India, France ink deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) India today inked a Euro 7.87 billion (approx Rs 59,000) deal with France for purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons and equipped with latest missiles that will give the IAF greater "potency" over arch rival Pakistan.

The Rafale combat aircraft to be manufactured by French aviation company Dassault will come with various India- specific modifications including Israeli helmet mounted displays, radar warning receivers, low band jammers, 10 hour flight data recording, infra-red search and tracking, towed decoy systems among others.

The Inter Governmental Agreement was signed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his visiting French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian 16-months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India's plans to buy 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in fly away condition during his trip to France.

The contracts for the deal were also signed earlier today.

The 'vanilla price' (just the aircraft alone) will cost about 91.7 million Euros each for a single seater and about 94 million Euros for a two-seater trainer aircraft.

"Pleased to inform that India has signed an agreement for procurement of 36 Rafale aircraft with weapon systems, five years complete spares and maintenance, performance based logistics, India specific special provisions. This is an achievement which will give the IAF the required potency in terms of penetration and capability," Parrikar told reporters at the South Block.

The deal, first fighter plane contract in 20 years, comes with an immediate saving of 328 million Euros over the one struck during the previous UPA government, which was scrapped by the Narendra Modi government, besides a 50 per cent offset clause.

The 50 per cent offset clause means that Indian businesses, both big and small, will gain work to the tune of over three billion Euros.

With the Rafale deal clinched, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Tappier said the French company is ready to be part of 'Make in India' initiative and open to manufacturing the fighters in India if the plane is shortlisted for a bigger order.

These combat aircraft, delivery of which will start in 36 months and will be completed in 67 months from the date the contract is inked, comes equipped with state-of-the-art missiles weaponry that will give IAF a capability that had been sorely missing in its arsenal.

The features that make the Rafale a strategic weapon in the hands of IAF, which is currently down to 34 squadrons as against a sanctioned strength of 44, includes its Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor air-to-air missile with a range of 150 KM.

Its integration on the Rafale jets will mean IAF can hit targets inside both Pakistan and across the northern and eastern borders while staying within India's territorial boundary. The Rafales will be stationed at two bases--Sarsawa in Haryana and Hasimara in West Bengal.

Pakistan at present has only a BVR with 80 km range.

During the Kargil war, India had used a BVR of 50 km range while Pakistan had none. However, Pakistan later acquired 80- km-range BVR.

Defence experts said that with 'Meteor' the balance of power in the air has again tilted in India's favour.

BSE Sensex paces up 266 pts as Fed holds fire

Mumbai, Sep 22 (PTI) Market benchmark Sensex rebounded by 266 points today to close at over two-week high of 28,773.13 and the NSE Nifty went past the 8,800-mark, tracking upbeat global cues after the US Federal Reserve left rates unchanged.

Moreover, trading sentiment got a boost after the current account deficit (CAD) narrowed sharply to just USD 300 million, or 0.1 per cent of GDP in the June quarter, driven by lower trade deficit on deeper import contraction.

The rally in domestic equities was largely in line with the upmove seen in global stocks driven by the US Federal Reserve's decision not to lift interest rates.

Aurobindo Pharma surged over 6 per cent as the company received tentative approval from the USFDA to manufacture and market Dolutegravir, used for the treatment of HIV, in the US.

However, select software exporter stocks, like TCS and Wipro, saw selling pressure following weakness in the dollar against the rupee. Software exporters' almost 60 per cent revenue comes from the US and European markets.

"Markets praised Fed's decision as the global bond yield reverted and rupee strengthened. Due to a neutral statement, the market believe that the risk for December 16 rate hike is roughly balanced adding positive sentiment," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The 30-share Sensex after scaling the day's high of 28,871.92, closed 265.71 points or 0.93 per cent higher at 28,773.13, a level last seen on September 9, when it had closed at 28,797.25.

The 50-share NSE Nifty reclaimed the key 8,800-mark to hit a high of 8,893.35 before winding up at 8,867.45 points, up by 90.30 points, or 1.03 per cent.

Both the indices, Sensex and Nifty, posted their biggest single day gains since September 6.

Meanwhile, the government today appointed three members on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), who along with RBI nominees are likely to set the benchmark interest rate in the upcoming monetary policy review with a view to contain retail inflation at the targeted level of 4 per cent.

Broader markets too displayed a bullish trend with mid-cap and small-cap indices rising 1.39 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, as investors widened their portfolios.

Asian stocks ended up with key indices like China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan rising by 0.07 per cent to 0.67 per cent. Europe was higher too as indices in France, Germany and the UK jumped by up to 1.65 per cent. .

Pak carrying out war crimes using terror as state policy:India

United Nations, Sep 22 (PTI) In its sharpest attack on Pakistan, India today called it a "terrorist state" which carries out "war crimes" by using terrorism as an "instrument of state policy", after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif glorified Hizbul commander Burhan Wani at the United Nations.

India also strongly rejected Sharif's call for "a serious and sustained" bilateral dialogue "without any conditions", saying that Pakistan, which "seems to be run by a war machine rather than a government", wants talks with a "gun in its hand".

Strongly reacting to Sharif's remarks at the UN General Assembly session, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar described them as full of "threat, bluster and complete disregard of facts" as he said glorification of Wani by him at the world forum is an act of "self-incrimination" by Pakistan.

He said it is "shocking" that a leader of a nation can "glorify a self-declared self-advertised terrorist" at a forum such as the United Nations General Assembly.

"We heard the glorification of a terrorist. Burhan Wani was a self-declared commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, this organisation is widely acknowledged internationally as a terrorist group," Akbar said at a briefing to Indian reporters here responding to Sharif's General Debate address at the UN.

"This is self-incrimination by the Pakistan Prime Minister. We just heard a speech full of threat, bluster and what can only be described as rising immaturity and complete disregard of facts," he said.

In his nearly 20-minute speech, almost half of which was focussed on Kashmir, Sharif had hailed Wani - who was killed on July 8 by the Indian forces resulting in tensions in the Valley - as a "young leader" and the "symbol" of the Kashmiris' freedom movement.

Exercising India's Right of Reply to Sharif's "long tirade" about the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Eenam Gambhir made a strong rebuttal.

"The worst violation of human rights is terrorism.

"When practiced as an instrument of state policy it is a war crime," she said.

"What my country and our other neighbours are facing today is Pakistan's long-standing policy of sponsoring terrorism, the consequences of which have spread well beyond our region," she added.

Gambhir said India sees in Pakistan "a terrorist state" which channelises billions of dollars, much of it diverted from international aid, to training, financing and supporting terrorist groups as militant proxies against it neighbours.

In a reference to JeM chief Masood Azhar and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, she said terrorist entities and their leaders, including many designated by the UN, continue to roam the streets of Pakistan freely and operate with State's support. .

Successful Flight Tests of LRSAM

Long Range Surface to Air Missile System (LRSAM) for Indian Navy successfully flight tested against Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA) on 20th Sept 2016 at 10:10 hrs and again at 14:25 hrs from Interim Test Range (ITR) at Balasore, Odisha, yesterday. The LRSAM has been developed through a joint venture between DRDO India and IAI of Israel. The naval version of the SAM system, this time was tested from land and the earlier was flight tested from Naval Ships, at ITR. Both missiles directly hit their respective targets at different ranges and altitudes. The trajectory of the flight of missiles was throughout tracked and monitored by the radars and electro-optical systems installed at ITR.

Many industries viz. BDL, MIDHANI, TATA, GODREJ, SEC, PEL, ADITYA and others have contributed towards the development of Missile systems. Both Israel and Indian scientists and technicians have been involved in the launch campaign. The Israel team was led by Mr. Boyes Levy, Vice President, IAI of Israel, whereas the Indian Team by Mr Patrick D’Silva, Project Director, Mr. MSR Prasad, Director DRDL and Dr. BK Das, Director ITR. Dr. G Satheesh Reddy, DG (MSS) & SA to RM witnessed the launches.

No separate rail budget from next fiscal; Union Budget early

New Delhi, Sept 21 (PTI) Ending 92-year-old tradition, the Cabinet today decided to merge rail budget with the general budget and agreed in-principle to advance the date of its presentation in Parliament from the usual February end.

The actual date for presentation of the general budget for 2017-18 will be decided by the government after taking into account the ensuing assembly elections, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said while briefing the media about the Cabinet decisions.

The Cabinet has also decided to do away with the Plan/ Non-Plan expenditure classification in Budget 2017-18 and replace with 'capital and receipt'.

The government, Jaitley said, was in favour of advancing the budgetary exercise to that it could be completed before March 31 and expenditure on public-funded schemes could begin from April 1.

He said: "While we in-principle are in favour of advancing the budget date and finishing the entire financial business before March 31...the actual dates will be decided after consultations depending on calendar of the state elections."

The government, he added, is keeping itself in a "state of readiness" to advance the Budget presentation.

As per tradition, the Budget is presented on the last working day of February. A separate railway budget was started by the British in 1924.

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) will provide provisional Advance Estimates of national income or GDP by January 7 so that the data can be incorporated in preparation of Budget.

The provisional advance estimates, he hoped, would be in line with the one normally released by February 7.

Das said the government will issue Budget circular in a day or two.

Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu said the merger of rail and general budgets will not impact the functional autonomy of the railways but help in enhancing capital expenditure.

"One single budget will mean railway and general budget will work in harmony," Prabhu said, adding Railways will not have to pay dividend to the Government. .

Sensex dips 111 pts as BoJ, Fed verdicts loom

Mumbai, Sep 20 (PTI) Mirroring global weakness, the Sensex fell 111 points on Tuesday, halting its four-day winning run, and the NSE Nifty broke below the 8,800-mark as investors turned cautious ahead of key policy meetings of the US Federal Reserve and Japanese central bank.

Meanwhile, the consensus is that the Fed will leave rates unchanged, but investors are looking for commentary and the guidance for the next interest rate hike.

"Investors are widely expecting status quo on interest rate, however, any hawkish commentary from the Fed may divert the liquidity to safe haven assets and add volatility to the domestic market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

Meanwhile, calling the reform process slow and gradual with muted private investment and NPAs posing a challenge, Moody's said it could upgrade India's rating in 1-2 years if it is convinced that reforms are "tangible".

In stock specific action, Jubilant FoodWorks plunged 6.08 per cent to Rs 944.15 following news that its CEO and Whole- time Director Ajay Kaul will resign to pursue opportunities outside the company.

The 30-share index declined by 111.30 points or 0.39 per cent to 28,523.20 after shuttling between 28,698.81 and 28,480.53. The gauge had gained 281 points in the previous four sessions on positive global cues.

The wider NSE Nifty slipped below the 8,800-mark and hit a low of 8,759.30 before settling 32.50 points or 0.37 per cent to 8,775.90. Intra-day, it touched a high of 8,816.45.

Market stayed in the negative almost throughout the day as participants were seen trimming positions to book profits in recent gainers coupled with caution across the global ahead of Fed and Bank of Japan policy meets this week.

In line with the overall trend, the small-cap index shed 0.26 per cent, while the mid-cap lost 0.09 per cent.

Other Asian markets too closed lower and European shares were down as sentiment across the globe remained muted.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.16 per cent, while China's Shanghai Index shed 0.10 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.08 per cent down.

London's FTSE was down 0.20 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX was flat, while France Paris CAC 40 was 0.30 per cent lower.

India will respond at a time, place of its choosing: Army on Uri attack

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) As clamour for strong action against Pakistan over the Uri attack grew, the Army today said it reserves the right to respond at a time and place of its choosing even as various options were discussed in a flurry of high-level meetings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Pranab Mukherjee to brief him on the developments related to yesterday's cross-border terror attack, hours after he discussed the issue with senior ministers and top officials at a high-level meeting.

The death toll in the pre-dawn attack yesterday, meanwhile, rose to 18 with Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan, who was airlifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital here after being critically injured, succumbing to injuries.

"The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in hinterland. However, we have the desired capability to respond to such blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us," Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh told reporters.

"We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing."

The total recoveries from the four slain terrorists was four AK 47 rifles, four Under Barrel Grenade Launchers, 39 Under Barrel Grenade Launcher grenades, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPSs, two map sheets, two matrix sheets, one mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets having Pakistani markings, he said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag besides other senior officials attended the meeting convened by Modi. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was conspicuous by her absence.

As the worst ever attack on the Army in many years continued to spark outrage and triggered calls for Pakistan's diplomatic isolation, Union Information and Broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu said India will have to respond and punish the perpetrators of the attack and "can no more take it lying down".

Key BJP ally Shiv Sena while needling Modi on the Uri attack said if he does not have the "courage to strike Pakistan" like the US did to eliminate Osama Bin Laden, there is no use of building an international image.

Union Minister and former army chief Gen V K Singh, however, advised the Indian Army to decide on its response "coolly" with proper planning and not to get emotional.

"...from the army's side, alertness is required. The Kashmir situation needs to be thought about. The action has to be taken without getting influenced by emotions, anger. It has to be taken coolly and with proper planning," Singh said.

The assertion by Modi yesterday that those behind the Uri attack will not go unpunished had triggered considerable speculation about the options that India could exercise in the current situation.

A swift, surgical strike on terror camps in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir(PoK) was among the options that figured in the speculation but experts also cautioned against consequences and the damages that an escalation could pose if it goes out of hand.

Separately, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the top security brass met to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in the border areas.

UN Secy Gen Ban condemns Uri terror attack

United Nations, Sep 19 (PTI) Condemning the militant attack on an army camp in North Kashmir's Uri town that killed 17 soldiers, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hoped the perpetrators of the crime will be brought to justice and all involved will work for the re-establishment of stability and prevent further loss of life.

"The United Nations is following developments closely and shares the concerns of people living in the region for peace," a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson here said.

Ban expressed hope that the perpetrators of the attack will be brought to justice and all stakeholders will meet their responsibilities to maintain peace and stability.

"The Secretary-General hopes that the perpetrators of this crime will be identified and brought to justice," it said.

He "hopes that all involved will prioritise the re-establishment of stability and prevent any further loss of life. The Secretary-General encourages all stakeholders to meet their respective responsibilities to maintain peace and stability," the statement said.

Condemning the "militant attack", Ban expressed his "deepest sympathy and condolences" to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives and to the government of India and wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the attack.

Meanwhile, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as the head of the Non-Aligned Movement, also expressed solidarity with the people of India "who have suffered a terrorist attack." 

"We are committed along with our brotherly people of the world to get into the depth of this problem that has generated proliferation of terrorist movements, which doesn't respect life and the need for coexistence of people," he said at a press conference after the summit in Margarita Island yesterday.

In one of the deadliest attacks on the Army in recent years, 17 soldiers were killed and 19 others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in North Kashmir's Uri town early yesterday.

Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Army.

The attack comes two years after militants had carried out a similar type of attack at Mohra in the same area. Ten security personnel were killed in the attack that took place on December 5, 2014.

Thirteen Nations Come Together to Discuss Biotechnology, Environmental Risk Assessment and Biosafety Regulation

South Asia Biosafety Conference Inaugurated at Hyderabad

Thirteen nations are participating in the South Asia Biosafety Conference (SABC) at Hyderabad, to share international experience amongst scientists and regulators in biotechnology, environmental risk assessment and biosafety regulation in South Asia.   The three-day annual event will cover wide-ranging topics being covered in biotechnology R&D and biosafety.

In her opening address, Additional Secretary, MoEF&CC and Chairperson, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), Dr. Amita Prasad, said that India has a robust regulatory framework for ensuring biosafety of all types of genetically engineered organisms under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.  She pointed out that these regulations are supported by a series of guidelines to deal with various aspects. Dr. Prasad emphasized that capacity-building and sharing of experience has to be a continuous activity to ensure effective implementation of the biosafety regulations. Such activities also help in increasing awareness and creating an environment of understanding among various stakeholders. Appreciating the research efforts in biotechnology, she commended the research institutions for their R&D initiativestowards developing newer products relevant to the national needs.

In his keynote address, Vice President, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), Dr. Anupam Verma, emphasized that the modern world is facing enormous challenges to achieve food security. In the backdrop of increasing demand for food, dwindling natural resources and increasing biotic and abiotic stresses as a result of intensification of agriculture and climate change, the world has no option, but to accelerate utilization of the available and emerging technologies for improving world food production. He stressed that agriculture biotechnology is a powerful tool for addressing the emerging challenges, as already demonstrated by the fast adoption of such technologies in dealing with biotic and abiotic stresses. He advocated better coordination among various ministries including agriculture, health and environment.

More than two hundred participants from Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tajikistan, and USA are participating in the Conference.   The inaugural session also witnessed the release of Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) guidance documents, recently adopted by the Indian regulatory authorities to strengthen the ERA process.  This is the fourth Conference, with the first three Conferences being held in New Delhi, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.  SABC is organized on an annual basis in the South Asian region by ILSI Research Foundation, and Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) under the South Asia Biosafety Programme.

The International society of biosafety research (ISBR) has supported a poster session and a lighting round for young researchers with awards for best posters in biosafety. 37 posters by participants from various countries have been put up for display.

17 soldiers killed in terror attack in Uri

Uri(J&K): (PTI) In the worst attack on the Army in many years, heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based JeM stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir killing 17 jawans early today, prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assert that those responsible "will not go "unpunished. Located barely a few kilometres from the Line of Control (LoC) and some 70 km from Srinagar, the base was subjected to the brazen attack by four terrorists at around 5.30 AM, causing heavy casualties in the Dogra regiment which lost 17 of its men. 20 more army personnel were injured, some critically, and were airlifted to the army base hospital in Srinagar.