Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said retired Indian Navy Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha has clarified that the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was on an official visit on INS Viraat and not on a vacation.
'If the Modi government does not waive farm loans, we guarantee to waive farm loans if voted to power in 2019'
But it does not mean we will let our self-esteem be hurt, Rajnath said in the message to the armed forces on the eve of Independence Day.
Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria's plan includes building 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft in quick time to fill the light fighter vacancies left by the retirement of MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters.
He also accused Pakistan of wanting to destabilise and weaken India through terrorism.
'Who sent Masood Azhar back to Pakistan? Who bowed down to terror and released him? Not the Congress, but it was the BJP government'
The Indian Air Force has 31 fighter squadrons as against authorised strength of 42 squadrons.
In the early hours of Tuesday, 12 Indian Air Force Mirage-2000 fighter jets entered Pakistani airspace and dropped 1,000-kg laser-guided bombs on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror launch pads across the Line of Control.
An impressive flypast consisting of four Rafale, five MiG 29-Ks and one Hawkeye was witnessed by Vice Admiral P Ajit Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command, Alexandre Ziegler, the French Ambassador to India and nine French Navy dignitaries on board the French Carrier Charles De Gaulle.
He also sought to know if Modi, during his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, asked the latter about the 2017 Doklam standoff.
The media report said Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau has sent a request to the ministry of home affairs seeking legal assistance in its probe into the alleged kickbacks.
Addressing the joint session of Parliament at the beginning of the Budget Session, President Ram Nath Kovind said, "The government has been working to fulfill hopes and aspirations of all sections of people."
He was a leader who enjoyed acceptance from all sections of the BJP and beyond.
The Opposition accused the government of bringing a populist budget.
The Opposition on Wednesday hardened its stand on the Pegasus spyware issue with 14 parties unitedly demanding a debate in Parliament in the presence of the prime minister or the home minister and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.
Cutting down competition as of now to just two fighters -- F-16 by Lockheed Martin and Gripen by Saab -- Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said India will select one more single engine aircraft other than Tejas for indigenous manufacture under 'Make in India' route.
"It is about time that India and its institutions are protected from these 'institution wreckers'," said Jaitley.
His background as an Indian Institute of Technology graduate and as a chief minister with an excellent track record as an administrator equipped him to initiate defence industry and policy reforms that are only now beginning to bear fruit.
'Has the Supreme court even remotely said that PM Modi is not chowkidar?'
The National Democratic Alliance government has adopted half measures instead of moving decisively on defence.
Inaugurating the Defence Expo in Thiruvidanthai in Tamil Nadu, Modi said the Defence Procurement Procedure was revised with many specific provisions for stimulating growth of the domestic defence industry.
>The Indian Navy wants 'day and night capable, all weather multi-role deck based combat aircraft which can be used for air defence, air-to-surface operations, buddy refuelling, reconnaissance, electronic warfare missions' from its aircraft carriers.
The Air Chief Marshal, who is set to retire on December 31, also rued that the tender for the much needed "force multiplier" mid air refuellers had to be withdrawn. He said a fresh tender is in the offing and the procurement will be speeded up.
India's doctrinal policy shift in combating terror by carrying out the Balakot air strikes inside Pakistan, appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff and hastening work on military modernisation marked a new beginning in 2019 in dealing with complex security challenges.
'He gets scared when he faces someone who says I will not back off, he backs off,' Rahul said about Modi.
Lauding the contribution of non-resident Indians in the development of the country, he said, 'Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, B R Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru were all NRIs. They travelled the world and helped India with new perspectives.'
Around four lakh people who attended the event were treated to a spectacular flying display of fighter, civilian aircraft and helicopters.
Boeing expects the IAF to soon place an inquiry for twin-engine fighter jets to bridge a 200-aircraft gap in its armoury. And the Super Hornet is ready to fly in.
'I was not really aware that this movement was slyly being propped up by the BJP and RSS.'
'Prior to Pulwama, the BJP appeared to be on the defensive, uncertain of its stop-and-go development programmes, fearful of growing discontent among agriculturists and unemployed youth, and nervous of gathering steam among Opposition parties across regional and caste alliances,' says Sunil Sethi.
"I want to know from the Congress as to why it is agitated and telling lies repeatedly. Is it because there is no Quattrocchi mama or Christian Michel in defence deals done by the BJP government," Modi said.
Top HAL sources say the AMCA, which is being developed as the IAF's next-generation stealth fighter, is slated to be assembled at HAL Nashik.
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.
>Putin's last-minute intervention with PM salvages $5.43 bn pact.
'While fighter pilots must not be sent into combat in inferior aircraft, an obsessive quest for outright combat superiority will leave an air force short of numbers,' says Ajai Shukla.
The IAF commanders held detailed deliberations on the border row with China in eastern Ladakh, key short-term and long-term security challenges facing the nation and on the complex geo-political power play in India's neighbourhood.
The Rafale deal issue and the Kashmir situation also came up during the Congress president's 30-minute-long interaction.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
With no payments coming in, HAL for the first time ever taken a bank loan of Rs 7.81 billion.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
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