An occasional quiz to improve Narendrabhai's grasp of Indian history...
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.
On Wednesday, Bengal's own daughter she firmly pitched herself as, was sworn in as the chief minister of the turbulent state for the third successive term amid raging fires of political violence and a rampaging pandemic.
Whether it was the Bofors gun in 1986 or Italian helicopters in 2012, a leak or disclosure at the source overseas is like dynamite, and usually impossible to refute. They acquire a life of their own in the hands of the media, says T N Ninan.
'We cannot understand why the government is facilitating the import of artillery when our indigenous guns are doing so well.'
He also cautioned against politicisation of defence purchases, suggesting that this had earlier led to the delay in the army acquiring the Bofors gun.
The Congress, which was not a petitioner before the apex court, wants the Rafale deal to be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the price arrived at by the BJP government versus the one negotiated by the previous UPA regime, as also how billionaire Anil Ambani's group with virtually no experience in manufacture of fighter jets was selected as an offset partner for the deal.
The Congress on Wednesday scoffed at the Opposition's attempts to link Italy's refusal to send back its two marines to face investigations here with India's failure in getting the extradition of Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi in the past saying both are different cases.
The Central Bureau of Investigation seeks two weeks time in a Delhi Court for exploring the options available to it following withdrawal of Red Corner notice against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors payoff case.
The country has learnt that corruption in defence deals is a fact of life, and has to be dealt with maturely, says T N Ninan
Describing the Italian chopper deal as one having the "makings of a second Bofors scam", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday sought to know why the government has not taken any action on the matter till now and said it will raise the issue strongly during the Budget Session of Parliament.
The probe team's chief at that time, R K Raghavan, in his new book, said it required "tremendous persuasion" to make Modi agree to a short recess. "This was possibly Modi's concession to the need for a respite for Malhotra rather than for himself. Such was the energy of the man."
India's economy is slowing down due to domestic issues, says Sumit Ganguly.
He also took a dig at Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks that the Modi government does not have 'enough courage' to arrest Sonia Gandhi, saying the Delhi chief minister was feeling left out because he did not get any media publicity for the last 10 ten days when the focus was on the VVIP chopper scam.
Commenting on Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's statement that coal block allocation scam would be soon forgotten, Shiv Sena on Sunday said he articulated 'attitude' of the United Progressive Alliance government.
'It was unfair to expect him to continue to keep on supplying vaccines without being given a firm commitment or a financial grant of any sort.'
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday targeted Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai suggesting he has a political agenda like one of his controversial predecessors T N Chaturvedi, who had given a report on Bofors issue and soon after joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Sticking to its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation for the irregularities in coal block allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday termed the United Progressive Alliance government as the "most corrupt" and demanded cancellation of 142 allocated coal blocks. "There is no doubt that this UPA government is the most corrupt government of all times. Earlier, the Bofors scam was considered the biggest, in which Rs 64 crore was taken as bribe," he said.
Flexible, maneuverable, mobile and swift, the M-777A2 Ultra-Light Howitzers are just what India needed to replace its aging battle-tested Bofors guns, says Debalina Ghoshal.
Targeting Congress over Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remarks on coal scam, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that the party was "backstabbing the nation and should be punished for its deeds".
The reason why corruption charges are designed to do reputation damage more than anything else is that such charges are rarely brought to closure, points out T N Ninan
We get tangled up in our own crooked web on purchases, and the murky arms bazaar knows it, says Shekhar Gupta.
Modi also stepped up attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying it was the mindset of the 'sultanate' of the 'Naamdar' to abuse the deprived and treat them as slaves.
When journalism is destroyed, what is destroyed is a common man's weapon against the might of the establishment, notes Sumit Bhattacharya.
This is the first deal for artillery guns since the Bofors scandal in 1980s.
The public prefers thrillers that carry the threat of knocking down governments, derailing election campaigns and seeing ministers and officials go to jail, says Sunil Sethi.
The Rafale will surely be flying in Indian skies next year. But the way the BJP government has botched this will cast a shadow on defence acquisitions in the years to come.
The Congress on Sunday reacted sharply to the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegations against Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Bofors and 2G spectrum scams, saying the opposition party is trying to divert attention from the 'Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's complicity in terrorism' by levelling such accusations. "These are things being done deliberately to digress and divert attention from documented investigation reports showing the complicity of RSS in terrorism.
'More than losing Bengal, the worry for their national leadership is the current crisis.' 'If people perceive that the government does not do enough, then there's trouble.'
Batting for L K Advani as the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, party leader Uma Bharti on Thursday claimed that he was the "most capable person" to lead the country in the present situation. "Advani ji is the most capable person to lead the country in the present situation," she said. Bharati added that though Advani turns 84 in November, he "retained the enthusiasm of a twelve-year-old".
The case related to an RTI application seeking to know the reasons for filing case withdrawal application against one of the prime accused, Italian Businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, in the Delhi high court.
Quattrocchi was detained and is now on bail in Argentina.
The Bharatiya Janata Party sought to project Swami Aseemanand's reported confession of his involvement in Samjhauta blast as a diversionary tactic by Congress in the wake of latest revelations in the Bofors case, accusing the ruling party of giving leverage to Pakistani terrorists by throwing the blame on Hindu radicals for their acts.
They will fawn over a prize catch who has brought a rich dowry of Gwalior-Chambal politicians. But in the end, all BJP members are prajas of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
A combative Rahul Gandhi asked how the govt allowed liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to banks, to leave the country.
The CBI had, in October 2009, sought permission of the court to withdraw the case against Quattrocchi, saying that his continued prosecution was "unjustified" in the light of various factors including the agency's failed attempts to extradite him.
Meeting against the backdrop of reports of Bofors kickbacks, the Bharatiya Janata Party's National Executive on Sunday decided to go after the first family of Congress, alleging that Ottavio Quattrocchi's involvement in the pay-offs lead 'directly to the doorstep of Sonia Gandhi'.
Training its guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Bofors pay-offs scandal, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded that he apologise for defending Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi. "Mr PM, you tried to give a clean chit to Quattrocchi," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, adding this has been found to be false by an income tax tribunal which said that kickbacks of Rs 41 crore were paid to Quattrocchi and Win Chaddha.
A Delhi court on Saturday decided to hold the proceedings afresh on the Central Bureau of Investigation's plea to withdraw the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja, who had earlier reserved her order and deferred the pronouncement of verdict on eight occasions, decided to hear the argument afresh as the trial court record, lying with the Supreme Court, was received two days ago.
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