Government ready for any debate, Cong running from Rafale discussion: Vijay Goel
New Delhi, Dec 18 : The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said on Tuesday while asserting that the government is ready for a debate on any issue.
A dispute, be it on Rafale, the Cauvery river water, the RBI or the CBI, can only be resolved through discussion, Goel told reporters outside Parliament.
"The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale issue in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The government is ready to have discussions on any issue in Parliament," he said.
Referring to the recent Supreme Court order rejecting demands for a probe into the Rafale jet deal, the minister said it was clear that the Congress was spreading "misinformation" on the issue.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for the procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision making process".
"I want to tell the Congress that the government is ready for a discussion on the issue of Rafale... But the Congress is not ready for a discussion and its members are instead raising unimportant issues in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha," Goel said.
The Congress has repeatedly criticised the deal for the 36 Rafale jets, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government.
The government has, however, denied any irregularity in the deal.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
