'Rafale for India not to be ready for Bengaluru air show'
Bengaluru, Sep 30: The controversial Rafale fighter India ordered would not be ready to fly at the Bengaluru air show in February, an IAF official said on Sunday.
"Rafale for India will not be ready by February. We expect Dassault to fly some other Rafale at the Aero India show here on February 20-24, 2019," Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal R.K. Singh Bhadauria told IANS at a press conference here.
The French aerospace major (Dassault Aviation) is set to deliver 36 Rafales multi-role medium combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in fly-away condition from September 2019 onwards.
The 12th edition of the 5-day biennial air show will be held at IAF's Yelahanka base on the city's northern outskirts as before.
"We hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it though the Ministry of Defence will take a call on it," said Bhadauria when asked who would flag off the mega show.
The state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will play a major role in organising the air show, instead of the Defence Exhibition Organisation which has been hosting the event over years, he added.
The advanced fourth generation fighter Rafale will partly replace the ageing Russian-built MiG-21 jets the IAF is phasing out due to their obsolescence.
The Deputy Chief of Air Staff was present at a press conference addressed by Defence Minister at the Yelahanka air base.
Asked about the overhauling of Rafale in the absence of HAL as its Indian partner, Sitharaman said the joint statement of April 10, 2015 between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande had addressed all the issues, including servicing of the fighter.
"Our agreement has achieved a much better deal than the non-deal by theAUPA," the Defence Minister said.
The Modi government had approached the Rafale deal with a "sense of urgency" understanding the strengths of Pakistan and China, she said.
"With the depleting squadron strength from 42 to 33, we had gone in to get 36 aircraft in fly-away condition. That was the sense of urgency with which we have attended to the issue," the Minister stressed.
With a "desperation" to return to power, Congress was raising Rafale issue, Sitharaman claimed.
"In over four years, there's not even a whisper of corruption in this government. But desperate to get power, they (Congress) have been indulging in hit-and-run tactics," she alleged.
The Congress party was also shedding "crocodile tears" for HAL alleging that it missed out on thousands of jobs over the Rafale deal, she said.
"An intergovernmental deal only dictates the requirements of a contract. The offset rules are governed by offset regulations," Sitharaman added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah slams 'evil forces' for misleading claims in mining lease row
Bengaluru, Apr 9 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday alleged that several attempts were being made by "evil forces" to create confusion over the renewal of mining leases.
His statement came after activist H Ramamurthy approached Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking a sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister in a mining-related case.
Ramamurthy claimed that mining approvals were granted at throwaway prices to nine firms involved in illegal mining, resulting in a loss of over Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer.
“It has come to light that in 2015, during his tenure, Sri Siddaramaiah allegedly granted ‘in-principle approval’ and deemed extension to nine private firms engaged in illegal mining,” the activist claimed.
“The renewal of these licences was reportedly done at throwaway prices, causing a significant loss of over Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer,” he added.
In response, Siddaramaiah said in a statement that multiple attempts had been made to create confusion over the mining lease renewal issue.
“Such misinformation has been circulating since I assumed office. Certain malicious forces are continuously trying to mislead the Raj Bhavan,” he alleged.
Under the MMDR Act, 1957—as it existed prior to 2015—lease renewals were applicable for 20 years. As per this provision, the government had granted only conditional in-principle approvals to obtain forest clearance for the renewal of mining leases, Siddaramaiah explained.
He added that on April 12, 2015, the central government amended the MMDR Act through an ordinance.
Following several stages of verification, it was concluded that the conditional approval letters issued to eight companies on February 9, 2015, for lease renewals were not valid.
These approvals were subsequently cancelled, and action was taken in accordance with the amended Act.
Siddaramaiah said that after reviewing the deemed extension proposals submitted by the Mines Department, the state government cancelled one case without considering it for a deemed extension, in accordance with a Supreme Court order.
In the remaining seven cases, deemed extension letters were issued with conditions—including submission of statutory forest and environmental clearances, a no-dues certificate, and compliance with the government's decision based on final investigation reports by agencies such as the CBI and the Special Investigation Team on illegal mining.
"Of these seven companies, two were not granted mining rights as they failed to submit the required statutory documents. Of the remaining five, three were granted mining lease rights during the BJP regime in 2020 and 2021," the Chief Minister added.
The remaining two cases were granted conditional deemed extension of mining lease rights through supplementary agreements in 2016 and 2018, he added.
“Therefore, in all these eight cases, the government did not incur any financial loss. Not a single piece of ore was extracted during this period,” Siddaramaiah said.
The Chief Minister claimed that similar cases had earlier been filed by opposition parties and individuals in various forums, but the complaints were closed as they were found to be baseless.
“After about 10 years, this case is being exhumed with political malice. I appeal to the intelligent people of the country not to believe the evil political conspiracies that are trying to poison their minds over a matter that has no substance,” he said in the statement.
