One FIR, Government blacklists 7 firms, hits artillery upgrade

Having already taken a knocking with the controversies involving Bofors and Denel, India’s artillery modernisation programme hit another roadblock when the Ministry of Defence, taking note of bribery allegations in a fresh case, blacklisted seven firms, including gun manufacturer Singapore Technologies (ST) and munitions giant Israeli Military Industries (IMI) until further notice.

With all dealings with the two firms put on hold, defence contracts worth over Rs 6,000 crore — all involving artillery guns and ammunition for the Army — are now in deep freeze.

Confirming a report in The Indian Express, the Ministry of Defence said “all acquisition cases in the pipeline” with seven firms have been “put on hold” after their names figured in a CBI probe into corruption charges against former Director General of Ordnance Factory Board Sudipta Ghosh.

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Month after United States sanctions,disgraced A Q Khan is free

Pakistan’s disgraced scientist A Q Khan, accused of running a clandestine nuclear proliferation ring, was today declared a free citizen by a court here amid reports of a secret pact with the government, five years after being placed under house arrest.

Shortly after the Islamabad High Court announced its order, 72-year-old Khan, wanted for questioning by US and other investigators,said he was“not obliged”to answer to any foreigner or anybody, except his government.

Relief for Khan, considered as the father of the country’s atomic bomb, came from the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court Sardar Mohd Aslam who said the scientist was a free citizen subject to certain security measures. “The petitioner (Khan) is a free citizen,” the judge said while disposing off a petition after hearing counsels for the government and the scientist in a closed-door session.

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Reserve Bank of India scotches ICICI Bank rumours, Government says don’t panic, we are watching

Finance Minister P Chidambaram and regulators, SEBI and the RBI stepped in to soothe financial markets today after the benchmark Sensex plunged 442 points or 3.5 per cent to its lowest levels in two years and panic gripped ICICI Bank customers who queued up outside ATMs in certain cities to withdraw deposits. Their assurances helped and the market closed 2.1 per cent up at 12,860 points.

Barely minutes after the market opened sharply lower, SEBI chairman CB Bhave who was in Delhi allayed fears of the impact of the global credit crisis on the Indian markets. “There is no panic... we are monitoring the situation closely. We will take the severest action against any institution circumventing our short-selling rules,” he told reporters before his meeting with the Finance Minister and other officials in North Block.

After a meeting with Bhave and economic affairs secretary Ashok Chawla, Chidambaram said, “We are suffering the consequences of turbulence around the world. Basically, the Indian market is a sound, attractive and well-regulated market.”

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To clear Mamata’s block, Buddha may hike land rate

Underlining that he was committed to the reforms that he has been pushing in his state, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee indicated here today that he’s ready with an economic “package” for those farmers of Singur whose refusal to accept land compensation has put a cloud over the Tata Motors’ Nano plant.

“There are some genuine farmers who still do not want to give their land,” Bhattacharjee told members of Assocham and local chambers. “The government has a moral responsibility for them. The government is ready with a package for them and we are ready to discuss that package.”

Sources said the “package” would include enhanced financial compensation for Singur farmers. It would benefit all land losers those who have accepted their compensation cheques and those who haven’t and is said to cost an extra Rs 30-40 crore. Bhattacharjee said the government had deposited the unclaimed compensation amount estimated at about Rs 28 crore with the Calcutta High Court.

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Is it end-deal?

What the Congress kept delaying finally happened today: its moment of reckoning has come, after the Left made it clear it would not let the Government go to Vienna to confirm the safeguards agreement, the key first piece in the operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The party’s top brass went into a huddle at 10, Janpath faced with perhaps the toughest choice since they took charge four years ago: give in to the Left and freeze the Indo-US nuclear deal to keep the government alive and a line with the Left open in an election year or seize the historic opportunity and stamp the party’s commitment to the “national interest.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who spoke to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the phone, was learnt to have argued in favour of going ahead with the deal after the Left issued a statement that it was of the “firm opinion” that “the government should not proceed to seek approval of the text of the India-specific safeguards agreement from the Board of Directors of the IAEA.”

This Left statement came a few hours after the government deferred today’s UPA-Left meeting to June 25 as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s discussions with CPM general secretary Prakash Karat on Monday and Tuesday failed to make any headway. The Left also said it did not get the full text of the agreement.

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Post-Fidel Cuba sending biggest team with a shopping list

As President Raul Castro's Cuba allows computers and cellphones as it steps towards economic reforms, the biggest-ever Cuban trade delegation will be landing in India next week to talk business and strike deals to buy computers, television sets, refrigerators, medicines and food.

The delegation is likely to meet Commerce minister Kamal Nath, Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Minister of State (ExternalAffairs) Anand Sharma in the government and representatives of the Tata group, Exim Bank, CII, ITPO, State Trading Corporation and members of trade organisations during its 10-day visit.

Led by Cuba's Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Eduardo Antonio Escandell Amador, the 26-member delegation will comprise officials and business leaders from Cuba. Cuba's ambassador to India, Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos, told The Indian Express, "This is the largest business delegation from Cuba in the history of India- Cuba relations, coming from both government and private sectors, which is coming here to look for business partners and suppliers of a whole range of products. Time is ripe for bilateral ties and trade to take a leap."

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