Former Jharkhand chief minister and BJP leader Champai Soren was placed under house arrest on Sunday to prevent law and order issues in view of a protest by tribal outfits against land acquisition for a multi-crore state-run health institute, police said.
India's premier defence research organisation DRDO has awarded seven new projects to private entities to develop key military assets including underwater launched unmanned aerial vehicle and long-range remotely operated systems.
The procurement proposals were cleared at a time India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh.
A total of nine procurement proposals were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, officials said.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Thursday flagged serious concerns over inordinate delays in various defence acquisition projects and failure to stick to delivery schedules for supply of key platforms even as he hailed Operation Sindoor as a 'national victory'.
The total allocation to the defence sector is 12.9 per cent of the total budget of the government of India for the financial year 2024-25.
Its 'failure not just affects the military's effectiveness but could also be politically vulnerable for the BJP,' observes Ajai Shukla.
The sealing of the mega deal came three weeks after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the procurement.
The mega procurement project has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they said.
'With a military-led strategy to counter terrorism emanating from Pakistan, India has clearly signalled that it would respond decisively to future terrorist threats.'
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The defence ministry said the proposals approved by the DAC included one on procurement of 7.62x51 mm light machine gun and another on acquisition of weapons MH-60R helicopters of the Indian Navy.
The defence ministry said 98 per cent of the total procurement worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore will be sourced from the domestic industries.
Over 25 crore workers across India are set to strike against new labour codes and privatisation, potentially disrupting banking, postal, and other essential services.
A Rs 23,000-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for electronic components may boost margins and enable a broader product mix.
INS Tamal is the eighth Krivak class frigates to be inducted from Russia over the past two decades.
Posing a series of questions to the prime minister, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also asked if Modi would convey to the US president that India would send its own aircraft -- like Venezuela and Colombia did -- to bring back Indian deportees in the future.
The defence budget was on Thursday increased to Rs 6.21 lakh crore for 2024-25 in a modest hike of 4.72 per cent from last year's allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore amid India's continuing border row with China in eastern Ladakh as well as concerns over evolving security situation in the strategic waterways.
'We will see whether there were losses or not, and whether the war aims were achieved. When the truth comes out, some may well be surprised,' says Dassault CEO.
The CCS approved the proposal to buy 156 LCH 'Prachand' worth over Rs 62,500 crore from HAL, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.
The exercise was conducted by the Indian Air Force to showcase full integration of air defence missile system into the force, they said.
In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh.
'And this will persist given the two-and-a-half-front threat we face.'
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
In a significant move, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has accorded approval for the procurement of more than 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and associated equipment for the Indian Navy at a cost of around Rs 19,000 crore, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The five largest exporters of major arms in 2020-2024 were the US (43 per cent), France (9.6 per cent), Russia (7.8 per cent), China (5.9 per cent), and Germany (5.6 per cent).
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.
It is baffling how the PM chose the LCH as an indigenous product to celebrate on Rashtriya Raksha Samarpan Parv, even while his Cabinet holds up manufacturing clearance for 15 LCHs on the grounds that they are not Indian enough.
'The government must provide more funds to enable the armed forces to fight and win tomorrow's wars,' states Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The billionaire Adani family, which is building an in-house construction and engineering ecosystem by acquiring ITD Cementation and PSP Projects, is actively seeking additional acquisition opportunities, according to bankers. As part of its $100 billion investment plan by 2030, the Ahmedabad-based group has undertaken several large-scale construction projects, including the Dharavi redevelopment, Ganga Expressway, a mega convention centre in Mumbai and airports.
The project would be carried out indigenously and the majority of the technology and equipment to be used would be made in India.
With Army Chief Gen V K Singh highlighting shortage of equipment, the defence ministry on Monday appeared to be fast-tracking decision-making as it approved a plan for development of capabilities and effected a major change in offset policy by including transfer-of-technology.
The defence ministry also cleared the project, to acquire 5,000 Milan 2T anti-tank guided missiles for the Army.
Six aviation majors are bidding for the Indian deal, which according to defence experts could run up to anything between six to eight billion dollars.
The raft of prompt decisions by the usually sluggish Ministry of Defence have been triggered by the simmering row between army chief General V K Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony. Rahul Bedi reports from New Delhi
The aircraft deal worth around Euro 5.5 billion was cleared by the defence acquisition council just before the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to France as the state guest for their Bastille Day parade this year in July.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala has raised concerns about the Indian government's decision to potentially acquire F-35 fighter jets from the US, questioning whether the decision was made in the national interest and if security experts were consulted. He highlighted the high cost of the F-35, its operational flaws, and the potential impact on the Indian Air Force's existing fleet and maintenance infrastructure. Surjewala's comments come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump unveiled plans for a 10-year defense partnership between India and the US, including potential F-35 sales.
Admiral describes it as 'a path-breaking change'; defence ministry official disagrees.
During the talks, India and the US decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties in several critical areas.
US President Donald Trump has proposed a deal to China that would see the sale of TikTok's US operations to an American buyer in exchange for a reduction in tariffs on Chinese exports to the US. The proposal comes amid a trade war between the two countries and follows China's retaliation of Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump has also said that tariffs are a powerful economic tool and that he is determined to ensure fair trade between the US and China.
