Nirmala Sitharaman defends defence procurement process JD(U) suspends absconding former Min Manju Verma Two militants held in J&K’S Poonch district part of LET module, says SSP
NEW DELHI: Defence procurement has been simplified and is happening speedily but with “due diligence intact”, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday amid a raging row over the Rafale fighter jet deal with France.
Addressing domestic defence equipment manufacturers, Sitharaman said they have to convince the armed forces of the quality, purpose, usefulness and the relevance of their product.
The minister said she cannot compel armed forces to buy equipment from them and it was up to the domestic companies to convince the forces that their product was “good enough”.
“The armed forces who actually use the equipment should be convinced. It is not necessary that the armed forces will have to be bound by me or forced by me or compelled by me to buy it (from an Indian company)... I cannot say that to them.
“I have to work to make sure that their operational preparedness is in no way curbed,” she said at the ‘Indian Defence Conclave 2018’ organised by the Defence Innovators and Industry Association.
The minister also lauded her Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during the Indian Defence Conclave in New Delhi on Thursday
predecessors Manohar Parikkar and Arun Jaitley, saying they had not only simplified defence procedure but also ensured transparency.
Steps were taken to make the procurement procedure less cumbersome, she noted.
“Procurement has simplified. Procurement is happening with due diligence intact, but it is happening speedily,” the defence minister said.
Her comments come in the wake of the controversy over the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale deal with the opposition, primarily the Congress, alleging corruption and demanding that the price details be made public.
The government has vehemently denied the charges of corruption and said any disclosure of price would be violation of the secrecy clause and would give an advantage to adversaries.
Sitharaman also urged defence manufacturers to get PATNA: The JD(U) said Thursday it has suspended former Bihar minister Manju Verma, facing arrest under the arms act following recovery of ammunition from her home during a CBI raid in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal.
JD(U) state president Vashishtha Narayan Singh said the party suspended the absconding leader from its primary membership on November 10 in keeping with the policy of zero tolerance for crime and corruption. “We have always taken a tough stance whenever any member of our party is found to be involved in any criminal or corruption case. Nothing new in that,” he said.
Singh was replying to queries about Verma, a two-time MLA from Cheria Bariarpur constituency in Begusarai district, evading arrest despite an arrest warrant and warnings issued by the Supreme Court to surrender.
Verma had stepped down as social welfare minister in August after media reports indicated close links between her husband Chandrashekhar Verma and prime accused in the sex scandal case Brajesh Thakur.
A few days later, the CBI raided her Patna residence besides her in-laws home at Cheria Bariarpur from where a cache of ammunition was seized. A case was then registered against her.
She moved an application for anticipatory bail before a Begusarai court which was turned down and a similar plea was rejected by the Patna High Court. Her husband surrendered before a Begusarai court on October 29.
The Supreme Court ear
lier this week rapped the Bihar police for failing to arrest the former minister and directed the DGP to appear before it inperson on November 27 if she was not nabbed by then.
Police are conducting raids in Bihar and Jharkhand for her arrest. Over 30 girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at a Muzaffarpur shelter home and the issue was first high
lighted in an audit report submitted by the TISS to the social welfare department of Bihar government. JAMMU: Two militants, who were arrested from Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, were part of Lashkar-e-taiba (LET) module and had come to the town to ferry weapons to the Kashmir Valley, a senior police officer said on Thursday.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Poonch, Rajiv Pandey said a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) was formed to probe the case.
Auqib Ahmad Bhat and Shabir Ahmad Dar, both hailing from Pulwama district of south Kashmir, were arrested during a joint operation by police and the Army in Mendhar area of the border district on Wednesday.
Two AK-56 rifles, two magazines, 60 rounds and four hand grenades were seized from their possession.
“Prima facie, it was established that they were part of LET module and were assigned the task to shift weapons from Poonch to the Kashmir Valley,” the SSP told reporters.
Presenting the arrested persons before the media persons, he said preliminary investigations revealed that they were not in the district to carry out any terror activity.