The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sent a judicial request to the United States seeking information from private investigator Michael Hershman, who has claimed to possess crucial details about the Rs 64-crore Bofors bribery scandal of the 1980s. Hershman, the head of the Fairfax Group, had previously expressed his willingness to share information with Indian agencies, alleging that the investigation into the scam was derailed by the then Congress government. The CBI's request comes after previous attempts to obtain information from US authorities yielded no results. This move highlights the continued efforts to uncover the truth behind the decades-old scandal, which has had a significant impact on Indian politics.
President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday conferred Distinguished Service Awards, including 52 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, on 84 serving and retired personnel of the armed forces and the Indian Coast Guard.
The 30-member committee, chaired by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Jual Oram and of which Rahul Gandhi is also a member,wishes to visit the eastern Ladakh region in the last week of May or in June.
'Today's situation is unacceptable. It has the potential to affect the IAF's operational capability.'
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministerial conclave in Delhi, people familiar with the matter said.
Pakistan's Defence Secretary Lieutenant General (Retired) Syed Ather Ali arrived in New Delhi on Saturday for the 12th round of defence secretary-level talks on the long- pending Siachen issue, which is being resumed after a gap of three years. "Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar will lead the Indian delegation during the two-day talks. India and Pakistan decided to resume the talks last year after both prime ministers met in Thimpu," defence ministry officials said.
Defence sources stated that the disengagement involves removing infrastructure and withdrawing troops from both sides. The process is expected to be completed by Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Pompeo and Esper will hold the 2+2 talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, covering the entire expanse of defence and security ties as well as key regional and global issues.
Trump couldn't care less anymore about the Israeli demand for Iran's 'de-nuclearisation' and 'de-militarisation.' Trump pins hopes on a grand bargain with Iran as a partner in America First, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Similarly, Pakistan has shared the names of 43 civilian prisoners and 211 fishermen in its custody who are Indian or are believed-to-be-Indian, the MEA added.
India's mission in Kuwait is ascertaining the full details from the concerned Kuwaiti authorities on the tragic fire incident in a building in the southern city of Mangaf which killed 49 foreign workers, including around 40 Indians, and injured 50 others, even as officials started an investigation into one of the worst fires in the Gulf nation.
'Pick up momentum and find opportunities from an intelligence-sharing standpoint.'
India and the United States are unlikely to wrap up any defence deals during the high-profile visit of President Barack Obama early next month, Defence Minister A K Antony indicated on Monday
With respect and gratitude we honour the memory of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Operation Sindoor.
The prime minister was briefed by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan about the various discussions conducted at this year's Combined Commanders' conference.
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.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is currently facing public demand for his resignation over his mishandling of the economic crisis, is the man who ruthlessly ended Sri Lanka's nearly 30-year civil war with the LTTE with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009.
The defence ministry has signed off on a national security plan that it cannot fund. Ajai Shukla reports
Move over artillery gun deals stamp paper fodder and other scams! India's pinnacle of subterfuge will soon belong to a new hustle called offsets on which pliant Indian defence manufacturers are set to ride to riches. Setting the stage for this shakedown is a disinterested Ministry of Defence (MoD), which has artlessly authored a scamster's delight called the Defence Offset Procedure.
In what is seen as a significant move, the DAP featured measures to reduce delay in procurement of essential items by the three services as it proposed a new enabling provision to acquire them through capital budget under a simplified procedure in a time-bound manner.
A strategist and a quintessential political leader with grassroots connect, Rajnath Singh is credited with expanding the Bharatiya Janata Party's organisational network in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s and the subsequent decades.
The Chinese military on Thursday said the situation along the India-China border 'at present' is 'generally stable' and both sides have maintained 'effective' communication to resolve the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
"China has not halted defence exchanges with India and has received no word that India has stopped military exchanges between the two countries," China's defence ministry said in a brief statement circulated to media. "China takes seriously developing military ties with India, and we are confident that both sides will stay focused on the broader picture of bilateral ties between our two countries, acting in a spirit of consultation and unity to promote ties.
Coming down hard on the government for meagre increase in allocation for armed forces in the last few years, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence said the outlay cannot even fulfill the basic requirements of the armed forces.
HDFC Bank on Sunday said that it will "pursue all lawful remedies" to recover public funds and address the retaliatory actions taken by the Mehta family of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical (LKMM) Trust, which has filed a complaint against the bank's managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) Sashidhar Jagdishan alleging financial fraud.
Defence ministry officials concede that many plans across the three armed forces will witness a definite setback because of this austerity measure, reports R S Chauhan
The ceremony will begin with the massed band's "Agniveer" tune which will be followed by the enthralling tunes like "Almora", "Kedar Nath", "Sangam Dur", "Queen of Satpura", "Bhagirathi", "Konkan Sundari" by pipes and drums band, the defence ministry statement said.
China wants India to put behind the 1962 war as an 'unfortunate' thing of the past. The two countries should strengthen their military ties and formalise a border management pact under which their troops will not fire at each other. The Chinese assessment was conveyed to the Indian defence ministry's team which visited Beijing on January 14 and 15 for the third round of the Annual Defence Dialogue between the two countries.
The defence ministry said the test-flight was carried out on Wednesday evening and it met all the trial objectives, validating the reliable performance, as confirmed from the data captured by a number of range sensors deployed at different locations.
The "weaponisation" of economic activity - through tariffs and sanctions - is now a reality, with countries leveraging these tools strategically, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at the Raisina Dialogue recently.
Sanjay Bhandari, an accused arms dealer wanted in India on money laundering and tax evasion charges, is pursuing a separate legal battle of his own in France over an alleged unpaid cut from a large Indian defence contract dating back over 10 years, according to a UK media report.
Over seven years after an IAF AN-32 aircraft went missing in 2016, scientists at the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) stumbled upon its debris when they were testing the instruments of their newly-acquired autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for seabed mapping in December.
'It is a breathtaking journey towards the Tibet border, especially since the Border Road Organisation has accomplished a fabulous feat in black-topping the road till the border.' 'One is left with a salute for the dauntless Indian soldiers who spend the winter in these majestic, though inhospitable areas (we were told that the temperature comes down to minus 40 in winter),' recounts Claude Arpi.
The defence ministry has already shortlisted two Indian shipyards and five foreign defence majors for the project, being billed as one of biggest "Make in India" ventures.
'It is high time that the 'war on terror' is removed from our diplomatic toolbox.' 'Certainly, our parliamentarians have no role in it,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China said on Tuesday that it supports the Maldives in safeguarding its sovereignty, as the first batch of Indian military personnel operating a helicopter left the island nation and was replaced by a civilian crew.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and former Navy commander Ashish Pathak for allegedly collecting sensitive information on defence matters and passing them on to foreign intelligence agencies, officials said on Wednesday.
The disengagement process between India and China in eastern Ladakh is in final stages and on the brink of completion, top officials of the country's defence establishment on Thursday told a parliamentary panel during a meeting, which sources said turned 'stormy' amid several questions asked by opposition members including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The cost of the project will be Rs 21,738 crore, the sources said.
DRDO's latest tank will face trial in Rajasthan's summer which will be followed by 'user trials' ahead of facing battle in high-altitude deserts of eastern Ladakh and Sikkim, reports Ajai Shukla.
