Indian Air Force chief Air Marshal S P Tyagi on Monday denied that private airliners were luring away IAF pilots by offering them attractive salaries.\n\n
The CBI has so far maintained that Gujral was questioned as a witness, but remained tightlipped if he will still retain the same status.
The aircraft would be procured somewhere around the end of this decade and no specific deadline is set for it.
At least 12 benchmarks were changed between March and October 2009, including some relating to pilot safety, to reportedly allow PC-7 Mark II, fielded by Swiss company Pilatus, to qualify and win an IAF order worth Rs 3,780 crore for 75 basic trainer aircraft.
Former Finmeccanica Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Orsi has denied knowing the family of Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi in the ongoing investigations in Italy into the alleged payment of kickbacks of Rs 362 crore for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to India.
India is looking at American F-16s and F/A-18 Super Hornets, French Mirages, Swedish Gripens and Russian MiGs.
Having taken to the sport last year, the air chief took 15 days to complete his qualifying five jumps.
With his appointment, the government chose to uphold the principle of seniority and waived the tradition of only making fighter pilots the head of the world's fourth largest air force.
A source said that the transfer is a "tripartite agreement" between Oppo, Byju's and the BCCI and will be signed on Thursday.
"My first reaction is shock... How can anybody say this, on what basis?" Tyagi told NDTV when asked whether he was involved in the VVIP chopper scam.
'We decided that we would fire our rockets and dive into the valley and get away, making it difficult for the missiles to be fired.'
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi on Monday called for greater synergy between the Indian Air Force and industry and research organisations to ensure that the airspace superiority of the country was not compromised.
India needs an aerospace command to exploit outer space and it will be established soon, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said on Sunday.
To a question on Pakistan's demand to China to supply the Russian-made RD-33 aero-engines for its fighter jets, he said, "The Russians have assured us that it will not go to anybody."
Addressing the parade, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said the IAF had transformed from a small and tactical force into a strategic power to reckon with.
Tyagi emphasised that terrorist infrastructure still exists in Pakistan and there is no reduction in cross-border terrorism.
The Delhi High Court has indicted Chief of Air Staff S Krishnaswamy for indulging in "mala fide exercise of power".
Tyagi said India would acquire the Advanced Air Warning and Control System by the end of next year.
When asked about Dhruv helicopters being grounded, Tyagi said there was a problem in the tail rotor but asserted that there was nothing to worry.
The unstated aim of a well-publicised airlift operation of this kind is to demonstrate India's ability to rapidly move troops and equipment over long distances.
Nitin Gokhale, national security expert and founder BharatShakti.in, tells us what the controversy is all about.
Government is awaiting a report from its embassy and team in Italy to get a final picture on whether Defence Minister A K Antony has been listed as a witness in the VVIP chopper scam trial by a court there.
'This man has aged, but does not know the difference between words spoken on the streets from those of spoken in Parliament.' 'He does not allow his hair to turn gray, so he hasn't learned or matured.' Rashme Sehgal reports on how Subramanian Swamy has riled the Congress yet again.
Taken by surprise by the decision of an Italian judge to include Defence Minister A K Antony as a possible witness in a trial relating to corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, India on Monday night ruled out his appearance in the court.
The probe agency sought nine days further remand of Michel for his custodial interrogation saying he was not cooperating in the investigation of the case.
While questioning Christian Michel in Dubai, Rosemary Patrizi tells Ashis Ray, Indian investigators made him an offer -- that if he named a member of the Gandhi family as having received kickbacks, they would not pursue him as an accused.
Images from the Under-19 World Cup final between India and Bangladesh, at Potchefstroom, on Sunday
With an aggressive Opposition and unyielding government, important legislation could be the biggest casualty, as details of the helicopter contract surface.
L K Advani's observation on Narendra Modi, an attempt to cut the BJP's prime ministerial nominee down to size, billing him a mere event manager like Vijay Raaz in Mira Nair's film Monsoon Wedding, speaks volumes about their differences... In the coming days, the Congress and BJP may lock horns over the AgustaWestland chopper deal. In an Italian court, Guido Haschke, one of the accused middlemen who allegedly bribed the Indian side, has sought a plea bargain to reduce his jail term if convicted. On or around April 11, we will know how much Haschke is ready to reveal. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt detects which way the political wind is blowing these days.
HAL made its point against a sceptical Indian Air Force, which opposed the HTT-40 project, blocked funding, and imported an expensive Swiss trainer rather than backing the HTT-40.
'We will continue to ask why Modi and his government were benefactors to this AgustaWestland company, why within 40 days they overturned the ban?'
Captain Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a gutsy century to lift Delhi to 260 for six at stumps on the first day of their opening Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra
Instead of the Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40, which Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd could build, export, overhaul, upgrade and even modify into a light-attack aircraft, powerful lobbies have promoted a Swiss trainer -- the Pilatus PC-7 Mark II.
'No one needs to lose sleep if a person with better operational credentials supersedes lesser endowed peers,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
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