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Canadian government includes Khalistani terrorism in its ‘2018 Public Report on Terrorism Threat to Canada’

Aditi
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Canadian government includes Khalistani terrorism in its ‘2018 Public Report on Terrorism Threat to Canada’

The Public Report on Terrorism Threat to Canada 2018 has described Sikh (Khalistani) Terrorism as a “concern”. This the first time under the Trudeau government that the Khalistani groups have been included in the report.


The report is published by Public Safety Canada, an agency created in 2003 to ensure coordination across all the departments and agencies responsible for national security.

The Ministerial Forward to the report says that the National Terrorism Threat Level which is a broad indicator of the terrorist threat to Canada has not changed since 2014 and remains at medium.

Despite attacks by Khalistani extremism being limited, the report considers it a matter of concern. “Furthermore, Shia and Sikh (Khalistani) extremism also remain of concern because while their attacks in Canada have been extremely limited, some Canadians continue to support these extremist groups, including through financing. At the time of publication, Canada’s National Terrorism Threat Level remains at medium, as set in early October 2014 – meaning a violent act of terrorism could occur”, reads the Executive Summary of the Report.

The report claims that, while violent activities in support of Khalistan have fallen since their peak during 1982-1993, support for the extreme ideologies remains. The 1985 Air India bombing by Khalistani terrorists, which killed 331 people, remains the deadliest terrorist plot ever launched in Canada as per the report.

The two Khalistani Groups that have been identified in the report as being associated with terrorism are Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). The report describes BKI as a terrorist entity that aims to establish a fundamentalist independent Sikh state called ‘Khalistan’ (Land of the Pure) in what is presently the Indian state of Punjab. According to the report, the BKI is involved in armed attacks, assassinations and bombings and has members outside of India in Pakistan, North America, Europe and Scandinavia.

The ISYF is an international branch of the All India Sikh Students’ Federation (AISSF). The organisation also aims to promote Sikh philosophy and establish an independent Sikh nation of Khalistan. The report says that the organisation has been involved in terrorist attacks and bombings primarily against “Indian political figures”. ISYF, as claimed by the report, collaborates with a number of Sikh associations with a number of Sikh terrorist organisations including BKI.

Army is not a mere job provider, it is for the physically and mentally tough: COAS General Rawat

OpIndia Staff
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Army is not a mere job provider, it is for the physically and mentally tough: COAS General Rawat

While addressing around 600 serving and retired disabled soldiers from the Southern Command, the South Western Command and the Central Command in Pune on Thursday, the Indian Army Chief, Bipin Rawat warned personnel who feign illness or disability in order to avoid duty or get benefits saying that “Indian Army should not be looked upon as a job provider organisation”.

Alongside he also assured all possible help to the former and serving soldiers who have actually suffered disability in the line of duty.

While talking to the official and soldiers present there, Bipin Rawat said, “It is often seen that people feel the Army is a means of employment, a means to get a job. I want to warn you, remove this misconception from your minds. The Army is not a means of employment. If you want to join the Army, you have to show physical and mental toughness. You should have the ability to face difficulties,” he said.

“Many people, including youngsters, approach me with a request to give them jobs in the Army. I tell them that the Indian Army is not a means of employment. If you want jobs, then go to the Railways, or start your own business,” General Rawat said.

Rawat went on to further clarify that soldiers and officers who feign disability will face action. He warned that such officials would receive unpleasant instructions from the Army Headquarters in the coming days.

The Army Chief, agitated with the section of soldiers and officers who falsely call themselves disabled on the ground, furthered “These people are physically and mentally weak and can’t withstand stress. They should feel ashamed after seeing these men who are actually disabled but have given an exemplary performance,” he said. Rawat was referring to the wheelchair-bound soldiers who performed during the event.

He went on to reiterate that the Army understands that the soldiers and officers work in adverse conditions and face extreme medical difficulties, and for that, he assured all possible assistance. “Indian Army is committed to providing help to you. If you have any problem, kindly write to your unit and if you do not get help, please send a message on the dedicated number issued by the Army and I assure you that you will get an answer within a month,” he said.

Announcing that the Indian Army had declared the year 2018 as the “Year of the Disabled Soldiers in the line of Duty”, Rawat added that the Army is collating data on soldiers and officers who actually suffered disability in the line of duty and a dedicated team of officers will be approaching such officers soon, to provide all possible help to them.

Facts, No Fiction: There’s a new sheriff in RBI

Karan
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Facts, No Fiction: There’s a new sheriff in RBI

This week has been a roller coaster ride, from high profile extradition cases, the resignation of the RBI governor and the results of recent assembly elections. While there has been a lot of focus on the recent assembly elections, the recent appointment of the RBI governor has also got its fair share of coverage. The important thing to note here is that there has been a well-established precedent to appoint a bureaucrat as the RBI’s governor. Thus, the government has only reverted back to what was a normal convention in the past.

Another reason why it is important to understand why a Bureaucrat as the Governor is a well thought out choice is that the key veto power over monetary policy no longer resides with the RBI Governor. Now India has a new Monetary Policy Framework under which there is a Monetary Policy Committee (Of which, of course, the RBI Governor is a member) that determines the Monetary Policy for the country. It is this committee where expert monetarists are required to provide their expertise in terms of taking decisions regarding interest rates or reserve ratios.

That being said, it is well acknowledged that India has one of the tightest of monetary policies and that too at a time where inflation seems to be significantly lower than even RBI’s estimates. Their recent stance of calibrated tightening came as a surprise given that inflation has been low while the economy has consistently been seeking some liquidity to facilitate further growth. The real interest rates in India have been at an all-time high and this has come with India just being at the revamp of its positive investment cycle. Thus, the over-exaggerated fears of inflation have started to impact the growth prospects of the economy in the short term and perhaps this is why there’s a need to review the current monetary policy seriously.

It must be mentioned though that in India inflation is largely driven by food prices and crude prices both of which are not determined by the monetary policy. Food prices are partly driven by the Central Government’s MSP decision and partly by the forces of the market while Crude Oil prices are of course determined in the international market. Thus, the efficacy of the monetary policy on inflation for an emerging market economy like India needs to be subject to academic review. Yes, monetary policy does impact inflation, but the question is till what extent and beyond that, the question is, at what cost to growth does it impact inflation?

It is not that the real interest rates have been the only issue as there has been a recent fall in the growth of priority sector lending and following the IL&FS crisis, it is a well-known fact that the Non-Banking Financial Sector is facing stiff liquidity issues. It is these challenges that had caused a disagreement between the previous RBI Governor and the Central Government as both had their own ways to resolve the current situation.

Given that we’re currently in the low inflation phase, perhaps the change in guard is a blessing as we can take a look at some of the other areas where the RBI needs to work going forward, and a major area would be in terms of its capacity building and getting their inflation forecasts more in line with what the actual inflation figures are. Without sound forecasting, it is difficult to take calibrated policy outcomes. Another important thing that’s required is to improve the efficacy of the regulatory role of the RBI given the recent lapses that have occurred with the Punjab National Bank frauds.

On the NPA resolution front, the RBI has got a friendly North Block which has already passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code that is estimated to resolve up to 45% of NPAs by the end of 2018 while by 2019 a major chunk of the NPAs would be resolved with minimum haircuts for the banks.

While others have focused on the master’s in history that the current RBI governor has, they’ve ignored the sound expertise in administration and policy outcomes that he has developed as an IAS officer. It is these skills and administrative experience that will be of enormous help as he steers the RBI through troubled waters. His courses in Financial Management from IIM Bangalore and series of diplomas in institutional credit will come in handy but more importantly, his experience at the Finance Ministry, first as a Secretary of Economic Affairs, Department of Expenditure and Revenue Secretary will come in handy as he heads India’s Central Bank.

While the task in front of him is challenging, he’s already started his work by addressing one issue at a time so while the critics may still question his appointment, it is his legacy that will provide the final answer to all those who questioned this decision. The man who steered the economy through Demonetization has been put in charge of the RBI; with his impeccable credentials and extensive experience, I am certain he’d only increase the stature of this great institution.

Africans against Gandhi: Statue pulled down in Ghana, while court to rule if Gandhi deserves a statue in Malawi

OpIndia Staff
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Africans against Gandhi: Statue pulled down in Ghana, while court to rule if Gandhi deserves a statue in Malawi

The security personnel of the University of Ghana in Legon, Accra, on December 12, were seen demolishing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which was erected at the recreational quadrangle of the university after it was donated to the University by the former Indian  President, Pranab Mukherjee, in 2016.

A University of Ghana official is reported to have told Radio Univers that “We received an order from above and we can’t tell you why it is being taken down’.

Meanwhile, in Malawi, it was reported on November 30, that the High court in Blantyre, was expected to pass its judgment within 30 days, regarding whether or not the Gandhi Statue which came with an aid of US $20 million from the Indian Government should be allowed installation. The erection process was halted after #Gandhimustfall movement gained momentum in 2016.

The erection and unveiling of the statue in the Ghana university campus had created a controversy among the lecturers and students of the university way back in 2016 when a section of them opposed the construction citing passages written by Gandhi which claimed Indians were “infinitely superior” to black Africans. They were of the opinion that the statue should be pulled down on the grounds that Gandhi was a ‘racist’.

An online petition was also launched in 2016 against the casted Mahatma Gandhi’s statue which garnered over 2000 signatures of students who stood by the opinion that the statue should be pulled down.

A campaign with hashtag #Gandhimustfall trended on social media in Ghana and in South Africa simultaneously in 2016, following the unveiling of the Statue by the then Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Ernest Aryeetey and the then Indian President.

Subsequently, the Government of Ghana had in October 2016, announced to relocate the statue of Mahatma Gandhi from the campus, following protests and the incident of defacing of the statue.

A former Director of the Institute of African Studies, Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, started the campaign for the removal of the statue. Ampofo together with another professor at the Institute, Dr. Obadéle Kambon, urged members of the council to consider the petition arguing that, Gandhi was racist against black people and honouring him would set the wrong example for students.

Now in the wake of this ongoing controversy, it has been reported that the Mahatma Gandhi statue erected at the recreational quadrangle of the University of Ghana which had been facing the wrath of Africans since its conception, has been demolished.

Arun Jaitley rejects JPC demand on Rafale, says “deaf will never receive an answer, they can’t hear it”

OpIndia Staff
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Arun Jaitley rejects JPC demand on Rafale, says “deaf will never receive an answer, they can’t hear it”

After the government of India’s stand on the Rafale deal was vindicated by the Supreme Court of India which dismissed all petitions against the deal, finance minister Arun Jaitley addressed the media on the issue. Attacking the critics of the deal, he said that Falsehood has a very short life. And in this case of allegations against the Rafale deal, its life was just a few months. He also said that “falsehood lowers the credibility of its creator”.

Arun Jaitley noted that the Rafale deal is being attacked not only by politicians, but also by people with ‘conflict of interest’. He said that Some people with ‘conflict of interest’ were also commenting on the Rafale deal, hinting that there may be more than just political motives in making allegations against the deal.

Mentioning that the process to buy fighter jets was started by UPA government but it was never concluded, the finance minister said that somebody has to answer why the deal was virtually abandoned during the Congress government tenure in 2012. He said that fiction was created to attack the deal, which amounted to compromise on national security. He asked, “the entire imaginary thought process, was that a fiction writing to compromise national security?”

The finance minister said that the government made sure that both national security and commercial security of India are protected in the deal. He also said that the allegation of NDA government buying the Rafale jet for ₹1600 crore versus ₹500 crore fixed during the UPA government has no basis, and it is just a work of fiction. He said that those who manufactured these falsehoods have hurt the national interests.

After that all the allegations against the government in the Rafale deal has been proven as false by the supreme court, Arun Jaitley asked for a public apology from those who made the allegations. He said that in democracies there’s a convention that if public figures spread falsehoods, they must resign. In many countries, Presidents have faced impeachment when caught lying or people have resigned from their posts if proved they lied. He called for an apology from Rahul Gandhi in the parliament.

When asked about why different percentages of discount earned in the Rafale deal is being circulated, the finance minister said that all of them are correct, in different contexts. He said that for the price of bare aircraft without any weapon, the discount is 9%. But when the price of fully weaponised aircraft is taken, the discount is 20%.

He said that “all the figures by the govt are correct and all the figures by Mr Rahul Gandhi are false and I have justified it. The truth has only one version and falsehood has many. That is why Mr Rahul Gandhi quoted several figures”.

When asked about the demand for a JPC probe on the deal, Jaitley said, “We can’t rely on Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) because people are divided on party lines. So, in such cases, we have to rely on judicial processes”.

Implying that no amount of clarification will satisfy Rahul Gandhi, Arun Jaitley said “deaf will never get an answer, they will never hear it”.

Answering the question on basis for purchasing 36 aircraft instead of 126 as per the original deal, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that as the original deal was cancelled due to differences over manufacture of the fighter in India, government decided to purchase two squadrons of Rafale jet, instead of one squadron as per the original deal. It was done as an urgent measure as IAF desperately needs new fighter jets. The minister clarified that 36 is not just a random number, it amounts to two squadrons of fighter jets.

TMC MLA escapes unhurt as his car is attacked by gunmen, local leader among 3 dead

OpIndia Staff
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TMC MLA escapes unhurt as his car is attacked by gunmen, local leader among 3 dead

Three people have reportedly died when unidentified gunmen attacked the car of Trinamool Congress MLA Biswanath Das yesterday. As per reports, the gunmen fired indiscriminately and hurled petrol bombs at the car at Joynagar, South 24 Paraganas District on Thursday. The TMC MLA was unhurt as he had disembarked from the car when it stopped near the party office.

The miscreants blocked the MLA’s car near the Petrol Pump at Jamtala in Kultuli and started hurling petrol bombs. They are reported to have fired at the SUV indiscriminately for 5 minutes before fleeing the scene. The Police have started an investigation into the matter. The deceased are identified as Saifuddin Khan, a close aide of Das and local TMC leader, the driver of the vehicle named Babu and a bystander named Salem Khan.

The MLA from Jaynagar told the Indian Express, “Three persons died on spot including my driver Babu Molla and associate Saifuddin Khan. It was clearly a planned attack and I was the target. I had a narrow escape because I suddenly changed my mind and got down at the party office. I have already spoken to my party leaders and police. It is too early to say who is behind the attack.”

The attack has started a political blame game. While the TMC blamed the CPI(M) for the attack, the Communists claim that the attack was a consequence of an internal feud within the TMC. CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “Jaynagar people are living in fear. The shootout culture is new in Bengal and such incidents are taking place daily in some or the other district. There is no safety and security of life under this government. Their own supporters are not safe. Only the chief minister and few of her confidants are safe. This incident is the fallout of a TMC factional feud.”

The TMC has denied such allegations. “The CPM says a lot of things. It is an unfortunate incident, but under their (CPM’s) regime, the situation was much more. Let the police investigate and the law will take its own course,” TMC district president Subhashish Chakraborty asserted.

Leaving Pilot supporters unhappy, Ashok Gehlot appointed Rajasthan CM by Gandhi Parivar

OpIndia Staff
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Leaving Pilot supporters unhappy, Ashok Gehlot appointed Rajasthan CM by Gandhi Parivar

After much speculation, Congress has announced Ashok Gehlot as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Sachin Pilot will serve as the Deputy Chief Minister.


The announcement comes in the backdrop of recently concluded high-octane state assembly elections which saw Congress emerge as the single largest party, falling just short of majority mark. The elections brought forward the bitter infighting between the Gehlot and Pilot camps even during the campaign for the Rajasthan Assembly elections. The infighting transformed into a series of intense discussions within the party that delayed the announcement.

Yesterday, supporters of Sachin Pilot had blocked a road in Karauli, Rajasthan when rumours began to circulate that Gehlot had won the race for CM. Pilot was forced to appeal to his supporters to maintain peace and exercise patience on social media. Today, Pilot’s supporters climbed a water tank and raised slogans in support of their leader.

The decision to appoint Gehlot as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan is unlikely to go down well with the supporters of Pilot. Apart from their demonstrations in public, they have also let their opinions known on social media.

One supporter said, “We will not be fooled twice. If you (Sachin pilot) are made CM, then it’s alright. Otherwise, 2019 Lok Sabha elections are approaching. The party should be prepared for the consequences.”


Another said, “The person who suffered blows from lathis, how can we forget this person. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan will be Sachin Pilot only. Otherwise, be prepared to face the consequences in 2019.”


The Congress might have to face consequences due to the infighting within their party in 2019. The task ahead for Rahul Gandhi, now that Ashok Gehlot has been appointed the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, will be to ensure that the rage of Pilot’s supporters is pacified.

SC verdict on Rafale deal: Read scathing comments made by Court while dismissing petitions for inquiry

Nupur J Sharma
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SC verdict on Rafale deal: Read scathing comments made by Court while dismissing petitions for inquiry

The Rafale deal which is an inter-governmental deal between the government’s of India and France for 36 Rafale fighter jets in flyaway condition has been in the eye of the storm for a rather long time. The opposition has used this necessary defence deal to train its guns against the Narendra Modi government to insinuate a scam and perhaps, drag the Prime Minister’s reputation to the same level as out-on-bail Rahul Gandhi.

In the past, there have been several explanations provided by Dassault Aviation, the Indian government, the French government, fact-checks and comments by experts to explain how no scam exists in the Rafale deal. The opposition, however, was undeterred.

Congress friendly career PILists like Prashant Bhushan and others filed a PIL in the Supreme Court asking the SC to intervene and order a court-monitored probe into the deal.  The SC today dismissed the petition and made some interesting comments in the process. Some of the comments vindicated what the counters to the opposition had been asserting for a long time, others were scathing in its own right.

First and foremost, the Supreme Court, in its Rafale judgement, confirmed that during the Congress regime, no final result was reached in the Rafale deal. Congress got an in-principle approval from Indian authorities, but the deal was only in the negotiation process. Hence, Rahul Gandhi’s rhetoric about how Congress wanted to buy 126 jets and BJP wants to buy only 36 doesn’t hold water. In fact, even in the judgement, it has been written that Congress was planning to buy only 18 jets in flyaway condition.

An interesting point that is made evident is that one of the petitioners, Vineet Dhanda, filed the petition “after reading newspaper articles and reports”. He had earlier been rapped by the SC in the PNB scam case and the court had questioned his motives. Just like Prashant Bhushan, Dhanda seems to be a career PIList, albeit, less famous.

The SC in the Rafale judgement observed that the extent to which the court can review procurements, contracts etc would depend from case to case and the decision has to be made keeping the confines of National Security in mind

The court observed that because of the ever-changing parameter on the basis of which the court can decide whether to intervene or not, the court had asked the government to apprise the court of the procedure. Interestingly, SC has reasserted that the allegations made by the petitioners were inadequate.

After asserting that none of the petitions actually questioned the need for the Rafales but questioned the procedure of procurement, the court points out why, according to the government, the deal for 126 aircraft could not go through.

The government has asserted that the man-hours taken by HAL to produce the aircraft were 2.7 times higher than the French side. The HAL argument was raised by Rahul Gandhi over and over again to insinuate that the Modi government and even the PM personally deprived HAL of the contract for ulterior gains. The government has also stated that Rafale was required to take contractual responsibility for the aircraft produced by HAL and Rafale was not willing to do so. This delay was not serving India’s defence capabilities as the enemy nations had already upgraded their defence system. Essentially, the government has asserted that the delay caused during the Congress regime cost India in terms of defence preparedness.

The government also said that it is because of this stalemate that the Congress regime negotiation had to be cancelled.

The government had informed the court after the formation of Indian Negotiation Team which commenced in May 2015 and continued till April 2016, a total of 74 meetings were held including 48 internal INT meetings and 26 external meetings between INT and the French side. The government has asserted that the terms the INT negotiated were far better than the MMRCA terms (Congress regime negotiations) and then, CCA approval was also taken for it.

Point 22 of the judgement is extremely crucial. The Supreme Court has observed that after going through all the material carefully and after interacting with several airforce officers, there is no occasion to doubt the process. In fact, in the judgement, the court has mentioned that it has even gone through material etc regarding the pricing of the deal.

The court has said that broadly the processes have been followed and that the long negotiations in the MMRCA (Congress regime negotiations) did not procure any results.

The court also said that the wisdom to cancel the defunct MMRCA cannot be questioned since our defence capabilities were being diminished after our enemies have acquired 5th generation aircrafts and we had none.

The court also observed that they are not going to demand clause by clause compliance and that the petitioners did not raise a stink earlier but only after Hollande’s statements.

Another big revelation in the judgement was that the government did share the pricing details with the court. 

The Rafale judgement, in para 22, states clearly that the pricing is not in the public forum (other than base price) even though the petitioners based on news articles have asserted escalation of price. The pricing has been shared with the CAG and the CAG report has been examined by the PAC. The Chief of Air Staff too said that sharing the pricing would result in a breach of national security and that the pricing details have been mentioned in Article 10 of the contract between India and France. In the end, the court says that “despite this reluctance, the material has still been placed before the Court to satisfy its conscience”.

The Court was slightly on the secretive side while talking about the pricing, obviously, for national security concerns. The court, however, did say that it was compared the price of the previous deal and current deal and suffices to say that the official respondents say there is a financial benefit to the country.

With respect to the off-set clause as well, the court made some scathing observations.

First, the court also takes cognisance of the fact that even in 2012, Dassault had entered into a pact for partnership with Reliance Industries. This was reported by OpIndia extensively.

Next, SC observes that despite the clause that says OEM will be free to select Indian offset partner, the petitioners kept emphasising that the French Government had no say in the matter. They have also stated that Dassault had no reason to engage with Reliance since it was incorporated only in 2015 and thus, the government gave benefit to Reliance by depriving HAL.

The court also observed that even earlier in 2012 Dassault got into a partnership with parent company Reliance and what transpired within the company is of no consequence. The Court held that seemingly, the Indian government had nothing to do with the commercial aspect and the. In fact, it has been stated that the role of the Indian government comes only when the vendor submits a formal proposal, which has not happened yet.

With respect to the role of HAL, that even Rahul Gandhi had spoken oodles about, the court was rather categorical in its observations. The court said that no specific role has been envisaged and that even earlier, there was friction between Dassault and HAL and Dassault was circumspect about tying up with HAL.

The SC in its Rafale judgement then made scathing observations. The Court said that “mere press interviews or suggestions cannot form the basis for judicial review by this Court”. The court said that there is “no material on record to show that this is a case of commercial favouritism to any party by the Indian government” to choose offset partner.

In conclusion, the court in its Rafale judgement has dismissed all petitions asking for an inquiry into the deal.

Perhaps the most scathing comment made by the Court is in the conclusions of its Rafale judgement that would ideally end the debate over Rafale.

Concluding its Rafale judgement, the Court says:

Perception of individuals cannot be the basis of a fishing and roving enquiry by this Court, especially in such matters. 

While Rahul Gandhi and the members of his coterie have been screaming “chowkidaar chor hai” based on their perception, the court has dismissed the fear-mongering around this essential defence deal and chosen to uphold national security over the opposition’s petty politics.

Anil Ambani welcomes the SC order on Rafale Deal, says it established the falsehood of allegations against him

OpIndia Staff
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Anil Ambani welcomes the SC order on Rafale Deal, says it established the falsehood of allegations against him

Anil Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Group on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court decision regarding the multi-billion dollar Rafale jet deal, said that the top court order proved that the allegations levelled against him and his company were “wild, baseless and politically motivated”.

According to reports, Anil Ambani said the Supreme Court decision stating there was no reason to probe the Rafale deal established the falsity of politically motivated allegations against his firm.

The apex court while hearing petitions seeking a probe into the deal, said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of the 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France based manufacturer on the basis of the perception of individuals.

“I welcome the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court today summarily dismissing all PILs filed on the Rafale contracts, and conclusively establishing the complete falsity of the wild, baseless and politically motivated allegations levelled against Reliance Group and me personally,” Ambani said in a statement.

The Supreme Court dismissing the case had clarified that the examination has been primarily from the point of the exercise of jurisdiction by this court under Article 32. The SC did not find it as a case for the court to scrutinise the process of acquisition.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been accusing the government of favouring Anil Ambani led Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) by putting pressure on Dassault Aviation to select RDL as its offset partner. The government, RDL and Dassault Aviation rejected the charges.

“We remain committed to India’s national security and to making our humble contribution towards the Make in India and Skill India policies of the Government in the critical area of defense including our offset partnership agreement with our valued partner, Dassault Aviation of France,” said Ambani.

Earlier, Anil Ambani had written a letter and a rebuttal of the allegations that Rahul Gandhi has been levelling against the government and the Reliance group over the deal. Subsequently after sending two letters addressed to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale deal, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence had sent legal notices to Congress spokespersons asking them to refrain from making unverified, frivolous and defamatory statements on the deal.

Congress friendly journalist wishes death upon BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga

OpIndia Staff
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Congress friendly journalist wishes death upon BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga

Ahmedabad Mirror Editor, Deepal Trivedi today wished upon the death of BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga who has said he will go on an indefinite fast protesting against selection of Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.


Bagga has accused Kamal Nath of being responsible in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which took place following former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her two Sikh bodyguards.


Showing insensitivity towards the Sikh community, Trivedi commented that she offers condolences to Bagga’s family. She insinuated that since Congress will not change its decision and Kamal Nath is destined to be the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Bagga would keep his promise of fast unto death.


During the run-up to Gujarat assembly elections last year, Trivedi was caught spreading morphed images with Amit Shah’s fake quotes on Patidars.

Kamal Nath is accused of leading a violent mob attack on Gurdwara Rakabgunj on November 1, 1984, in which the mob had burnt two Sikhs, a father and son alive.

The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots took place aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which resulted in brutal killings of more than 2800 people according to official figures. Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler are often accused of playing active roles in orchestrating the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India.

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