India is only the fourth country to acquire such a specialised and modern capability after the United States, Russia and China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitions abroad may run the risk of foundering on constraints at home.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia, defence ministry's top acquisition council on Thursday cleared the purchase of an estimated Rs 40,000 crore Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems, besides giving the go-ahead to other projects worth over Rs 25,000 crore.
Rajnath Singh, under whose stewardship the Bharatiya Janata Party has stormed to power with its highest-ever tally, took charge as the Union home minister.
The International Chamber of Commerce's arbitration body International Court of Arbitration has ruled in our favour in the Antrix-Devas arbitration case and Antrix is liable to pay damages totalling $672 million to it, Devas said on Tuesday.
In a fresh bid to break the Bofors jinx, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday cleared proposal to acquire 814 artillery guns for Rs 15,750 crore.
Even as India gears up for election results on May 16, a group of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have taken up an informal initiative to see how a 'Modi ministry' will look like, in case the party forms the government at the Centre.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its verdicts on a batch of petitions seeking re-examination of its decision to allow entry of women of all age group in Kerala's Sabarimala Temple and a review of its judgment giving a clean chit to the Modi government in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation.
The Border Security Force, which has one of the biggest contingents of women personnel in its combat ranks, has decided to train them in special commando skills which are used to render difficult tasks.
Also the companies should be self-sufficient in product designing and have maintenance and life cycle support facilities.
'If it is true that we are in a moment in time when the few economic advantages we hold are being lost, our focus must be on that rather than on finger-pointing,' says Aakar Patel.
The new 17 Strike Corps with 80,000 troops and a budget of Rs 64,000 crore will provided the much-needed offensive capacity against China. R S Chauhan reports.
'The government must covertly eliminate the leaders of terrorist organisations abroad so as to eliminate the problem at its roots,' recommends Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Even with the elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman to the post of defence minister, the party still needs to redress the gender imbalance and fill the 33 per cent quota in posts.
An international tribunal has ruled that the Indian government had acted "unfairly" and "inequitably" in annulling a contract between Devas and ISRO's commercial arm Antrix.
Ajit Doval is now India's all-powerful security boss. This concentration of power disrupts our layered security system. Will it not weaken whatever remains of the power and authority of the home, defence and finance ministers? asks Shekhar Gupta.
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 Central bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed a closure report in a seven-year-old case of alleged bribery in the Rs.1,150 crore Barak missile deal in which former Defence Minister George Fernandes and the then Naval Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar were accused.
Delivery of a great operational machine must not get affected to settle political scores, says Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd).
India and Russia are involved in talks to sort out the nuclear liability issues before they sign an agreement for setting up Units III and IV of the Kudankulam power plant in Tamil Nadu during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's annual summit with President Putin in Moscow next week.
Even without a sanctioned government project for the Agni-6, it seems inevitable that the Agni-5, over the next few years, will organically evolve into an ICBM with improved technologies and capabilities.
'Those of us who have seen the Indian military from close quarters for decades now are outraged at Admiral Sushil Kumar's irresponsible and in my view flippant remark,' says Nitin A Gokhale. 'What makes people like Julio Riberio and Admiral Sushil Kumar, who rose to the highest positions in their respective professions, play the victim? Especially when it is not clear if all the attacks on Christians and Christian establishments had their roots in religious intolerance.'
He accused the BJP of creating friction between communities and 'igniting' fire and ramped up his attack on the PM.
Admiral D K Joshi was to have served as naval chief till July 2015. Had he completed his full tenure, then Vice Admiral Satish Soni, currently Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy's smallest command, the Southern Naval Command, would have taken over as the next naval chief.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
Defence projects worth a whopping Rs 80,000 crore were on Saturday cleared by the government which decided that six submarines will be made indigenously and over 8,000 Israeli anti-tank guided missiles and 12 upgraded Dornier surveillance aircraft will be purchased.
Maken also raised questions over the 'silence' of the government on Pakistan's role in the attack.
India's plans to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) rules across a broad spectrum of industries have received the final approval from the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA).
The dust over the controversy around foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector appears to have settled.
FDI in the defence sector during 2000-2014 has been a meagre $4.94 billion, despite the total FDI flow into the country across sectors standing at $321.81 billion.
'Unlike Dr Manmohan Singh, who quailed and turned away because the darkness was too frightening, Modi has taken a leap to the other side. He deserves applause for this fearlessness,' says Aditi Phadnis.
Besides Nair, others named in the charge sheet include the then K R Sridhar Murthy, Ramachandra Vishwanathan and M G Chandrasekhar.
'The government has sent a clear message to Pakistan: It is no longer business as usual.' 'The rules of the game have changed and a new game is at play,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The integration of the Rafale jets will allow the IAF to hit targets inside both Pakistan and across the northern and eastern borders while still staying within India's territory.
Nitin Gokhale reports on how quick decisions saved a repeat of a Mumbai-like carnage at the key Punjab air force base.
'This is fake. Tyagi was made to sign on a blank paper of the register for media entry and later the names of Rahul Gandhi and others were added in the register,' Congress said.
However, flow of funds, would naturally rest on economic growth, reports Ajai Shukla.
The Congress president questioned the government over unfulfilled promises and questioned the Rafale deal.
What should concern the Indian citizen is not the fact that the world's biggest assault rifle purchase was scrapped. What should is the fact that the tender was for a type of rifle that has never been produced, says Nitin Pai.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances