The Congress is shedding crocodile tears over HAL. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who has been holding press conferences in various cities, in Bengaluru on Sunday blamed the Congress-led UPA Government for the mess over the Rafale deal. She also said the Air Force needs more squadrons of jets and justified the off-the-shelf purchase of 36 Rafales. She said the Congress is shedding crocodile tears about HAL but it’s only NDA that has given impetus to HAL’s production line with coordinating the needs of the forces.
Nirmala Sitharaman said that India was responding to every ceasefire violation from Pakistan, saying the Government is not letting anything go unnoticed.
The Defence Minister's reaction came after the Pakistani army violated ceasefire and tried to push in a group of terrorists under the cover of heavy firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar sector of North Kashmir's Kupwara district on the second anniversary of the ‘surgical strikes’.
"If ceasefire violations are happening (from Pakistan), at every violation, we are responding, we are also eliminating them & pushing them back. Hopefully, you will hear of the actions we are taking," said the Defence Minister. She also said that the Government is not letting anything go unnoticed.
In another function earlier in Bengaluru defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stressed the need to keep the social media "toxic-free" to build an intelligent and smart narrative for the country to progress fast.
"We should be the pioneers to make that place toxic-free. It should be an engagement forum, but without bitterness, toxicity, negativity," she said, addressing the sixth Social Media Conclave, organised by an NGO — Namaste India.
It was on Saturday in a press conference at Chennai Nirmala Sitharaman had said that former French President Francois Hollande may have made the recent remarks on the Rafale deal to evade questions on allegations raised about his associates receiving funds from a company.
“I know this matter is now international. It will have an impact on international relations. But here, the former President of France, who himself is — I don’t know whether it is true or not — facing an allegation, it may or may not be true, that his associates have received funds for some purpose…. In such a situation, the (former) President is saying this. Does it mean he just wanted this journalist off his back and therefore he wanted to say something, and he said something different elsewhere later?” Sitharaman said. She added that she will not be in a position to elaborate on that allegation.
Meanwhile the defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has recorded the highest-ever turnover in financial year 2017-18.
R Madhavan, newly appointed CMD of HAL said in Bengaluru “We have recorded the highest ever turnover of Rs 18,28,386 lakhs in the 2017-18 financial year compared to previous year’s turnover of Rs 17,60,379 lakhs,”
HAL had on Friday, held its 55th Annual General Body Meeting of Shareholders, first after its listing.
Profit Before Tax for the year was Rs 3,32,284 lakhs as against Rs 3,58,258 lakhs in the previous year, the CMD said, adding the Profit After Tax (PAT) for the year was Rs 2,07,041 lakhs.
