pace of growth, provided the group's "cash cows", such as TCS and Tata Motors, continue to deliver.
'The defence minister needs to focus on human resources-related issues at the same pace in 2017 as he did on acquisitions in 2016,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'As the tanks roll down Delhi's Rajpath and the C-17s fly overhead, there could be a lot brewing in Hyderabad House,' says Surya Gangadharan.
What the new defence minister does with the Rafale fighter jet deal will decide if India wants to build genuine, long-term defence capability through an indigenous product that slashes life-cycle costs, or opt for glitzy signing ceremony with foreign vendors that would please the public, says Ajai Shukla.
The defence ministry needs to focus keenly on "Made in India" projects without being distracted by "Make in India" slogans, says Ajai Shukla
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers's queries on stocks they own or want to buy.
While the Rafale deal seems to be the main order of business during French President Francois Hollande's visit, other aspects could help sweeten the deal, says Claude Arpi.
Despite crude comfort, heavy spending cuts needed to offset Rs 80k-cr revenue shortfall
With the Rafale fighter deal stuck over price negotiations, can the prime minister step in and find a way out for both countries?
The remarkable story of Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, will be seen in a film featuring Aamir Khan.
'The India-France relationship has been that of the elites of two countries, who appreciate each other's philosophical traditions -- whether it is ancient Indian civilisation and Sanskrit texts or the French tradition of Rene Descartes, Albert Camus, (Jean-Paul) Sartre... This is a drawback. It doesn't create the buzz, the excitement necessary for a relationship. We need more people-to-people contact, especially among students,' says former Ambassador to Paris, Rakesh Sood.
Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal.
The OrcaPod is a prototype of what comes after boats, cars, trains and planes. It's India's foray into what Tesla founder Elon Musk calls the 'fifth form of transportation' and India's only entry at the ongoing Hyperloop competition by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The ministry of defence has unwisely decided to build just two squadrons of the already developed aircraft -- Tejas Mark I -- and to start developing an even more capable Tejas Mark II. This is an enormous blunder, says Ajai Shukla
The French have been rewarded for their obstinacy with exactly what they wanted -- an order for fully built Rafales without technology transfer.
'Narendra Modi knows how to calculate and remain pragmatic. Take the unexpected Rafale deal - perhaps the first time a PM has considered the country's defence procurement as a priority, over the considerations of the babus... and over his own pet project 'Make in India',' says Claude Arpi.
'The range of purchases throw a light on India's threat perception as also its perceived role of being a stabilising influence in the region,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The New Year 2015, however, may see shares worth over Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) being put on the table by the government, including by way of part-sale of its holdings in PSUs and its residual minority stakes in some private sector entities.
ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar talks of what's on and what lies ahead for the Indian space agency.
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