Although India's economic ties with China are being reinforced, it will not be at the cost of downplaying possible threat perception, India's Minister of state for Defence M M Pallam Raju said in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Singh is accompanied by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, Human Resource Development Minister M M Pallam Raju and Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy.
Aakash is now two years beyond its initial delivery date.
Education is high on the agenda says Pallam Raju Union minister for human resource development while revealing details about the government's upcoming Five Year Plans.
India will continue to train Sri Lankan defence personnel at its establishments, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said on Monday, notwithstanding opposition by parties from Tamil Nadu.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday elicited the views of their junior cabinet colleagues and Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh on the Telangana statehood demand, which has virtually divided the party on regional lines.
Seven years before its scheduled completion, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already announced a two-year delay in the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) India and Russia are to jointly develop, says Ajai Shukla
Human Resources and Development Minister M M Pallam Raju, who was minister of state for defence when the deal for procuring 12 choppers from Italian firm Finmeccanica was signed in 2010, Wednesday said he can "vouch for the integrity" of former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi, whose name has surfaced in the scam.
The defence ministry on Thursday denied reports of any difference with armed forces and said the government is working in harmony with the three services.
Accepting that there are gaps in the capability of the armed forces, the defence ministry on Wednesday said that it will take cognisance of the concerns expressed by Army Chief General V K Singh and will address those issues.
Joining other political leaders in the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday demanded removal of "objectionable" references in the CBSE textbook about Nadar community.
M M Pallam Raju, who has been allocated the human resources and development portfolio, on Sunday said he will carry forward the "good work" initiated by his predecessor Kapil Sibal, who set in motion several reforms during his tenure.
The first batch of indigenously built T-90 Bhishma tanks was flagged off by Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju in Avadi near Chennai on Monday. \n\nThis group, consisting of ten T-90 tanks, was also inducted into the Indian Army.\n\nLieutenant General Dilip Bharadwaj, Defence Ministry Secretary S K Sinha, Heavy Vehicles Factory officials and important army officials took part in the rolling out ceremony of the T-90 tanks.
Recent incidents of terror attacks in Pakistan have highlighted gaps in the neighbouring country's security establishment and India is concerned over the possibility of its nuclear weapons falling into wrong hands, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said on Wednesday. "We share the worldwide concern about the nuclear arms falling into wrong hands and particularly so in Pakistan," he said.
Government on Wednesday termed the action of Army Chief Gen V K Singh going to the Supreme Court for settlement of his age issue as an "unfortunate development" and "not a healthy precedent".
With Pakistan saying that there was no delay on its part in prosecuting people behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, India on Wednesday said Islamabad should not try to score "petty points" on the issue and help in bringing the perpetrators to book.
Not willing to give up on the age issue, General V K Singh has filed a statutory complaint with the defence minister seeking a reexamination, in a first by an army chief.
The Army on Tuesday said its Court of Inquiry into the alleged scam involving a private land adjacent to Sukhna military station near Darjeeling was 'still in progress' and no conclusions have been drawn in the probe against the three Lieutenant Generals being questioned in the fraud.
As many as 2,098 persons have been apprehended this year while they were trying to sneak into to the country from Bangladesh, government told the Lok Sabha.
With the prestigious National Defence College in New Delhi being one of the prime targets of Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the government on Wednesday said that "adequate precaution" was being taken to safeguard the military institution.
India is planning to expand the bluewater capabilities of the Navy with more indigenously built platforms, which can carry out underwater surveillance and anti-submarine warfare operations, minister of state for defence M M Pallam Raju said on Wednesday.
The Defence Ministry on Saturday said it would probe allegations of the Army spending Rs 1.17 crore on golf carts from special funds. Referring to the Comptroller and Auditor General slamming chiefs of the Army's Northern and Western Commands for alleged misuse of special financial powers during April 2002 and August 2007, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said that "irregularities, if any, will be addressed."
India on Thursday ruled out the possibility of carrying out any surgical strike on terror camps inside Pakistan, but asserted that adequate measures will be taken to ensure that its interests are protected. "No, no," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju.He told reporters, "We will take adequate measures to see to it that our nation is safe, our citizens are safe, and our interests are safeguarded."
India on Tuesday said conscious fostering of terrorism from across the border was not helping Indo-Pak ties and asked the neighbour to contain it.
India on Tuesday said that Pakistan was failing miserably in controlling terrorism by categorizing terrorists as "good" and "bad" and that it needed to deal with the terror issue in an even-handed manner.
There was no need to be alarmed over reports suggesting that Pakistan was digging tunnels along its border with India, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said on Monday.
Terming the Armed Forces Special Powers Act as an 'essential instrument,' Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju on Tuesday said the army was being 'demonised' and made a 'scapegoat' in Jammu and Kashmir affairs which are mainly linked to the peoples' 'aspirations.'
Ruling out the possibility of Naxals shooting down the helicopter of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Union Minister M M Pallam Raju on Thursday said the mishap that claimed Reddy's life took place due to bad weather."The possibility of a Naxal strike on the chief minister's helicopter is ruled out completely. It was an accident due to bad weather. There is no hand of Naxalites," Minister of State for Defence Raju said.
The defence ministry is expecting a 15 to 20 per cent increase in its budget allocation for the next fiscal due to rise in expenditure on its modernisation drive and commitments following pay review.
With reports from Jammu and Kashmir indicating Chinese hold over Indian territory in Ladakh, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju on Monday said India 'need not be alarmed' as talks were in progress to settle border disputes. He also gave the benefit of doubt to China on reports of Chinese produced arms finding their way to militants in the Northeastern states.
The first batch of India's indigenously built state-of-the-art T-90 main battle tanks, with features like protection from nuclear attack, were handed over to the army at a function in Avadi near Chennai on Monday. The batch of ten tanks, each costing around Rs 14-15 crore, rolled out of the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi and were inducted into the army by Minister of state for Defence M M Pallam Raju.
"The frontier of space, which includes utilisation of satellites, will continue to be a growing area of warfare. India has stated in the past that it is against militarization of space. But space assets have to be utilised in warfare in the years to come and we are also preparing for it to take adequate counter measures," Raju said.
The government will "not dilute" the presence of army in Jammu and Kashmir till the situation did not stabilise there.
Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said it has been recommended that provision be made for NCC junior division/junior wing in the private schools having classes VIII to X/XII at the time of application for registration by the education boards. The plan could be initially rolled out for CBSE and ICSE affiliated schools and later extended to schools under the state education boards.
Terming Pakistan's action against terrorism as an 'eyewash', India on Monday said the civilian government there was 'not strong enough' to act against terror on its own."What they are doing right now is not enough. It looks like an eyewash. I think the civilian power centre in Pakistan is not strong enough to act on its own. We are not confident and happy over the steps taken so far," Union Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters.
"One of the reasons we give aid and platform and radar and things like that is to make sure that we are the dominant powers in the Indian Ocean Region," Union Minister of State for Defence, M M Pallam Raju told reporters in Begaluru.
"Army steps in only when things go out of control... It is not a situation the Army would like to be in. But whenever it is necessary and in the interest of the nation, we step in," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told media persons in New Delhi.
The Sukhoi crash on April 30 in Rajasthan today caused an uproar in the Rajya Sabha, forcing Defence Minister A K Antony to come out in favour of the air superiority of the IAF's fighter jet.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday said he was not convinced about the bifurcation of the state and claimed that he has not changed his position on it.
Angry over the way the Telangana Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi threatened to stall the Rajya Sabha, where the bill would be brought on Wednesday.
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