Mumbai: Shares in Jet Airways surged as much as nearly 20 per cent after Gulf carrier Etihad Airways said it is taking almost a quarter stake in Jet Airways at Rs 754.74, a 31.7 per cent premium to Jet's closing share price on Tuesday. Etihad will also invest an additional $150 million in Jet's frequent flyer programme and spend $70 million to buy Jet's three pairs of Heathrow slots through...
10:19 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Mumbai: The Rs 2,058 crore deal between Jet Airways and Etihad Airways will benefit passengers, as increased competition will bring down air fares, aviation sector experts said on Wednesday. According to Captain Gopinath, the founder of erstwhile Air Deccan, the increased competition will lead to low airfares, besides bringing about improvement in the passenger amenities. Jet promoter Naresh Goyal and Etihad President and CEO James Hogan on Wednesday announced a...
07:35 AM, Apr 25, 2013
New Delhi: India's nuclear deterrent is based on a credible nuclear doctrine and is sustained by a "systematic drive to operationalize" its various delivery components, including a sea-based one by 2015-16, Shyam Saran, chairman of the National Security Advisory Board, said in Delhi on Wednesday. Countering critics of India's nuclear weapons programme that it was driven by notions of prestige rather than considerations of national security, Saran, also a former...
04:20 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Mumbai: Jet Airways will sell a minority stake to fast-growing Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways for over Rs 20OO crore (roughly $379 million) after months of negotiations. India's largest airline by market share said in a brief statement to the stock exchange that its board approved the allotment to Etihad of 27.3 million shares at Rs 754.74 each on a preferential basis. The price represents a 31.7 per cent premium...
02:02 PM, Apr 24, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has frozen the accounts of all accused in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal including former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi. The CBI FIR had named Tyagi as one of the recipients of alleged kickbacks. The probing agency believes Tyagi tweaked norms so that AgustaWestland could qualify. The CBI had filed an FIR against 12 people including SP Tyagi and his cousins Julie and...
03:27 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday released documents against Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar that try to establish connection between arms dealer Abhishek Verma and the DCP, who is already facing flak over rape of a 5-year-old in Delhi. As a joint director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Neeraj Kumar had tried to protect Verma, the AAP alleged. The party also said that Verma...
05:45 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Aeromatrix Info Solutions private limited, an accused firm in the Rs 3600 crore VVIP helicopter deal scam, has moved a Delhi court seeking defreezing of its bank account for paying salaries to its employees. The Chandigarh-based firm, in its petition, has said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has frozen its bank account having around Rs 1.4 crore in it and they want money to pay their employees....
05:58 PM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company Ltd (PDOECL) is in "advanced stages" of discussions with DCNS for a strategic partnership, which may include selling some stake to the French defence major. "We are at an advanced stage of discussion with the French company, DCNS, a world renowned warship and submarine builder, for a strategic partnership that will allow for the transfer of state-of-the-art technologies to PDOECL. "An investment...
04:45 PM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: Against the backdrop of recent scams in defence purchases, Defence Minister AK Antony on Monday said the armed forces should have "transparency" in their functioning. Inaugurating the bi-annual Army Commanders' Conference in Delhi, he expressed concern over the regional security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and expressed confidence that the armed forces would be prepared to meet the challenges. "You should work towards having transparency in your functioning,"...
03:30 AM, Apr 09, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress has trashed the latest WikiLeaks revelation naming late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as mere 'sensation with no substance'. Reacting to the revelation, Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi said, "I do not know on what grounds such a story was published." "Right below this article, is an article which names an NDA leader, does it mean there is truth to that article as well? That he took...
03:16 PM, Apr 08, 2013
New Delhi: The latest WikiLeaks revelations from US Embassy cables have named former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in a scandal. National daily The Hindu has published their findings of the Kissinger cables, which claim that Rajiv Gandhi may have been a middleman for a Swedish Company before he became the Prime Minister. This, during the 1970s when Swedish company Saab-Scania was trying to sell its Viggen fighter aircraft to India....
08:20 AM, Apr 08, 2013
New Delhi: Allegations of bribes in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal may figure in Defence Secretary level talks between India and the UK on Monday. Shashi Kant Sharma is in London for the annual defence dialogue, but may seek British help to speed up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe currently underway in the VVIP chopper deal. Cameron is worriedPrime Minister David Cameron had promised assistance in this regard when...
08:15 AM, Apr 08, 2013
New Delhi: CBI is likely to start questioning suspects this week in connection with its ongoing probe into alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal. CBI sources said the agency is likely to call former Air Chief SP Tyagi and his cousins for questioning. They said that they are planning to question all the accused who are present in India, but did not elaborate on which suspects...
07:07 PM, Apr 07, 2013
New Delhi: Notwithstanding the prospect of being blacklisted over the VVIP chopper scam, Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland has submitted its bid for two military tenders to supply helicopters to the Navy and the Coast Guard. The firm has submitted its response to Indian Navy's tender for procuring 56 naval utility helicopters and Coast Guard's Request for Proposal (RFP) for buying 14 medium-lift choppers, defence sources said. In the naval tender for...
10:42 AM, Apr 07, 2013
New Delhi: India's plan to buy 126 fighter-jets from Dassault Aviation could be delayed as the two sides struggle to reach an agreement over the role of state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), two sources familiar with the matter said. India picked the Dassault-made Rafale jet for exclusive negotiations in January 2012 after a hotly contested bidding war with rival manufacturers, but it is still to finalise the Rs 1500 crore...
11:42 PM, Apr 05, 2013
The government on Tuesday deferred a decision on a deal to buy 197 light-utility helicopters pending completion of an investigation into kickback allegations, the latest setback to efforts to upgrade the country's ageing arsenal. ...
11:29 PM, Apr 02, 2013
Billionaire Ambani brothers on Tuesday struck a Rs 1,200-crore deal wherein Mukesh will use his younger sibling's optic fibre network for launch of his telecom venture. Under the pact, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries' telecom arm will hire nationwide optical fibre network of Reliance Communications for the roll-out of 4G services. ...
03:59 PM, Apr 02, 2013
The Defence Acquisition Council is expected to approve changes to procurement rules on Tuesday and sources said the new rules will give domestic industry, both public and private, the right of "first refusal" before the import option is exercised. ...
01:48 PM, Apr 02, 2013
A CBI report states that Former Air Chief Marshal (retd) SP Tyagi received cash in return for favouring Anglo-Italian helicopter company AgustaWestland in the controversial Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal. The report, however, fails to mention the amount that was paid to the retired Air Chief Marshal and the mode of payment. The report also adds that Tyagi's cousins received nearly 3,26,000 euros during the course of the deal. ...
11:46 PM, Apr 01, 2013
AgustaWestland, which is surrounded by controversies over the VVIP chopper deal, is appointing a former British Government employee Jackie Callicut as its India head, a post which was vacant for over a year. Callicut has also served in India in her capacity as a British Government employee and has also dealt with Defence Ministry operations in her country, officials said on Monday. ...
10:46 PM, Apr 01, 2013
