Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 1: The celebrations of 269th Jayanti of Swami Mirzakak Ji Maharaj popularly known as Kak Saab started at Swami Ji’s Nagrota Asthapan today.
A large number of devotees thronged the Asthapan to participate in the celebrations. Besides, the Bhajan Kirtan and religious discourses a Hawan is also being solminized in the Asthapan. The two -day long Jayanti celebrations will culminate with Puranahuti tomorrow afternoon followed by serving of prashad to devotees.
The function has been organized by Swami Mirzakak Trust Hangalgund headed by Bushan Lal Hangloo.
Swami Ji a mystic saint of medieval period in Kashmir has made many prophesies and one among them was that he forecasted doom of Pathan rule in Kashmir and taking over of the reigns by Maharaja Ranjit Singh a great warrior from Punjab to rid to people of Valley from atrocities of tyrant Pathan governors.
2-day celebrations of Swami Mirzakak Jayanti begin
Baligar appointed HUDCO CMD; Mohanty becomes new DG of DGS&D
NEW DELHI, Jan 1: Senior IAS officers V P Baligar and Satyanarayan Mohanty have been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of HUDCO and Director General of Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals (DGS&D) respectively.
Both Baligar and Mohanty, who are 1980 batch IAS officers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh cadres respectively, have been appointed in the rank and pay of Secretary, a release issued today by Ministry of Personnel said.
T Ramasami, Secretary of Department of Science and Technology, has been given additional charge of the post of Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, with immediate effect for a period of three months or until further orders, it said.
Shaktikanta Das, Secretary of Department of Fertilizers, has been given additional charge of the post of Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.
Das, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, will have the additional charge during the period of absence of leave of Indrajit Pal.
Pal, a 1977 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, is on leave till January 19.
Secretary of Legislative Department, P K Malhotra, has been given additional charge of the post of Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs for a period of three months or till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, the release added. (PTI)
Thakur meets CEC, seeks action against Virbhadra
NEW DELHI, Jan 1: BJP today stepped up its attack on Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on corruption charges and demanded his resignation and also sought Election Commission’s action against him and his wife for “hiding” facts about their incomes in affidavits filed during polls.
Party MP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief Anurag Thakur today met Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and handed over a memorandum demanding action against Singh and his MP wife Pratibha Singh.
“Virbhadra Singh should resign immediately. Let Congress decide on any other candidate for chief ministership. This is the fifth corruption charge against Singh.
“This is also a test for Congress to act against him to prove if it was really serious on the issue of corruption. This will also prove the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, to prove if he means what he has been saying on corruption or is it only double-speak,” Thakur told reporters.
On the memorandum to EC, he said the CEC has been asked to initiate action “as per law against Singh and his wife for hiding certain vital information about his income in the affidavits filed before the EC in last assembly polls and Mandi Lok Sabha bypolls.”
Thakur alleged that Singh neither disclosed the money received from the power company promoter nor did he give details of his wife and children’s shareholding in the power company subsidiary in his affidavit filed before the EC.
He further alleged that his wife Pratibha did not give details of her husband and children’s 3.4 lakh shares owned by her in the power company subsidiary who has benefitted, even as she disclosed other shareholding owned by her. (PTI)
Middle East political scenario
K.N. Pandita
After thirty years of estrangement, suspicions and bouts of acrimony, Iran and the United States have taken a guarded step along the path of mutual understanding. Signing of nuclear deal between the SC 5+1(Germany) and Iran in Geneva on 27th of November 2013 will go down as a historic day of great success of cool and calculated diplomacy as against the rattling of sword to no purpose.
Iran’s bid of producing nuclear device has been the most disconcerting issue dogging the US and its European partners for more than a decade.
Sanctions imposed by the US in 2002 and upgraded in 2005— direct affront to Iran— undoubtedly contributed to the hardening of postures on both sides. Yet their impact on Iranian oil revenue and financial assets should not be underestimated. Iran’s economy was dealt a severe blow.
This argument was pointedly highlighted by the hawks and the powerful Foreign Relations Committee of the US Congress when Secretary of State Kerry defended the nuclear deal in his briefing.
Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, too, towed the same line arguing that more sanctions would have yielded the desired result of Iran making more concessions than what she has made or even agreeing to call a total halt to her nuclear weapon programme.
Defending the deal, Kerry told the Congressional Committee that it took US ten long years to secretly hammer out the deal with Iranians and that it was a sensitive diplomatic effort.
November 1979 sack of US embassy in Teheran and a year later, decade-long war with Iraq isolated Iran even though ouster of the Shah and defence of Iran against Saddam had popularized the theocratic regime in its early days. With the passage of time, the clerics came to the conclusion that to deter regional and super power aggression and guard against the dismissal of the regime, the way out was that Iran develops nuclear capability. However, well-informed sources believe and assert that from the very beginning, viz. 2002; Iran has been seeking nuclear technology but not the nuclear bomb. We will come to it later.
Nevertheless, during their secret negotiations in Oman, the Big Five plus one had insisted on controlling nuclear activities at the Arak reactor where heavy water facility has been made available for enrichment of uranium at Natanz.
Soon after signing the deal, the contentious issue of whether Iran reserved the right to upgrade her nuclear technology to the extent of producing nuclear warhead or not is hotly debated in political circles. Obviously, what the Iranian nuclear expert Salahi and Secretary John Kerry said on the subject has been interpreted by observers as the stuff for public consumption. It cannot be that casual.
On Iranian side, the victory of President Hassan Rouhani — a moderate cleric with far deeper understanding of western sensitivity —-, indicated civil society’s inclination for shift from hardliner posturing of his predecessor Ahmadi Nejad, whose vitriolic against Israel had degenerated into mockery, to positive realpolitik.
That the clerical regime would not move beyond acquiring the technology to making the bomb can be substantiated as this: (a) it would invite quick and coordinated air strikes (b) lead to regional nuclear arms race obliterating Iran’s primacy in the region, and (c) lead to total multilateral trade embargo on Iran. But more importantly, that would mean ouster of clerical regime which they want to protect at any cost.
Therefore the question is whether Iran’s readiness to sign the deal now means that she has reached the final stage of technical capability of producing the bomb. The simple answer is yes she has (with 18000 operational and 1000 upgraded centrifuges still in her nuclear kitty). But it is rather difficult to accept the pontificating that Iran might have even tested nuclear weapon if the deal was delayed by a few weeks more. US’ insistence on Iran halting heavy water plant programme at Arak nuclear reactor has to be understood in the totality of the concept of de-nuclearizing deal.
On economic front, the US, by virtue of 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) cut off third party investment in Iran by threatening expulsion from the US market. More importantly, 2005 financial and banking sanctions imposed ban on U-turn dollars flow to Iran. US achieved the objectives of cutting off Iran from international financial system, reducing flow of foreign exchange into Iran and pressurizing Iran currency downwards. After 2012, Iran oil exports were reduced by 50 per cent.
The nuclear deal allows Iran recovery from marginally lifted ban on oil exports to the tune of 7 billion US dollars. But the continuing sanctions deprive her of 30 billion dollars she would have made out of normal oil exports. About 100 million US dollars that Iran earned from third party sale of oil remain frozen in US banks.
These are the compulsions for President Rouhani to avert escalation of crisis, economic as well as political, and redraw the roadmap for Iran in her relations with the US and European countries. Concessions given to Iran under the interim nuclear deal do not match the gains she has conceded. Furthermore, riders are set for testing Iran’s sincerity and commitment.
A crucial dimension of the deal is its impact on region and international level. Saudi Arabia and Israel both have derided the deal but for different reasons. Saudi Arabia apprehends a blow to her pre-eminent position in the Middle East and her influence in the Muslim world. Hence she has been heard talking of “new defence doctrine”, which sounds hollow. Her chagrin is that she has been kept uninformed of the deal. This reflects subtler part of US’ revised Middle East policy. Is Saudi Arabia on the verge of losing her primordial political clout in regional strategies? It is pertinent to remember that Washington’s sustained support to monarchical regime has lately come under criticism in many western circles. The former Saudi intelligence Chief Prince Turki, whose close association with CIA and ISI goes to the heydays days of Afghan Mujahideen, had told his America counterpart that a deal with Iran should be the option.
As far as Israel is concerned, Iran’s anti-Israel stance owes more to Iran-Saudi rivalry for leadership of Islamic world and the Middle East than any real clash of interests. Iran has been cashing on Saudi and other Islamic countries’ (like Pakistan, Egypt and Yemen) soft paddling on Israel-Palestine conflict and unwilling to call off US’ leverage with Israel. With Iraq decimated, Iran reined in and Saudi Arabia already in cahoots with US-Middle East lobby, chances for Israel to become target of Islamic bomb will recede with the nuclear deal with Iran stabilizing. This is Washington’s perception.
In the process, India and Pakistan both will be gainers for now they can refresh their quest for Iranian gas and the proposed IPI pipeline that had to be put on hold because of opposition by Washington. For Pakistan the additional advantage is that she retains her position as the only Sunni Muslim country with a nuclear bomb in the basement while the Shia nuclear bomb has received battering for the time being. India can now wriggle out of shackles that denied her chances of a fair and just energy deal with Iran all these years of Iran-US acrimony. Chastened Iran can be instrumental in ushering in new concept of trade as the lynchpin in bilateral and multilateral relations in the Middle East. Anti-Israel rhetoric must now end in Iran because the days of sensitized politics in Iran are over. Iran has a role to play and she ought not to spoil her chances.
Migrant labourer dies under mysterious circumstances
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 1: A migrant labourer was found dead under mysterious circumstances near Sidhra bridge.
As per reports, migrant labourer identified as Khait Singh, son of Dhuki Ram of Chattisgarh was found unconscious near Sidhra bridge.
He was shifted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), where doctors pronounced him as brought dead.
The body will be handed over to family members for last rites after completing legal formalities.
Police has registered a case at Sidhra Police Post and started investigation.
New Year celebrations marked by twin blasts in Manipur
IMPHAL, Jan 1: Twin blasts took place around 0630 hrs at Singjamei in Manipur today.
According to police reports, no one was injured in the blast which occurred around 0630 hrs. Both the blasts occurred one after another at Singjamei.
One of the bombs was planted near Manipur College gate. Police suspected that both the bombs were planted by the same group. It was not yet known who planted the bomb, said sources.
Police rushed in and surveyed the area. The area was thoroughly searched. There was panic in the city. The blast, however, did not deter people from coming out and celebrating the New Year.
Governor V K Duggal and Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh and others extended New Year greetings.
Mr Duggal said, ‘New Year is for making new resolutions. As we enter 2014 let us all resolve to work together for creating harmony and perfect peace in all parts of Manipur during the coming year’.
Mr Singh said, ‘The New Year gives us an opportunity to make a fresh and renewed beginning to all our resolves to work for the individual as well as collective well-being. On this joyous occasion, let us resolve collectively to dedicate ourselves to building a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous Manipur.’ (UNI)
Hillary memoir, books on Modi, Manmohan highlights of 2014
NEW DELHI, Jan 1: Biographies of Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi, Hillary Clinton’s memoir, another novel from the indomitable Jeffrey Archer and a retelling of the Aarushi murder are some of the major titles that booklovers can look forward to this year.
In the sports segment, prominent books will be autobiographies by tennis stars Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi (both HarperCollins) and a book on Pakistan cricket “Wounded Tiger: The History of Cricket in Pakistan” by Peter Oborne (Simon & Schuster).
Besides there will be several books on a bevy of subjects like health and fitness, motivation and self help, young adult fiction, cuisines and entertainment.
“The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh” by one of his closest aides Sanjaya Baru will be published by Penguin India in March. In his account, the former media adviser of Singh tells his story of what it was like to ‘manage’ public opinion for the prime minister while giving us a riveting look at Indian politics as it happened behind the scenes.
HarperCollins will also publish a biography of President Pranab Mukherjee by Jayanta Ghosal.
Simon & Schuster’s big title will be Hillary’s memoir in which she will share key decisions and experiences as Secretary of State and her ideas for how the US can address the challenges of a dramatically changing world in the 21st century.
“We couldn’t be happier to continue our long association with Secretary Clinton and to bring readers worldwide her unique insights into the most dramatic events and critically important issues of our time,” says Carolyn Reidy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
“This will be the ultimate book for people who are interested in world affairs and America’s place in the world today,” adds Jonathan Karp, President and Publisher of the Simon & Schuster Publishing Group.
The year will also see a couple of books on Modi to be brought out by HarperCollins – “Modi and Godhra: The Fiction of Fact-finding” by Manoj Mitta and “Narendra Modi” by Ramesh Menon. There will also be book on Nitish Kumar (by HarperCollins) – “Single Man: Nitish Kumar of Bihar” by journalist Sankarshan Thakur.
A retelling of the Aarushi murder (Penguin) by journalist Avirook Sen will be another anticipated book this year. Sen, who followed the court case and interviewed key players among investigators, lawyers, family and Aarushi’s friends, tries to answer the biggest question of all – who murdered the 14-year-old.
Pan Macmillan India’s major title is Archer’s fourth spellbinding book in his epic “Clifton Chronicles series 1957” – “As Be Careful What You Wish For”.
Other titles from the publishing house include “Big Bad Wolf” by Nele Heuhaus; “Memoir, an electrifying memoir by blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng who inspired millions with his fight for justice, and his belief in the cause of freedom; “The Target”, “The Finisher” and “King and Maxwell” by David Baldacci; “In the Light of What we Know” by Zia Haider Rahman; “Want you Dead” by Peter James; “Dead Letter Drop” by Peter James; “Burial Rites” by Hannah Kent and “Vicious Circle” by Wilbur Smith.
Westland’s titles for 2014 include “Why I Write: Essays” by Sadat Hasan Manto (Translated by Aakar Patel), “India Uninc” by Prof R Vaidyanathan, “Take Me Home” by Rashmi Bansal, “Butchers of Banaras” by Mahendra Jakhar, “Kamasutra Diaries” by Sally Howard, “Post-Haste: A History of India Through Stamps” by B G Verghese and “Making of Exile: Sindhis & Partition” by Nandita Bhavnani.
Simon & Schuster will also publish “The Farm” by Tom Rob Smith, “A Short Guide to a Long Life” By David B Agus, ” A Thousand Shards of Glass” By Michael Katakis and “Gold: The Race for the World’s Most Seductive Metal” By Matthew Hart.
HarperCollins fiction list includes “Idris: Keeper of the Light” by Anita Nair, “Karachi Raj” by Anis Shivani, “Gulab” by Annie Zaidi, “The Gypsy Goddess” by Meena Kandaswamy, “And Death Came Calling” by Mukul Deva and “Transgressions” by Vaiju Naravane.
In the ‘Mind, Body, Spirit’ section Simon and Schuster will publish Brendon Burchard’s “The Motivation Manifesto: 7 Declarations to Claim Your Personal Power” and HarperCollins a number of titles like “Who Wrote the Bhagavad Gita: A Secular Enquiry into a Sacred Text” by Lord Meghnad Desai, “Indra’s Net: Defining Modern Hinduism and a Vision for its Future” by Rajiv Malhotra and “The Anti-Ageing Book” by Jamuna Pai.
“How to Age” by Anne Karpf; “How to Think about Exercise” by Damon Young; “How to Deal with Adversity” by Christopher Hamilton; How to Create Emotional Health” by Oliver James; “How to be Alone” by Sara Maitland; “Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds” by Carmine Gallo and “The Skeleton Cupboard” by Tanya Byron, in which the author shares powerful stories from her final years of training as a clinical psychologist, will be brought out by Pan Macmillan India.
The books in the Young Adult section include “Manan” by Mohit Parikh (HarperCollins) and “Half Bad” by Sally Green, “The Blood of Olympus” by Rick Riordan and “Mortal Instruments 6: City of Heavenly Fire” by Cassandra Clare (all Penguin).
According to Hemali Sodhi, vice president (Marketing and Corporate Communications) of Penguin Group India, Penguin enters 2014 “stronger than ever, with a very exciting publishing line up both of our Indian lists, and international lists we represent”.
The publishing house’s other titles include “Noontide Toll”, an extraordinary portrait of post-war Sri Lanka grappling with the ghosts of its troubled past, by Romesh Gunsekera, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994; “Family Life” by Akhil Sharma; “Panty” by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay and translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha; “Rebooting Government” by Nandan Nilekani and Viral B Shah; “A Strange Kind of Paradise: India through Foreign Eyes” by Sam Miller.
Penguin’s international titles include “The Last Word” by Hanif Kureishi; “Frog” by Mo Yan; “Runner” by Patrick Lee, “The Strangler Vine” by M J Carter; “Richard Branson: The Man Behind the Mask” by Tom Bower.
Says Karthika V K, publisher and Chief Editor of HarperCollins India, “2013 was a year of some exciting acquisitions that will find their way into bookstores in 2014 – former President A P J Abdul Kalam’s ‘A Manifesto for Change’ and Upamanyu Chatterjee’s novel ‘Fairy Tales at Fifty’ top the list.”
HarperCollins non-fiction titles include “Capital: A Portrait of Twenty-First Century Delhi” by Rana Dasgupta, “Travelling In, Travelling Out: A Book of Unexpected Journeys” by Namita Gokhale, “Indians in a Globalizing World” by Dilip Hiro, “The Connected Age” by Sudhakar Ram and “At the Helm” by V Krishnamurthy, “Get Your Act Together: A Master Class on Becoming an Actor” by Tisca Chopra and “Jagijit Singh: A Musical Biography” by Sathya Saran.
The publishing house also has some books on translations like “Fourteen: Stories that Ray Made into Films” edited and translated by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, “Reserved Seat & Other Stories” by Man Booker 2013 nominee Intizaar Hussain and translated by Rakshanda Jalil, and “The Boatwreck/ Naukadoobi” by Rabindranath Tagore and translated by Arunava Sinha. (PTI)
Can AAP spread its wings?
Amit Kushari IAS Retd
After its grand performance in Delhi Assembly AAP is now eyeing the Lok Sabha seats in the whole of India where elections are due in April 2014. The newly born party was born out of Anna Hazare’s movement for honest administration and it succeeded in winning 28 out of 70 seats in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as the Chief Minister with the external support of the Congress. The biggest party, BJP, with 32 seats was forced to sit out in the cold because it did not get any external support.
All the leaders of AAP are Delhi based people speaking Hindi. They do not have leaders from different parts of India speaking different languages and that is surely a disadvantage for them. They could perhaps penetrate a little bit by moving into Haryana and Western UP…but that is perhaps the maximum that they could do. There is hardly any vacant political space anywhere. The voters of BJP are usually committed, indoctrinated voters and it is unthinkable that many of them would ditch Narendra Modi. Even in Delhi the AAP voters had indicated in large numbers that in Lok Sabha elections they would vote for Narendra Modi as PM. The recent voting pattern indicates that 5 out of the 7 Lok Sabha seats in Delhi would go to BJP and 2 would go to AAP. In actual Lok Sabha elections all the 7 seats could go to BJP since AAP voters would also vote for the lotus symbol. AAP,however may get some Muslim votes in UP because the Muslims there have lost faith in the Samajwadi party, to a large extent and they may not feel confident to vote for the Congress because there is a general perception that Congress is a sinking ship and may not be able to protect Muslims effectively.
As far as non Hindi states are concerned the political space is firmly divided between regional parties and it will be extremely difficult for AAP to gate crash into these areas in the absence of tall leaders from these areas in AAP. Even BJP has so far not succeeded in entering these non Hindi areas, in spite of their best efforts. In Kolkata, AAP took out a procession of young men and women but that procession hardly had four or five hundred volunteers, mostly Hindi speaking settlers from Bihar and Rajasthan. Hardly any Bengali volunteer was seen. Even the name of the party ( Aam Aadmi) does not strike a chord in the heart. Most people think that ‘AAM’ means ‘mango’. Very few people know that in Hindi/Urdu ‘AAM’ means ‘common’. In Bengal I have to explain to many people that this word ‘AAM’ is an urdu word which starts with the alphabet ‘ayen’ and the word ‘aam’ for mango, starts with the alphabet ‘alif’. For the Hindi speaking man it will be very difficult to comprehend this difficulty because the word ‘aam’ is used very frequently for ‘common’ in day to day parlance. If the party had been named ‘Jan Sadharan Party it would have found greater acceptance in non Hindi areas. The name itself makes ‘AAP’ a regional party of north India.
Even in north India there are strong parties like Bahujan Samaj Party which have well defined contours in the political space. It will not be easy for AAP to snatch votes from BSP. They cannot snatch votes from the Akali Dal either, since the Sikhs are solidly with that party. They can only damage Congress votes in Haryana and Punjab and that would only help parties like INLD, Akali Dal and BJP. Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are very strong fortresses of regional parties and AAP simply cannot penetrate into these areas. They could try their luck in Karnataka, however. Kumar Vishwas is going to contest against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. It is doubtful whether he has a good chance of winning. The Gandhi family is too well entrenched in these small pocket boroughs. However one does not know really. David had also killed Goliath. The Congress party and the Gandhi family has real reasons to worry. As if Narendra Modi was not enough, Congress has to face another rival in AAP in quite a few areas of north India.
(The author is former Financial Commissioner Feedback to the author at 09748635185 or amitkus@hotmail.com )
CCEA may take up Mega Power Policy proposal today
NEW DELHI, Jan 1: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is expected to take up tomorrow the Power Ministry’s proposal to amend the Mega Power Policy.
The policy was introduced in November 1995 to provide impetus to the setting up of large power projects and derive benefits from economies of scale.
“The proposal for making changes to the Mega Power Policy may be taken up at tomorrow’s (Cabinet) meeting,” said a source without providing further details.
Thermal power projects of 1,000 MW and hydel plants of 500 MW are eligible for benefits under the policy.
These guidelines were modified in 1998, 2002 and 2006 to encourage power development in Jammu & Kashmir and the North Eastern region.
The projects can tie up electricity sales with distribution utilities through long-term power purchase agreements. They can also sell power outside these agreements, in accordance with the National Electricity Policy 2005 and the Tariff Policy 2006, as amended from time to time.
The benefits of policy also apply to energy-efficient supercritical projects that are awarded through international competitive bidding with the mandatory condition of setting up indigenous manufacturing facilities. (PTI)
Rs 3600 cr VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland scrapped
NEW DELHI, Jan 1: India today cancelled its Rs 3,600 crore deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland for supply of 12 VVIP choppers to the Air Force in view of charges that kickbacks to the tune of Rs 360 crore were paid in it.
The decision to scrap the 2010 deal was taken nearly (rpt) nearly a year after reports surfaced that two top officials of the company had allegedly paid bribes to bag the contract. Former IAF chief S P Tyagi is one of the accused in the case, which is being probed by CBI.
The cancellation came after a meeting between Defence Minister A K Antony with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here earlier in the day, Defence Ministry sources told mediapersons.
The deal was for supply of 12 helicopters for VVIPs and out of these AgustaWestland has already delivered three.
India has now decided to go in for arbitration with the Anglo-Italian firm, Defence Ministry sources said here.
The Government had frozen the contract in February last year for supply of 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF after allegations that Rs 360 crore were paid as bribe. Two top officials of the company were accused and arrested in Italy in this regard.
India had already made 30 per cent payment and further payment was in the pipeline for three more helicopters when the freeze was ordered.
The Defence Ministry had issued two show cause notices to the Anglo-Italian firm during the last ten months. The firm denied any wrongdoings in its response but the Government rejected their contention.
The Defence Ministry had also got access to the documents seized from the alleged middlemen in Italy and they are also expected to have formed the basis for the scrapping of the contract, sources said.
Soon after the Defence Ministry ordered a freeze on the deal months ago, the company had alleged that the India was acting “unilaterally” and invoked arbitration proceedings against it. The Defence Ministry had then refused to be drawn into a legal battle with the company.
The CAG had also highlighted loopholes in the deal.
Soon after the arrest of the firm’s former CEO, Guiseppe Orsi, in Italy in connection with the case, Antony had suspended the payments to be made to it along with the delivery it was due to make to IAF of the remaining nine choppers. (PTI)