It is learnt that the Chinese JF-17 was cheaper but could not match the technical parameters of the Tejas Mk-IA variant and the offer of maintenance of the Su-30 fleet as proposed by India.
The defence ministry has already shortlisted two Indian shipyards and five foreign defence majors for the project, being billed as one of biggest "Make in India" ventures.
'An armed helicopter equipped with counter-drone systems will provide the airborne counter-drone capability and flexibility needed to protect India's critical assets.'
The delivery of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to the Indian Air Force under a Rs 48,000-crore deal will begin from March 2024 and around 16 aircraft will be rolled out annually till the completion of the total supply of 83 jets, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited R Madhavan said on Sunday.
Nirmala Sitharaman's messaging was clear when she presented a well-balanced Budget with an eye on state elections in nine states followed by a general election next year, observes Ramesh Menon.
"NSO is a private company, it is not a governmental project and therefore even if it is designated, it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli government," Israel's Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday evening.
Beijing will be intently watching Washington's response for any hint of weakness. Xi Jinping, who feels China has a limited window of strategic opportunity, will be emboldened to take additional initiatives in the Indo-Pacific and specifically against India and Taiwan, warns Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Opening up India's market to neighbouring countries can be as strategic as access denial to others. The game should be played both ways, even if it upsets domestic business lobbies, observes T N Ninan.
'Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests'
India's total purchase of oil from Russia in a month is probably less than what Europe does in an afternoon, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.
If they can sit together and hammer out 'Black Sea Initiative' deal for much needed food shipments, surely, they should be able to address the madness of the larger military conflict?
Investors should await consistent growth metrics before looking at an investment in the company.
The State Department said as India's number one overseas market, the US purchases close to one-fifth of its exports. India is also the fastest growing major market for American goods.
China, the Ukraine crisis and Quad will dominate the discussions, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Biden stressed over "not fighting a third World War in Ukraine" but avowed sending an "unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory".
Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, who was lynched by a mob in Pakistan's Punjab province over allegations of blasphemy last week, was buried according to Buddhist and Catholic rites at Ganemulla, a suburb north of Colombo, on Wednesday.
He is not good at thinking through laws and policies. His lockdown produced chaos and misery and didn't stop Covid. His GST finished off thousands of companies and reduced the amount of tax government collects to such an extent that he cannot pay state governments any more, observes Aakar Patel.
Procurement of coronavirus vaccines and raw materials to boost domestic production is set to be a major focus area of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's five-day visit to the United States beginning Monday.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
In his second term in office, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has retained 34 portfolios.
Building 6 conventional submarines is one of the Indian Navy's most important weapon construction programmes.
The Delhi Police said it has arrested a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate, and claimed that they were paying huge amounts of money to freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma for allegedly passing sensitive information to 'Chinese intelligence'.
India has become the 37th country to join the list of Strategic Trade Authorization-1 category, the only South Asian nation.
Will the low cost Israeli Athos gun scuttle India's ATAGS gun?
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Strongly hitting out at Pakistan for again raking up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations, India has said a constructive contribution cannot be expected from a country that has an established practice of hosting terrorists and is the "epicentre" of global terrorism, and the biggest destabilising force in the world.
The third day of the five-day hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, presided over by Justice Samuel Goozee, was devoted to the defence laying out further arguments against a prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against Modi.
As many as 26 premises are being searched in these cities by the federal agency under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they said.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's top oil firm, has bought as much as 3 million barrels of crude oil that Russia had offered at steep discount to prevailing international rates, sources said. The purchase, made through a trader, is the first since Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine that brought international pressure for isolating Putin administration. Sources aware of the matter said IOC bought Urals crude for May delivery at a discount of $20-25 a barrel to dated Brent.
'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
'Had a very fruitful meeting with Iranian defence minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami in Tehran. We discussed regional security issues including Afghanistan and the issues of bilateral cooperation,' Singh said in a tweet.
Xi Jinping's recent actions in South Asia have amply demonstrated the disastrous impact of China's embrace, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Wanted diamond merchant Nirav Modi appeared via videolink from his London prison for a regular call-over hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, when he was further remanded in custody until February 25, when the judgment in his extradition case is to be handed down. District Judge Angus Hamilton informed Modi that he would most likely be appearing again via videolink on the day of the ruling, which will decide whether the 49-year-old jeweller has a case to answer before the Indian courts on fraud and money laundering in relation to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case. Last month, District Judge Samuel Goozee had confirmed the timeline for the judgment at the end of closing submissions in the case, during which he heard that Modi is responsible for overseeing a "ponzi-like scheme" that caused enormous fraud to PNB.
Rahul Khullar's guiding credo was that a civil servant must never lose sight of his client: The little guy. The evil men are those who are decision-makers but abdicate their responsibility of taking decisions, leading people to lose confidence in public institutions.
New Delhi sought a sovereign guarantee to prevent Paris from ever citing the Arms Trade Treaty to interrupt, modify or cease delivery of the Rafale fighter at any stage.
Tie-up with MBDA will have Indian partner as majority shareholder; first product likely in 2 years.
'Sullivan and Jaishankar welcomed the cooperation in recent weeks that resulted in deliveries of over USD 500 million in COVID-19 relief supplies from the US federal and state governments, US companies and private citizens across America for the people of India'
The group said Dassault choose Reliance Defence Ltd to meet its 'offset' or export obligation in the contract and the Ministry of Defence has no role in the selection of Indian partners by the foreign vendors.
Exim Bank pointed out that recent performance of the manufacturing sector in India is indicative of an underlying inertia.
Russia's main gain will be that in geopolitical terms, Ukraine regains its sovereignty and ceases to be a de facto American colony, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The owner of two New Jersey defence contracting businesses has been charged with allegedly transmitting military blueprints to India, including those for torpedo systems for nuclear submarines, without a license in violation of export laws, through a password-protected church website, United States Attorney Paul J Fishman announced.
