Staring at the prospect of being blacklisted in the wake of the chopper scam, Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland has approached the Finance Ministry for release of nearly Rs 2,400 crore which has been put on hold by the defence ministry pending inquiry into the case.
India has encashed a guarantee of over Rs 250 crore deposited by AgustaWestland in a bank in New Delhi even as it is preparing to file an appeal against an Italian court's stay on its move to encash another guarantee deposited in an Italian bank.
On the stalled goods and services tax bill, Modi said the Congress has made it a prestige issue but expressed confidence that the evolving arithmetic in Rajya Sabha would ensure that the legislation would be passed soon.
In the matter pertaining to acquisition of AgustaWestland helicopters, the undisputed central issue that stands out is corruption, especially bribery, the statement said.
The AgustaWestland issue was fiercely debated in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress blaming each other.
"I am always being targeted, happy to be targeted," he told reporters while entering Parliament House.
Tyagi has been granted bail on Rs 2 lakh security.
All detained persons were released by 2.10 pm, a senior police official said.
The CBI argued before the high court that each day Tyagi remained out on bail would lead to its line of investigation being "exposed" and "hampered" and the evidence could also be destroyed.
The Congress on Monday alleged that a Chinese national played a 'dubious role' in the Adani Group's activities and asked the government if it was not concerned that the conglomerate may be involving that person in important defence contracts.
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
Both have been asked to furnish a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and one surety of like amount as pre-requisites.
There was no bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year, External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.
If Wednesday was any indication, the rest of the Parliament session will see the two sides scoring brownie points against each other, and the Gandhis can expect more enemy fire directed at them, says Rashme Sehgal.
"One was 'AP' and the other was 'Fam'. 'AP' stands for Ahmed Patel and 'Fam' stands for family. Have you heard of Ahmed Patel? Which family is he close to?" Modi asked the crowd at a rally in Dehradun.
PAC Chairman K V Thomas, however, remained non-committal over these demands.
I will quit Rajya Sabha as well as public life if any allegation against me is proved in AgustaWestland controversy, said Congress leader Ahmed Patel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday dubbed the controversial deal a "chori" (theft) and indicated that the guilty, howsoever big, would not be spared.
ED sought his custody for seven days, claiming it had knowledge of unidentified assets which value more than Rs 500 crore and his custodial interrogation was required.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan in the case of alleged commission paid by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer to a UK-based NRI middleman to swing a three-aircraft deal with DRDO worth $210 million in its favour in 2008, officials said on Thursday.
Government sources told ANI on Sunday that the ban has been lifted in dealings with the company with conditions. As per the decision, the investigation against the company by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate would continue.
Despite Nirav Modi win, in the last five years, India managed to bring only about 20 fugitive offenders.
Michel may prove to be the missing link in the money trail in the alleged multi-crore scam being probed by the CBI.
Shah said the 'friendship' between Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal, and Congress' top leadership is 'time tested and deep'.
The ED named former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi, his two cousins, lawyer Gautam Khaitan, two Italian middlemen and Finmeccanica in its chargesheet.
Saurabh Patel, energy minister, Gujarat, who has handled the energy portfolio since 2002, speaks to Archis Mohan on GPSC's investment in the KG basin and says the criticism is politically motivated.
Whether it was the Bofors gun in 1986 or Italian helicopters in 2012, a leak or disclosure at the source overseas is like dynamite, and usually impossible to refute. They acquire a life of their own in the hands of the media, says T N Ninan.
The holy grail of all motorcycles, the M V Agusta Turismo Veloce 800, finds its way to India.
Others named in the chargesheet include alleged European middlemen in the deal, Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.
"Many people who had some links with Agusta, I am not saying illegitimate links, but some links with Agusta procurement and supply, were given good positions," Parrikar told PTI in an interview.
Along with Tyagi, his cousin Sanjiv alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan were also arrested.
Counsels for AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam accused Christian Michel and fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi were also the potential targets of Israeli spyware Pegasus.
Michel was arrested in the United Arab Emirates and extradited to India on December 4.
Newly appointed Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma is is approachable and friendly, not forbidding, say his former colleagues.
Parrikar had recently challenged the Congress to show the order by the UPA government confirming the blacklisting.
When the IAF veterans' bail petition came up for hearing, in an unprecedented move, senior serving and retired Air Marshals and Air Vice Marshals rallied behind the accused officers and appeared before the court to give sureties for each, something that has never happened ever before.
Sanjeev Tyagi, a cousin of former Air Chief S P Tyagi, on Saturday rubbished charges of having received kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, saying it was an "absolute lie" even as he admitted having met one of the middlemen 17 years back on a power sector deal.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com offers his unique perspective on several issues of the day.
The AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal will once again dominate the proceedings in Parliament on Thursday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday questioned former Indian air force Chief S P Tyagi and two others in connection with alleged irregularities in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal.
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