A US federal judge has permanently dismissed the criminal securities-fraud case against Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, closing nearly two years of prosecution without a trial. Gautam Adani stated, "Truth has prevailed," in response to the ruling.
India's defence sector is on the cusp of a 'super cycle' of growth, driven by escalating geopolitical conflicts and a strong policy push towards indigenous manufacturing, with major players like BEL, HAL, and BDL poised for significant order inflows and technological advancements.
If TVK MLAs and ministers are perceived as clean, or demonstrably cleaner than their predecessors, the credibility dividend will be enormous. The voter will feel rewarded, points out Ramesh Menon.
The Haryana government has approved expenditure of 1,028 crore for various projects across multiple departments, including police housing, public works, and irrigation, aiming to enhance infrastructure and public services in the state.
Restoring weighted tax deductions and adopting a petty patents regime can foster firm-level innovative activity critical for competitiveness, points out Nagesh Kumar.
'The heat shield technology for re-entry vehicles was first mastered in DRDO for the Agni missile.' 'This is why the Americans were so opposed to Agni in the 1980s, unlike other missiles -- it was a re-entry vehicle.'
'The government must provide more funds to enable the armed forces to fight and win tomorrow's wars,' states Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
India's per capita expenditure on defence is less than $10, while the average expenditure of the top ten spenders in Asia is $800 approximately.
India's total value of defence production breached Rs 1 trillion-mark in the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), up 12 per cent year-on-year (YoY). At the bourses, this has been well reflected in related-stocks from the sector as they gained considerable ground during this period. Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, MTAR Technologies, Bharat Electronics (BEL), and Bharat Dynamics (BDL) have skyrocketed up to 160 per cent in a year, as against a 14 per cent jump in the S&P BSE Sensex.
The ministry's year-end review is silent on the continued occupation by Chinese troops of territory that India has always claimed and patrolled.
The Army has now fallen behind the other two services for four years in a row.
India has allocated Rs 1.72 trillion, or 27.67 per cent of the total defence budget to cater to modernisation of the country's arsenal. Modern militaries spend up to 50 to 60 per cent of their total defence budget so that they go into combat with superior weaponry and equipment.
It is baffling how the PM chose the LCH as an indigenous product to celebrate on Rashtriya Raksha Samarpan Parv, even while his Cabinet holds up manufacturing clearance for 15 LCHs on the grounds that they are not Indian enough.
Few finance ministers announce any taxation measure that could upset the stock market. Ms Sitharaman decided to take that risk, observes A K Bhattacharya.
The CDS will be a four-star general and his salary will be equivalent to that of service chiefs.
'Defence does not new 'planning commissions'; it needs an implementation commission.'
The defence minister said that the expenditure has been highest in 2017-18. In the same manner, it was second highest in 2016-17 and third highest in 2015-16. The fourth highest defence expenditure since 2004-05 was in 2014-15.
The 1.4% decline projected for 2025 is driven by a 5.6% (72,000) dip in the strength of railway employees to 1.2 million by next year.
Describing the DAD as the "guardian of defence finance", he emphasised the need to bolster the internal vigilance mechanism so that any suspicious activity can be detected and reviewed immediately.
The idea of weaponization got a fillip from an unexpected quarter. In the last week of October 1985, Rajiv met US President Ronald Reagan. Reagan told Rajiv, 'Pakistan has already made a bomb.' When Rajiv started talking about disarmament, the US president cut him short, 'Don't talk theory, think of your own protection.'
If Admiral Mehta's warning that India is long way off from catching up to China can generate the requisite debate in the Indian political establishment about the rise of China and its implications for Indian strategy, he would have done his bit for the nation.
Jaitley can make his innings -- notwithstanding its likely length -- to be a watershed tenure, or just add to the image of the MoD drifting rudderless, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
No one really knows what proportion of the nation's wealth and income are available for defence
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
The allocation in the defence budget is inadequate to meet India's long-term threats, especially from China and Pakistan, says Gurmeet Kanwal.
India is one of the largest defence importers.
Responding to a question, he said, "It may also deal with fake news, though there is no specific mention in this regard."
On March 13, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had tabled the second batch of supplementary demands for grants in the House amounting to a total of Rs 2,70,508.89 crore.
China on Wednesday announced a 12.2 per cent increase in its defence budget taking the military spending for this year to $132 billion, far above India's $36 billion.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said perhaps for the first time after Independence, such a big and 'far-reaching' reform process is being initiated in the Army.
During these seven decades, the IAF has lost 2,374 aircraft to crashes. They include 1,126 fighters and 1,248 non-combat aircraft. In addition, 229 trainers and 196 helicopters have crashed. These crashes have resulted in the deaths of 1,305 skilled pilots, note Ajai Shukla and Devesh Kapur.
'Who has given how much money to which party, the people of India must know this fact.'
A sixth arrest has been made in the Parliament security breach case -- Mahesh Kumawat from Rajasthan's Nagaur who was allegedly in contact with the other accused for the last two years for hatching the conspiracy and had destroyed their mobile phones to get rid of the evidence, police said on Saturday.
State Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu said that in 2013-14, the state had received Rs 50 crore for police modernisation from the Centre. The allocation has come down to Rs 20 crore right now.
IOA Finance Committee chairman Khanna defends decision on Tokyo Games hotel bookings for Tokyo Games, says can't authorise expenditure in absence of approval from President or Secretary General. Indian Weightlifting Federation secretary general Sahdev Yadav resigned as member of the finance committee, saying he was doing so "to maintain self-respect".
16 Indian Army divisions face China, 20 face Pakistan and two divisions are reserves. This powerful signal can hardly be missed in China or Pakistan, notes Ajai Shukla.
"The amended second draft (known as DAP) has since been finalised by the review committee driven by tenets of defence reforms announced as part of the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' and has been placed in the public domain," the ministry said.
The scheme is aimed at slashing the salary and pension bills of the three services, which have been increasing rapidly.
It is worrisome that salaries are consuming as much expenditure as equipment.
'The armed forces have been given clear indication that they have to give priority to Make in India and indigenisation and dependence on foreign source should be reduced.' 'Almost Rs 90,000 crores contracts have been signed during my tenure. Another almost Rs 70,000 crores are in the pipeline.'
