United Black Untouchables worldwide

Video: Obama: US-China Ties to Shape 21st Century

Daily Nation

Obama seeks China's help in containing nuclear spread

Business Standard - Lalit K Jha - ‎2 hours ago‎

Neither America nor China want a terrorist acquire a bomb, or a nuclear arms race breaking out in East Asia, the US President stated. ...

The Associated Press

Obama hails US-China ties The Australian

As China, US begin high-level talks, Obama urges cooperation on ... Los Angeles Times

New York Times - AFP

all 1,565 news articles »

Five convicted in Kandhamal riots

Times of India - ‎1 hour ago‎

BERHAMPUR: The fast track court-I at Phulbani on Monday sentenced five persons to six years rigorous imprisonment for setting houses on fire and engaging in unlawful assembly in their village Salaguda on September 13 during the ethno-communal riots in ...

5 get six years' jail for Orissa communal violence Sify

Five convicted in Kandhamal riot cases Economic Times

Press Trust of India

all 15 news articles »

BBC News

'Launch of INS Arihant can trigger nuclear arms race'

Press Trust of India - ‎2 hours ago‎

Karachi, Jul 27 (PTI) Pakistan today termed the launch of an indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine by India as a "destabilising step" and warned that it could trigger a nuclear arms race in the region.

N-submarine still wrapped in secrecy Economic Times

INS Arihant a destabilising step by India: Pakistan Sify

Hindu - Times of India - Calcutta Telegraph - IBNLive.com

all 718 news articles »

Thaindian.com

LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan espouses the cause of dalits, hits the ...

Economic Times - ‎1 hour ago‎

PATNA: Showing his fighting spirit which he may be needing as never before, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan hit the streets of Patna on Monday for espousing the cause of the dalit community, the constituency he banked on for his political sustenance and is ...

RJD condemns lathicharge on LJP supporters Press Trust of India

CM takes Shots at Lalu, Paswan Patna Daily

Indian Express - Bihar Times - Little About - Times of India

all 35 news articles »

all 1,619 news articles »

Obama Opens Policy Talks With China

New York Times - Brendan Smialowski - ‎46 minutes ago‎

Chinese officials listened to a speech by President Obama, in which he described ties between the two countries as "important as any bilateral relationship in the world.

Obama urges China to respect rights Aljazeera.net

New dialogue mechanism to promote China-US relations: Chinese vice ... Xinhua

AFP - BBC News - Press Trust of India - Wikipedia: U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue

Video: Nicolas Sarkozy leaves hospital in Paris

BBC News

France's high-octane Sarkozy gets a wakeup call

The Associated Press - Jenny Barchfield - ‎2 hours ago‎

PARIS - Nicolas Sarkozy's high-octane lifestyle just hit a speed bump. In a single week, the French leader dined with Egypt's president in Paris, popped down to the Alps to watch a leg of the Tour de France, jetted over to New York for a concert by his ...

ITN NEWS

Sarkozy leaves hospital without heart problems Xinhua

BBC News - Reuters - Aljazeera.net - Times Online

all 2,015 news articles »

Video: Iran Continues Nuclear Program

Boston Globe

Iran: Israel must shed nuclear arms

Aljazeera.net - ‎1 hour ago‎

Iran's foreign ministry has said the United States should concentrate on getting Israel to dismantle its nuclear arsenal, instead of criticising Tehran's nuclear programme.

CBS

Obama seeks Iran response by September, Gates says CNN International

AFP - The Associated Press - Bloomberg - Telegraph.co.uk

all 1,645 news articles »

Video: Iran Continues Nuclear Program

Show more stories

Show fewer stories

CBC.ca

Israeli official: No option off table on Iran

The Associated Press - Anne Gearan - ‎5 hours ago‎

Moreover, the United States argues that a strike would upset the fragile security balance in the Middle East, perhaps triggering a new nuclear arms race and ...

CBS

Let's keep the engagement with Iraq on track Asheville Citizen-Times

Gates Says Iran Faces Tough Sanctions on Talks Rebuff Bloomberg

Tlaxcala - Stars and Stripes

all 1,823 news articles »

Straits Times

United against Iranian nukes

National Post - ‎Jul 25, 2009‎

He has already begun significant work on this disarmament effort by reaching a framework for a new nuclear-arms limitation treaty with Russia that will ...

G8: Britain could cut nuclear stockpile, Gordon Brown says Ethiopian Review

US-Russia Arms Pact: Bombs Away? The Indypendent

all 287 news articles »

all 1,458 news articles »

Click, click ... counting down to Cyber 9/11

San Francisco Chronicle - John Arquilla - ‎Jul 25, 2009‎

So a cyber arms race arose, like the nuclear arms race that ensued after the United States refused to join a global ban on nuclear weapons about 60 years ...

The Cutting Edge

History News Network reviewer

The Cutting Edge - ‎6 hours ago‎

When the nuclear menace has been most dangerous, the movement has grown into a more powerful force, curbing the nuclear arms race and deterring nuclear war. ...

'Joe One' sparks nuclear arms race

The Sun Daily - Khor Eng Lee - ‎Jul 8, 2009‎

"Was that arms race necessary? By one estimate that properly counts delivery systems as well as weapons, it costs the United States US$4 trillion-roughly ...

Washington Post

What is our policy on Iran? With the centrifuges spinning, Clinton ...

New York Daily News - ‎Jul 26, 2009‎

Many are making noises that they'll have to get one, too, meaning a nuclear arms race in the world's most volatile region. Clinton quickly realized the ...

Iran says it plans no nuclear tests PRESS TV

Interesting Times: The terror bubble Jerusalem Post

US Umbrella Resembles Chamberlain's! IsraCast

Korea Times - Christian Science Monitor

Video: The North Korea Threat - Bloomberg

Pushing South Asia Toward the Brink

Foreign Policy In Focus - Zia Mian - ‎2 hours ago‎

Forgotten was the brute fact that India and Pakistan are straining harder than ever in their nuclear and conventional arms race. ...

guardian.co.uk

Clinton Exhorts Asia to Rein in Nuclear-Armed North Korea, Iran

Bloomberg - Indira A.R. Lakshmanan - ‎Jul 23, 2009‎

The US is also concerned the North's actions might fuel a nuclear arms race across Northeast Asia as neighbors feel compelled to defend themselves. ...

Bloomberg

US worried about regional arms race due to N. Korea: Clinton Yonhap News

Israel fears DC may accept N-Iran; Clinton options 'defense umbrella' Arab Times

BBC News - The Associated Press

all 3,163 news articles »

China, India important to Citigroup: Pandit

Stay up to date on these results:

27 Jul 2009, 2240 hrs IST, AGENCIES

Citigroup's Vikram Pandit hopes to continue with the expansion of biz in India and China. Gainers: BSE ( A, B ), NSE | Losers: BSE ( A, B ), NSE I 52 Week: High, Low

Other Important News of the Day

2104 hrs IST

More tax sops for infrastructure, housing sector

2302 hrs IST

Malls occupancy falls in Q2 on slowdown

2000 hrs IST

Video: Rolls Royce to expand its business in India

1703 hrs IST

Skilled immigrants on why they're leaving the US

2259 hrs IST

Subhiksha has not paid salaries, government told

1952 hrs IST

Govt gets $510,000 as profit share from KG crude production

1932 hrs IST

Watch: Ajay Srinivasan's outlook about markets

1517 hrs IST

Can Mozilla face the browser onslaught from Google, Microsoft

1531 hrs IST

Three held guilty for Mumbai twin blasts

0600 hrs IST

Forget recession, global firms still bet big on IIMs

1458 hrs IST

UAE still favoured destination for Indian workers

1936 hrs IST

Is India doling out contracts to China?

1611 hrs IST

How Banking Sector Equity Funds have performed in a year

1251 hrs IST

Decoupling has turned out to be a myth

0230 hrs IST

Recession-hit Bangalore techies settle for low-paying jobs

0933 hrs IST

Recession? TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL bag large outsourcing deals

1611 hrs IST

Highest Returning Debt-Medium Term Funds in a year

1440 hrs IST

8 investment lessons from financial meltdown

1348 hrs IST

China's netizens outnumber US population: Report

1610 hrs IST

Highest Returning Tax Planning Funds in a year

ET Portfolio Wizard:Track and juggle your investments and watch your money grow.

India following 'buy Chinese policy': L&T CMD to Govt
27 Jul 2009, 2205 hrs IST, Times Now

In a letter to FM, L&T Chairman pointed out that India is following the 'buy Chinese' policy in which international tenders are not floated to give China an advantage.

Check out how India Inc fared in Q1 so far

Govt seeking report on attack on Indian journo: Ravi
27 Jul 2009, 2318 hrs IST, IANS

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister is in touch with the Indian high commission in Australia for a report on the incident. Full coverage: Indians attacked in Australia

Indian journalist attacked in Australia

All headlines >>News on your Mobile

Log on to m.economictimes.com

Market

NSE|BSE

SENSEX	15375.04	-3.92
NIFTY	4572.30	3.75
NASDAQ	1965.96	-7.64
DJIA	9093.24	23.95
RS/$	48.38	0.06

Adv. Search

More Indices|Mkt. Statistics|Closing Bell

Senate sides with Obama, defunds jet engine

WASHINGTON (AP): The Senate voted Thursday to eliminate spending on a jet engine program the defense secretary says is superfluous, moving in step with Obama administration assertions that it is time to stop spending military dollars on programs that are not needed.

The voice vote on an amendment to eliminate funds for a backup engine for the F-35 next-generation fighter plane came hours before the Senate completed a $680 billion bill that authorizes defense programs for the fiscal year starting in October. The defense bill passed 87-7.

Just two days ago, the Senate went along with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' campaign to change the way the Pentagon buys weapons by stripping from the bill $1.75 billion to produce more F-22 fighters, the high-tech aircraft that eventually will be supplanted by the F-35 as the military's main attack plane.

The White House has said that President Barack Obama would issue what would be the first veto of his presidency if the defense bill contained money for either new F-22s or the F-35 alternate engines.

INS Arihant to take long time to become operational: Experts

PTI 26 July 2009, 07:23pm IST

VISHAKAPATNAM: India's first indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine launched on Sunday will take much longer than the projected two years to

PM Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, defence minister A K Antony, Andhra Pradesh CM YR Reddy and others at the launching of India's first nuclear submarine, INS Arihant at Visakhapatnam. (PTI)

More Pictures

become operational, according to naval experts, who say the real big test now is to ensure that the on-board reactor attains criticality.

Noting there is still lot left to do, the experts said scientists had a onerous task to see that the on-board nuclear reactor - the heart of the submarine - attains criticality without any hitches.

Naval officials said INS Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies) codenamed Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) will undergo two years of sea trials in the Bay of Bengal after which they hope to see the submarine commissioned for full service.

"It is little optimistic only for one reasons because it the first of its class. In the first of the class there are a large number of checks to be carried out. It could take much longer time frame than the two years being projected (for INS Arihant)," said Vice Admiral A K Singh(retd) former Captain of INS Chakra, the Charlie-class nuclear submarine.

The second ATV or the third ATV will definitely come out much faster, Singh said.

C Uday Bhaskar, Director, National Maritime Foundation, said, " I don't think we should over-interpret the capability of the Arihant at this stage because there are many more complex technological steps before the particular nuclear reactor on the Arihant acquires criticality."

Bhaskar said hopefully three to five years down the road India would be a credible naval power because the country would then have the capability to fit the submarine with nuclear propulsion.

Former Naval Chief Admiral (retd) Arun Prakash said a lot of work lies ahead for the country's scientists and engineers.

"The big day will however come when the nuclear reactor attains criticality," he said.

Admiral (retd) Arun Prakash said painstaking series of trials are necessary because even a minor malfunction can cause catastrophic results as the Kursk(Russian Submarine) accident showed.

"They will also be long drawn-out and time-consuming because each defect that appears will be carefully analysed and rectified," he said.

Experts also said the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) could take two to three years to indigenously develop cruise and ballistic missiles which can be fired from the submarine.

EDITORIAL COMMENT | Chinks In Our Armour

17 December 2008, 12:00am IST

Truth or fiction, technical mistake or precisely calculated gamesmanship, the alleged straying of two Indian Air Force planes into Pakistani

airspace has highlighted the tension of the current situation. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee might have tamped down aggressive rhetoric by making it clear that full-scale conflict is not an option, but at such a time especially given that they have been placed on alert the spotlight must inevitably fall on the armed forces. Disturbingly, the scrutiny reveals several cracks.

The most alarming of the cracks is at the doctrinal level. Adopted after the mobilisation of the armed forces in 2002 following the attack on Parliament, the 'cold start' doctrine is premised on a reorganisation of various army corps into smaller, more flexible integrated battle groups. This gives the advantage of a more mobile offensive capability which does not require a lengthy build-up period of three weeks as seen in 2002, which gave Pakistan a large window for its response. The problem is that while this doctrine has been adopted, it does not seem that the necessary reorganisation of the army to implement it has. Neither have military exercises in the intervening years demonstrated that level of efficiency in joint operations between the army and the air force, which is a prime requisite for the doctrine. The result is a dangerous mismatch between strategy and operational capabilities.

Insufficient and ageing arms further erode those capabilities. A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General disclosed that more than half of India's submarine fleet is not battle-ready because they are in repair and refit. Further, a number of them have outlived their service life; by 2012, close to 65 per cent of the fleet would have to be phased out. Other branches of the armed forces are not immune to the rot. The air force lacks equipment to mount an adequate air defence for the country. It faces a shortage of key radars and depends on ageing MiG-21s that form the bulk of its combat squadrons. The army is in a similar predicament with T-72 main battle tanks (MBTs), several generations behind current models, forming the backbone of its armoured corps.

There is no quick fix. Some steps in the right direction have been taken, such as the induction of several hundred T-90 MBTs. But more must be done, starting with a review of the entire defence acquisition process. Just as important is the establishment of the post of chief of defence staff, long pending but held up by bureaucratic, political and inter-services roadblocks. The process is lengthy, but it must be started now.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3847177.cms

India's nuclear sub: There she lies like a supine beast, hidden from satellite eyes

SUJAN DUTTA

Visakhapatnam, July 26: The conning tower is a crusty jet black. It sits on a hull rolled with a mat of black squares. The surfacing is uneven. Reflections of saffron sodium and white mercury lights from the workshop's ceiling gleam off the mosaic of silvery black that wraps the body of the vessel.

India's first nuclear submarine is supine like a slothful beast in a narrow strip of water flanked by concrete banks inside the super-secretive Ship Building Centre here. It does not look like the ultimate weapon — the "Brahmastra" — that it is supposed to be.

But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is here and he announces the "launch of India's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine". His wife Gursharan Kaur unveils the metal plaque on the front of the conning tower (a raised platform from which an officer can "con" or control the vessel by giving directions to others).

It reads "INS Arihant", Sanskrit for "destroyer of enemies".

In the 30 years of the project, no Prime Minister has even acknowledged its existence publicly. Schedule and serendipity have worked for the Prime Minister whose main task so far has been to take India out of "nuclear isolation".

The Arihant is now fit for trials, not fit for war. That will take about four years, maybe more.

"First, we go into harbour trials," says Vice Admiral B. Kannan, programme director, ATV. "In it, we will test each piece of equipment. First, we get its fluids running and then we will get its heart ticking."

It will be at least a year before the (nuclear) reactor is fired and after that the sea trials.

The Indian Navy owns the submarine now. The vessel is towed by the tail by two tugboats. The tugboats are out in the water in the naval channel of Vizag harbour. The sub is towed a few metres, maybe 20, in slow motion. The vessel is not on own power.

A yellow light revolves on its conning tower where the commanding officer, Captain Anshuman Dutt, is standing, and emphasises the movement. The conning tower itself is to the fore, closer to the bow, rather than in the centre like older, conventional submarines.

Below and behind the conning tower that is stepped, sailors in white uniform drape yellow life jackets around their necks. Some are on the "hump", just aft, three are on the bow.

The hump, one officer says, will open a hatch to fire missiles vertically. There may be four tubes underneath, each capable of holding three nuclear-tipped SLBMs — submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

The Arihant is gliding again, tail first, but it is still under the roof of the workshop. It will not be towed across the naval channel, out in the open, in daylight, to its next base — Site Bravo — right now. Site Bravo is the spanking new workshop across the naval channel, about — in landlubbers' terms — a kilometre away. There is a flurry of satellite activity suspected overhead, maybe spy satellites, eager to take images.

Inside this yard of the Ship Building Centre, the only photography allowed is by three cameramen who are either authorised naval personnel or defence ministry staff. No television. No live images.

The media is confined to a space by the naval band. We are on the starboard (right) side of the vessel. We see only the top half of its profile.

But the length is within grasp. From the tip of its tail to its snub-nosed bow, the Arihant is 112 metres, longer by far than any of the submarines in the Indian Naval fleet. At its widest, it is 11 metres in diameter.

The size of the SSBN — the ship submersible ballistic nuclear missile — that the Arihant is, registers first-up.

Russia's ambassador to India and Russian technologists associated with India's nuclear submarine programme are present here. Their contribution is richly acknowledged.

"We never had a nuclear submarine, and we needed design consultancy from them," Vice Admiral Kannan says. The Arihant has about 40 per cent indigenous content. The next two submarines of the same class that are planned are likely to have more.

Commodore C.S. Rao, from the ATV programme's design department, explains that the undulating surface is probably the outcome of the mosaic of anechoic — rubberised — tiles. Is it bad workmanship?

Rao says the special tiles are said to be capable of absorbing sound waves — the way sound navigation and ranging (sonar) operates — and give the Arihant more stealth. Sonar tries to identify and detect by the reflection of sound waves. Submarine detectors, as well as submarines, rely on sonar.

In the middle of the hull — the body — on the starboard side, there are two rectangular vents. They appear to be perforated. They are meant to take in water when the submarine dives.

"This is a double-hull. What you see is the outer hull through which the water will go in and help take the sub down," says Rao. That's common to all submarines. The inner, pressurised hull, is another cocoon. He is talking of a cocoon within a cocoon.

At the snub-nose in the bow, on the waterline right now because the submarine is still on the surface, is a sheet of white metal that contrasts with the blackness of the rest of the hull. They are the sonar sheets of the Arihant.

Below it, on either side and under the water, are three or four tubes angled upwards. They are the torpedo barrels. The missiles with nuclear warheads won't come out of here. The Arihant may not even have to use this in a conflict. It is a strategic weapons platform, expected to be escorted by the hunter-killer-attack submarines.

The nuclear-tipped missiles that will go into its silos are being tried and tested on land. First, it is likely to be armed with the K-15, that have a range of 750km, and subsequently, a more developed missile, at best called the "K-X" now, that is being designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Bharat Dynamics to have a range of at least 1,500km. Even that is not "strategic".

The Indian Navy is operating under the belief that it has to compete with the Chinese and must be capable of launching a missile from a submarine with a nuclear warhead that is capable of hitting the target from at least 3,500km.

If a reality check were needed, here it is: The Chinese PLAN (People's Liberation Army Navy) has 10 nuclear submarines. Some of them are attack (SSN) and some are SSBN in the same category as the Arihant.

Inside the ship-building yard, the Arihant glides to a stop. The water hardly ripples. Captain Dutt on the conning tower is speaking into a walkie-talkie. The vessel will have a crew of more than 90 but less than 100.

The crew will have to be put through endurance tests. "The submarine has enough time, it is the fatigue factor that matters," says an officer from Naval Headquarters, here for today's programme. "It's claustrophobic inside a sub; you notice little things about others, it can be annoying. It's a psychological thing for the crew," he says.

The idea behind a nuke sub is to stay quiet and undetected undersea for weeks, possibly months. The Advance Technology Vessel project was "officially" begun in 1984 — 25 years ago. The crew will have less, far less, a time to prepare.

Ten years after Kargil, war keeps getting more onerous.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090727/jsp/frontpage/story_11286811.jsp

India, Israel ink Rs 10Kcr defence deal

IANS 28 March 2009, 12:59am IST

NEW DELHI: India has signed a $1.4 billion deal with Israel for the supply of an anti-missile air defence system in what is the biggest defence deal

between the two countries.

Under the deal signed on February 27, Israel will develop and manufacture seaborne and shore-based systems against missile attacks on India, Israeli business daily Globes said.

Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI) officially announced the deal on Thursday, more than a month after it was signed, because the company felt "early disclosure was liable to cause material difficulties in execution of the contract, and even result in its cancellation", according to the daily.

IAI officials quoted by the daily felt that this risk would be substantially reduced once the advance payment was received.

Part of the payment will be made during the development period, and the balance during the 66-month delivery period, which is slated to begin 90 months from the date the advance payment is received, the daily said.

According to the contract, IAI has undertaken to procure military or aviation products and services from India and will invest in defence companies in India up to an amount equal to 30% of the contract.

Israel has emerged as one of the largest suppliers of military hardware to India. Over the years, India has deftly balanced its ties with Israel with its relations with Middle East nations.

India now 6th member of N-submarine club

Rajat Pandit, TNN 27 July 2009, 06:48am IST

VISAKHAPATNAM: It may be a 'baby' but it's a 'boomer' all right. India's new stealth nuke weapon packs an awesome punch, armed with 12

nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles in four silos on its 'hump', as also a wide array of anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles and torpedoes.

India's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine equipped with ballistic missiles, dubbed an SSBN or a 'boomer' in military parlance, INS Arihant was launched by flooding the dry dock at the Shipbuilding Centre here on Sunday.

Though it has only a 6,000-tonne surface displacement, less than half the size of the SSBNs fielded by the Big-5 nations, the 110m long and 11m wide Arihant surely lives up to its Sanskrit name, 'destroyer of enemies'.

Even as his wife Gursharan Kaur did the honours by breaking the auspicious coconut on the submarine's hull, PM Manmohan Singh said India had finally gatecrashed into the select club of five — US, UK, Russia, France and China — who can build and operate N-submarines.

But it will take at least two years for India to sit on its high table. INS Arihant will have to undergo harbour, sea and weapon trials before being termed fully operational.
QnA: How has India benefited from the Nuclear Deal with USA?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/India-now-6th-member-of-N-submarine-club/articleshow/4824048.cms

Glaring lapses in Gorshkov, Scorpene, Hawk defence deals: CAG

Rajat Pandit , TNN 25 July 2009, 01:17am IST

Sleazy wheeling and dealing, huge delays and financial irregularities continue to pervade all defence deals. The Comptroller and Auditor

General has now hammered the defence establishment for glaring lapses in the two biggest naval projects — acquisition of Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and indigenous construction of six French Scorpene submarines.

This comes even as India under Russian pressure is getting ready to shell out almost $2 billion (Rs 9,680 crore) over and above what was initially a `fixed price contract' of $974 million for Gorshkov's refit, while the Rs 18,798-crore project to construct six Scorpenes at Mazagon Docks has slipped two years behind schedule, as first reported by TOI.

A senior CAG official, in fact, dubbed the Gorshkov deal as the "biggest defence mess-up" ever, stopping just short of calling it a "scam". ``The defence ministry did not provide us with full cooperation and access to documents for Gorshkov. As for the Scorpene project, undue favour and financial advantage was shown to the French vendor,'' he said.

In its latest report tabled in Parliament on Friday, the nation's auditing watchdog also punched holes in several other major defence projects, including the Rs 8,120-crore project for 66 British Hawk AJTs (advanced jet trainers). Interestingly, this also comes at a time when India is negotiating a follow-on order for 57 more Hawks.

While the desperate need for an aircraft carrier, a modern submarine fleet and AJTs to train rookie pilots cannot be overstated, what the CAG report underlines is a sordid saga of squandering away of public money, without even a hint of long-term strategic planning, whichever be the political dispensation in charge.

If the earlier NDA regime inked the initial $1.5-billion package deal for Gorshkov and the Hawk AJT contract in the run-up to the 2004 general elections, the UPA government in its first avtaar finalised the Scorpene project in October 2005, amid swirling allegations of kickbacks.

Coming down particularly heavily on the Gorshkov affair, the CAG report said, ``Indian Navy is acquiring a second-hand refitted carrier that has half the life span and is 60% more expensive than a new one.''

Originally meant to plug the `five-year carrier gap' in the Navy's capabilities from 2007 to 2012, Gorshkov is still a `high-risk' proposition since its delivery acceptance trials may not be completed even by 2012, it added.

Russia, as reported earlier, is demanding a whopping $2 billion more over and above the initial $1.5 billion contract of January 2004, under which the carrier refit was pegged at $974 million and the rest earmarked for 16 MiG-29K fighters to operate from its deck.

The CAG report pointed to a 2004 naval assessment that a new aircraft carrier, with a life of 40 years, would cost $1,145 million and take 10 years to build.

Gorshkov, in turn, would run for only 20 years. ``The acquisition cost has more than doubled to $1.82 billion in four years,'' said CAG, taking the $1.2-billion figure demanded by Russia in 2007 into account.

Listing out Gorshkov's `limited operational capabilities', CAG in particular expressed worry that a close-in weapon system — to detect and destroy incoming hostile missiles and aircraft — would be fitted on it only during its first refit in India around 2017.

As for the Rs 18,798 crore Scorpene project, under which the six submarines were to be delivered between 2012 and 2017, CAG blasted the government for taking nine years to finalize it despite Navy's depleting underwater combat force-levels.

Navy's projections show it will be left with only nine out of its present fleet of 16 diesel-electric submarines — 10 Russian Kilo-class, four German HDW and two virtually obsolete Foxtrot — by 2012. ``This would lead to serious operational ramifications,'' said CAG.

The government's delay in finalising the Scorpene project led to increase in its costs by Rs 2,838 crore. ``The submarine design selected has also not proven its efficacy in any other navy,'' it said.

``Moreover, the contractual provisions resulted in undue financial advantage to the vendor of a minimum of Rs 349 crore, besides other unquantifiable benefits,'' it added.

As reported earlier, the project has been dogged by some controversy, with allegations of kickbacks made in the October 2005 contracts signed with two French companies — Rs 6,135-crore with M/s Armaris (a DCN-Thales joint venture) for transfer of technology and construction design, and Rs 1,062-crore with M/s MBDA for sea-skimming Exocet missiles.

"Large concessions in respect of warranty, performance bank guarantee, escalation, arbitration, liquidated damages, agency commission were bestowed on the vendor," said CAG.

Similarly, CAG rapped the government for taking 22 years for finalising the Rs 8,120 crore project to acquire 66 Hawk AJTs, which were sorely needed to help train IAF rookie pilots on the intricacies of combat fighter jet flying and reduce crashes.

It also pointed out that the contract was concluded with BAE Systems in a single-vendor situation, without reviewing the `air staff requirements' laid down in 1987, as also slippages in delivery schedules, pricing anomalies in supply of spares and the like.

The Gorshkov Saga

* Mid-1990s: Negotiations on the partly-burnt 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov between India and Russia begin. Russia touts it as `a free gift' to India, with the condition that India will pay for its refit and the fighter jets to operate from its deck

* January 2004: India and Russia finally ink $1.5-billion package deal for Gorshkov, which includes $974 million for its refit and the rest for 16 MiG-29K fighters. Gorshkov to be delivered by August 2008

* Mid-2007: Russia demands additional $1.2 billion for refit over and above the $974 million, and pushes back delivery to December 2012. India panics, sends teams to inspect warship and negotiate. Both sides agree refit work `grossly underestimated' earlier. India pays advance of $250 million

* 2008: Russia now wants $2 billion more, over initial $974 million figure, for refit. By now, India has paid $500 million as advance. It renames Gorshkov as INS Vikramaditya

* 2009: Flurry of negotiations, with India paying another $102 million and trying to get overall refit cost pegged closer to $2.2 billion instead of $2.9 billion. Fresh refit contract likely to be sealed by August. Delivery will be delayed beyond Dec 2012

Why is Gorshkov needed?

Gorshkov forms a crucial part of India's plan to have two operational `carrier battle-groups' by the middle of the next decade. The country's solitary and ageing 28,000-tonne carrier INS Viraat is currently undergoing another life-extension refit to ensure it can run at least five more years. Moreover, the delivery of the 37,500-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier being built at Cochin Shipyard is likely to take place only by 2014-2015 or so.

MOD contention: A new aircraft carrier of Gorshkov's size and displacement would cost around $4 billion. A carrier is not available off-the-shelf and takes at least 10 years to build. After extensive refit, Gorshkov will run for another 30 years.

CAG: At best, Navy will be acquiring, belatedly, a second-hand ship with a limited life span of 20 years by paying significantly more than what it would have paid for a new carrier. Moreover, Gorshkov will not have a close-in weapon system against incoming missiles and aircraft till her first refit in India in 2017.

Refit work on Gorshkov

Lying berthed at the Sevmash shipyard for over 12 years, ongoing work on Gorshkov entails removal of the huge missile launchers on the bow to build a ski-jump at a 14.3 degree angle for MiG-29Ks, apart from new-generation communication, air defence and other weapons, including new missile systems. A lot of equipment on the 283-metre long carrier like cables, steel, motors, turbines, boilers and the like also needs to be completely replaced.

QnA: How ill equipped are the Indian armed forces?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Glaring-lapses-in-Gorshkov-Scorpene-Hawk-defence-deals-CAG/articleshow/4818004.cms

At the stroke of noon on Sunday, India demonstrated its capability to indigenously build and operate a nuclear-powered submarine with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launching INS Arihant for sea trials here.

Pakistan today termed the launch of an indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine by India as a "destabilising step" and warned that it could trigger a nuclear arms race in the region.

Contrary to Much Hyped Indo Us Honeymmon, Exports from India to the US suffered a 23 per cent decline during the first five months in the current year 2009 due to the economic

downturn, a top official of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce said on Monday.

"Indian exports to the US saw a 23 per cent decline from January to May 2009. From $10.94 billion last year, it dropped to $8.5 billion from January to May 2009", Secretary General IACC R K Chopra told reporters here today.

Indo-US trade in merchandised goods also witnessed a significant drop from $17.21 billion last year to USD 14.65 billion till May this year, he said.

"However, Indian imports from the US were not impacted much as from $ 6.27 billion last year it touched USD 6.1 billion till May this year", he added.

Tugged gently from its dry-dock base, the 110-metre-long, 11-metre wide vessel can displace 6,000 tonnes of water. Its journey towards the sea is the first step before eventual induction into the Navy that Dr. Singh said marked "years of hard work, dedication and perseverance."

Aware that India's entry into the exclusive club will create ripples in the region, the Prime Minister said it was incumbent upon the country to take all necessary steps to keep pace with global advances.

"We do not have any aggressive designs nor do we seek to threaten anyone. We seek an external environment in our region and beyond that, conducive to our peaceful development and the protection of our value systems. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon us to take all measures necessary to safeguard our country and keep pace with technological advancements worldwide. It has rightly been said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," Dr. Singh said in his address.

India, he said, now joined a select group of five countries, which possess the capability to build a nuclear-powered submarine. That the construction of a submarine was a highly demanding task in itself was known, but for a country to develop its first nuclear submarine was a "special achievement."

A nuclear-powered submarine is a much more complex platform than any other vessel and India building one on its own is a great achievement. This is the unanimous assessment of officials, be they from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Department of Atomic Energy or the Indian Navy. What enhances the scale of the achievement is that INS Arihant, India's nuclear-powered submarine, will be fitted with India's own K-15 ballistic missiles that can be launched from under water. The K-15 missiles, which are already under production, can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. They have a range of 700 km. They are 10.4 metres tall and weigh 6.3 tonnes each.

"This is a very big capability," a DRDO official said. "It means we can launch missiles with nuclear warheads from ground, drop nuclear bombs from air and also fire them now from under water."

India's first nuclear submarine remains shrouded in secrecy -- despite its public launch.

The cloak of secrecy over the project, the existence of which has been denied by successive governments since its inception in 1984, was lifted Sunday when the defence ministry took journalists for the launch ceremony at this port city. However, no photography or filming of the submarine was allowed.

The official photographs of the event did not show a clear image of the submarine either.

The only glimpse of the vessel -- that has made India the only nation in the Indian Ocean region to have a nuclear submarine and the sixth in the world to have the capability to design and construct a nuclear submarine -- was in the photograph of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the ceremony.

But the journalists, naval officers, 143 Russian technicians and diplomats could see the 110-metre-long and 11-metre-broad sea leviathan from the closest possible distance.

The design of the submarine that has a surface displacement of 6,000 tonnes clearly resembles the Russian Borei class nuclear-submarine. Its surface is uneven and its hull sits on a mat rolled with black square tiles, which are capable of absorbing sound waves and help it in maintaining stealth.

The white snub nose of the gleaming black submarine is the sonar (sound navigation and ranging) sheet of the vessel. It helps in recognising a vessel in the vicinity by receiving the reflected sound waves from its surface.

The conning tower is closer to the bow rather than the centre as in conventional submarines.

The orange beacon atop the conning tower came to life Sunday as the prime minister's wife Gursharan Kaur pressed the button to symbolise the launching of the vessel into water. On the conning tower stood the commander of INS Arihant Captain Anshuman Dutt.

In the middle of the body -- comprising an outer hull through which the water goes in and and an inner pressurised hull -- on the starboard side are two rectangular vents, meant to take in water when the vessel dives into the sea. It is like a "cocoon within a cocoon", explained an official.

INS Arihant is longer than any of the submarine in the Indian Navy's fleet so far. A nuclear submarine is powered by a nuclear reactor, which generates tremendous heat driving a steam turbine. It has unlimited underwater endurance and speed twice that of its conventional counterparts.

"Miniaturising the nuclear reactor was a big task and if you want people inside the vessel, it has to be self sufficient in terms of energy and power," V.K. Mehra, director, Reactor Project Group, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, said.

The submarine can carry 12 nuclear missiles K-15 and is the sea-leg of the nuclear troika of India -- capability to launch nuclear weapons from land, air and sea. Keeping in line with its "no first use policy", the submarine will help India in developing a "credible second strike capability" in case of nuclear attack, said officials.

Indian Navy has been operating conventional diesel-electric submarines, which have to surface to charge their batteries.

A nuclear-powered submarine bestowed on India the status of a nation possessing a blue-water navy because the boat can travel far and wide.

While the Navy designed INS Arihant, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) built the mini-nuclear reactor that powers the submarine, the DRDO developed the K-15 missiles. The K-15 missiles have been test-fired several times from submerged pontoons off the coast of Visakhapatnam. A missile emerging from the water without losing its fire was a technology in itself.

A distinct advantage of a nuclear-powered submarine is that while it can remain under water for a long duration, a diesel-fired submarine has to rise to the surface every day for ejecting the carbon-dioxide produced by the diesel-generator. Otherwise, the boat's crew will face problem.

"In a nuclear-energy system used in a submarine, there is no emission of carbon-dioxide. It is a clean form of energy," a DRDO official explained. "The turbine operating on enriched uranium in INS Arihant is a clean system. But a diesel-generator emits carbon-dioxide. You cannot discharge it into the water. So the submarine has to be brought up to the surface every day to eject the carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere."

India on Sunday reached a milestone when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur launched the country's first

India's first nuclear submarine launched

PM Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, defence minister A K Antony, Andhra Pradesh CM YR Reddy and others at the launching of India's first nuclear submarine, INS Arihant at Visakhapatnam. (PTI)

More Pictures

indigenous nuclear-powered submarine 'INS Arihant' for sea trials. ( Watch )

Prime Minister arrived at the ENC's airbase INS Dega in Visakhapatnam by a special IAF plane along with his wife at 11 am and drove straight to the naval dockyard to commission INS Arihant into the sea.

The 6000-tonne submarine will first be put on sea trials for two years before being commissioned into full service.

In these two years, the submarine will also undergo harbour trials of its nuclear reactor and other systems.

Sunday's launch coincides with Vijay Diwas marking India's triumph over Pakistani intruders in Kargil.

With the launch of the submarine India will join the exclusive club of US, Russia, China, France and the UK with similar capabilities.

The ENC headquarters in Visakhapatnam has been decked up for this historic event, navy sources said.

INS Arihant has been built under the advanced technology vessels (ATV) programme at a cost of $2.9 billion at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

Code-named Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), the submarine christened 'INS Arihant' (destroyer of enemy) was launched for sea trials at the Matsya naval dockyard here.

As India has declared "no first use" of nuclear weapons, the country's weapons system must survive a first strike for retaliation. Therefore, Arihant's primary weapon is stealth as it can lurk in ocean depths of half a kilometre or more and fire its missiles from under the sea.

The 6000-tonne submarine is powered by an 85 megawatt capacity nuclear reactor and can acquire surface speeds of 22 to 28 kmph (12-15 knots) and submerged speed upto 44 kmph (24 knots). It will be carrying a crew of 95 men and will be armed with torpedoes and missiles including 12 ballistic missiles.

Four more nuclear-powered submarine of this class have already got government's nod and these would add to the Navy's underwater combat potential in the years to come.

Defence Minister A K Antony, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy witnessed the event.

The Prime Minister flew to Vishakapatnam this morning by the IAF's newly acquired Boeing business jet and reached the venue of the submarine launch by road.

Sea trials of the submarine will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal off Vishakapatnam, where the vessel was under construction for the last two decades.

The Rs 30,000-crore secret nuclear submarine project was started in the 1980s though it was conceived by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s.

The first official admission of the project nearing completion came this February when Antony had announced it during the AeroIndia show in Bangalore.

INS Arihant can also be armed with cruise missiles. The DRDO is already working on an equally secretive Sagarika project for a 700-km K-15 missile, capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

With US, Russia and China already fielding 5,000-km range SLBMs, the DRDO too has recently tested an SLBM based on the design of 3,500-km range Agni-III.

The induction of ATV will help India to complete the nuclear weapons triad, as envisaged under its nuclear doctrine to deliver nuke-tipped missiles from land, air and sea.

India has land-based nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missiles, apart from IAF fighters such as Mirage-2000 that can deliver tactical nukes.

Two decades ago, India had operated a Charlie-class nuclear submarine, christened INS Chakra, leased from Russia for three years between 1989 and 1991.

Moscow will again lease out two Akula-class nuclear submarines to New Delhi for 10 years. Plans to deliver the submarines this June were hit by a mishap during sea trials late last year. But hopes have soared for its delivery in 2010 after Russia took out the repaired vessel for sea trials again early this month.

Trials to follow

DRDO officials cautioned that while INS Arihant entering water from the dry-dock in the Ship-Building Centre of the Visakhatpatnam harbour on Sunday was an important step forward, making the boat operational would take time. "The submarine will now go for harbour acceptance trials (HATs). Then it will go for sea acceptance trials (SATs). Later it will go down to a certain depth and come up," they said.

A nuclear-powered submarine was a highly complex platform and safety regulations had to be adhered to. "There are hundreds of systems on the boat. They have to work one after another. This is called setting-to-work. The HATs and SATs will last about a year-and-a-half. This is the most difficult period of activity and you have to do it perfectly. Then the K-15 missiles will be fitted into the boat."

M. Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, was present when the INS Arihant was launched on Sunday.

The project has been named the "Advanced Technology Vessel" (ATV) programme. Vice-Admiral (retired) D.S.P. Varma is the Director-General of the ATV programme.

Obama continues Bush's 'good work' in building India ties: Hillary

Washington (IANS): Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says in building a "most comprehensive engagement" with India, the Obama administration was continuing with the "good work" done by his predecessor George Bush.

"We're building on some of the good work that's been done in a bipartisan way with India, starting with my husband (Bill Clinton)" the former first lady said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. "And in fact, in this case, continuing with President Bush with India. So that we have now announced the most comprehensive engagement we've ever had with that country," she said.

Asked what she meant when she said during her trip to Asia that "the United States is back and we're ready to lead", Ms. Clinton said: "Well, what I meant was that in many parts of the world, the priorities that were pursued the last eight years did not seem to include them.

"So just going, for example, to Asia, as I did on my first trip, as I just did, was viewed as a very positive statement of participation."

When told that Obama Administration policy in Asia was not that different from the Bush Administration policy in Asia Ms. Clinton disagreed. "I mean, part of what we have done is to organise ourselves so that we can concentrate on many important issues at the same time."

"And I think the feeling on the part of much of the world was that the prior administration, for understandable reasons, focused so much on some of the specific issues, like Iraq, et cetera, that really grabbed it and required a lot of attention, that much of the rest of the world felt that they were kind of second tier."

Recent Galleries

Karat rules out change in Left's stance against imperialism

Special Correspondent

CPI(M) cadre urged to look to Cuba for inspiration and carry on its fight

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Cuban Minister of Council and Deputy Chief of Mission Eduardo Iglesias Quintana and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat launching a website at the inauguration of the 'Cuba Festival,' organised to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, in Bangalore on Sunday.

BANGALORE: CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has ruled out any change in the Left's stance against "imperialism and neo-liberal policies" despite the electoral setback.

Addressing the "Cuba Festival" organised here on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, he said the Left parties would cease to be a "force for progressive change" if they gave up their fight against imperialism and neo-liberal policies.

After the setback the Left parties suffered in the Lok Sabha elections, many "friends and critics" suggested that their fight against imperialism and neo-liberal policies had become "irrelevant in the 21st century," he said. But he rejected their appeal to the Left parties to "accommodate" themselves. "If we do that, we cease to be what we are; we cease to be a force for progressive change."

He called upon the cadre to look to Cuba for inspiration and carry on its fight despite the electoral setbacks. "We in India [the Left and progressive forces] should also learn from Cuba and not surrender."

Remarkable progress

Lauding the Cuban people's "indomitable courage and heroic endeavours," Mr. Karat said Cuba was not only a symbol of resistance to imperialism but also a source of inspiration for all countries which had faced colonialism and "imperial exploitation." Cuba had made remarkable progress in various fields, especially in health and education: the country had not only wiped out illiteracy but also had more physicians for every one lakh population than the U.S. "It has an education system which India cannot even dream of." While India spends just one per cent of its GDP on health, Cuba spends 6.5 per cent.

Cuban Minister of Council and Deputy Chief of Mission Eduardo Iglesias Quintana felt that the Left parties in India should look to Cuba and turn their setbacks into victories by regaining the people's support. He also called for the immediate release of five Cubans arrested by the United States.

U.S inspections

Speaking to journalists later, Mr. Karat regretted the absence of concern in the Manmohan Singh regime at the inspection of defence equipment India would purchase from the U.S. under the Indo-U.S. military collaboration.

He wondered how India could allow U.S. inspectors access to sites where military equipment had been installed. "They [U.S. inspectors] will come here and we will have to give them access to the areas where they have their equipment … These matters concern the country very much, but the government does not seem to be worried."

India was getting into a "deeper and strategic entanglement" with the U.S., he said referring to the recent visit to India of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

He said the G8 summit had decided to deny certain types of technologies to non-NPT countries, while the Nuclear Suppliers Group would frame certain guidelines. "But the government does not seem to be worried about this."

http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/27/stories/2009072760371100.htm

N-submarine to give India crucial third leg of nuke triad

Rajat Pandit, TNN 27 July 2009, 12:55am IST

VISAKHAPATNAM: There's still a long way to go for INS Arihant to become fully-operational. "Each and every system has to be tested and flushed

clean. It will take four sets of flushing and a year before the miniature 80 MW nuclear reactor, and its containment vessel fitted in the submarine's hull, attains criticality," said a senior officer connected with the ATV (advanced technology vessel) project.

Moreover, at present, it will be armed with only the 700-km range two-stage K-15 SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), which pale in comparison to the well over 5,000-km range missiles of the US, Russia and China.

The Chinese fleet of 62 submarines, with at least 10 of them nuclear-powered, for instance, is readying itself for its new JL-2 SLBM, which has a strike range of over 7,200-km, capable of rattling even the US. India is still some distance away from the extended range K-5 missile with a 3,500-km strike range.

Be that as it may, India with INS Arihant has taken a big leap forward towards developing the all-important third leg of its nuclear triad — the ability to fire nukes from the land, air and sea. The first two legs, in the shape of fighters like Mirage-2000s jury-rigged to deliver nuclear warheads and the Agni series of rail and road mobile missiles, are already in place.

What makes a nuclear submarine the most preferred option is that it's extremely difficult to detect and target by an adversary. Unlike conventional diesel-electric submarines, a nuclear-powered submarine can operate underwater for unlimited periods of time. This is especially important for a country like India, which has a declared no-first-use nuclear doctrine and, hence, must have a survivable and lethal second-strike capability to retaliate against a conceivable first pre-emptive strike by an enemy.

The PM clarified, "We do not have any aggressive designs, nor do we seek to threaten anyone." He added, "We seek an external environment in our region and beyond that which is conducive to our peaceful development and the protection of our value systems. Nevertheless, it's incumbent upon us to take all measures necessary to safeguard our country and to keep pace with technological developments worldwide. It has been rightly said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Obliquely pointing to the two more ATVs already sanctioned by the government under a budget of around Rs 30,000 crore and much bigger SSBNs after them, the PM said the "lessons learnt from this launch" would enable the ATV programme to "achieve better results in the coming years".

Defence minister A K Antony, on his part, said INS Arihant was a "significant step" towards a potent and credible second-strike capability. The PM, Antony, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, DAE chief Anil Kakodkar, ATV director-general Vice-Admiral (retd) D S P Verma praised Russia for their "consistent and invaluable cooperation" in India's nuclear submarine programme.

What was left unsaid was that India would also get an Akula-II class nuclear submarine, the 12,000-tonne 'K-152 Nerpa', on a 10-year lease by end-2009 as part of a secret contract signed with Russia in January 2004, along with the package deal for refit of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and MiG-29K fighters. India's eventual goal is to field three SSBNs of its own much before 2020.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/N-submarine-to-give-India-crucial-third-leg-of-nuke-triad/articleshow/4823578.cms

IAF played a 'pivotal' role in Kargil victory

Fighter jets changed course of battle

DRASS: While the Army jawans fought the Pakistani troops on the ice-covered heights of Drass and Kargil, the Indian Air Force (IAF) was called in for its "most difficult operation ever," — to carry out precision strikes without breaching the Line of Control (LoC).

"The fighter planes changed the course of the battle and the use of precision weapons destroyed the enemy fortification," recalled Air Officer Commanding, Jammu and Kashmir, Air Marshal J. Chauhan.

After a helicopter gunship was shot down, "we inducted fighter planes including Jaguar and Mirage 2000 and used precision weapons. We analysed the results and they were very positive. This helped us and the troops go ahead and recapture the positions," he told PTI.

Various fighter planes such a MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, MiG-29, Canberra, Avro and Mi-17 were utilised as part of 'Operation Safed Sagar' launched by the IAF in support of 'Operation Vijay' of the Army.

It was for the first time that the IAF was called upon to undertake these missions at such high altitudes. The officer said they never expected that the IAF would be required to assist in the operation. "But we geared up at such a short notice."

Biggest challenge

The biggest challenge for the IAF was in the Drass sector. "We had to improvise a lot and work out various plans for perfect targets," he said.

"We were working in a very tight spot. It was to have pin point targets. If a bomb fell in the plains, it would have destroyed various areas. If the bomb fell in the valley, it would have targeted our own troops," Mr. Chauhan said.

The IAF was pressed into service mid-May in 1999 to facilitate recapture of territory by the Army in Mushko Valley, Drass, Kaksar Batalik and Turtok areas.

The Western Air Command responded quickly. Prompt air support was provided. Numerous sorties were launched to airlift and reinforce positions in the area.

Precision strikes

Mirage 2000s flew precision strike missions and dropped laser-guided bombs.

Offensive posturing by the IAF deterred the Pakistani Air Force from intervening in this area, the officer said.

The IAF held majestic flypasts by MiG-21s and Mi-17s and para-dropping displays on Sunday, paying homage to the Kargil heroes. — PTI

US armtwists Israeli firm on IAF deal: Report

TNN 6 July 2009, 03:31am IST

Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported that US has pressurised Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to back out of partnership with Swedish aerospace company Saab, which is fielding its Gripen fighter for the MMRCA contract.

The Israeli defence ministry ordered IAI to pull out of the deal with Saab after Pentagon expressed concern that US technology would be integrated into the Gripen offered to India. "The stated concern was that western technology in Israeli hands would make its way to the Indians," an Israeli official told the newspaper.

But what was found "strange" with the US request was that American aviation majors Boeing and Lockheed Martin are themselves in the fray for the lucrative MMRCA deal.

Israeli officials said US had probably intervened because if IAI competed for the deal with Saab, it would force Boeing and Lockheed Martin to lower their prices.

Incidentally, Gripen is considered to be one of the cheapest among the six contenders, which include the American F/A-18 `Super Hornet' (Boeing) and F-16 `Falcon' (Lockheed Martin), French Rafale (Dassault), Russian MiG-35 (United Aircraft Corporation) and Eurofighter Typhoon (consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies).

All the contenders have already mounted high-voltage campaigns in the hotly-contested race, worth around $10.4 billion, in which India is sure to factor in its geo-political considerations as well, as reported by TOI earlier.

The six fighters are to be put through the paces in two sets of field trials conducted in summer and winter, ranging from the snow-capped peaks of Leh, scorching Rajasthan desert (Jaisalmer) and humid conditions of south India (Bangalore).

Moreover, the fighters will also be evaluated in the countries of their origin. So, in effect, the trial results will be out only by mid-2010 at the earliest.

The commercial bids will only be opened, examined and compared after a shortlist is made of the top two or three contenders following the extensive field trials and staff evaluation.

With the final negotiations to begin thereafter, the entire process is expected to take a minimum of two years before the deal is actually inked. While 18 jets will be bought off-the-shelf, the rest will be manufactured in India under transfer of technology.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4741294.cms

India worried as Russia grounds MiG-29 fleet

Rajat Pandit, TNN 14 March 2009, 05:00am IST

Moreover, the Indian Navy is soon to get 16 MiG-29Ks—the fighter's naval variant designed to operate from an aircraft carrier's deck—as part of the original $1.5 billion package deal signed with Russia in 2004 for Admiral Gorshkov.

Sources said a navy team recently returned empty-handed from Russia after the delivery of its 16 MiG-29Ks was postponed because of Moscow's decision to ground its own MiG-29s. Russia apparently grounded its entire fleet of about 300 MiG-29s, codenamed 'Fulcrum' by Nato during the Cold War, after a couple of them crashed in southern Siberia in October-December due to the disintegration of their tail fins.

Subsequently, around 90 MiG-29s have so far been found unsafe to fly during ongoing checks, while 100 have been cleared to take to the skies. Incidentally, Algeria had last year returned its 15 MiG-29s to Russia, holding that their quality was poor, which was strongly contested by Moscow.

This does not augur well for India. As earlier reported by TOI, the IAF is already grappling with a huge dip in the number of its fighter squadrons, down to just 32 from the "sanctioned strength" of 39.5. The IAF hopes to reach its "desired strength" of 42 squadrons only by 2020 or so.

Another reason is that even as India haggles with Russia over its additional $2 billion demand for Gorshkov's refit, the defence ministry has cleared the navy's proposal to buy 29 additional MiG-29Ks for Rs 5,380 crore.

The procurement has been approved because both Gorshkov and the indigenous aircraft carrier, being built at the Cochin Shipyard, will operate MiG-29Ks once the two desperately needed warships are inducted into service in the next decade.

The immediate concern, however, is for the IAF, which operates three MiG-29 squadrons along the western front for air defence purposes. "We have received no word from Russia. We are continuing to fly our MiG-29s from Halwara and Jamnagar," a senior officer said.

The IAF had inducted over 70 twin-engined MiG-29s from 1986 onwards but has lost several of them in crashes, though these fighters are not as accident-prone as the single-engined MiG-21s or the recently phased out MiG-23s.

Military logistics pact with US on backburner?

Rajat Pandit, TNN 6 July 2009, 02:53am IST

This, however, does not mean there will be any slowdown in the already quite expansive military ties between India and US. The flurry of joint combat exercises, high-level exchanges, defence deals and other things will continue as usual.

India is also on course to ink two other military pacts, End-Use Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) and Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA), being pushed by US to smoothen New Delhi's acquisition of military hardware and software from Washington.

Bilateral defence and security cooperation, apart from other areas like civil nuclear technology and trade, in fact, will figure high on the agenda when US secretary of state Hillary Clinton comes visiting later this month. The EUMA, incidentally, may well get the final nod during the visit.

"But LSA is firmly on the backburner for now... there are political sensitivities involved. Moreover, given its military operations in our neighbourhood, it's felt US is likely to use our bases and facilities much more than we will ever use theirs," said a top official.

Modelled on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements the US has inked with scores of countries, LSA envisages Indian and American militaries providing logistic support, refuelling and berthing facilities for each other's warships and aircraft on a barter or an equal-value exchange basis.

Though US has been repeatedly asking India to `conclude' LSA for well over two years now, the UPA remains reluctant to do so, even though the Left is no longer breathing down its neck. Earlier, CPI(M) and CPI had contended it would give US unfettered access to Indian military bases.

EUMA, however, is a different matter. The UPA-2 government says it understands that EUMA is required under US domestic laws which basically govern sensitive technology control requirements.

India, however, wants "mutuality" to underscore EUMA instead of "intrusive" clauses in the pact and its "enhanced version" which relate to "onsite physical verification" by US inspectors.

"Since we are increasingly buying US military equipment, an overarching standard EUMA is an essential pre-condition for defence deals. Our position is that the inspections should take place at mutually decided dates and places, and that too only for `very valid' reasons," said the official.

"After exchange of drafts four times, EUMA's final text, with acceptable legal language factoring in concerns of both sides, is being finalised now. It might be ready by Clinton's visit," he added.

Till now, like for the three VVIP Boeing Business Jets and their self-protection suites inducted by IAF to ferry around the President and PM, India has signed standalone end-use pacts with US.

The omnibus EUMA, once inked, will pave the way for high-end sensors, radars and weapon systems to be fitted on the aircraft being purchased under the already-inked $2.1 billion contract for eight Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance planes and the $962 million one for six C-130J `Super Hercules' planes. It will, of course, also govern all future deals.

India in n-sub club, Arihant to be inducted in next 2 yrs

Manu Pubby

Posted: Jul 26, 2009 at 0846 hrs IST

Visakhapatnam As the dark, sleek, almost shark-like vessel entered the Vizag harbour for the first time on Sunday morning, India marked its entry into an exclusive club of nations that can build and operate nuclear-powered submarines — a vital part of the nuclear triad that gives India the ability to launch a "second strike" nuclear attack from land, air and now, the sea.

The INS Arihant, India's first nuclear submarine that was till now known by the code name S 2, was launched at a simple ceremony in this port town with the traditional breaking of a coconut on its hull by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife, Gursharan Kaur. It is expected to be ready for induction into the Navy by 2011 after a series of exhaustive trials.

Once inducted, the 6,000-tonne Arihant — the name means destroyer of enemies — would be the vital third leg of India's nuclear policy that hinges around the "second strike" theory — which says that India will only use nuclear weapons as a retaliatory measure against a first strike by the enemy.

Re-stating the doctrine, the Prime Minister tried to assuage fears of neighbouring countries by saying that the submarine was not aimed at threatening anyone. "We do not have any aggressive designs nor do we seek to threaten anyone. We seek an external environment in our region and beyond that is conducive to our peaceful development and the protection of our value systems," he said at the launch ceremony that was carried out in the dry dock of the Ship Building Centre (SBC) where the submarine has been under construction since 1998.

This is the first time that the Prime Minister has spoken on the project, which has been top secret since the late 1970s when it was cleared by Indira Gandhi. In fact, while funding to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore is said to have gone into the project, successive governments have refused to even acknowledge its existence.

For the first time, the dimensions of the submarine have been made public. The project director, Vice Admiral (retd) D S P Verma, said that the Arihant is a 6,000-tonne submarine with a length of 110 metres and a breadth of 11 metres. Experts say the vessel will be able to carry 12 K 15 submarine launched ballistic missiles that have a range of over 700 km.

What makes a nuclear powered submarine even more important in India's context is its commitment to never use a nuclear weapon unless it is attacked first. This requires the need of a credible under-sea second strike capability in case the first strike wipes out missile bases and air-based assets.

"Our voluntary commitment to 'no first use' nuclear weapon policy also necessitated acquiring a credible second strike capability to safeguard our national interests," said Defence Minister A K Antony.

Significantly, all three dignitaries who spoke at the function — the PM, Defence Minister and Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta — made special mention of the Russian "cooperation" received in the project.

While it is an open secret that Russia helped in the design of the submarine and miniaturisation of the reactor, this is the first time that its help has been openly acknowledged. The entire Russian design team and the Russian Ambassador to India, V I Trubnikov, were present at the function.

Interestingly, the size of the Arihant is similar to the first nuclear submarine in the world that was launched four decades ago by the US. Besides the US, which has 74 nuclear submarines, Russia (44), UK (13), France (10) and China (10) also possess nuclear-powered submarines. The last nation to enter the nuclear submarine club was China when it launched its Han class submarines in the early 1980s.

China has started mass producing its second generation of nuclear submarines. India has a lot of catching up to do as the new "Shang" and "Jin" class submarines — details of which emerged earlier last year — are a big leap ahead of their older and noisier Hans class submarines.

However, before India gets its own nuclear submarine fleet, the Navy will train its personnel on a Russian Akula class nuclear submarine that India is getting on a 10-year lease towards the end of this year.

59k bulletproof vests for central forces; from now on, only the best

Font Size

-A +A

Amitabh Sinha

Posted: Jul 27, 2009 at 0839 hrs IST

New Delhi In one of the biggest orders of its kind in recent times, the government has invited bids for procuring 59,000 bulletproof jackets for the central paramilitary forces.

It is understood to have also decided that all bulletproof vests purchased subsequent to this order would be of Level 4 quality — the best available, designed to protect the wearer from close-range fire from most automated rifles and grenade sharpnel, and from multiple shots.

The current tender, floated in the first week of July, is for 59,000 jackets of Level 3A variety. These can stop AK-47 and self-loading rifle fire from about 10 metres away. Security forces already have some vests of this grade, including the 20,000 ordered immediately after the Mumbai terror attacks.

The order has come after years of delay. Three big tenders floated in 2002, 2004 and 2006 were scrapped due to technical errors. Police forces around the country are estimated to be in need of around 6 lakh jackets.

The Home Ministry is currently evaluating several Level 4 jackets weighing 3-5 kg (the ones being ordered now would weigh about 6 kg), capable of taking automatic rifle fire from as close as 10 metres. They would protect the wearer's front, back, neck and areas under the armpits.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/India-in-nsub-club-Arihant-to-be-inducted-in-next-2-yrs/494284/

Afghanistan rubbishes Pak claims of Indian interference in Balochistan

Font Size

-A +A

ANI

Posted: Jul 27, 2009 at 1222 hrs IST

New Delhi Pakistan's claims of India interfering in Balochistan have been rubbished by visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.

Spanta is in the Indian capital to meet External Affairs Minister S M Krishna for discussions on issues of mutual importance to the two countries. He is also expected to undergo a medical check up.

He said there was no truth to Islamabad's claims of India fuelling unrest in southwestern Balochistan province or that New Delhi was backing the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

"This is not a new claim by Pakistan but we need to have closer relation against international terrorism in our region. Afghanistan never allowed other countries to take some interference in domestic issue of Pakistan and India has never used Afghan territory against Pakistan. This is only an empty claim," Spanta said.

Spanta was responding to the tabling of a statement in the Pakistan Senate last week by Rehman Malik, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior Affairs, suggesting that Islamabad has enough proof that India and Afghanistan are involved in the ongoing unrest in Balochistan.

The documents state that New Delhi is providing tactical support and was funding and training terror groups in Pakistan.

Malik also told the house that some of the militants who were arrested from Balochistan had also admitted 'on-camera' to being trained in Afghanistan on India's behalf.

Malik used a used a multimedia system to show images of terrorists arrested from Balochistan and other areas.

He also presented documents to prove the nationality of the Baloch leaders who were killed recently.

"One of the three leaders, Ghulam Muhammad, was wanted by Tehran, while another, Sher Baloch, was an Iranian national," Malik said while tabling the documents.

However, Senators said there was nothing new in the claims. One of the Senators said that he was already aware of all anti-Pakistan conspiracies hatched by India and some other neighbouring countries.

Earlier, Malik had told Senate members that India is backing the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) to cause disturbance and ignite insurgency in the region.

He also suggested that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to the mention of Balochistan in the joint statement after his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani confronted him in Sharm-el-Sheikh with a dossier detailing India''s covert activities in Balochistan.

Malik also alleged in the Senate that India was responsible for the attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the Manawan police academy in Lahore last March.

Malik had then said: "The BLA was raised with funding from the Soviet Union (during the Soviet-Afghan war) and it is now backed by India."

Malik said he had informed Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai of this development, and added that Karzai had agreed to shut down terror camps in Afghanistan.

Malik claimed that Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti has sought both Indian and American support for securing the independence of Balochistan from Pakistan.

Referring to Brahamdagh Bugti''s recent interview to a Pakistani TV channel, Malik said the Baloch nationalist leader had even said that he was denying that he was getting help from India in Balochistan".

Malik quoted Bugti as replying: "We are not denying it. We want somebody should support us. I am appealing through your channel to the Indians, Americans and UN to support us. We will welcome any support."

India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram, however, has categorically denied Pakistan's charge of New Delhi's involvement in terrorist attacks in Balochistan.

"We are not involved in Balochistan, we have nothing to do with Pakistan''s internal problems in Balochistan. In fact, the Balochistan leader has said that he gets no support from India. Besides, why should we get involved when we have enough problems on our western borders with Pakistan," Chidambaram told the media over the weekend.

"Pakistan must produce evidence before making such allegations," he added.

Indian official sources have also vehemently denied media reports that a dossier had been given by Islamabad to New Delhi which contained "evidence" of Indian involvement in Balochistan.

Singh tells the world an open secret

SUJAN DUTTA

Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur breaks a coconut on the hull of the Arihant. (AFP)

Visakhapatnam, July 26: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "honoured to be present here today on the occasion of the launch of India's first nuclear submarine", announcing to the world that the country was developing such a capability now enjoyed by only five other nations in the world.

The Prime Minister's words were the first acknowledgement from the Indian government's leader, 25 years after the project was officially begun but more than 30 years after it was conceptualised.

Singh's wife, Gursharan Kaur, ceremonially unveiled a plaque on the vessel moored inside the Ship Building Centre at the naval dockyards here. The submarine is now "put to water" for trials. It will take at least four years for it to be operational.

It is said to be not only nuclear-powered, that would enable it to stay undersea for weeks, possibly months, depending on supplies and crew fatigue, but it would also be armed with nuclear warheaded missiles.

The Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, explained its significance. "This is the third and final leg of our nuclear triad." It meant that India had the capability to launch nuclear weapons from land and from the air but the INS Arihant was now arming it with a massive second-strike capability.

India follows a doctrine of no first-use of nuclear weapons. Intrinsic to the doctrine is the development of a credible nuclear deterrent — a weapons platform capable of surviving a first strike from an adversary and launching a massive second strike in retaliation. A nuclear submarine, India's military planners believe, is the answer because it is silent and undetectable.

Here on the 10th anniversary of the Kargil war of 1999 in which the Indian Army drove out Pakistan-backed intruders from the rare heights in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said: "We do not have any aggressive designs nor do we seek to threaten anyone. We seek an external environment in our region and beyond that is conducive to our peaceful development and protection of our value systems. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon us to take all measures necessary to safeguard our country and to keep pace with technological developments worldwide."

The first official admission of the project nearing completion came this February from defence minister A.K. Antony during the Aero India show in Bangalore.

Antony, referring to India's non-aggression and no first-use nuclear policy, said the situation in the region had necessitated the need for a credible second-strike capability.

Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar, asked whether India would get enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology, said: "We should not be targeted. We are non-proliferating. I hope we have the same status as the G8 countries."

The G8 had recommended to the Nuclear Suppliers Group earlier this month that ENR should be restricted to Nuclear Proliferation Treaty signatories but US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had said in Delhi that India should not worry.

The reactor of the Arihant is to generate 80-odd megawatts. It needs highly enriched (above 20 per cent) uranium as fuel. But it has to be refuelled only after 8-10 years.

Under the pact with the US, India's military and civilian nuclear programmes must be clearly separated. ENR technology for civilian energy cannot be used for military purposes.

A question mark remains on the sustainability of the military nuclear capacities. India has domestic reserves of uranium that are not adequately mined.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090727/jsp/nation/story_11286846.jsp

INS Arihant makes NPOL scientists proud

Express Buzz - ‎38 minutes ago‎

KOCHI: Many a heart at the Naval Physical Oceanographic Laboratory(NPOL), Kochi, would have swelled in pride when 'INS Arihant', the country's first ...

CM seeks PM's help on KG basin gas row

Times of India - ‎10 hours ago‎

Reddy was interacting with the prime minister in Visakhapatnam where he had come to participate in the launch of INS Arihant, the country's first indigenous ...

Gas from KG basin: YSR seeks priority status for State Hindu

CM presents a dream picture of Hyderabad Express Buzz

all 3 news articles »

N-sub launched on Kargil Day

The Statesman - ‎12 hours ago‎

Though neither the PM nor Mr Antony named China, the launch of INS Arihant was a clear message since China has the biggest navy in Asia. ...

Rate this Video : myPOPKORN

all 74 news articles »

"A technology demonstrator"

Hindu - T.S. Subramanian - ‎12 hours ago‎

He called the launching of INS Arihant "an important milestone" in the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) programme. "This PWR technology is very complex. ...

Positive opening expected

India Infoline.com - ‎5 hours ago‎

It has entered a global elite club by launching its first indigenously made nuclear submarine, INS Arihant (which means destroyer of enemies). ...

Two more submarines on cards

Daily News & Analysis - Josy Joseph - ‎11 hours ago‎

New Delhi: Approvals have already been granted for building two more nuclear-powered submarines in the Arihant class, according to sources. ...

Rate this Video :

myPOPKORN - ‎20 hours ago‎

INS Arihant, country's first nuclear submarine, launched in Visakhapatnam. 3. Kandhal Jadeja, son of Santokh Ben Jadeja, arrested from Pune; Santokh Ben is ...

NEWS CAPSULE

Assam Tribune - ‎14 hours ago‎

... submarine INS Arihant as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that the country has no aggressive designs but has to take all measures to safeguard itself.

A Pakistan News

PM to launch N-powered submarine on 26 July

The Statesman - ‎Jul 18, 2009‎

The vessel to be christened INS Arihant (destroyer of enemies) would put this country in the high league of USA, Russia, France and China which have the ...

PM to launch India's indigenous N-sub trials on July 26 Press Trust of India

Indigenous nuclear submarine to be launched on July 26 Hindu

NEWS CAPSULE Assam Tribune

all 13 news articles »

Shree Vasudeva Dass and Badani sizzle

Hindu - ‎12 hours ago‎

The scores: YSCA 163 for nine in 30 overs (M. Thangadurai 65, K. Srinivasan 33, Sajjad Hussain four for 45) bt Arihant Pharmaceuticals 160 for seven in 30 ...

BOM:532814 - NSE:INDIANB.BL - NSE:INDIANB

World briefs

Dispatch Online - ‎9 hours ago‎

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it a "historic milestone" as the 6000-ton INS Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies) was named in the southern city of ...

AFP

India sees delay in French submarine delivery

AFP - ‎Jul 20, 2009‎

India's first nuclear-powered submarine, to be named INS Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies), is part of planned fleet of five such submarines which will offer ...

Arihant launched at Visakhapatnam

Press Information Bureau (press release) - ‎22 hours ago‎

He noted that they had overcome several hurdles and barriers to enable the country to acquire self reliance in the most advanced areas of defence technology ...

CNS Admiral Nauman leaves for visit to China, Azerbaijan

Associated Press of Pakistan - ‎1 hour ago‎

NEW DELHI, July 26 (APP)- India on Sunday inducted its first nuclear submarine "INS Arihant" with the cooperation of Russia declaring that it has no ...

PM to launch indigenously-built nuclear submarine on July 26

Economic Times - ‎Jul 21, 2009‎

... on July 26 wherein Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch the indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine that is tentatively named INS Arihant. ...

Thaindian.com

PM to launch indigenous nuke submarine by month-end

Times of India - ‎Jul 16, 2009‎

The submarine will be commissioned in the Indian Navy as INS Arihant, which translates as "destroyer of enemies", after extensive outfitting and sea trial. ...

Indian indigenous nuclear sub to be unveiled on 26 July: report domain-B

India set to launch nuclear-powered submarine Times of India

all 116 news articles »

DAWN.com

India's nuclear submarine to trigger arms race: Pak Navy

DAWN.com - ‎7 minutes ago‎

India, on Sunday, inducted its first nuclear powered submarine 'INS Arihant'. Built with the cooperation of Russia, the submarine can carry the 'Sagarika' ...

Kashmir traders fear closure of trade with Pakistan

Gaea Times - ‎2 hours ago‎

#Arihant - Thats what the beast is. mumbaitimes Mumbai Times Written by Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, but made in India: The ever-growing p.. ...

Manmohan Singh pays tribute to Kargil martyrs Hindustan Times

all 313 news articles »

Buy M&M for target of Rs 810: Arihant

Economic Times - ‎Jul 20, 2009‎

"On the daily charts, M&M is in buy on RSI and its 14-days RSI is currently at 60 (above 50 is consider to be in strong hands). ...

Second merit list postponed

Daily News & Analysis - Priya Ramachandran - ‎Jul 24, 2009‎

I am just waiting to get my daughter's admission behind me. But the nightmare seems to be never ending," said Arihant Dwivedi, a resident of Malad.

Second merit list postponed to Sunday Times of India

all 3 news articles »

Sensex pares gains; banks, oil&gas weigh

Economic Times - ‎Jul 23, 2009‎

MUMBAI: Indian markets gave away intra-day gains and were in the negative terrain as traders booked profits at higher levels. Selling was seen in banks, ...

BSE Sensex Ends Down 1.5% Wall Street Journal

Sensex slips in red; IT, capital goods down Economic Times

Stocks gain momentum; auto, realty surge Economic Times

all 530 news articles »

Momento 24

India launches nuclear submarine

Momento 24 - ‎13 hours ago‎

Launching the INS Arihant, Mr Singh said India had no aggressive designs on anyone. Tthe launching of the Arihant is a clear sign that India is looking to ...

Buy Cipla for target of Rs 280-285: Arihant

Economic Times - ‎Jul 13, 2009‎

On the daily charts, the stock is in buy on RSI and its 14-days RSI is currently at 70 (above 50 is consider to be in strong hands). ...

BOM:500087

Sensex off highs; Sun Pharma, Bharti down

Economic Times - ‎Jul 23, 2009‎

Where as Nifty has support at 4390-4370-4350 and below 4350 we may see more selling pressure taking it down to 4330," said Arihant Capital Markets. ...

Sensex Ends Up 1%; Gains 4.3% in Week

Wall Street Journal - Shikhar Balwani - ‎Jul 24, 2009‎

Anita Gandhi, head of institutional business at Arihant Capital markets, said Indian shares could be volatile next week given the expiry of the current ...

Hindu

Traders' mood doesn't reflect Sensex sharp gains

Hindu Business Line - ‎Jul 14, 2009‎

It usually indicates speculative activity," said Ms. Anita Gandhi, head of institutional business at Arihant Capital Markets. There was some speculation of ...

BSE Sensex Ends Flat Wall Street Journal

all 486 news articles »

BOM:500510

Hindu Business Line

Last-hour selling sinks Sensex

Hindu Business Line - ‎Jul 10, 2009‎

... the stock which enjoys the highest weightage in the Sensex, said Ms Anita Gandhi, Head of Institutional Business at Arihant Capital Market. ...

Positive IIP fails to cheer Sensex Economic Times

India Shrs End Near 2-Month Low; Reliance Industries Falls 4% Wall Street Journal

all 165 news articles »

BOM:500390

US Praises Indian Nuclear Monitoring Deal

Global Security Newswire - ‎Jul 23, 2009‎

The Arihant is expected to be deployed with nuclear weapons within three years (Emirates News Agency/Khaleej Times, July 22).

India to unveil its first Nuclear Submarine on July 26 Khaleej Times

all 107 news articles »

Samsung India opens flagship store in Hyderabad

TelecomTiger - ‎Jul 1, 2009‎

Samsung Electronics today announced the opening if its first IT Brandshop at Arihant Arcade, Ameerpet in Hyderabad. The shop will showcase Samsung's entire ...

Stay up to date on these results:

Jackson penned 'Billie Jean' in three minutes
27 Jul 2009, 2324 hrs IST

Late pop legend Michael Jackson wrote his chart-busting classic "Billie Jean" in just three minutes.

Government seeking report on attack on Indian journo: Ravi
27 Jul 2009, 2318 hrs IST

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister is in touch with the Indian high commission in Australia for a report on the incident. Full coverage: Indians attacked in Australia

All News headlines >>

News By Company

News By Industry

Economy

International Business

Politics/Nation