10:36 Rahul Gandhi, Hollande ‘orchestrated’ Rafale deal controversy: Jaitley :
Questioning the timing of the statement by former French President Francois Hollande, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that that it was not a mere coincidence that the Opposition leaders of the two countries were speaking in one voice on the controversial Rafale issue.
Connecting the September 21 statement made by former French President Hollande on Rafale in which he said the French side was asked by the Indian government to go with Reliance as an Offset partner, and a tweet by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on August 30 warning of impending news “in the next couple of weeks”, Jaitley said that the two statements may have been `orchestrated’ as they are in perfect rhythm with each other.
“I think he (Rahul Gandhi) is in some kind of a revenge mode. I won’t be surprised if the whole thing is being orchestrated. On August 30, why did he (Rahul) tweet “Just wait for a while, some bombs are going to be burst in Paris”? And then what happens is in perfect rhythm with what he predicted,” Jaitley told ANI.
When pressed further to clearly state if he is alleging that the Opposition of both France and India were in cahoots with each other, Jaitley added: “I don’t know. But I see a perfect coincidence in the rhythm between his tweet on August 30 and what happens when a statement is made which is found to be inaccurate and, therefore, the next day itself, Mr Hollande goes and starts backtracking it.”
Rahul Gandhi had on August 30 tweeted: “Globalised corruption. This #Rafaleaircraft really does fly far and fast! It’s also going to drop some big bunker buster bombs in the next couple of weeks. Modi Ji please tell Anil, there is a big problem in France.”
Days later, Francois Hollande told French Journal Mediapart in an interview that the French side had no role in deciding the Offset partner for Dassault and the name of Reliance was given by the Indian side. Hollande made this statement while defending himself and his partner Julie Gayet over alleged funding by Reliance of the latter’s film.
Jaitley responded to this sequence of events, adding: “Yeh jo jugalbandihai, mere paas sabot nahin hai, lekin mann mein prashn khada hota hai.” (I don’t have evidence to back this but this apparent duet which raises questions).
10:25 PM to launch ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme from J’khand today:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will Sunday roll out the Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission from Ranchi.
The ambitious scheme, renamed the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (PMJAY), aims to provide a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually, benefiting more than 10.74 crore poor families for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation through a network of empanelled health care providers.
“The prime minister will launch the scheme on September 23, but it will become operational from September 25 on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay,” Niti Aayog member V K Paul, the chief architect of the scheme, had said.
Billed as the world’s largest government healthcare programme, it will be funded with 60 per cent contribution coming from the Centre and remaining from the states.
The scheme will target poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers’ families, 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas, as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census data.
It will cover around 50 crore people and there is no cap on family size and age in the scheme ensuring that nobody is left out.
Over 8,735 hospitals, both public and private, have been empanelled for the scheme, and as many as 31 states and union territories have signed MoUs with the Centre and will implement the programme.
Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab are not among the states which have opted for the scheme.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who recently visited the Jharkhand capital, had said that money would not go to any person. It would go from institution to institution with the Centres contribution being 60 per cent and the states 40 per cent.
The prime minister will also lay foundation stones for medical colleges in Chaibasa and Koderma. — PTI
09:57 Swaraj arrives in New York for UNGA:
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has arrived in New York to represent India at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly and hold several bilateral and multilateral meetings with her global counterparts.
She will address the General Debate in the morning of September 29.
Swaraj, who arrived here on Saturday, will hold several bilateral and multilateral discussions with her global counterparts as well as with the top UN officials, besides participating in several meetings and discussions throughout the week on the sidelines of the General Assembly session.
“Destination #UNGA73. India’s External Affairs Minister @SushmaSwaraj arrives in New York for High Level Segment of @UN,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
The General Debate commences on September 25. World leaders from 193 UN member states will address the global body.
US President Donald Trump will give his second address to the General Assembly on September 25.
In a tweet, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said “setting the stage for a week of hectic diplomacy! EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in New York to attend the 73rd Session of the #UnitedNations General Assembly and participate in several bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral meetings”.
Earlier, following India’s acceptance of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal for a meeting, Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi were slated to meet on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
However, the Indian government called off the meeting, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps “glorifying” militant Burhan Wani. Qureshi will address the UN General Assembly in the afternoon on September 29. — PTI
09:41 Government should come clean on Rafale: Shatrughan Sinha:
Disgruntled Bharatiya Janata Party MP Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday said the Union government should come clean on the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Speaking to reporters at Katol near Nagpur in Maharashtra, the BJP leader said the questions arising from former France president Francois Hollande’s statement must be answered.
“The statement has come from a person who was not only a former France president but the one under whom the (Rafale) deal was sealed. Some questions have arisen from it, which need to be answered,” Sinha, who has been consistently critical of his party’s government, said.
A French publication has quoted Hollande as saying that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for French aerospace giant Dassault in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale deal.
“People are questioning why an experienced company like the HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) was set aside and a new company (Reliance Defence) got the opportunity (for offset contract under the deal),” Sinha said.
“How this thing happened without the knowledge of the defence minister?…the person in the know should not hide it as it will come out one way or the other,” the actor-turned-politician said.
“It will be in the interest of the country and the party that the truth comes out with transparency,” Sinha said in the presence of Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh.
Sinha, who is rumoured to be joining the AAP lauded the work done by the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi while claiming that in the Narendra Modi-led dispensation at the Centre, most work is done by the prime minister’s office, and not by the ministers.
“People call me (BJP) rebel, but I speak in the interest of the country and the party. If I say demonetisation was wrong, what is wrong with that…people suffered a lot during demonetisation due an individual’s decision. I want to state very responsibly that it was not a party’s or a cabinet’s decision,” he said.
“According to some people even the finance minister did not know about it,” he alleged.
Sinha was interacting withe the media at the ‘Katol festival’ organised by local BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh.
To a question, Sinha said he advised Deshmukh, who too criticises the BJP frequently, that he should not resign as he was “showing mirror to the party and guiding it in the right way”. — PTI
09:31 BJP trying to divert attention from Rafale: Mamata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to “cover up” and divert attention from issues like the Rafale deal.
“The price of petrol, diesel and gas is increasing everyday. In the name of demonetisation, they have siphoned off several crores. The party (BJP) is running on several crores of rupees. New information about the Rafale deal is emerging everyday,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee is presently in Italy to invite business to the state. She was speaking to city journalists accompanying her in the trip.
She added that in order to “cover up” all these issues, the BJP is trying to divert attention to other matters.
“But by doing this, they will not be able to stop our protests,” she said in the interaction aired by local TV channels.
She also alleged that BJP and RSS leaders were being brought in from other states to West Bengal to “create problem” in different districts.
A media report in France on Friday quoted former French president Francois Hollande as purportedly saying that the Indian government proposed businessman Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as the partner for Dassault Aviation in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale jet fighter deal.
The French government, however, said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners for the Rafale fighter jet deal, asserting that French companies have full freedom to select Indian firms for the contract. — PTI
09:10 US SC nominee accuser agrees to testify before Senate:
Christine Blasey Ford has agreed to a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify before it next week on her sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee of President Donald Trump, her lawyer said on Saturday.
The two sides are now negotiating about the exact date and timing of the much-anticipated hearing, on which now hinges Kavanaugh’s confirmation as a Supreme Court Judge.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation of sexual assault and has been ready to testify before the Congressional committee from the very first day the stunning allegation against him surfaced about a week ago.
“Dr Ford accepts the committee’s request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual misconduct next week,” the two lawyers of Ford — Debra Katz and Lisa Banks — wrote in an email to Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The two attorneys have sought more time to decide on the timing of the testimony.
The White House said this could be a delaying tactic.
“Our view of this latest response from Ford through her attorney is still ambiguous. She says she is willing to testify, but she says she still wants negotiations. Until there is actually an agreement, there isn’t. It could be another delaying tactic,” a senior White House official said.
The opposition Democrats described Ford’s decision as courageous.
“Courageously Dr Ford will tell her story in the face of an impossible choice and vile bullying by the Republican leadership,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Judiciary Committee.
“I will support her steadfast bravery against the arbitrary, unfair, irrational constraints set by Chairman Grassley. I remain deeply disturbed by the conduct of my colleagues over the last week,” he added.
The Senate Judiciary Committee had initially scheduled the hearing on Monday, which now stands postponed.
Trump has said he strongly supports the nomination of Kavanaugh. The president has been critical of Ford.
“I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place! (sic),” Trump had said in a tweet earlier this week. — PTI
08:43 Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi passes away :
Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, who directed films like Rudaali, Chingaari, Ek Pal and Daman has died in Mumbai on Sunday.
Actor Soni Razdan tweeted tributes to the award winning director and screenwriter.
“Our dear beloved friend Kalpana Lajmi has gone to a better place. RIP my darling Kalpan. I shall miss you so terribly,” Razdan tweeted.
Actor Huma Qureshi also confirmed the news and offered her condolences.
“Deeply saddened… at around 4:30 am today morning #KalpanaLajmi passed away .. May she rest in peace,” she tweeted.
Lajmi, 61, was Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika’s partner till he died in 2011.
08:29 ‘Ready for war’ but chooses to walk the path of peace in interest: Pak Army:
The Pakistan Army on Saturday said it is “ready for war” but chooses to walk the path of peace in the interest of its people, comments which came in response to Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat’s remark that “stern action” is needed to “avenge” the brutal killing of Indian soldiers.
In an interview to Dunya TV, Pakistan Army spokesperson Asif Ghafoor said the country has a long-standing record of fighting terrorism and “we know the price for peace”, The Dawn reported.
Earlier in the day, commenting on the recent brutal killing of a BSF jawan and three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir, General Rawat in Jaipur said stern action is needed to avenge the barbarism by terrorists and Pakistan Army against Indian soldiers.
“We need to take stern action to avenge the kind of barbarism that terrorists and the Pakistan Army have been carrying against our soldiers. It is time to give it back to them in the same coin but not by resorting to similar kind of barbarism. I think the other side must also feel the same pain,” he said at a press conference in Islamabad.
Rawat insisted that action against Pakistan was needed but not in a barbaric manner.
Refuting India’s claim of Pakistani soldiers killing the BSF jawan, Ghafoor said, “We have struggled to achieve peace in the last two decades. We can never do anything to disgrace any soldier.”
“They (India) have in the past as well laid the blame on us for mutilating the body of a fallen soldier. We are a professional army. We never engage in such acts,” he added.
“We (Pakistan Army) are ready for war but choose to walk the path of peace in the interest of the people of Pakistan, the neighbours and the region,” the spokesperson said.
The war of words between the armed forces of the two countries came a day after India called off the foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan in New York this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. — PTI
Source: Rediff