Mumbai: The Union Defence Ministry on Friday filed a title suit over the controversial Adarsh Housing Society in Bombay High Court. The title suit claims that the land on which the society is built belongs to the Defence Ministry. The suit came months after the Defence Ministry sent a notice to the Maharashtra government claiming ownership of the land. The claim is contrary to the that of judicial panel appointed...
05:39 PM, Dec 14, 2012
New Delhi: The government admitted Monday that "some deficiencies" exist in some categories of ammunition with the military. Defence Minister AK Antony told the Lok Sabha, however, that regular purchases were undertaken "to keep the army in a state of readiness". He said arms and ammunition including those for the air defence system were available in adequate quantity. Besides, replacement of older military equipment "is an ongoing process and is...
03:55 AM, Dec 11, 2012
New Delhi: The CAG has pulled up the DRDO pointing out "deficiencies" and "procedural irregularities" committed by it in taking up new projects and splitting sanctions for them to bring it within financial powers of the organisation head. "Scrutiny of project sanctions issued by DRDO revealed procedural irregularities relating to misleading nomenclature of sanction issuing authorities, absence of data base of sanctions and splitting of sanctions," the CAG said in...
05:10 PM, Nov 29, 2012
New Delhi: Amid the possibility of a budget cut, the Defence Ministry will on Wednesday review major military modernisation projects of the Armed Forces such as plans for acquiring 126 combat aircraft and raising a Strike Corps in the northeastern sector. In a meeting with the three Services vice chiefs, Defence Minister AK Antony will review the expenditure made by the Armed Forces this year and their plans for the...
03:06 AM, Nov 07, 2012
New Delhi: India has chosen Boeing Corp as the preferred bidder to supply 15 heavy lift helicopters for its Air Force, a Defence Ministry source said on Monday, potentially the second major Indian contract this year for the Seattle-based firm. Boeing's Chinook twin rotor helicopters emerged as the lowest bidder and will now hold exclusive negotiations with the ministry, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Depending on how...
01:35 AM, Nov 06, 2012
New Delhi: Sulking over the work allocation in Defence Ministry to him, Lalchand Kataria on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought a change in his portfolio which he has refused to take charge in the last two days. Official sources said Kataria conveyed to the Prime Minister that since the other Minister of State, Jitendra Singh, also hailed from Rajasthan like him, he would find it difficult to...
08:39 PM, Oct 30, 2012
New Delhi: Defence Minister AK Antony on Monday cautioned the three services chiefs to be "transparent" in the process of weapon trials and procurement as he cleared proposals worth around Rs 6,000 crore for the Armed Forces. Antony's message to the chiefs came amid latest bribery allegations in the proposed purchase of 197 light choppers. At the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting, the Ministry cleared proposals for procurement of 3,000...
02:49 AM, Oct 30, 2012
New Delhi: A Defence Ministry audit report has raised questions on Army Commanders, on the issue of money being spent for urgent procurement. The audit has found 55 cases where procurements were made without consulting centralised agencies. The Army Commander of the Northern Command has the power to spend up to Rs 125 crore in emergencies, while the Eastern Command has Rs 50 crore limits. And now the scanner is...
08:22 AM, Oct 24, 2012
New Delhi: An internal audit report of the Defence Ministry has detected a loss of over Rs 100 crore in spendings by six Army commanders between 2009 and 2011, prompting Defence Minister AK Antony to order strict checks and balances on expenditure. The Army, however, contested the loss of Rs 100 crore in procurements and insisted that no rules have been violated. The Defence Ministry had ordered the Controller of...
08:55 PM, Oct 23, 2012
New Delhi: Observing that piracy and armed robberies in high seas were threatening the stability of the Asian region, Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday said India was taking steps to augment its capabilities to fight piracy and terrorism. Addressing the 8th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting, the Defence Minister said, "India strongly believes that mutual cooperation alone is the most effective way in ensuring the security and...
12:54 AM, Oct 04, 2012
New Delhi: Coast Guard's plan to boost its maritime surveillance capabilities will have to wait as the Defence Ministry has scrapped its tender to procure 16 light helicopters. Only two companies - Indian Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), offering its ALH Dhruv, and European Eurocopter with its twin-engine Panther MB - were in the race for the deal expected to be worth over Rs 1,000 crore. The tender, issued in July...
10:00 AM, Sep 30, 2012
New Delhi: The Defence Ministry is planning to cancel the BEML order, worth over Rs 50 lakh, given to UK-based Tatra Sipox for supplying one truck, in the wake of the CBI probe into the allegations of irregularities in the supply of these vehicles. The order for the truck was placed by BEML in May for the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The Ministry is planing to cancel the order...
03:51 AM, Sep 17, 2012
New Delhi: Faced with a resource crunch, the Defence Ministry will undertake a review next month of major military projects such as plans for acquiring 126 combat aircraft and raising a Strike Corps in the northeastern sector. The review will be carried out after an assessment is made on the performance of the economy at the end of the second quarter of this fiscal, Government sources said. The Defence Ministry...
03:34 AM, Sep 04, 2012
New Delhi: Arms dealer Abhishek Verma faced fresh trouble on Wednesday with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) slapping a case against him under the Official Secrets Act after Defence Ministry certified that the documents allegedly handed over by his US-based estranged business associate were classified. The CBI registered a case in the special court against Verma and unknown government officials after a formal complaint was received from the Defence...
05:15 PM, Aug 29, 2012
Mumbai: The judicial commission probing the Adarsh housing scam has summoned the son of accused former Congress MLC Kanhaiyalal Gidwani for not co-operating with the panel and not providing satisfactory answers to the questions presented by the probe officials. Accused Kanhaiyalal Gidwani and his family owns flats in the controversial housing society. The scam involves a prime plot in south Mumbai's Colaba on which a 31-storey building was constructed by...
09:47 AM, Aug 23, 2012
A top secret audit of DRDO ordered by Defence Minister AK Antony himself has revealed that the country's premier body for defence research has allegedly spent crores of rupees on technology without any positive outcome. ...
08:01 AM, Aug 14, 2012
New Delhi: After ace shooter and Olympic silver medalist Vijay Kumar threatened to quit service, the Army is now thinking of giving him a promotion and a cash reward of up to Rs 30 lakh. The Army is thinking of granting promotion to Vijay as per the existing rules and regulations of the force and its Chief is expected to announce a reward of up to Rs 30 lakh once...
08:18 PM, Aug 07, 2012
New Delhi: After getting Defence Ministry's nod to probe the alleged role of former NDA commandant Lt Gen Jatinder Singh in the recruitment scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to question him soon in connection with the case. Singh was earlier transferred out of the National Defence Academy by the Defence Ministry after the CBI booked its six employees including the staff officer of the commandant for...
08:24 PM, Aug 01, 2012
New Delhi: Army on Friday denied reports suggesting there was delay in deployment of its troops in Assam and said it followed the established procedure before sending its men on riot control duty in a situation having communal overtones. Army is a little wary of deploying its troops in any situation having communal overtones and in all such circumstances clearance is sought from the Defence Ministry before deployment, sources said....
05:02 AM, Jul 28, 2012
New Delhi: The Defence Ministry on Monday cleared a proposal worth over Rs 12,000 crore to procure 56 transport aircraft for the Air Force to replace its fleet of vintage Avro planes. In a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister AK Antony, the IAF proposal to issue a global tender for procuring these aircraft was cleared, Defence Ministry sources said. The first 16 aircraft will...
02:41 AM, Jul 24, 2012
