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Mumbai: Central Railway gets a host of facilities as the fourth corridor gets commissioned

Jhankar Mohta
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Mumbai: Central Railway gets a host of facilities as the fourth corridor gets commissioned

Union Railway minister Piyush Goyal and Maharastra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis commissioned the first phase of the Nerul-Belapur-Uran railway corridor on Sunday. It is a part of the Central Railway’s fourth corridor in Mumbai.


Along with this, the ministers also flagged off a Pen-Panvel service on the newly electrified stretch between the two towns.

The newly commissioned 12km Nerul-Seawoods-Belapur-Kharkopar corridor is a part of the Rs 1782 crore project. It will cover a distance of 27 km as the suburban trains will eventually run up to Raigad district.

Many stations saw an increase in various passenger amenities along with the introduction of the forth corridor.

Some of such amenities are:

New Platforms: Parel railway station gets a 320-meter long new platform. Parel region is famous for the medical facilities it provides to patients coming from all over the country. A new platform is introduced to make it convenient for patients who come over for treatment.

FOB: Shivdi, Mumbra, Bhandup, Parel, Kalva and Ghatkopar stations of Central Railway got six new foot over bridges on Sunday. Since 2014, the Central Railway has constructed a total of 64 FOBs. Apart from this, the work on 40 FOBs is in progress. At the same time, 273 platforms of suburban stations have had the platform height increased to 900 millimetres.

Elevators and Escalators: 41 escalators have been started on Sunday in 23 stations of Central Railway. Apart from these, work is in progress for 16 such.

Toilets: Six stations of Central Railway have got new toilets. These include Sandhurst Road, Vidyavihar, Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Kalwa and Atgaon.

Other Facilities: Around 318 ATVM machines installed at all 77 suburban stations. 6 stations have got 206 additional CCTV cameras and 2 booking offices at Bhiwandi Road and Navda Road Stations have been introduced.

‘I don’t lie’: Dassault CEO rubbishes Rahul Gandhi’s allegations on Rafale deal in an interview to ANI

OpIndia Staff
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‘I don’t lie’: Dassault CEO rubbishes Rahul Gandhi’s allegations on Rafale deal in an interview to ANI

In an exclusive interview with news agency ANI, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier has rubbished all allegations put by Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi had alleged that Trappier had ‘lied’ about the details of the Dassault-Reliance Joint Venture for offsets as part of the Rafale deal.

Earlier in November, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had alleged that Trappier was ‘openly lying’ that Narendra Modi did not coerce his company to get into a joint venture with Anil Ambani led Reliance Defence as a partner for offsets.

“I don’t lie,” he said, adding that the statements he had made earlier are true. He said that in his position as a CEO, he does not need to lie. Trappier was responding to Rahul Gandhi’s accusations that Trappier was covering up for favouritism carried by Narendra Modi government towards Anil Ambani-led Reliance group. Gandhi had accused Trappier of lying that he was forced to invest Rs. 284 crore in Anil Ambani promoted the loss-making company to procure land in Nagpur.

Speaking to ANI, Trappier said that Dassault had prior experience of dealing with Congress. He also said that these statements by Congress President Rahul Gandhi made him sad. He added that Dassault’s first deal with India was in 1953 when Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was PM.


He added that they work with India, not with a particular political party. “We are supplying strategic products like fighters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Government. That is what is most important,” Trappier told to ANI.

On pricing issue, Trappier said that the present aircrafts are cheaper by 9%. “Price of 36 was exactly the same when you compare with 18 flyaway. 36 is double of 18. So, as far as I am concerned, it should have been double the price. But because it was government to government, there was some negotiation and I had to reduce the price by 9%,” Trappier explained. He added that the price of Rafale in flyaway condition is less expensive in the 36 jets contract than the 126 jets contract.

Speaking on the initial agreement with India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), he said that had the initial deal (under the UPA) went through, he would not have had issues working with HAL and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance. However, since the deal didn’t go through the government of India had to reconfigure the urgently acquire 36 jets from Rafale.

In the last few days, HAL said they were not interested in being part of the offset, said Trappier. “So it has been done by my decision and the decision of Reliance to invest in a new private company,” he said.

Trappier clarified why Reliance, which has no prior experience was being chosen as an offset partner. He also said that Reliance is not getting the money directly. Dassault is a part of the Joint Venture in which they are putting the money.

“I put my know-how free of charge on how to produce people. I have engineers and workers from Dassault who are taking the lead as far as the industrial part of the deal is concerned. At the same time, I have an Indian company like Reliance who is putting money into this joint venture as they want to develop the country. So the company is going to know how to produce aircraft,” he said.

He explained Dassault held discussions with many corporates for offset tie-ups. “We could have gone to Tata or other family groups. At that time, the decision to go ahead was not with Dassault. We were in 2011, Tata was also discussing with other flying companies. We finally decided to go with Reliance as they have experience in big engineering facilities,” Trappier added.

Watch the entire interview here:

Journalist arrested for criticising Tipu Sultan as Congress-JDS govt in Karnataka tries to please all sides

Nupur J Sharma
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Journalist arrested for criticising Tipu Sultan as Congress-JDS govt in Karnataka tries to please all sides

The Karnataka government celebrated Tipu Jayanti with substantial fanfare on the 10th of November 2018 with the BJP protesting and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy giving the celebrations a miss. At the helm of the celebrations was the Congress party. Reportedly, Congress leaders were not too happy with HD Kumaraswamy giving the celebrations a miss and construed it as an insult.

With Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy giving Tipu Jayanti a miss, many wondered if he was attempting to take a more neutral stance on the issue since Tipu Sultan is widely criticised for atrocities he heaped on Hindus. However, Santhosh Thammayya, a journalist with paper Hosa Digantha was arrested on 13th November 2018 around midnight for making an anti-Tipu speech.

Karnataka police arrested Santosh after his speech which criticised Tipu Sultan, our sources have confirmed.

Santosh flew to Coorg and delivered a speech in Gonikoppa on Tipu Sultan. Other than Santosh Thimmayya, 4 others were also present, according to our sources.

Santosh criticised Tipu extensively for his extremist views and actions. He also spoke about how there are some people who still suffer because of his atrocities. He spoke about the Mandyam Iyengar Brahmins. Santosh said they don’t celebrate Diwali because Tipu Sultan killed hundreds of people from their community on Naraka Chaturdashi. Santosh also drew heavily from Sandeep Balakrishna’s book on Tipu Sultan.

According to our sources, some Muslim members from the area did hold a press conference condemning Santosh for his speech. They also asserted that they will be holding a protest. Karnataka police filed an FIR against the journalist after this.

The police called the journalist on 11th November to collect a copy of the FIR. Santosh said that he would be able to pick the FIR copy up soon since he was not in town.

Karnataka police then proceeded to make the arrest on 13th November midnight. Karnataka Police lodged an FIR in GoNikoppa police station. GoNikoppa is in Vijarajpet taluk in Coorg district.

With a journalist being arrested for his anti-Tipu speech, the Karnataka CM missing the Tipu Jayanti celebration and Congress taking offence, the Congress-JDS government seems to be wanting to please all sides.

Note: This is a developing story. We will update this article with relevant information as and when we receive it.

National Herald publishers approach Delhi HC against government’s evacuation order for Herald House

OpIndia Staff
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National Herald publishers approach Delhi HC against government’s evacuation order for Herald House

Associate Journals Limited (AJL), has approached the Delhi High Court against the central government’s orders to vacate the premises they occupy in Delhi. AJL publishes Congress’ mouthpiece National Herald.


Earlier this month the central government had sent a legal order to National Herald publishers to vacate the premises allotted to them at Press Enclave called the ‘Herald House’. The land at the prime location was reportedly allocated to National Herald at nominal rates for the publication of the newspaper. However, an investigation revealed that the building is rented out and no publication activity was going on.

On 30th October, Ministry of Urban Development had sent a notice to AJL stating that the decades-old lease is being ended and they are to vacate the premises before November 15. It also stated that the publishers would face action under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act,1971 if they fail to comply with the evacuation notice.

The AJL has termed the evacuation notice as ‘illegal and unconstitutional’. The plea challenging the evacuation order is scheduled to come up for hearing today before Justice Sunil Gaur, reported The Daily Pioneer.

It is notable here that Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are facing charges for corruption and tax evasion after the firm Young Indian, allegedly controlled by them, took over AJL. The Income Tax department had imposed a 250 crore fine on Young Indian in 2017. BJP leader and legal activist Subramanian Swamy is the petitioner in the case.

Aung San Suu Kyi: Amnesty International strips her of her human rights award

OpIndia Staff
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Aung San Suu Kyi: Amnesty International strips her of her human rights award

Amnesty International has stripped off Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader’s human rights award over her ‘shameful betrayal of the values she once stood for’. Amnesty International told her she no longer “represents a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights”.

The Myanmar leader has been criticised for failing to intervene to stop violence against Rohingya Muslims. Her award was stripped of because of ‘apparent indifference’ towards Myanmar Army’s action against Rohingya Muslims. In May this year, Amnesty International itself had confirmed that Hindus were massacred by Rohingya Muslims even as Indian ‘liberals’ tried to whitewash their crimes.

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience in 2009 when she was under house arrest. She was recognised for her peaceful and non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

Amnesty Secretary General Kumi Naidoo, in her letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, told her that her title can no longer be justified.

Amnesty letter

The letter states that Amnesty is “appalled to witness your administration spread hate narratives against minorities”. Amnesty had campaigned for her release, but her government has “actively used them (repressive laws) to curb freedom of expression.” Interestingly, as per an investigation carried out by Amnesty itself, it was revealed that an armed Rohingya group was responsible at least one and potentially a second massacre of up to 99 Hindu men, women and children as well as unlawful abduction in August 2017.

Earlier, US Holocaust Museum’s Elie Weisel Award and Freedom of City awards given to her were also revoked.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been accused of being indifferent towards the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The UN special investigator on human rights in Myanmar has said she is in ‘total denial’ about accusations of violence.

Amnesty International also added that Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration flared hate against Rohingya Muslims by labeling them ‘terrorists’. The administration is also accused of obstructing an international investigation into abuses. Amnesty International conveniently ignores the human rights abuses by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) fighters, who have sowed fear among Hindus and other ethnic communities with these brutal attacks.

In 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded Nobel Peace Prize and has also worked at the UN for three years. Aung San Suu Kyi came to power as de facto head of Myanmar in 2016. The international community has put pressure on her to condemn Myanmar Army’s alleged brutality against the Rohingyas.

Sabarimala temple is ‘secular’, must consult Wakf Board and Christian organisations before any decision, says Kerala govt

OpIndia Staff
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Sabarimala temple is ‘secular’, must consult Wakf Board and Christian organisations before any decision, says Kerala govt

Continuing its anti-Hindu stand in the Sabarimala temple controversy, the Kerala state government has said that Hindus don’t have exclusive right over the temple. The Left government says that Muslims and Christians also have to be consulted in the matter of Sabarimala temple.

On 12th October, the Kerala government submitted an affidavit responding to a petition filed at Kerala High Court. Lawyer T G Mohandas had filed the petition seeking regulation of non-Hindu and non-idol worshipers into the shrine of Lord Ayyappa.

In September this year, the Supreme Court had allowed women of all ages to enter the shrine. After that, several women of different religions, and self-declared atheists had tried to enter the temple. The petition was filed in response to such attempts.

Responding to this affidavit, Kerala government has stated that Sabarimala is a secular temple. It also says that religion can’t be a basis for restriction of entry of devotees.

The affidavit tries to bring some new facts to establish secular credential of Sabarimala temple. It mentions that KJ Yesudas has sung the Harivarasanam song played at the temple. KJ Yesudas is Christian by birth and a Sabarimala devotee, it adds. It says that several Christians and Muslims are Sabarimala Ayyappa devotees. They conduct Sabarimala pilgrimage every year.

The state government adds that it is a ‘debatable fact’ that temple was a worship place for tribals. It also says that there is a belief that it was a Buddhist temple. The word Saranam is derived from Buddhism, it adds. The affidavit also tries to establish that the Shrine has links with Vavar Mosque.

Before taking any decision on the petition, the Wakf Board, Muslim Organisations, Vavar Trust, Christian Organisations, tribal organisations must be consulted, says the affidavit. It says that larger public interest and secular issues are involved in the matter. Hence the court can’t adjudicate the matter without publication in newspapers.

In an earlier hearing of the petition, the Kerala High Court had said that Sabarimala belongs to all, not just Hindus.

Bullet vs ballot: Voters in Chhattisgarh defied threats to exercise their right

OpIndia Staff
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Bullet vs ballot: Voters in Chhattisgarh defied threats to exercise their right

18 out of 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh went to vote in the first phase of elections held today. The voter turnout, especially in the Naxal-affected ‘Red Corridor’ was very encouraging. Despite the threats and call to boycott polls, 70% voters came out to vote.

At 4:30 pm, overall voter turnout percentage was 56.58%. Voter turnout was 61.47% in Kondagaon, 63.51% in Keshkal, 62% in Kanker, 58% in Bastar, 49% in Dantewada, 60.5% in Khairagarh, 64% in Dongargarh, 64.19% in Dongargaon and 65.5% in Khujji.

Amidst the scenes of horror, there were a few heartwarming scenes. Differently-abled voters braved the threats to come out and vote.


A makeshift booth was set up under a tree after an IED was detected near a polling booth.


A visually impaired voter caste his vote in Naxal-affected Dantewada.


These women did not let their age come in between their duty to vote.


Voters in Muchnar village in Naxal-affected Dantewada crossed the river Indravati to cast their vote.


The voting concluded at 5:30 pm and the polling agents were airlifted from the booths to the main office. The process of airlifting polling agents began at around 4 pm. All polling agents and polling material has been safely received at main office. Heavy security is deployed at the strong room where the VVPAT machines will be kept.

The second phase of voting in Chhattisgarh will take place on 20th November and the results will be declared on 11th December.

Mizoram police support the CEO’s demand for deployment of 40 companies of Central forces for elections

OpIndia Staff
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Mizoram police support the CEO’s demand for deployment of 40 companies of Central forces for elections

Mizoram police on Monday agreed with the demand of CEO S B Shashank for the deployment of 40 companies of central forces for fair election process as per reports.

Mizoram Deputy Inspector General of Police (Training & Armed Branch) Joseph Lalchhuana backed CEO saying that the figure of having 40 CAPF was decided after considering the requirements submitted by the Superintendent of Police and Election Officer from all the eight districts of Mizoram.

CEO Shashank had sought the deployment of 40 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) in the state. NGO Coordination Committee(which was demanding the ouster of the CEO) and the political parties did not agree with the CEO’s demand and accused him of being anti-Mizo. They blamed Shashank for spoiling the State’s record of holding peaceful elections for decades.

Mizoram police, supporting Shashank’s demand, said that 40 companies of CAPF are necessary if the assembly elections and counting for the 40 constituencies are to be conducted as per the ECI mandate. Mizoram Deputy Inspector General of Police (Training & Armed Branch) Joseph Lalchhuana who is also the Assistant State Police Nodal Officer for the assembly elections said, “We go by the guidelines and instructions of the Election Commission of India for the conduct of peaceful elections. This time, every assembly constituency must have independent strong room for EVM and VVPAT machines.”

“As per the ECI, each strong room has to be guarded by a prescribed strength of CAPF. Likewise, the ECI has instructed that every assembly constituency should have a separate counting hall to expedite the result declaration. This will again have to be guarded by a prescribed strength of CAPF,” Lalchhuana added.

Assembly elections are to be held in the State on Nov 28.

Modi govt provides details of decision making process involved in Rafale deal, says all procedures followed

OpIndia Staff
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Modi govt provides details of decision making process involved in Rafale deal, says all procedures followed

Today the government of India submitted an affidavit at the Supreme Court detailing the steps of the decision-making process before ordering 36 Rafale jets from France. On 10th October, the Supreme Court had said that it would like to know about the steps taken in the decision-making process. Further on 31st October, the apex court had asked the government provide such details to the petitioners of the PIL, excluding any sensitive information that comes under the Official Secrets Act.


Obeying that order, the government has provided the details of the Rafale deal to the petitioners.

DPP and DAC

The norms and procedures were all followed in the Rafale deal, said the government. The response of government gives a detailed account of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), which governs all defence related procurements by the Indian government. The government amended through several reviews the DPP which was introduced in 2002.

The government notes the Preamble of the DPP, which states that defence acquisition is not a standard open market commercial transaction and it has several unique features like supplier constraints, technical complexity, foreign supplier, geopolitical ramifications etc. That’s why decision making in defence procurement is unique and complex.

The government says that it followed the Defence Procurement Procedure-2013 (DPP-2013) in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets. The reply mentions every step involved in the DPP-2013, from the preparation of user requirement to the award of the contract. It says that Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is the highest body for defence procurement matters. The DAC is headed by the defence minister and it includes all Service Chiefs, along with several secretaries in the defence ministry.

Background

The reply of government gives background the deal. In 2007, bid for 126 fighter aircraft was issued, which was for the direct purchase of 18 aircraft and rest 108 to be made in India. Six vendors submitted their proposals in 2008. Detail technical and field evaluations were conducted in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 commercial bids were opened, and Dassault Aviation was selected as the winner in 2012. After that, contract negotiations started in the same year. But the negotiation could not be concluded due to differences over the manufacture of 108 jets in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The reason for this was lack of agreement between Dassault and HAL over the following issues:

  1. HAL required 2.7 times higher man-hours compared to Dassault for manufacturing the Rafale in India.
  2. Dassault was required to undertake contractual obligation for entire 128 jets, both made in India and France. But these were issues in this regard which could be resolved.

This situation remained in place for more than three years, delaying the purchase. This delay also increased the cost of purchase, due to in-built escalation and also variations in Euro-Rupee exchange rates. During the period, enemies of India had already inducted more than 400 fighter planes. This delay was also impacting other upgradation programs of Indian Air Force.  In view of this, the decision to purchase 36 Rafale jets in fly-way condition was taken.

Decision-making process followed

The reply by government states that all requisite steps as per the DPP-2013 were followed while deciding to purchase 36 jets. After completion of the processes under the DPP, necessary approval of the DAC was taken in 2015. The DAC was informed that the capability of the 36 Rafale aircraft will be as per the requirement for the original bid to buy 126 jets.

An Indian Negotiation Team (INT) was constituted to negotiate the terms and conditions for the deal, which was headed by the Deputy Chief of Air Staff of the IAF. A total of 26 meetings took place between Indian and French sides, while the INT met 48 times for internal meetings. A variety of aspects, including pricing, delivery schedule, maintenance terms, offsets, etc were discussed in those meetings. The government says that INT had arrived at better terms related to price, delivery and maintenance as compared to the earlier order for 126 jets. After finalising the deal, it was placed before the Cabinet Committee on Security in August 2016. The CCS provided the due approval on the same day. After this, the relevant protocols for the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) were signed between Indian Defence Minister and French Defence Minister, on behalf of the respective governments.

Offset

As the major controversy created by the opposition in the deal is one offset partner selected by Dassault, the government has given a detail response on offsets. The government states that no private business house was mentioned in the IGA or Offset Contract. The offset clause does not envisage manufacture of the 36 Rafale aircraft in India by any public or private sector firm. And as per Offset Contract, the vendor is required to provide the details of Indian Offset Partners at the time of claiming offset credits or one year before discharge of offset obligation. As per the contract, the annual offset implementation will start from October 2019, and Dassault is yet to submit any formal proposal for carrying out offset obligations.

A foreign vendor that discharge offset obligations by several routes, they are:

  • Direct purchase of products or services from Indian enterprises, both public and private sector.
  • Foreign Direct Investment in joint ventures with India enterprise for manufacture/ maintenance of eligible products and services.
  • Transfer of technology to Indian enterprises for manufacture/ maintenance of eligible products and services.
  • Providing equipment to Indian enterprises.
  • Technology Acquisition by Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in high technology areas.

Government’s reply says that vendor will be responsible for fulfilment of offset obligations. If the Defence Ministry has not barred the Indian enterprise, then the vendor is free to select an enterprise of their choosing.

The offset guidelines under DPP-2013 governs the offset contracts under Rafale deal. The deals signed were two separate deals, one with Dassault and the other with MBDA, which is providing missiles for the jets bought by India.

There is no offset obligation in the first three years of signing the contracts, which means the obligations start from October 2019 onwards.

Other than the two vendors, offset obligation will also have to discharged by Tier-1 sub-vendors. Dassault has 21 such Tier-1 sub-vendors and MBDA has 12.

The government of India’s response clarified that they followed every norm under the Defence Procurement Policy while deciding to purchase the 36 Rafale jets.

The government also reiterates that it has no role to play in the election of offset partners by the vendors, and there will be hundreds of offset contracts, as there are 2 vendors and 33 sub-vendors with offset obligations in the deal.

Muslim petitioners in Ram Janmabhoomi case come out in support of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s out of court settlement efforts

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim petitioners in Ram Janmabhoomi case come out in support of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s out of court settlement efforts

Muslim petitioners in the Ram Janmabhoomi case have supported Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s out of court settlement efforts. Mohammad Umar and Haji Mehboob, the main petitioners, along with Maulana Jalal Ashraf, Mohammad Azam and others have signed a letter.

They assert that an out of court settlement will be better for Hindu-Muslim relations while complimenting the spiritual leader. The letter accessed by OpIndia.com is attached below:

The letter states, “We are fully aware of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s efforts to amicably resolve the Ayodhya issue. We believe that an out of court settlement of the Ayodhya issue will bring long-term harmony and peace between Hindus & Muslims. We fully support and laud his noble efforts.”

OpIndia.com reported earlier that Sri Sri was negotiating an out of court settlement to the dispute. The AIMPLB has even expelled a member, Salman Nadwi, for holding discussions with the spiritual leader regarding the issue. Reportedly, Nadwi had offered to support the Mandir if Hindus give up claims to all other disputed Masjids.

It had caused an outrage with the Nirmohi Akhara, a petitioner for the Ram Temple at Ram Janmabhoomi, and BJP MP Subramanian Swamy rejecting any such offer. The Art of Living Foundation had come out and denied any such ‘deal’. Some had also raised questions regarding Sri Sri negotiating with Nadwi considering the latter had supported ISIS in the past.

The construction of the Ram Mandir at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya recently suffered another delay after the Supreme Court fixed the next date of hearing for January 2019. Earlier today, the Court rejected another plea for an early hearing. Under such circumstances, an out of court settlement or legislative intervention may be the only way for an early resolution.

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