Archives for 2019

Nasheman News : A 47-year-old Sri Lankan woman, who is said to have prayed at the Sabarimala temple on Thursday night, said on Friday that she was denied a ‘darshan’ by the police.

While TV channels showed a woman having ‘darshan’, a furious Sasikala vehemently denied this had happened.

“I was not allowed darshan by the police and I was sent away,” Sasikala told the media.

Her husband, identified as Sharavanan, said it was only he who prayed at the temple, not his wife.

State Devasom (Temple) Minister Kadakampally Surendran said: “We need not find out if she had darshan or not. The government does not need to know. Women are free to pray. How can we stop women from praying at the temple?”

The TV visuals, however, show a woman moving to have ‘darshan’ but with a different holy kit compared to the one Sasikala was carrying when she spoke to the media.

Before dawn on Wednesday, two Kerala women in the hitherto banned age group (10-50) prayed at the temple, leading to violent protests from those opposed to women’s entry into the shrine.

Nasheman News : Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday dismissed all allegations of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal and hit back at Congress saying while Bofors deal was a scam, the Rafale deal was in national interest which would bring Narendra Modi back as Prime Minister.

“Bofors was a scam, but Rafale was a decision taken in national interest. Rafale will bring back Modi to build a new India and remove corruption,” she said in a reply lasting over two-and-a-half hours in the Lok Sabha to a debate on the deal with French manufacturer Dassault.

The Minister said there was a difference between defence dealings and dealing in defence.

“We deal in defence with national security as a priority,” she said.

She said the first Rafale fighter jet will be delivered in September this year and the remaining 35 aircraft will be delivered by 2022. 

Sitharaman also accused the Congress of shedding crocodile tears for HAL.

“Congress government gave 53 waivers to HAL while we have given contracts worth Rs 1 lakh crore,” she said.

Nasheman News : Claiming “fresh revelations” in the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Congress on Friday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi increased the benchmark price of the deal from euro 5.2 billion to 8.2 billion, resulting in a loss to the exchequer.

“Fresh revelations further expose brazen corruption practices in Rafale deal. The entire spectrum of deception lies at the doorstep of the Prime Minister, who overruled the objections raised and recorded by the ‘Negotiations Team’ in Rafale deal,” the party said ahead of the resumption of the debate on the deal in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Addressing a press conference in Parliament, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “The Modi government has gone to the extent of even submitting false affidavits to mislead the Supreme Court to hide the truth of the Rafale scam. This kind of government should be terminated.”

Attacking the Modi government, he said the country has now understood how big the Rafale scam is. 

“The Modi government is doing everything in its might to hide it,” Azad said. “Therefore, we have always believed that JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) is the only appropriate medium to look into the matter.”

Accusing the BJP-led government of increasing the benchmark price of the Rafale deal, he said: “The Prime Minister increased the ‘Benchmark Price’ from from euro 5.2 billion to euro 8.2 billion.” 

Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Mallikarjuna Kharge accused Modi of lying to Parliament and the Supreme Court. 

Kharge said: “They submitted false affidavits regarding CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report and is claiming to have got a clean chit from Supreme Court.

“Those who are defending the Prime MInister are lying,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also slammed the Prime Minister and said that fresh revelations further expose the brazen corrupt practices in the Rafale deal.

“The entire spectrum of deception lies at the doorstep of the Prime Minister, who overruled the objections raised and recorded by raised by the ‘Negotiations Team’ in Rafale deal,” Surjewala said.

Hitting out at Modi over the “increased benchmark” price, the Congress leader said: “This fact was also confirmed in November 2018 by Sudhanshu Mohanty, Head of Finance, Ministry of Defence (uptil May 2016), who spilled the beans and indicted the Modi government.” 

He claimed that till date the Prime Minister or Defence Minister (Niramala Sitharaman) did not contradict the statement of Mohanty.

Surjewala also accused Modi of waiving the ‘Advance and Performance Bank Guarantee and Sovereign Guarantee’ and said: “Objections on the Defence Ministry file reads no advance and performance bank guarantee has been obtained from Dassault Aviation and the advance payments made prior to delivery are not secured.”

Showing the documents, Surjewala claimed that on December 9, 2015, the Law Ministry flagged the issue of ‘no bank guarantee/sovereign guarantee’ by the French government and noted the concern that the deal involves huge payout from public exchequer without actual delivery in form of advance payments.

“On March 7, 2016, then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar refused to opine or accept the ‘Letter of Comfort’ in lieu of the ‘Bank-French Government Guarantee,” Surjewala said.

He also said that on August 18, 2016, the Air Acquisition Wing of the Defence Ministry put up a note stating that bank guarantees may be insisted from France as required and the Indian side may bear bank guarantee charges. 

“On August 23, 2016, Law Ministry again reiterated to the Defence Ministry about requirement of ‘French Government-Sovereign Guarantee’ as a condition of Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). And on August 24, 2016 i.e. the very next day, PM Modi, in Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), accepts the ‘Letter of Comfort’ and waives off the condition of ‘Bank Guarantee/French Government Sovereign Guarantee,” he said.

Surjewala also alleged that Modi ignored that ‘maintenance terms and conditions’ that read “the maintenance terms and conditions including PBG (Performance Based Guarantee) of 36 Rafale IGA was not better than that of 126 MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) Rafale bid. 

He said that the file reads: “The delivery schedule of 36 Rafale IGA was not better than that of 126 MMRCA bid.” 

“The Prime Minister proceeded despite delivery delays, comprising national security preparedness.”

He highlighted that the objections on the Defence Ministry file said that as per the prices reflected in Dassault’s financial results, it had sold Rafale at a cheaper rate to Qatar and Egypt as compared to India.

Nasheman News : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said there will be a criminal investigation into the Rafale deal if Congress comes to power in the 2019 elections, stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being accused of wrongdoings in the deal but is running away from the questions posed to him.

Talking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, he said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should answer the specific questions posed by him to Modi when she replies to the debate on the Rafale deal. 

He said Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed a discussion on the deal that “PM has personally signed.”

“You witnessed that the government refused to answer fundamental questions. Arun Jaitley did not answer the fundamental questions. The Prime Minister, who is being accused in the matter, chose to run away from the House, did not put his foot in the Lok Sabha,” he said.

Gandhi said Jaitley should answer his questions instead of abusing him. 

“The fundamental question here is there should be a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) probe. Supreme Court has said that Rafale inquiry is not in its jurisdiction. If we come to power in 2019, there will be criminal investigation and people responsible will be punished,” he said. 

Gandhi said the youth of the country are putting questions to the prime minister. 
“Who decided to raise the price of the fighter jet from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1600 crore? Whose decision was this? Was this the decision of the Air Force, Defence Ministry or Prime Minister? We want clear cut answers,” he said. 

Gandhi said an important question is if the Defence Ministry had objected to any element of the deal. 

“Are there documents with the Defence Ministry that they opposed the deal? She should say there were no objections. If there are objections and file notings, then on what basis did the Prime Minister overrule these questions? I hope she will answer but I have my doubts she will not be able to,” he said. 

The Congress chief said the Indian Air Force wanted 126 fighter planes but the government is purchasing only 36 planes. “Were national security considerations taken into consideration (while taking the decision)?”

He alleged that a private entity made Rs 30,000 crore in the offset deal. 
He said the contract to manufacture planes should have come to HAL but the planes being procured by government are being manufactured in France. 

“The industry should have come to India. Who decided to keep HAL out? This is not Narendra Modi’s money. This your money,” he said. 

The Congress leader claimed that former French President Francois Hollande has said that Modi “made it clear” that the deal to purchase fighter jets will go through if the offsets contract is given to the private entity. 

He said Sitharaman in her reply should state if Modi pushed the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited out of the deal to manufacture the planes. 

Nasheman News : The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday entrusted to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) the case relating to the knife attack on YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy at Visakhapatnam Airport on October 25.

The court passed the orders on petitions filed by leaders of YSR Congress, seeking a probe by a central agency. They alleged that the state government was not investigating the case properly.

Sudhakar Reddy, lawyer of one of the petitioners, told reporters that the court agreed with the contention that a probe by a central agency could bring out the truth.

The High Court on December 22 gave two weeks time to the Andhra Pradesh government and the Centre to act according to Section 6 of the NIA Act.

The Centre took the decision to hand over the case to NIA on December 31. The investigating agency on January 1 registered a case. This was revealed on Friday.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered on a complaint by an officer of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The NIA registered an attempt to murder case against Janipalli Srinivas, who was arrested immediately after he attacked the leader of opposition.

Jagan, as the YSRCP leader is popularly knows, was injured when Srinivas, a worker at the airport canteen, attacked him with a cockfight knife as Jagan was waiting to board a flight to Hyderbad.

Jagan, who sustained a bleeding cut on his left upper arm, continued his journey and got admitted in a hospital in Hyderabad.

After the attack, leaders of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had termed it as a ploy of YSRCP to gain public sympathy.

Jagan had refused to record his statement before Andhra Pradesh Police saying he had no trust in agencies controlled by the state government.

Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha had revealed on Wednesday that the accused had planned the attack on October 18 but he could not execute the plan as the opposition leader had left for Hyderabad a day earlier.

Nasheman News : The suspension of 45 Lok Sabha members belonging to AIADMK and the TDP is likely to be revoked if they assure Speaker Sumitra Mahajan that they will not create pandemonium.

Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, who belongs to AIADMK, urged the Speaker to revoke the suspension of all the 45 members of his party and the TDP.

“You have all the rights if members violate the rules. You have already punished them. I would humbly request you to kindly allow them to take part in the proceedings from Monday onwards. Kindly revoke their suspension,” he said.

Responding to his request, Mahajan sought an assurance from the AIAIDMK leadership and said she will discuss the issue with all the leaders of the parties.

“I am ready but I want assurance. I am not saying no. We must have a meeting. We will see,” she said.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said that the issue can be discussed with the leaders of all parties.

Mahajan on Thursday acted tough suspending 21 members of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and AIADMK for four consecutive sittings for causing “grave disorder” by tearing papers and throwing them towards the Chair.

The Speaker’s action came as members of the two parties were agitating near the Speaker’s podium shouting slogans in support of their demands like special status for Andhra Pradesh and against the proposed dam on the Cauvery river in Karnataka, issues on which they have been protesting ever since the start of the session.

On Wednesday, the Speaker suspended 24 AIADMK members for five days for creating disorder.

Nasheman News : Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday took a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for visiting his parliamentary constituency Amethi more often and said this was because she had done a lot of work there and in the process rattled Gandhi.

On a brief halt outside the Lucknow airport on way to Amethi, from where she unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Irani said the BJP government had fulfilled all the promises made to the people of Amethi.

After seeing so much work being done in the past five years in his pocket borough, Gandhi was forced to step up his visits to Amethi.

“Earlier these visits by the Congress President were seasonal… One or two in five years but now they are many a times,” she said.

She added that while she was in Amethi to work, Gandhi would camp there for two days.

Irani is scheduled to flag off some developmental projects in Amethi, the constituency she has been nurturing since 2014, despite her defeat to Gandhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.