Against the backdrop of a tiff between India and China over the South China Sea, Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday called for exercising restraint to resolve the issue while pressing for freedom of navigation and access to resources.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday discussed ways of resolving the Chinese incursion issue with the top security brass of the country and emphasised that India will take every step to safeguard its interests there.
Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday formally elevated to the number two position in the Congress party after being appointed its Vice President, but his role in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would be decided later.
Nomination papers of Pranab Mukhejee, for the Presidential poll on July 19, are being readied, according to sources. Senior Union ministers and Members of Parliament have been summoned to Parliament House on Wednesday to affix their signatures on Mukherjee's papers.
The annual meeting of the defence ministers of India and Russia, slated for Thursday, has been deferred till October 10 due to inability of the visiting minister to reach New Delhi.
The Indian Army soldiers will have their DNA profile stored in a data bank under a project launched by the Armed Forces Medical Services that will facilitate identification of bodies during any operation, attack or mishap.
The government does not plan to launch any fresh probe into the Bofors gun deal and Ottavio Quattrocchi stands "discharged" as he could not be extradited even after 20 years of registration of the case, Defence Minister A K Antony said.
India on Thursday outrightly rejected Pakistan's proposal for UN investigation into Tuesday's incident on Line of Control in which two Indian soldiers were killed with the body of one being badly mutilated.
Notwithstanding Pakistan's denials, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said there is 'clear evidence; of involvement of its troops behind the killing of two Indian soldiers whose bodies were also mutilated, an action described as 'inhuman'.
India on Wednesday described as inhuman the way the dead bodies of two Indian soldiers were treated by Pakistan regular troops after their "highly provocative" attack in its territory in Jammu and Kashmir.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday promised to take strong action if anybody was found guilty in the alleged Kochi wife swapping case in which the wife of a navy officer has filed an FIR against her husband and his superiors.
Even as a controversy raged over 'wife swapping' charges in Navy's Southern Command in Kochi, Defence Minister A K Antony today ordered the dismissal of a Naval officer after he was found guilty of having illicit relations with the wife of his superior.
A K Antony was "one of the only" leaders apart from Priyaranjan Dasmunsi who "flatly criticised" Sanjay Gandhi during a session of the All India Congress Committee in 1976 in Guwahati, during the Emergency, when the latter's political graph was on the rise, United States diplomatic cables have claimed.
The Congress core group on Tuesday reviewed the situation in the national capital in the wake of protests over the gang-rape incident emphasising that police should deal with the matter with sensitivity while there should be no room for violence.
India was training armed forces personnel from Sri Lanka in different states of the country including Tamil Nadu as part of exchanges with neighbouring countries, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
China should deepen its defence ties with India, as the agreement reached by the two countries to resume joint military exercises still represented a 'low level of cooperation', the official media said on Wednesday.
Under attack from the opposition over the Comptroller and Auditor General report on coal blocks allocation, the government is all set to counter it through a nation-wide campaign by key ministers and partymen.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday admitted that "somebody has taken money" in the AgustaWestland chopper deal that is mired by bribery allegations.As the Central Bureau of Investigation probes the bribery allegations into the controversial Rs 3,600 crore deal for the supply of VVIP choppers by the Anglo-Italian firm, Antony vowed that no mercy would be shown to anyone who has taken bribes. It is alleged that the deal involved Rs 362 crore in kickbacks.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has opposed a Group of Ministers' recommendation to set up the long-awaited National War Memorial at the India Gate complex, saying it will affect the ambience of the area and restrict people's movement at the popular hangout zone. In separate letters to Defence Minister A K Antony, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, she said an alternative site should be found for the memorial.
Some bold measures from Chinese Defence Minister General Liang Guanglie and his Indian counterpart A K Antony are essential to make the former's visit successful, notes Srikanth Kondapalli.
On whether government proposes to levy penalties on the Russian side for failing to stick to the delivery schedule, he said, "Liquidated damages clause for delays in delivery is incorporated in the contract. As per contract, LD is to be ascertained and levied within six months of ship's delivery."
The government has impressed upon the Sri Lankan navy to act with restraint and not to fire on Indian fishermen sailing along the International Maritime Boundary Line, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council will be taken only after a discussion with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
Nearly 700 scientists have resigned from India's premier military research body Defence Research and Development Organisation in little less than six years from 2007, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Wednesday.
Defence Ministry A K Antony has asked AgustaWestland to explain within one week its linkages with software companies allegedly used as a cover for paying kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal.
A total of 368 defence personnel have committed suicide from 2010 to 2012, with Army recording highest number of 310 such incidents, defence ministry told the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Computer networks of the Eastern Naval Command were "probably compromised" after hacking attempts in 2011 and appropriate steps have been taken since then to strengthen it, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Wednesday.
Vigil along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir has been stepped up following last month's ambush by Pakistani army on Indian troops in which two jawans were killed, government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Defence Minister A K Antony will on Monday inaugurate an airbase in Thanjavur to house squadron of IAFs lethal Su-30 MKI combat aircraft, making it the first fighter squadron in south India that will help maintain vigil over the Indian Ocean region.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday ruled out his resignation in connection with the VVIP chopper deal. He, however, said that he was sad and upset that such an incident had taken place in spite of all precautions and warnings.
Newly appointed Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma is is approachable and friendly, not forbidding, say his former colleagues.
India on Wednesday inducted the Russian-origin nuclear-powered submarine 'Nerpa' into the Navy, joining the elite league of nations having such sophisticated warships.
The Congress's big dilemma... What makes A K Antony shiver... N D Tiwari plots his comeback... Catch up on the latest gossip from Delhi.
Not all ministers are on board on certain critical provisions, want revision.
The Union home ministry is conducting an audit of controversial phone-tapping equipment, which was allegedly used during former Army Chief Gen V K Singh's tenure for snooping on senior defence ministry officials at the peak of the row over his age.
Notwithstanding reduction in tensions along the Line of Control, the defence ministry has emphasised that relations with Pakistan should not be normalised in a haste.
Home Minister P Chidambaram was on Friday appointed the head of the Empowered Group of Ministers on spectrum auction that was reconstituted after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar declined the job.
The squadron, named INAS 303 Black Panthers, will be commissioned on May 11 by the Defence Minister at INS Hansa Naval base in the state, Indian Navy PRO said.
"It is seen that there are countries from where terrorists are free to launch their operations against other countries. This cannot be tolerated as the world is paying a heavy price for such mindless policies," Antony said in Jakarta.
The Congress has alleged that the government caused loss of over Rs 41,000 crore to the exchequer and endangered national security by bypassing the state-run HAL in favour of some businessman "friends".
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