If Modi Govt’s Rafale deal is cheaper, then why buy only 36 aircraft instead of 126: Cong

Agencies
September 18, 2018

New Delhi, Sept 18: Accusing the Modi Government of gravely compromising ‘national security’ in the Rafale fighter jet deal with the French government, the Congress on Tuesday asked the Government if their Rafale deal is cheaper, then why the Government is buying only 36 aircraft instead of the required 126.

Addressing a press conference here in the party headquarter, former Defence Minister and senior Congress leader AK Antony said that authorised strength of the squadrons of the Indian Air Force was 42 which has been depleted to 31. In 2000, the IAF had told the then NDA Government that they require at least 126 fighter aircraft for the defence preparedness, he said.

“Recently the Union Law Minister had claimed that under the Government’s deal each Rafale aircraft is nine percent cheaper than that of UPA’s. At one occasion he said that the present Government has negotiated 20 percent less of the price which was quoted by the former Government, a senior IAF official said that the current price for one aircraft is 40 percent cheaper than earlier one, then why the Government is buying only 36 fighter jets?”, former Defence Minister asked. 

He said the country needed 126 Rafale aircraft and all including the Defence Secretary, had given their consent on this number and accordingly, the deal was decided with France but the Modi Government, neglecting the requirement of the IAF, decided to buy 36 aircraft only. Under this deal, the first Rafale fighter jet is to be supplied in 2019 while the remaining will be supplied by 2022, Mr Antony said.

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News Network
May 22,2020

Mumbai, May 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday reduced repo rate by 40 basis points to 4 per cent in an effort to further boost liquidity in the economy which has been reeling under the impact of COVID-19 induced countrywide lockdown.

As a result, the reverse repo rate stands at 3.35 per cent, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) voted 5:1 in favour of the decision.

Repo rate is the rate at which a country's central bank lends money to commercial banks, and the reverse repo rate is the rate at which it borrows from them. 

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Agencies
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured audit of donations made to the PM-CARES Fund, and to share the details and the money spent with the people.

"The PM-CARES Fund has received huge contributions from PSUs and major public utilities like the Railways. It's important that the Prime Minister ensure the fund is audited and that the record of money received and spent is available to the public," he tweeted.

The #PmCares fund has received huge contributions from PSUs & major public utilities like the Railways.

It’s important that PM ensures the fund is audited & that the record of money received and spent is available to the public.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 9, 2020
His remarks came amid reports that the central government is accumulating a huge sum of money in the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund set up as a corpus to fight novel coronavirus and that the amount spent will not be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The CAG office had clarified that since the fund is based on donations, it has no right to audit a charitable organisation.

On Friday, Rahul Gandhi told the media that the PM-CARES Fund should be audited and people of the country should know about the donors and the donations made.

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News Network
June 1,2020

New Delhi, Jun 1: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday asked airlines to allot seats in flights in such a manner that middle seats are kept vacant to the extent possible.

However, if a flyer has been allotted the middle seat due to a high passenger load "then additional protective equipment like the wrap-around gown of the Ministry of Textile approved standards" must be provided to that passenger in addition to three-layered face mask and face shield, said the DGCA order, which has been accessed by news agency.

India resumed its domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. International commercial passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country.

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