Is ex-French President lying or PM Modi: Owaisi on Rafale deal
New Delhi, Sep 22: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday asked Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to come up with a proper clarification over Rafale fighter jets controversy.
Owaisi's demand came after former French president Francois Hollande said that it was the Indian government who proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for Dassault Aviation for the deal and that he had nothing to do with it.
Speaking to ANI, Owaisi asked, "The people of India want to know who is lying. Is the French ex-President lying or our Prime Minister Modi is not saying the truth?"
"We want the Defence Minister to throw light on this," he added.
The Rafale controversy, on Friday, took a new turn when Hollande, who was the president of France from 2012 to 2017, reportedly said the Narendra Modi-led government proposed Anil Ambani's name for the deal.
"We did not have a say in that. The Indian government proposed this service group, and Dassault negotiated with Ambani. We did not have a choice, we took the interlocutor we were given," Hollande was quoted by a French Journal, Mediapart.
Taking a dig at Anil Ambani, Owaisi said, "The ex-president of France says that the absurd contract was given on the condition of the Prime Minister of India that they will finalise this deal only if you give this absurd contract to 'X' person. The whole world knows who the X person is who has never manufactured even a single tyre leave aside aircraft or a motorcycle."
Hollande had said that Dassault Aviation was given no choice but to partner with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence for the offset clause in the Rafale fighter jet deal.
The Rafale jets were chosen during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) tenure in 2012. Initially, India had planned to buy 18 off-the-shelf jets from France, with 108 others to be assembled in the country by the state-run aerospace and Defence company HAL.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government scrapped the UPA's plan in 2015 and announced that it would buy 36 "ready-to-fly" Rafale jets instead of seeking a technology transfer from France's Dassault Aviation and making the aircraft in India.
Courtesy: www.aninews.in
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KSRTC to run 1000 special services to clear Christmas rush
Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation will operate 1000 additional special services in view of the Christmas festival.
In addition to the existing schedule, the special services will run on 19.12.2025, 20.12.2025 and 24.12.2025. Further, special buses will be operated from various places of intra & Interstate places to Bengaluru on 26.12.2025 & 28.12.2025.
Special buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Shringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubbali, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other places.
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Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri.
The corporation has also announced a discount of 5 per cent on the fare if four or more passengers book tickets under a single reservation. A discount of 10 per cent will be extended on return journey tickets if onward and return tickets are booked simultaneously.
In addition to the above, special buses will be operated from all Taluk/District Bus Stands in the jurisdiction of KSRTC based on the traffic needs.
