'When I met the prime minister, he asked me, "Dr Ganguly, what do you do with people in your company who lie to you?"' 'I said, "Prime Minister, we counsel them and give them a gentle warning. If they lie again, they are sacked".' '"This is my problem,'" Rajiv responded. "I can't sack people in government".' A revealing excerpt from former Hindustan Lever Chairman Dr Ashok S Ganguly's We Are Our Future: Reflections On Life.
The Supreme Court dismissed a plea from a lawyer facing money laundering charges in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, challenging a PMLA provision. The court stated that the lawyer should face trial like any other citizen.
The Delhi high court granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case on Tuesday. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while granting the reprieve to James, said it was an "exceptional situation" where the accused was in custody for over 6.2 years but the trial had not yet commenced due to incomplete investigation. James, who was extradited from Dubai in December 2018, can now walk out of prison subject to compliance with the conditions.
'The largest listenership for Vividh Bharati outside the country is in Spain.' 'The labourers who go there for the tomato-picking season feel cut off from their country and listen to Vividh Bharati to overcome their loneliness.'
'I don't know how long cinema will survive.'
The Supreme Court has granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the purported Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland case. James had been in custody for six years while the investigation was ongoing. The alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. James, a British national, was extradited from Dubai in December 2018.
A Delhi court has reprimanded Tihar Jail authorities for allegedly keeping Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland case, with an inmate who has received 41 punishments for misconduct, raising concerns about Michel's safety. The court also ordered the jail to provide Michel with a table fan, stating that even animals in zoological parks are provided air conditioning. Michel had previously requested to finish his sentence and leave India due to security risks.
Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland case, has claimed that attempts were made to poison him inside Tihar Jail. A Delhi court has sought a response from the prison authorities on his plea. The court has also directed that James be taken to AIIMS on April 7 for a check-up. James was extradited from Dubai in 2018 and has been in custody since then. He has been granted bail in the ED and CBI cases against him but has refused to accept bail citing security concerns. He has also alleged that he was subjected to an incident at AIIMS, the details of which he is willing to share with the court in private. The court has ordered James to furnish a personal bond and surety of Rs 10 lakh in both cases and surrender his passport. The CBI chargesheet claims an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to the deal for the supply of VVIP choppers. The ED chargesheet filed against James alleged he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
Saini was accused of demanding bribes from Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman, to favour the company during field evaluation trials held in 2010, officials said.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
Much to the disappointment of booklovers, Westland, one of the largest publishing houses in India, is being shut down by e-commerce giant Amazon, they announced on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied bail to Christian Michel James, an alleged middlemen in the AgustaWestland chopper scam cases, who is being probed by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.
'Shivaji and Sambhaji followed the gospel of humanity. 'They did not discriminate based on religion, caste, or colour.' 'That is the beauty of Shivaji and Sambhaji's Hindvi Swaraj.'
A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma in a case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
The CBI has been carrying out searches at various locations for the past few days to locate assets acquired from the proceeds of the scam, officials said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a supplementary charge sheet in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland scam against former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and four Indian Air Force personnel, officials said Wednesday.
A special court on Saturday granted bail to four former Indian Air Force (IAF) officers in the AgustaWestland chopper deal corruption case after they appeared before it following summons issued on the last date of hearing.
Carlo Valentino Ferdinando Gerosa, 71, an Italian and Swiss national, was believed to be a key player in the bribery scandal as the process of manipulating the specifications for VVIP helicopter deal allegedly started after a meeting between him and cousins of former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi, they said.
India's dealings with Westland Helicopters, before it merged in March 1999 with Italy's Finmeccanica subsidiary to become AgustaWestland, were technically problematical and politically questionable.
Christian Michel's investigation in New Delhi has revealed nothing substantial, contrary to the expectations of the prime minister and the media hype. A fascinating excerpt from Raju Santhanam's The Untold Story of Christian Michel and Agustawestland.
Embattled Anglo-Italian helicopter maker AgustaWestland may face a probe in the UK over its 480 million pounds scandal-hit deal with India for the supply of 12 VVIP choppers.
The ED, in its chargesheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
In a new twist to the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scandal, it has now come to light that the helicopter design and manufacturing company never returned the full down payment made by the Indian authorities for procuring the 12 choppers.
The payments to AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 choppers have been stopped but so far no decision has been take to blacklist the firm, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli, now a Union Territory, were occupied by the Portuguese in 1783 and 1785, respectively. They continued to be ruled by the Portuguese till an armed revolution liberated them, and the Tricolour was unfurled at Silvassa on 2 August 1954.
Facing the prospect of cancellation of its Rs 3,600 crore deal to supply 12 VVIP choppers to the IAF, AgustaWestland has sought a meeting with the defence ministry to explain its stand on the issue.
They said Rajeev Shamsher Bahadur Saxena wanted in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers money laundering case and lobbyist Deepak Talwar wanted by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case of misusing over Rs 90 crore taken through the foreign funding route, were brought in a special plane to Delhi around 1:30 am.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday recorded the statement of former Intelligence Bureau Director and Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan as witness in connection with allegations of bribery in purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Ango-Italian firm AgustaWestland.
Parrikar also took a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying translation from Italian was not easy 'at least for the ruling side. May not be a difficult task for the Opposition'.
The Central Bureau of Investigation will soon record the statement of former Director, Intelligence Bureau and Governor of Andhra Pradesh E S L Narasimhan as witness in connection with allegations of bribery in purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Ango-Italian firm AgustaWestland.
Anjali quickly decided not to pursue her career in medicine. If she had worked in a government hospital, she would have had to do her fair share of nights and weekends in hospital, which would have been tough when Sachin was back in Bombay between tours. Had she worked in private practice as Dr Anjali Tendulkar, she reckoned she would be consulted for her name rather than her expertise. Anjali is an all-or nothing person and she couldn't have just dabbled in doctoring. Moreover, she wanted to devote herself to keeping her husband in the right frame of mind to play his best cricket. A fascinating excerpt from Annabel Mehta and Georgina Brown's book, My Passage to India.
The court put various conditions on Khaitan, including that he will not tamper with the evidence or try to contact or influence the witnesses and join the investigation as and when called.
Faced with the prospect of the nixing of its Rs 3,600 crore deal for the supply of 12 VVIP choppers, AgustaWestland today denied it had violated any contractual obligations in the pact for the same with IAF.
Nitin Gokhale, national security expert and founder BharatShakti.in, tells us what the controversy is all about.
Rejecting allegations of "non-cooperation", the Central Bureau of Investigation has said that all documents related to AgustaWestland helicopter bribery scandal have been provided to prosecutors in Italy who are contesting the case there.
Italian firm Agusta Westland on Monday withdrew its lawsuit from the Delhi High Court filed against India's decision to encash over Rs 250 crore in bank guarantee following the scrapping of the Rs 3600-crore VVIP helicopter deal over bribery allegations.
They realised that the Portuguese were better prepared to defend Daman than Dadra and Nagar Haveli. If reinforcements from Daman were to reach Silvassa, there was no chance of defeating the Portuguese. They decided that cutting Daman's communication lines would have to be their top priority before attacking Silvassa. A fascinating excerpt from Neelesh Kulkarni's new book, Uprising-The Liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
AgustaWestland, which is surrounded by controversies over the VVIP chopper deal, is appointing Jackie Callicut -- a former British government employee -- as its India head. Callicut has earlier served in India in her capacity as a British government employee. She has also dealt with defence ministry operations in her country, officials said on Monday.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday slapped a money laundering case against former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and 20 others in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal to probe alleged kickbacks of Rs.360 crore.
Moving ahead towards scrapping the Rs 3,600 crore controversial chopper deal, Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday said AgustaWestland has "violated the contract" for supplying 12 VVIP choppers for the air force.
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