Cbi Completes Investigation Of Two Defence Contracts

The other two cases under CBI investigation pertain to the Bofors and the HDW submarine deal.

Defence allocation: The finance minister provided Rs 27,819 crore for defence in the budget for 1996-97 as against the projected requirement of Rs 31925.61 crore by the defence ministry, Somu said.

The requirement of funds is projected by the defence ministry to the ministry of finance, which decides on the actual allocation for the year, keeping in view the overall availability of national resources, national security and the requirements of different sectors.

The minister denied that the issue of huge expenditure incurred by the neighbouring countries on defence was being ignored by the government.

 

Having regard to the developments in the neighbouring countries, all efforts are being made to equip the army with the required equipment and weapon systems to meet the security concerns.

Pak missiles: Acquisition of nuc-lear missiles by Pakistan is a matter of grave concern for India and the government is taking all necessary steps to safeguard the security of the nation, the Lok Sabha was informed yesterday.

External affairs minister I K Gujaral told M Nayak in a written reply that our concern regarding Pakistani

acquisition of nuclear-capable missiles have also been conveyed to the concerned countries.

High-risk airfields: Ten Indian Air Force airfields have been identified as high-risk bird areas by the inter-ministerial joint sub committee, minister of state for defence N V N Somu said.

During the last three financial years, at least nine serious aircraft accidents had taken place due to bird strike.

However, the cost of damage due to bird hits vary depending upon the type of aircraft lost or repaired.

Steps have been taken by the ministries of agriculture, urban affairs and the state government concerned for modernisation of slaughter houses, carcass utilisation centres and for sanitation of areas around bird-prone airfields to reduce bird activities.

Privatisation: Over 300 small-scale units have been added to the list of registered suppliers of defence equipment, following a time-bound action plan initiated by the defence ministry, Somu said.

During the last three years, in the field of ab-initio indigenous development of defence equipment of spares, the contribution from private sector has been around 80 per cent item-wise or 68 per cent in terms of value.

Court martial: A total of 5,013 cases of court martial occurred in the armed forces between 1993 and 1995, Somu said.

Karakoram highway: India yesterday reiterated that the Karakoram highway linking Pakistan and China impinged upon the national security and the reported upgradation of the highway would not confer any right on legal authority on Pakistan, external affairs minister I K Gujaral told Pinaki Misra and others.

The highway involved the use of Indian territory in Pak-Occupied Kashmir, Gujaral said, adding that the highway could be used for military purposes and the government was monitoring all developments having a bearing on national security.

Fishermen: A total of 171 Indian fishermen were released and repatriated from Pakistan in the last three years, Gujaral said, adding talks were essential to address legal and administrative issues concerning the modalities of exchange.

The Indian high commission in Islamabad was regularly pursuing the issues with the authorities concerned, he added.

Haj pilgrims: A total of 279 Haj pilgrims lost their lives between 1994 and 1996, Gujaral said, adding that no request for transportation of bodies to India has been made so far as it was a practice to bury the deceased pilgrims at Makkah-Madina.

Visa policy: In reply to another question, human resource development minister S R Bommai said India favoured a liberal visa policy for Pakistani nationals but, regretted that Islamabad was following restrictive visa regime for all Indian nationals visiting Pakistan.

Underlining the need for greater people-to-people contact, including cultural exchan-ges, would help promote better understanding between the two countries, Bommai expressed the hope that Pakistan would take measures to facilitate people-to-people contact and cultural exchanges.

Water supply schemes: The government is considering certain schemes to augment the water supply in Delhi, minister for water resources Janeshwar Mishra said yesterday.

Responding to supplementaries during question hour, the minister said in this respect two schemes were being worked out for the capital, one at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and another at the Indian Institute of Technology.

The minister said it was true that the ground water level in Delhi was declining.

Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party drew the government's attention to the plight of south Delhi residents, who were facing drinking water problem.