Heena Sharma Blog

  A second batch of three Rafale fighter jets arrived at Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat on Wednesday evening after flying non-stop from Istres airbase in France, taking the total number of aircraft in the fleet to eight, officials said. This is nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.   The first batch of Rafale jets was inducted into the IAF on September 10. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on October 5 said that the induction of all 36 Rafale jets will be completed by 2023. These are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.The newly inducted fleet has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a bitter border row for over five months. The Rafale aircraft flew for over eight hours before landing at an IAF base. They covered a distance of over...

French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler on Thursday dismissed as "fake news" reports that a batch of Pakistani pilots were trained on Rafale fighter jets being procured by Qatari Air Force. American aviation industry website ainonline.com reported that the first batch of pilots trained on the Rafale fighter jet for Qatar in November 2017 were Pakistani exchange officers. "I can confirm that it is fake news," Ziegler tweeted. French diplomatic sources said no Pakistani pilots ever trained on Rafale jets in France. There were concerns in the Indian military establishment after the report by the US-based website. The report came in the midst of a simmering political slugfest over procurement of Rafale jets by the Modi government from France. India is procuring a batch of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France at a cost of Rs 58,000 crore. The Congress has been alleging massive irregularities in the deal while the government has strongly rejected the charges. ...

BSP supremo Mayawati Friday attacked the BJP using the 'chowkidar' jibe alleging while its leaders did not care about the Rafale files, they are shielding crucial data on unemployment and farmers' plight. In a series of tweets, she took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his colleagues for calling themselves 'chowkidar' (watchman) and alleged they are not bothered about Rafale files being "stolen", but are hiding data on "declining" employment rate, poverty and farmers' plight. Prime Minister Modi and his partymen have launched "Main bhi chowkidar (I too am a watchman) campaign to blunt Opposition's, especially the Congress', 'chowkidar chor hai (watchman is thief' slogan. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister further said while several BJP leaders and ministers declared themselves 'chowkidars' following the PM, CM Yogi Adityanath was not sure whether to announce himself as one or remain a p...

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited a purported “dissent note” by some officials who negotiated the Rafale deal to assert that it demolished Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of better pricing and faster delivery of the jets, and dismissed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on the multi-billion pact as a “cover-up” that was “not worth the paper” it was written on. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded by demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi, as the CAG had said in its report that the National Democratic Alliance deal was 2.86 per cent cheaper than the United Progressive Alliance one. At a press conference, the Congress chief said even though he did not agree with the CAG’s submission, it still called the bluff of Modi, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had told Parliament that the new deal was 9-20 per cent lower. “ The fact of the matter is that the new deal that… Modi signed gets In...

Dassault Aviation's joint venture with Reliance represents around 10 per cent of the offset investments under the Rafale jet deal , Dassault CEO Eric Trappier has said. "We're in talks with about 100 Indian firms, including around 30 with which we've already confirmed partnerships," Trappier told AFP. Separately on Thursday, speaking at a briefing in Paris, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated the government's claim that it had no idea that Dassault Aviation would team up with Reliance Group, run by Anil Ambani. Several reports say Dassault was forced to choose Reliance by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite its having almost no experience in the aviation sector. On the eve of Sitharaman's visit, French investigative website Mediapart quoted the notes of a meeting between Dassault management and workers' representatives which described the choice of Reliance as "imperative and compulsory". Read Complete Artic...

Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa Wednesday strongly defended the government's decision to procure only 36 Rafale fighter jets against the original proposal of 126 aircraft, saying there have been similar "emergency" acquisitions in the past. The Air Force is reeling under a severe shortage of fighter aircraft at a time India faces security challenges from two nuclear-powered neighbours, the air chief marshal said, adding that the purchase of 36 Rafale jets (two squadrons) will help the force deal with the situation. One squadron of fighter jets comprises 16-18 aircraft. "Whenever the government felt the air power element of the defence forces is likely to be in a disadvantageous position, it has gone in for emergency purchases of the aircraft under the umbrella of the inter-governmental agreement," Dhanoa said, addressing a seminar on IAF's force restructuring. ALSO READ: Here's how the IAF is quietly making prepa...

Former Defence Minister AK Antony rubbishes Centre's claim of secrecy clause in the deal while Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad terms Rahul Gandhi's allegations "falsehood". Politics News : The Congress party on Monday fielded former defence minister A K Antony in the Lok Sabha to demand the Narendra Modi government make public the price at which Rafale fighter jets are being purchased. Countering Antony’s charges, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad termed it a “collective singing of falsehood” to defend Congress president Rahul Gandhi . Prasad said Gandhi was “prima facie guilty of breach of privilege for misleading” the Lok Sabha. The Congress chief had raised the issue of the price of Rafale in the Lok Sabha on Friday, during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the government. In the discussion, Prime Minister (PM) had termed Rahul’s accusations “childish”. Some of the members of parliament (MPs) of the BJP have also moved a privilege ...