AgustaWestland, which is facing allegations of paying kickbacks to secure VVIP choppers deal, on Friday replied to the Indian show cause notice for cancelling the contract saying it has not indulged in any wrong practice.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said that he has not expressed any reservation over the defence ministry's move to scrap the Rs 3,546 crore VVIP chopper deal, and added that his comment was a sensible one.
Holding that investigation into the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal was on at "many levels", India on Monday said letters rogatory is the "best and strongest method" available to it for seeking details from Italian courts on the case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party today asked Congress to come clean on reports alleging that close associates of a former Union minister and a Congress vice president were beneficiaries of the bribes paid in the VVIP chopper deal.
Sanjeev Tyagi, a cousin of former Air Chief S P Tyagi, on Saturday rubbished charges of having received kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, saying it was an "absolute lie" even as he admitted having met one of the middlemen 17 years back on a power sector deal.
A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the defence ministry is likely to leave for Italy on Sunday to probe the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal. CBI sources said the team will meet Italian prosecutors to ascertain the details of the case.
Amid the storm over alleged kickbacks in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Friday said an audit of the controversial deal is under progress and a report would be released soon.
An alleged middleman in the VVIP helicopter deal has claimed that he knew the "family" of former Air Chief S P Tyagi and had met one of his cousins at a wedding in Switzerland, according to the investigations.
Facing charges of taking kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, a cousin of former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi on Thursday termed as baseless the allegations against him and his two brothers, and said they were open to any inquiry. In a report filed by Italian investigators on the defence deal in Italy, the three Tyagi brothers -- Julie, Docsa and Sanjeev -- are alleged to have received kickbacks of nearly Rs 72 lakh from middlemen.
Till now, Vadra, 46, the businessman husband of Priyanka Gandhi, an SPG protectee, was exempted from frisking at airports when he travelled with an SPG protectee.
As soon as the day breaks, the silence in this VVIP segment is broken by slogans for Bharatiya Janata Party's re-election to power and leading the campaign is its chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal who is meeting locals with a tiny "induction chulha" in his hands.
"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 national capital on Tuesday reeled under massive power cuts, with outages in some areas lasting for over eight to nine hours, resulting in inconvenience to people in the sweltering heat.People in certain localities of West Delhi even hit the streets, protesting long power cuts.
Too much subsidised cooking gas is being consumed by country's VVIPs, according to the transparency portal launched on Friday by state-owned oil firms.
'... their love was jinxed.' 'His celluloid path to his partner's heart was seldom smooth; it had to contend with greedy relatives and indecisive sweethearts, who were more ready to sacrifice than woo and wed.'
'As an aspirational district, one of the main challenges is health and nutrition of the tribal community.' 'They are 1.5 lakhs to 1.6 lakhs tribals in this district.' 'The major issue among tribals is malnutrition and anaemia.'
Having created a buzz with their 1.5 kilometre long floor art during Durga Puja, the fine arts students of West Bengal are all set to create a gorgeous 'Rangoli' keeping Under-17 World Cup theme in mind, during the final, in Kolkata, on October 28.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said he would "seriously" pursue the inquiry into allegations of corruption in the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters by India. "I have not seen the (news) report. I can assure you I will seriously pursue the inquiry," Antony told reporters outside Parliament House when asked about allegations of corruption in the helicopter purchase deal.
The amount allocated for 'Tour Expenses' has been fixed at Rs 259 crore.
The religious head of the Ajmer dargah on Sunday announced he will boycott the visit of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to protest the move of district authorities of not allowing him to go inside the shrine beyond the main gate when the visiting delegation arrives.
an President Dimitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazil President Dilma Rousseff and South African President Jacob Zuma will participate in the summit hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
After India scrapped its Rs 3,600 crore deal for supplying VVIP choppers, Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland on Friday said that the contract termination notice sent to it does not offer any firm basis for taking any action against it.
Police has asked Team Anna to provide the schedule and nature of the programme on day-to-day basis besides expected gathering on the function at Ramlila Ground from December 27, 2011 to January 5, 2012.
In a major operation, Delhi police has arrested two suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists who were allegedly planning to carry out terror strikes in the capital by targeting vital installations and VVIPs. Delhi police sources said the operation was launched to nab the two LeT men after receiving inputs from central intelligence agencies that the duo have entered the capital to carry out strikes.
In India traffic comes to a virtual standstill whenever there is 'VVIP movement'. At the Rio+20 Conference there were hundreds of world leaders, but no security agency seemed to hassle the locals, notes B S Prakash.
Lucknow DIG of Police D K Thakur said there was no reason for villagers to be worried as the tiger had been around for many weeks and had not attacked human beings. Sharat Pradhan reports.
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.
The government has cleared the lone bid of Airbus-TATA consortium for replacing Indian Air Force's fleet of ageing Avro transport aircraft for Rs 11,930 crore besides approving Russia's offer to build Kamov Ka-226T helicopters under 'Make in India' initiative.
There is concern about the poor state of readiness of the navy's 140 warships which face severe shortages in sonar equipment, helicopters and torpedoes.
United States President Barack Obama will soon fly in a new helicopter whose cabin has been made in India.
Air Chief Arup Raha on Saturday described the arrest of former IAF chief S P Tyagi as "unfortunate", and said that it has "dented" the force's reputation.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought response of the Centre and the Enforcement Directorate on the bail plea of businessman Gautam Khaitan, arrested last month in a money laundering case related to the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper deal.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam had congratulated a constable for remaining alert throughout the day, minutes before he collapsed at the Indian Institute of Management and died in Shillong on Monday night.
PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said that they have the required numbers to form government.
A special judge holding trial in the Babri Masjid demolition case, involving Bharatiya Janata Party veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi and others, on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking six more months to conclude the trial in the case.
He also said that Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy has not lied about the deal but it seems he has been misled.
Samajwadi Party government exempts Dedh Ishqiya from tax ; Mulayam and Akhilesh camp in Saifai to welcome Madhuri-Salman
Some glimpses of the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort
R C Tayal is expected to serve as NSG DG till August next year when he is scheduled for superannuation.
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