'Rafale will give India unrivalled combat capability'

Agencies
October 6, 2019

Paris, Oct 6: Ahead of handing over of the first Rafale jet to India, European missile maker MBDA has said that the aircraft with most advanced weapons package comprising Meteor and Scalp missiles will provide the country unrivalled deep strike capability and air dominance in the region.

MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the 36 Rafale jets being procured by India at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.

"India will get new capabilities with Rafale aircraft which the country never had before. Both Scalp and Meteor missiles will be game-changer for Indian Air Force," MBDA's India chief Loïc Piedevache told PTI here.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will receive the first Rafale jet at an airbase in Paris on Tuesday, three years after India sealed the mega-deal for procurement of the aircraft manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation.

"Rafale is an amazing aircraft fitted with a very superior weapons package. It has been having great success in several important markets. We are happy to be part of the project to supply 36 Rafale to India," he said.

He said Meteor is known to be the best beyond visual range missile in the world while Scalp is a deep strike weapon, and the Rafale with these two missiles will help India achieve unmatched air dominance in the region. "Today, India does not have such capability," he added.

Meteor is a next generation of BVR air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) designed to revolutionise air-to-air combat. The weapon has been developed by MBDA to combat common threats facing the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden.

Guided by an advanced active radar seeker, Meteor provides all weather capability to engage a wide variety of targets from fast jets to small unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles.

The Scalp is an air-launched long range deep strike missile, designed to deal with pre-planned attacks against high value fixed or stationary targets. Scalp has been part of the UK's Royal Air Force and the French Air Force and was used in the Gulf War.

Newly-appointed IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria last week said the Rafale jets will enhance IAF's combat capabilities over its adversaries in the neighbourhood.

Besides the missile systems, the Rafale jets will come with various India-specific modifications, including Israeli helmet-mounted displays, radar warning receivers, low band jammers, 10-hour flight data recording, infra-red search and tracking systems among others.

Piedevache said MBDA was excited about future acquisition programme of all the three forces and was ready to offer best of technologies to India.

"India is a strategic partner for us. We have the knowledge and technology to match India's requirement. We are also excited about the Indian Navy's submarines and frigates programmes," he said.

MBDA has been supplying range of missiles to the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force in the last five decades.

Last month, it signed an agreement with defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the final assembly, integration and test (FAIT) of Mistral and ASRAAM missiles in India.

ASRAAM is a new generation close combat missile. The IAF's Jaguar aircraft are the first Indian platform to receive this cutting-edge air-combat missile.

Piedevache said the MoU with BDL will help in further enhancing MBDA's engagement with India.

"It has been MBDA's 50-year-old cooperation with India which has been very fruitful. We are fully committed to meet India's requirement," said the top executive.

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Agencies
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: Delhi minister Satyendar Jain's health has deteriorated further. He is infected with the coronavirus. Jain has also been diagnosed with pneumonia. He is being shifted to an ICU.  According to doctors, Jain is now kept full-time on oxygen support as his oxygen saturation level has dipped.  

Jain was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital early Tuesday after running high fever and suffering a sudden drop in oxygen level. The 55-year-old leader's test result came positive on Wednesday evening after a second test. Jain was brought to the hospital and was administered a test for the novel coronavirus infection on Tuesday morning, for which he tested negative. But he still ran fever and showed symptoms, so another test was done after 24 hours of the first.

He will now be shifted Max Hospital in Saket and administered plasma therapy. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also wished for Jain's speedy recovery.

On Thursday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took over the charge of health, PWD, power and other departments held by Jain. Jain will remain the cabinet minister without any portfolio in the Arvind Kejriwal government until he recovers. 

On Sunday, Jain attended a high-level meeting on the coronavirus situation in the national capital, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, which was also attended by Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: The BJP's Amit Shah today said statements like "goli maaro" and "Indo-Pak match" should not have been made by BJP leaders ahead of the Delhi elections.

The BJP may have suffered in the elections because of hate statements made by party leaders, he said, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

The party, he said, had distanced itself from such remarks.

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News Network
February 29,2020

Feb 29: The "Dadi of Shaheenbagh" on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not understand the pain of losing children, as speakers at an anti-CAA rally here called on protesters to maintain peace and not give in to any provocation.

Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, said that the battle is not for a day or two, but the protesters will have to be prepared to continue it for years to come.

Asma Khatoon, who has earned fame as the "Dadi of Shaheenbagh" in Delhi, asked how can a person take care of the whole country when he cannot maintain his own family.

"He would have realised how it feels to lose a child if he had his own children," she told a gathering at the Park Circus Maidan, which is being termed as the Shaheenbagh of Kolkata with women holding a sit-in for the last 53 days to protest the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, proposed nationwide NRC, and the NPR.

The death toll Delhi's communal violence has gone up to 42.

She said it is not biryani that has attracted women to the protest at Shaheen bagh while holding that such vilification campaigns will have no effect on the agitation.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh has claimed that "uneducated men and women" are protesting at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and Kolkata's Park Circus as they get money and biryani purchased with foreign funds.

"Home Minister Amit Shah has called 20 protesters to meet him, but I want to tell him that we are one lakh and I want him to mention the place where he wants us to go for the meeting," she said.

Tushar Gandhi said, "People should stay united and not give in to any provocation," he said.

Gandhi said that the people of West Bengal are lucky to have Mamata Banerjee as their chief minister.

"They will try to break her also and it is necessary that you continue to give her support," he said.

Gandhi claimed that no one can harm a country where its mothers and sisters come out to save it.

He claimed that the CAA is not about Hindus or Muslims, but will really affect the poor people, who will be made to run around to get their papers instead of earning for their basic and daily needs.

"It's a dichotomous government that we have at the Centre. On the one hand, they want us to provide documents to prove our citizenship, while on the other they refuse to accept the papers that one produces before it for the purpose," he said.

He claimed that the government is forcing its people to resort to lies and declare that they are political refugees from countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Gandhi claimed that time and again documents with the government like electoral rolls and land documents have been used to identify people of certain communities during riots.

"So it is dangerous to give too much information to the government," he said.

He called on the people to have faith in non-violence and asked them to maintain peace and harmony.

B R Ambedkar's great-grandson Rajratna Ambedkar claimed that it is the Adivasis who will also be affected by the CAA.

"I want to tell Modi and Shah that the country runs on the Constitution by Ambedkar and not M S Golwalkar (of RSS)," he said, adding that because of the rights conferred on people by the Constitution, those backward people who did not have the right to sit on a bullock cart are now flying jet planes.

He said that Modi and Shah committed an error by enacting the CAA as it has turned the people of the country into Indians only, instead of Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Sikhs.

"Every machinery of the country has been taken control of by the RSS. If one Modi or one Shah goes, they will bring in several more Modi or Shah," he said.

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