PM's defence on pricing of Rafale deal demolished:Rahul

Agencies
February 13, 2019

New Delhi, Feb 13: Stepping up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale issue, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited a media report to claim that the PM's argument of better pricing and faster delivery of the jets to defend the deal has been "demolished".

His attack came after a report in The Hindu which claimed that the Rafale deal was not on"better terms" than the UPA-era offer.

"The PM defended his personal RAFALE bypass deal on 2 counts: 1. Better Price 2. Faster Delivery. Both have been demolished by the revelations in the Hindu today," he tweeted.

The government has in the past rejected all such allegations and claims against the deal.

Three senior Defence Ministry officials who were the domain experts on the seven-member Indian Negotiating Team (INT) came to a "well-substantiated and clear conclusion" that the Narendra Modi government's new Rafale deal for 36 flyaway aircraft was not on "better terms" than the offer made by Dassault Aviation during the procurement process for 126 aircraft under the United Progressive Alliance government, the report in the English daily said.

Citing the report, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the "theft has been caught".

Surjewala highlighted four points citing the report -- price of 36 Rafale jets was 55 per cent higher than the UPA-era offer, loss incurred by not taking 25 per cent discount for Rafale as offered by Eurofighter, bank and sovereign guarantee waived, and no aircraft for 10 years with escalation cost to be paid.

The Congress' attack came a day after, Gandhi accused the prime minister of "treason" and violating the Official Secrets Act by acting as Anil Ambani's "middleman" in the Rafale jet contract, citing an email to claim the businessman was aware of the deal days before India and France finalised it.

The BJP, however, had rejected the charge, saying the email purportedly by an Airbus executive referred to a helicopter deal and not Rafale.

Reliance Defence, in a statement, also refuted Gandhi's allegation saying the "proposed MoU" mentioned in the email referred to its cooperation with Airbus Helicopter.

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News Network
May 8,2024

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Mangaluru, May 8: The health officials in Dakshina Kannada are concerned over the increase in dengue cases in the rural areas of the district. They've seen 108 cases since January, compared to 45 last year. 

Dr. Naveen Chandra Kulal, who works on controlling diseases spread by insects, says humidity makes mosquitoes breed more.

People storing water in pots and drums during summer also make more mosquitoes, he added. 

In Lingappayyakadu village near Mulky, a survey found people store lots of water because they don't have regular drinking water. Dr. Kulal says this water becomes a place for mosquitoes to breed if containers aren't closed properly.

Dengue cases are also rising in Bengaluru, Mysuru, and other districts, he said. Even though there haven't been big groups of dengue cases in Dakshina Kannada yet, the health department is trying hard to stop it from spreading. They're doing things like teaching people how to prevent dengue and getting rid of places where mosquitoes can breed.

So far this year, Dakshina Kannada district has only had 16 cases of malaria. Dr. Kulal says many of these cases were among workers who came from other states to work on building sites.

Dr. Thimmaiah HR, who works for the health department, says if people have a fever, they should go to the nearest clinic or hospital. He also says they should get tested if they have symptoms of dengue or malaria and be careful about the hot weather.

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May 18,2024

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In a fresh claim, arrested BJP leader and advocate G Devaraje Gowda has alleged that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and four other ministers were behind exposing Prajwal Revanna’s sex scam that has brought disgrace to Janata Dal (Secular) H D Deve Gowda family. 

Devaraje Gowda has been arrested in a sexual abuse case. 

Speaking to reporters while being taken to the district prisons, in Hassan on Friday, Gowda alleged that he was offered Rs 100 crore to drag the name of H D Kumaraswamy in the Prajwal’s case. 

“D K Shivakumar had offered me Rs 100 crore to project that H D Kumaraswamy was behind the case. The offer was made through ministers N Chaluvarayaswamy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Priyank Kharge and another minister. They had even sent Rs 5 crore as advance to Bowring Club. But I did not agree. Hence, they hatched a plot to trap me,” Gowda alleged.

“It is D K Shivakumar, who collected all information from Prajwal Revanna’s former car driver Karthik and readied the pen drive. A team of four ministers were formed to handle the issue. As I did not agree to the plan. They planned to bring disrepute to the BJP, Narendra Modi and H D Kumaraswamy,” he said.

Gowda further alleged that former MLC M A Gopalaswamy of Channarayapatna was sent to him for negotiation.

“The main intention of D K Shivakumar is to bring disrepute to Modi and BJP in the case. Besides, he wanted to defame H D Kumaraswamy’s leadership in the state” he claimed. “They filed a sexual harassment and rape case against me, but found no evidence. Now, they are trying to fix me in the pen drive case” he alleged.

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News Network
May 4,2024

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mullai Muhilan MP said that election for the South West Teachers and Graduates constituencies will be held on June 3.

The notification for the same will be issued on May 9. The last date for filing nominations is May 16. The nominations must be submitted to Regional Commissioner in Mysuru and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is May 17.

The counting of votes will be held on June 6.

As of December 30, 2023 there are 6753 voters in DK district in the South West Teachers Constituency out of which 4520 are women. On the other hand, there are 16,869 graduate voters in the district for the South West graduates constituency.

The voters can submit their application for enrollment in electoral list of the South West Teachers and graduates constituency till May 6. The applications can be submitted at Mangaluru City Corporation or all the taluk offices.

Bulk applications can be submitted by Bar Association, Doctors association, Chartered Accountants Association, registered engineers association for the graduates constituency.

Those who are graduates prior to November 11, 2020 can enroll for voters list in the graduates constituency  by submitting Form 18 along with photo copy of marks card, Aadhaar card, voters' identity card and residential address.

For getting oneself enrolled in the teachers constituency voters, an individual should be teaching for minimum three years prior to November 1, 2023 in high school or higher educational institutions.

For the teachers constituency, educational institutions can submit applications in bulk. If wrong details are furnished in these applications, then they will be punishable under Section 31 of Representation of People Act, warned the DC.

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