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Differences crop up with Russia over fighter jet deal
India begins power export to B’desh
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Will contain CAD below $70 bn: FM
CAG raps Modi govt over malnutrition, urban reforms
Finally, Char Dham yatra resumes
Shift focus to national security studies: PM to HRD Ministry
BJP defends Modi on ‘toilet before temple’
Reporting for duty drunk deserves dismissal: SC
Paternity suit: ‘Ill’ ND Tiwari seeks 8-week adjournment
Oct 28 Mars mission on course, says ISRO
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Differences crop up with Russia over fighter jet deal
The two countries had agreed in 2010 to develop the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), which at $ 30 billion USD would be the biggest defence deal ever in the world. The preliminary design contract (PDC) phase costing $ 295 million was completed on June 19. However, New Delhi and Moscow will take at least an year more to take the next step -- that is signing of the final design Research and Development (R&D) contract worth $ 11 billion. The draft contracts for the proposed R&D were exchanged in mid-2012. India’s share is $ 5.5 billion. Since then, developments have lost pace. Sources said India wants access to technical data and be a contributor in the R&D as that will enable its teams to get experience. Also, India is seeking a ban on the sale of the plane to other countries. Indian planners accept in private is that Russia, or any other country, would never part with engine design specifications and metallurgy. “India is looking to be more than a monetary contributor in the deal”, said the source. The IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, confirmed yesterday that brakes had been put on the FGFA project, at least for now. “We are still working on the R&D contract. It will take one more year. Technical discussions are on. Till we get technical details, which we need to know, we cannot even get to the issue of discussing financial terms and conditions”, the IAF Chief said. The first hint of delay was when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Delhi in December last year but the R&D contract was not signed. The first induction was planned for 2022, but the assessment within the MoD is that it will be delayed. Four prototypes of the code-named ‘PAK-FA’ are already flying in Russia. The plane has stealth features enabling it to be somewhat masked from enemy radars. It will have advanced features such as super-cruise, ultra-manoeuvrability, highly integrated avionics suite, enhanced situational awareness, internal carriage of weapons (that is under-carriage weapons will not be visible) and network centric warfare capabilities. Only when the R&D contract is signed, the FGFA prototypes will be available in India. The first is slated in 2014. It will be flight-tested by Indian pilots and monitored by Indian engineers. Two more prototypes will follow in 2017 and 2019. The last will be the final version on which the FGFA will be based.
What India wants
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India begins power export to B’desh
New Delhi, October 5 The projects, a transmission line for exporting 500 MW from West Bengal and a 1,320-MW thermal power project in Bangladesh, were inaugurated by Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Sheikh Hasina through video conferencing. The Maitri thermal power project is being developed by Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company, a joint venture between NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board. "A shared aspiration of our people has been translated into a concrete outcome,'' Manmohan Singh said in his speech on the occasion. He said he looked forward with confidence to a future of deeper cooperation in energy and all other dimensions of the relationship between the two nations. The projects mark South Asia's first-ever high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnection between two countries. The Asian development Bank (ADB) has partly financed the project. The transmission line would link India's eastern power grid with the western electricity grid of Bangladesh. The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), which is the coordinator of the import process, said by the end of October, around 250 MW of power would be imported into Bangladesh. Another 250 MW was expected to be imported from India's private sector by November this year. The India-Bangladesh agreement could also be a precursor to a South Asia electricity grid that would link the countries of the region. However, a proposal mooted by Islamabad sometime back for the supply of 500 MW power from India to Pakistan has failed to make much headway due to escalation of tension between the two countries. New Delhi believes that the accord on the supply of power to Bangladesh may help India recover some lost ground in Dhaka in the backdrop of its failure to endorse the additional protocol to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) signed between the two countries during Manmohan Singh's visit in September 2011. India has also not been able to ensure the signing of the Teesta water sharing accord due to vehement opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, adding to the domestic woes of Sheikh Hasina on the eve of the Bangladesh poll. When he met Sheikh Hasina in New York recently, the Prime Minister promised to take the LBA to Parliament in the winter session for ratification. The apprehension is that if the accord is not passed even during the winter session of Parliament, it could cause a backlash against the 'friendly' Sheikh Hasina government in the elections, much to the discomfort of India. Energy cooperation
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Will contain CAD below $70 bn: FM
Bangalore, October 5 “Last year, I was told by pundits, analysts and rating agencies and all the wise people who appear on televisions every day that we cannot contain the fiscal deficit. I’m happy that we were able to surprise them; ....We are told that the government cannot contain the current account deficit, I said last year we had the deficit of $88 billion, this year I'm betting at $70 billion, and I will contain it below $70 billion,” he said at a State Bank of Mysore event here. “I say this because we have intellectual capacity among our senior economists and administrators, we have the institutional capacity and above all we have our people who give us the confidence to overcome stress,” he said. “Our people save and that is a biggest asset to us. People of India save like no other people anywhere in the world, in worst of times our savings ratio did not go below 30 per cent,” he said. Answering a question about his confidence in controlling the CAD, he said, “The confidence comes from my knowledge of the numbers, from the fact that gold imports have sharply compressed in July, August and September, exports have picked up briskly and smartly.” — PTI
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CAG raps Modi govt over malnutrition, urban reforms
Ahmedabad, October 5 The latest report of the CAG, which was tabled in the state Assembly during the recent brief monsoon session, has also faulted the Modi government for laxity in the coastal security, for failure in carrying out the urban development reforms and irregularities in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). The state government, however, has contested the report. The finance minister and the Cabinet spokesman Nitin Patel said he wondered from where did the CAG “dug up figures” to show Gujarat in poor light. He said the state government was studying the report and would investigate in detail whether Gujarat was still suffering from any social imbalance and would take the necessary corrective measures immediately. Pointing out that basic amenities were not available in the state involving Anganwadi centres, which affected the implementation of the centre-sponsored Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), CAG report said against the requirement of 75,480 Anganwadi centres, the state government sanctioned only 52,137 centres of which only 50,225 centres were operational. Modi, who was lambasting the Centre for alleged “inadequate attention towards the national security,” was censored by the CAG for his government’s failure to contribute the stipulated share in enhancing the coastal security despite that Gujarat had the longest coastal line of over 1,600 kilometres. It pointed out that 36 of the 50 check posts and outposts were not operational because the state government had not deployed the required police personnel.
Other findings
State contests report
The state government contested the report. Cabinet spokesman Nitin Patel said he wondered from where did the CAG "dug up figures" to show Gujarat in poor light
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Finally, Char Dham yatra resumes
Dehradun, October 5 Around 150-odd pilgrims led by Union Minister for water resources Harish Rawat and locals paid obeisance at the Kedarnath temple as soon as the Bal Bogh ceremony was over in the morning. ''Around 20-30 pilgrims would be able to visit Kedarnath tomorrow. Today pilgrims from Nainital and Haridwar also managed to pay obeisance at the Kedarnath temple,'' said Ganesh Godiyal, Chairman of Badrinath- Kedarnath Temple committee. ''The route has been laid after the devastation and those who are used to the 14-km trek would now have to cover 20 km. The path is not fully settled,'' said
Godiyal.
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Shift focus to national security studies: PM to HRD Ministry
New Delhi, October 5 The Tribune has learnt that the PM recently wrote to HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju about the need to strengthen national security studies as an academic discipline to produce potential workforce for addressing needs of the sector. The move came after Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne reportedly flagged the matter to the PM through a letter, top HRD sources said. Following PM's instructions, Raju (who quit the Cabinet yesterday over Telangana) last week convened a high- level meeting of Home Ministry, National Security Advisor, UGC and IDSA (Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses) representatives and decided to redesign the current college/university curriculum of the discipline to make it attractive to students. It was also decided to upgrade departments of defence and strategic studies in five universities and recast these as Departments of National Security Studies offering PG and PhD programmes. The departments at Panjab University, Chandigarh; University of Allahabad; University of Madras; Pune University and University of Gorakhpur were selected for expansion. UGC chairman Ved Prakash, who was in the meeting, told The Tribune, “Currently, we don't have national security studies. We only have departments of defence studies which are limited to strategic affairs.
Panjab University’s gain
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BJP defends Modi on ‘toilet before temple’
New Delhi, October 5 Notably, the VHP, in a statement issued yesterday, expressed “sadness and hurt” over Modi’s statement, an obvious attempt to move beyond his hardliner Hindutva image, at a function on Wednesday in Delhi. Though saffron party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi defended Modi’s statement and said that the matter was closed, sources say the toilets versus temple statement created unnecessary controversy when there was none. With the Congress making the most of the situation, BJP sources claim the VHP’s criticism was aimed to nullify the grand old party’s efforts. “Combining temples with toilets was unnecessary while mentioning the importance of toilets,” the VHP said, adding: “As we have already said, all are working towards better health and hygiene of Bharat. VHP runs hundreds of health projects under its Sewa Department. However, referring to temples as a lower priority than toilets was unnecessary as well as improper and VHP is sad and shocked by this. Such uncalled for remarks combining toilets and temples has hurt Hindu faith”.
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Reporting for duty drunk deserves dismissal: SC
New Delhi, October 5 "Penalty of removal for such misconduct cannot be treated as disproportionate. It does not seem to be unreasonable and does not shock the conscience of the court," a Bench comprising Justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and AK Sikri ruled while setting aside the lighter punishment given by the Guwahati High Court to the clerk, J Hussain. The HC had overturned the penalty of removal from service, awarded by the disciplinary authority and confirmed by the Appellate Departmental Authority and the Central Administrative Tribunal. The HC had held that dismissal from service was disproportionate to the nature and gravity of his misconduct. The HC had directed Hussain's reinstatement with continuity of service only for the purpose of pensionary benefits. He would not be entitled to wages for the period between his dismissal and the HC verdict and to two annual increments. The Deputy Commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangatan, Tura, had come to the SC, challenging the HC verdict. Entering the school premises at 11.30 am during the working hours in an inebriated condition and thereafter forcibly entering the Principal's room constituted a "serious misconduct," the SC ruled. The apex court also held that even if the HCs found that the punishment was disproportionate to the nature of charge, they "can only refer the matter back to the disciplinary authority to take appropriate view," rather than reducing the penalty.
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Paternity suit: ‘Ill’ ND Tiwari seeks 8-week adjournment
New Delhi, October 5 In an urgent application to the HC Registrar, Tiwari said his doctors in Lucknow, where he was staying at present, had advised him to avoid “exertion” and travel to Delhi. The 88-year-old Congress leader said he was undergoing treatment at the department of cardiology at King George Medical University and his brother, aged 83, who was to accompany him to Delhi, had also suffered a mild heart stroke and was hospitalised. In view of this, he sought eight weeks’ time to enable him to appear before the Local Commissioner.
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Oct 28 Mars mission on course, says ISRO
Bangalore, October 5 "There is no delay. We are going ahead with our MOM as scheduled," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesperson Deviprasad Karnik told PTI here. The Bangalore-headquartered space agency is drawing comfort from the fact that NASA has announced that it would go ahead with its own MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission, slated for launch as early as November 18. This, in other words, means that NASA would have to keep its DSN, an international network of antennas that track interplanetary spacecraft missions, operational. India plans to launch its MOM spacecraft on October 28, the first day of the launch window, which remains open till November 19. Once launched, MOM would go around the earth for 20-25 days before embarking on a nine-month voyage to the Red Planet. An ISRO official said: "We don't need NASA DSN support during initial days after the launch as small antennas can track but when it moves further and further away from earth, we need such a support". There has been no communication from NASA to ISRO saying that it would not support the Indian mission, sources said. — PTI
The hiccup
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On Board Special Aircraft
Panaji Rourkela
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On the 111day after the mid-June natural disaster, the areas leading up to the Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines today witnessed pilgrim movement as the first batch of pilgrims paid obeisance at the Himalayan shrines, signalling resumption of the Char Dham Yatra bringing smiles on the faces of local priests and residents.
New Delhi October 5
