The Modi govt has been handing major defense contracts & technology to a favorite Nagpur-based firm.
What's shocking is that they're doing this despite knowing that the company's explosives were being used by terror group ISIS in Iraq & Syria.
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On 1st Oct, the Modi govt signed a contract worth 409 crores with Economic Explosive Ltd (EEL) to supply 10,00,000 Multi Mode Hand Grenades to the Indian Army.
EEL is a subsidiary of Nagpur-based Solar Industries (an explosive maker with nothing to do with solar energy)
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In 2018, Solar Industries was given a technology transfer by the Ministry of Defense to produce propellant booster for the BrahMos missile.
2 months ago, Solar Ind. cleared DRDO trials to get the technology & make Pinaka artillery rockets for the Indian Army.
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In 2016, Solar Industries signed an MoU with Devendra Fadnavis govt in Maharashtra worth a whopping 1550 crores to manufacture ammunition for the Indian Armed Forces.
In summation, Solar Ind is the Modi's govt's go-to company for major defense contracts & tech transfer.
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Now, here's where it gets VERY murky.
In Feb 2016, European Union commissioned a report from Conflict Armament Research (CAR) to document the explosives left behind by terror group ISIS after ops against them in Iraq & Syria.
The report focussed on IEDs used by ISIS.
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During the siege of Kobane in Syria, Kurdish YPG forces found Indian detonators made by Solar Industries/EEL were being used by ISIS to make IEDs.
These detonators had been exported to the ISIS through shell companies in Turkey and Lebanon which no longer exist.
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Even on the Makhmour front line in Iraq, ISIS was found to be using detonators & other equipment from Solar Industries/EEL to manufacture IEDs.
The report states that it's unclear through which entity Solar Industries exported these to ISIS.
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The report also named other Indian cos. along with Solar Industries/EEL whose explosives were found with ISIS.
Despite this EU-funded report coming out in 2016, NO ACTION/PROBE was ever ordered by Modi govt.
Instead, Solar Ind kept getting more govt. defense contracts.
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- Why did then-RM @nsitharaman never take cognizance of this report & order a probe?
- Why does Solar Ind/EEL continue to get crucial Indian defense technology & contracts despite being ISIS suppliers?
- Why are Nagpur BJP/RSS leaders close to this company's management?
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It is a matter of immense shock and concern that a company with a documented link to terror group ISIS is being given access to crucial Indian defense tech & lucrative govt. defense contracts.
Why is Modi govt compromising our Armed Forces instead of probing this company?
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Source: Link to the EU-funded report by CAR on tracing arms and explosives used by ISIS in Iraq and Syria:
In April, I filed a complaint with Ministry I&B against Arnab Goswami's Republic for communalizing the Palghar incident & openly inciting communal tensions.
His statements were a clear violation of @MIB_India guidelines.
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Goswami made it a Hindu-Muslim issue by saying:
"Would Sonia Gandhi have been quiet if Muslim preachers or Christian saints had been killed instead of Hindu sants?"
Note that NONE of the culprits in the Palghar incident were Muslims.
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Arnab further said:
"Sonia Gandhi is quiet today, but I think she feels happy that Hindu sants were killed in a state where Congress has a stake in the govt. She will send a report to Italy that she is getting Hindu sants killed in Maharashtra."
Personal story of witnessing Dr. Manmohan Singh’s magic & charm:
It was the year 2010. I worked out of Singapore for the Financial Times and I decided to fly down to Kuala Lumpur along with a friend for the weekend.
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Getting out of the airport and into the taxi, we were greeted by a strange sight.
The entire street was decked up with Indian flags.
For a second, we wondered if we’d gotten off the plane into the wrong country.
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Later, a taxi driver said that this welcome had been planned for the visit of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Coincidentally he was landing in the country the same day.
Today I'm going to re-up a VERY MYSTERIOUS incident about an Antonov plane that unauthorizedly entered India last year during Lok Sabha elections from Pakistan, was intercepted & forced to land by IAF, and shockingly cleared by Modi govt.
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On 10th May, 2019 (in the middle of elections), an Antonov AN-12 plane belonging to a Ukranian company called Motor Sich left from Georgia & landed in Karachi.
From Karachi, this plane was shockingly headed to New Delhi (while the airspace was still closed post-Balakot).
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The plane tried to enter India through an unauthorized point over Gujarat.
The plane wouldn't respond to ANY communication from the IAF.
Subsequently, IAF deployed 2 armed Sukhois to intercept the aircraft.
Missile defense systems across North India were activated.
Update on Sambit Patra's illegal MP accommodation:
A latest update from the Rajya Sabha indicates that Sambit Patra has most likely been kicked out/evicted from his illegal MP accommodation.
While the details remain to be confirmed (which I will), here's what happened:
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Patra is alleged to be illegally occupying an MP accommodation at 211, North Avenue.
In an RTI response on 27th July, I was told that 211, North Avenue was allotted to BJP MP Anil Baluni (who heads the party's media cell) for his guest Avinash Rai Khanna (former BJP MP).
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Now, as the RTI shows, Avinash Rai Khanna took over the "guest accommodation" in July 2018 (2 years ago). It is alleged that he had allowed Patra to stay in that house.
Therefore, on 13th August, I wrote to the Rajya Sabha demanding a physical inspection of the house.
Y'day, Rahul Gandhi had asked a question in Lok Sabha regarding the Modi govt's vaccine distribution strategy for Covid-19.
In the govt's long rambling response, two things stand out:
a) no strategy has been developed as of yet
b) no advance procurement agreements signed
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According to the New York Times, a large bulk of vaccines have already been pre-ordered by wealthy countries including the US, EU countries, Australia, & Israel.
This means that middle-income countries will need to wait at least until 2021 for the 1st batch of vaccines.
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For India, we'll be much further down the waterfall. Combine that with an absence of a distribution chain or strategy in a (mainly poor) population of 1.3bn+.
An average Indian won't have a vaccine till 2024 by these estimates even if one is developed by next year.
Another one from Maharashtra here is former DGP Praveen Dixit - a blue eyed boi of Fadnavis.
Fadnavis loves Dixit so much that even after retirement, a new post was created for Dixit to monitor medical supplies purchased by the state govt
No one’s ever reviewed his purchases.
The 3rd signatory from Maharashtra - U.D. Joshi (Ulhas Diwakar Joshi) was alleged by his successor officer to have filed a fake TADA case in 1991 against a Muslim man.
Also, UD Joshi remained DIG for a long time sans promotion based allegedly on his tainted service record.