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...

The BJP on Thursday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his "shameful" statements about the Rafale fighter jet deal , saying the Supreme Court’s judgment had absolved the government. "It is recognition of the honest decision making process of the Narendra Modi government...Satayamav Jayete. The Congress party must apologise and Rahul Gandhi in particular must apologise to the country," said BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Delhi after the court judgment. The Supreme Court's order on the Rafale deal was a victory of the country's national security, he said. "People having saga of corruption from Jeep scandal to Bofors to Submarine to AugustaWestland, where undertaking a political programme masquerading at the quest of justice. "Raising false allegations on the Rafale deal was the lowest point of political discourse that he stooped to the shameful extent of misquoting the supreme court deliberately,...

Opposition parties Wednesday hailed the Supreme Court's decision allowing leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgement , saying the Modi government now has "no official secrets act" to hide behind and a probe into the "scam" will take place. In a setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court allowed leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgement and dismissed the government's preliminary objections claiming "privilege" over them. While welcoming the decision, the Congress alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can "run and lie" as much as he wants but truth comes out eventually. "Modiji, you can run and lie as much as you want but sooner or later the truth comes out. The skeletons in Rafale scam are tumbling out one by one. And now there is 'no official secrets act' to hide behind," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surj...

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...

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of acting as a middleman of Anil Ambani in the Rafale jet deal , as he cited an e-mail to claim the businessman was aware of the MoU before India and France signed it. Ambani's knowledge of a defence deal under preparation, which even the then defence minister had said he was not aware of, is in violation of the Official Secrets Act, Gandhi alleged at a press conference, and said this "puts Modi in jail". Only Modi could have told Ambani about the deal in advance, he alleged. "This is treason. He (Modi) is doing what spies do," Gandhi said. Ambani had met the French defence minister days before the signing of the deal during Modi's visit to France in 2015, Gandhi said, quoting from an e-mail written by an Airbus executive to a French official. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday defended the introduction of the 10 per cent quota for the general category poor in jobs and education, even as he asked the Congress to clarify what was driving its ongoing allegations on the Rafale fighter jet deal . Addressing a public rally after launching a slew of infra projects here, Modi said the smooth passage of the bill which provides 10 per cent quota for the general category poor in jobs and education in the Lok Sabha is a strong answer by the Parliament to those spreading lies. Hoping the Rajya Sabha will pass the Bill Wednesday, Modi said the rights of deprived sections, including Dalits and tribals won't be affected because of this bill. He termed the passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha as a historic step aimed at uplifting the deprived sections. On the passage of the Citizenship Bill , seeking to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangaldesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Modi assured people of Assam and ...

The audio clip featuring a purported conversation between a Goa Minister and an unidentified person about the Rafale deal is a "desperate attempt" by the Congress to fabricate facts and no such discussion had happened, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Wednesday. "The audio clip released by the Congress is a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after their lies were exposed by the Supreme Court verdict on Rafale. No such discussion ever came up during Cabinet or any other meeting," the former Defence Minister tweeted. Check LIVE Parliament debate on Rafale deal here Earlier on Wednesday, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala released an audio of a telephonic conversation allegedly between Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and another person, whose identity was kept anonymous, in which Rane is heard saying that Parrikar, at a Cabinet meeting, said that he had files related to the Rafale deal in the bedroom of his residence. Read Mor...

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Friday alleged that Dassault Aviation paid Rs 2.84 billion to Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence as the "first installment of kickbacks" and claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi was having "sleepless nights" fearing action if a probe was conducted into the Rafale deal . He also alleged that CBI chief Alok Verma was removed as he wanted to investigate the deal. There was no immediate reaction from the government and Ambani on the fresh charges made by Gandhi. However, they have previously rejected all allegations made over the Rafale deal. Dassault Aviation CEO ric Trappier has said the reason Ambani's firm was given the offset contract and not state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was that it had land for the project, he said, alleging the land was purchased by Ambani's company with the money that Dassault gave.       "Dassault gave Rs 2.84 billion to a loss-making company with a valuation of Rs...

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...

Firing a fresh salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal , Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged on Thursday that he was a "corrupt man" who helped Anil Ambani pocket Rs 300 billion in the purchase of the fighter aircraft. Gandhi demanded an investigation against the prime minister. The Congress president also described Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's trip to France as part of a "huge cover-up" by the government. His attack at the government came a press conference following a report in the French media that Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale, had to choose Ambani's firm Reliance Defence as its offsets partner in India as a trade-off for getting the deal. The government has been insisting that it had no role in the Dassault's choice of Reliance Defence. Dassault Aviation said in a statement that it has "freely chosen to make a partnership with India's Reliance Group". Read Complet...

The Supreme Court Tuesday adjourned hearing on a PIL seeking a stay on the Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France. A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Navin Sinha and K M Joseph adjourned the matter till October 10. Petitioner advocate M L Sharma told the bench that he wants to file some additional documents in the case and therefore the matter should be adjourned. "You yourself circulated a letter seeking adjournment on the ground of ill health. Now you are saying that you want to file additional documents. We are simply adjourning the matter to October 10," the bench said. In his petition, Sharma has alleged discrepancies in the fighter jet deal with France and sought a stay on it. Read Complete Article  

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...

Congress also alleges PMO connived in Choksi's escape National News : The Congress party on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of behaving like a 'medieval monarch' in getting a failed Indian industrialist the contract to manufacture Rafale fighter jets. The Congress also alleged that Modi-led Prime Minister's Office (PMO) connived to help jeweller Mehul Choksi escape from India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was yet to react to these allegations at the time of filing of this report. Congress spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy, who heads the subgroup of the party to study the Rafale fighter jet deal, alleged that the ' Rafale scam ' was a 'direct deal between PM Modi and the industrialist', whose only distinction is that he has 'spectacularly failed as an industrialist'. Over the past few days, Congress party leaders have fanned out across the country to hold press conferences on the 'Rafale scam'. Reddy allege...