The Congress has been attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party government on the defence deal, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of causing loss to the state exchequer by buying the fighter jets at inflated rate.
He will be the first former Chief Justice of India to be nominated to Rajya Sabha. Former Chief Justice Ranganath Misra was also a Rajya Sabha member but he was elected on a Congress party ticket.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Varun Gandhi was at the centre of a controversy over allegations that he had leaked defence secrets to middleman Abhishek Verma and arms manufacturers after being "honey trapped", a charge he stoutly denied.
The government's decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault has become a controversial political issue, with the main opposition party Congress levelling allegations of corruption and impropriety, and the ruling dispensation defending the move.
The bribery scandal involving AgustaWestland's VVIP helicopter deal threatens to corner the Congress party and cast a shadow on India's latest $10 billion defence deal with Dassault for 126 Rafale fighter aircraft. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Will Aero India 2013, the aeronautical jamboree that kicks off in Bangalore on Wednesday, be relatively subdued?
The first batch of four Rafale aircraft will arrive in India by May 2020.
"A global settlement was reached between the French tax authorities and Reliance Flag, a telecom company, in a tax dispute pertaining to the period 2008-2012," the French embassy said in a statement.
The BJP MP in her plea alleged that Gandhi has attributed his personal remarks to the top court and tried to create prejudice.
Identifying Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as its "'main partner' in the multirole combat aircraft deal, France's Dassault Aviation today said it will set up a joint venture company with Reliance Industries to work on the $10 billion Rafale project.
The Indian Air Force on Friday received the first two upgraded Mirage-2000 aircraft from France under a Rs 10,000 crore deal.
Six Rafale trainer aircraft will carry RB series tail numbers which stand for Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, the current Chief of Air Staff who played a key role as lead negotiator for the mega deal.
Overcoming tough competition from Eurofighter Typhoon, French aviation company Dassault's Rafale fighter jet has won Indian Air Force's mammoth deal for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft worth Rs 52,000 crore.
The bitter war between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Rafale deal on Tuesday saw more name-calling with the opposition party dubbing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as a "babble blogger" and dismissing his "clown prince out-clowning himself" barb at Rahul Gandhi as "hollow rants of a court jester".
Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat had alleged that the UPA called off Rafale deal after a private company linked to Vadra was not chosen as a broker.
Dhanoa is a on a four-day visit to France to ramp up cooperation between the air forces of the two countries in a range of areas.
Dhanoa also hoped that the matter will be laid to rest saying that raking up such issues to get political gains, putting the interest of armed forces behind is not right.
The airport sees 950-960 aircraft movements daily, and Saturday saw an additional 37 flights to Udaipur as celebrities, filmstars and politicians made a dash to the city for pre-wedding celebrations.
The selection of Dassault's Rafale as India's new MMRCA fighter was only the latest step in the Air Force's long and painstaking process to pick itself a winner, writes Ajai Shukla.
The J-20 fighter prototype, a 5th generation combat aircraft built by China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry, made its first flight on January 11, 2011. This necessitates a re-evaluation of the IAF's procurement of 4th generation medium fighters, which is close to being finalised. Ajai Shukla reports
"The PM defended his personal RAFALE bypass deal on 2 counts: 1. Better Price 2. Faster Delivery. Both have been demolished by the revelations in the Hindu today," he tweeted.
"I answer all your questions, whatever you ask me. Why don't you question Prime Minister Modi on the Rafale deal, on Amit Shah's son. Why don't you question the prime minister who changed the entire Rafale deal to help a businessman?" he asked.
The CAG observed there was no change in the price of 'flyaway aircraft package'.
"It is reiterated that the petitioners are using documents with the intention to present a selective and incomplete picture of internal secret deliberations on a matter relating to national security and defence," the defence ministry said.
Though Singh will receive the first of the 36 Rafale jets on Tuesday, the first batch of four aircraft will come to India only by May next year.
For years, India's proposed purchase of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft has been valued at Rs 42,000 crore. Now that valuation is set to rise dramatically
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.
Boeing is pressing hard to win the Indian Navy contract for 57 aircraft carrier-borne fighters. It could offer the Super Hornet in the ongoing IAF procurement of 114 medium fighters; its upgraded F-15EX fighter also on the list.
"We are calculating very hard. There is a lot of work going on. I expect (in) another four weeks, we should be able to wrap it up", Browne told media persons amid intense flurry among the two remaining contenders Eurofighter and Dassault's Rafale.
Capable of flying at Mach 2.5 (two-and-a-half times the speed of sound), the F-15EX is the world's fastest fighter aircraft. It carries 13.5 tonnes of weapons load, more than the Rafale or the Sukhoi-30MKI.
Gandhi accusing the minister of 'lying' on HAL's capability to build the jet fighters, saying her position is untenable.
'What the price will reveal, since the India specific capabilities haven't changed since 2013, is how much the Modi government padded up the cost,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
French companies have invested more than $1 billion per year in India.
Plummeting European currencies, battered by the euro zone financial crisis, are providing European aerospace corporations an opportunity to undercut their American rivals, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in the contest to sell India 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for a price that has been estimated at $11 billion, or about Rs 44,000 crore.
The Centre had submitted that privilege documents were procured by petitioners in an illegal way and used to support their review petitions against the December 14, 2018 judgment of the apex court dismissing all pleas challenging procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.
India may scrap negotiations with Dassault for 126 Rafale fighter jets. Instead, it is likely to buy over 60 jets in a flyaway condition.
Last week, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said buying 90 less Rafale fighter jets than the 126 planned earlier would save him money to buy more Tejas Light Combat Aircraft for the India Air Force.
Swedish defence major Saab has unveiled its next generation fighter aircraft, Gripen E, which the company said is being offered to the country under the 'Make in India' initiative with transfer of technology.
Rahul has singled out Anil Ambani several times for winning the Rafale defence contract from the Narendra Modi government, alleging favouritism and corruption.
The deal was announced in April under which French manufacturer Dassault Aviation will sell 35 of these jets to India in a deal estimated at over $5.5 billion.
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