Our Rafale deal 20% cheaper than what UPA govt negotiated: Arun Jaitley

Clearing the air around the Rafale deal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that the present NDA government has negotiated hard to keep prices down by at least 20 per cent for each aircraft as per 2016 deal, compared to that of the UPA in 2007.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Jaitley underlined the fact that each of these aircraft was coming fully loaded and the deal is government-to-government, without involving anyone in between.

“Can you compare a basic aircraft’s pricing with a loaded aircraft? Can you compare a simple aircraft with a weaponised aircraft?... If in 2012 they had come to an agreement, the first would have been delivered in 2017. From 2007 to 2017 the escalations would have gone up, along with a foreign exchange variation. So there is India specific add-ons and the foreign exchange variants… Is the Congress party aware that if you take the 2007 L1 offer and the escalation clause without the add-ons, the price negotiated in 2015-16 is cheaper?” Jaitley said.

European lab CERN's giant particle-smasher upgraded to boost capacity

A major upgrade began on Friday for the world's most powerful proton smasher to increase the number of particle collisions inside the Large Hadron Collider and help further explore the fundamental building blocks of the universe. The work involves heavy civil engineering at the LHC's two main sites in Switzerland and France which are run by Europe's physics lab CERN, that will allow it to operate in a high-luminosity mode from 2026.

"By 2026, this major upgrade will have considerably improved the performance of the LHC, by increasing the number of collisions in the large experiments and thus boosting the probability of the discovery of new physics phenomena," CERN said. The aim is to increase tenfold the amount of data which can be picked up by the LHC, which is housed in a 27-kilometre ring-shaped tunnel buried more than 100 metres underground that runs beneath the border of Switzerland and France. The powerful accelerator, which began operating in 2010, smashes high-energy protons into each other at velocities near the speed of light.

Donald Trump refuses to sign G-7 statement, snubs Justin Trudeau

President Trump upended two days of global economic diplomacy late Saturday, refusing to sign a joint statement with America’s allies, threatening to escalate his trade war on the country’s neighbours and deriding Canada’s prime minister as “very dishonest and weak.” In a remarkable pair of acrimony-laced tweets from aboard Air Force One as he flew away from the Group of 7 summit toward a meeting with North Korea’s leader, Trump lashed out at Justin Trudeau. 

He accused the prime minister, who hosted the seven-nation gathering, of making false statements. Literally moments after Trudeau’s government proudly released the joint statement, noting it had been agreed to by all seven countries, Trump blew apart the veneer of cordiality that had prevailed throughout the two days of meetings in a resort town on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. “Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our US Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the US Market!” Trump wrote. A few hours earlier, Trudeau said the seven nations had reached broad agreements on a range of economic and foreign policy goals. But he acknowledged that deep disagreements remained between Trump and the leaders of the other nations, especially on trade.

Trade war: France warns Donald Trump it won't sign a G-7 statement

France has joined Germany to warn President Donald Trump that it won’t sign a joint statement of the Group of 7 at the summit in Quebec this week, a French official in the president’s office said. President Emmanuel Macron has signaled that progress on tariffs, Iran nuclear agreement and Paris climate accord must be made before he’ll be willing to sign a joint statement, the official told reporters in Ottawa. 

The French president spent the day meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian officials ahead of the June 8-9 summit in La Malbaie, Quebec. Macron has concluded that the other members of the G7 — the UK, Germany, Japan, France, Italy and Canada — must stand up to the US over Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico.

Airstrikes on Syria, Riyadh-Tehran tension dominate Arab League Summ

Arab leaders -- minus Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- meet in Saudi Arabia for a summit on Sunday as world powers face off over Syria and tensions rise between Riyadh and Tehran.

Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against its regional arch-rival Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.

The two regional titans, locked in proxy wars in Syria and in Saudi Arabia's southern neighbour Yemen, back opposing parties in Iraq and Lebanon.

The summit begins 24 hours after the United States, France and Britain launched controversial air strikes in war-torn Syria in response to a reported regime chemical attack on the decimated rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta last week.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which both voiced support for the strikes, remain locked in a months-long diplomatic standoff, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Iran.

PM Modi woos Varanasi with pro-poor schemes, projects worth Rs 8 bn

With Lok Sabha elections just in a year's time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a slew of schemes for poor and emphasised on harnessing solar energy for cooking.
The PM also flagged off a new train -- Kanshi-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express -- between Varanasi and Patna on the demand of the people from the area.

Overwhlemed by the massive response from the people of his Lok Sabha constituency during his visit, during which he was accompanied by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, Modi said people have given them a wonderful welcome and thanked them for it.
"Seeing this, every household in France will enquire where is Varanasi which gave such a rousing welcome to our President," he said.

He was addressing a public meeting at the DLW Grounds here after winding up his visit to adjoining Mirzapur, where Modi and Macron dedicated a 75-MW solar power plant. Modi also inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of various development projects worth over Rs 8 billion.

Russia summons French envoy over its billionaire senator Kerimov's arrest

Russian billionaire senator Suleyman Kerimov was charged on Thursday with tax fraud in Nice, hours after Moscow protested his arrest in the French Riviera resort.

Kerimov was detained upon arrival at the airport on Monday, where he faced two days of questioning over alleged tax evasion involving the purchase of luxury properties.

He has now been released under strict conditions including handing over his passport and posting bail of five million euros. He also faces restrictions on his movement, state prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre said.

A source close to the probe told AFP that Kerimov was accused of hiding tens of millions of euros from tax authorities while buying a string of properties on the glitzy Riviera through intermediaries.

His detention prompted the Russian government to summon France's deputy ambassador and angry Russian MPs passed a resolution branding the arrest a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, urging Moscow to press for his release.
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On-board computers and sensors could stop the next car or truck-based attack

In the wake of car- and truck-based attacks around the world, most recently in New York City, cities are scrambling to protect busy pedestrian areas and popular events. It’s extremely difficult to prevent vehicles from being used as weapons, but technology can help.

Right now, cities are trying to determine where and how to place statues, spike strip nets and other barriers to protect crowds. Police departments are trying to gather better advance intelligence about potential threats, and training officers to respond – while regular people are seeking advice for surviving vehicle attacks.

These solutions aren’t enough: It’s impractical to put up physical barriers everywhere, and all but impossible to prevent would-be attackers from getting a vehicle. As a researcher of technologies for self-driving vehicles, I see that potential solutions already exist, and are built into many vehicles on the road today. There are, however, ethical questions to weigh about who should control the vehicle – the driver behind the wheel or the computer system that perceives potential danger in the human’s actions.

A computerized solution

Approximately three-fourths of cars and trucks surveyed by Consumer Reports in 2017 have forward-collision detection as either a standard or an optional feature. These vehicles can detect obstacles – including pedestrians – and stop or avoid hitting them. By 2022, emergency braking will be required in all vehicles sold in the U.S.
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Macron warns against 'escalating tensions' over N Korea, urges dialogue

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday warned against an "escalation of tensions" over North Korea amid a growing war of words between Washington and Pyongyang.

In a statement, Macron voiced his "concern at the ballistic and nuclear threat coming from North Korea", saying the international community needed to work to get Pyongyang "resume the path of dialogue without conditions".
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Global warming: Sizzling summer gives southern Europe a taste of the future

Swathes of southern Europe sweltered in a heatwave that has claimed several lives, cost billions in crop damage and is, scientists warned, a foretaste of worse to follow in coming decades.

At least five deaths in Italy and Romania have been attributed to the extreme conditions since the heatwave set in around the start of August.

Unusually high, sometimes unprecedented temperatures, are being recorded across an area spanning much of Spain and Portugal, southern France, Italy, the Balkans and Hungary.

The mercury has regularly risen above 40 degrees Celsius across the affected areas, exacerbating the impact of an extended drought and the lingering impact of a July heatwave which sparked wildfires that claimed 60 lives in Portugal.

Hospital admissions have spiked 15-20 per cent in Italy, where at least three people have died.

Italians longing for the beach have dubbed the hot spell "Lucifero", or Lucifer, after the biblical archangel said to have been condemned forever to the flames of hell.
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WikiLeaks posts 21,000 emails hacked from Emmanuel Macron's campaign team

WikiLeaks on Monday released more than 21,000 emails allegedly hacked from French President Emmanuel Macrons campaign team.

The whistleblowing website released the trove of leaked emails as a searchable archive. It came almost three months after the Macron campaign was hacked on the eve of his election, the Telegraph reported.

The organisation said it had confirmed the 21,075 emails were sent or received by addresses associated with the campaign by checking the "domain keys" used to sign emails. It published a further 50,773 emails it could not verify.

In total, the leak included 71,848 emails, 26,506 attachments and details of 4,493 unique senders, the report said.

The Macron campaign announced that it had been hacked on May 5, just days before his run-off victory over Marine Le Pen.

The Macron campaign had previously blamed Russian interests for the hacking and cybersecurity researchers linked the attack to a group known as APT28 or Fancy Bears, the group believed to have hacked the US Democrats last year and which is often linked to the Kremlin.

Assange's network said the emails had been verified through its DKIM system.
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Air France buys 31% stake in British carrier Virgin Atlantic

Air France has taken a big piece of Britain's second-biggest long-haul airline, Virgin Atlantic.

According to The Independent, the French airline, which also owns KLM of the Netherlands, is to buy a 31 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic for 220m GBP.

It leaves the Virgin Group with just one-fifth of the airline's equity. Delta will keep a 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic.

The airline founded by Sir Richard Branson in 1984 will retain its identity and independence as a British carrier with a UK operating certificate.

Talking about the deal, Sir Richard said, "This is a fantastic opportunity to extend our network and create a stronger customer champion, as well as being extremely beneficial to our people and the Virgin Atlantic brand that our customers love dearly."

The Virgin Atlantic president also wrote a letter to his staff, which read, "We've had to endure a consistently uneven playing field with British Airways keeping a stranglehold on Heathrow slots, enabling it to feed its long-haul operation from a myriad of short-haul flights across the UK and Europe."

Adding, "And now we have Brexit, which before it's even happened, has had a negative effect on the financial performance of both our holiday company and the airline, principally due to the collapse in the value of the pound."
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How electric vehicles could take a bite out of the oil market

When will cars powered by gas-guzzling internal combustion engines become obsolete? Not as soon as it seems, even with the latest automotive news out of Europe.
First, Volvo announced it would begin to phase out the production of cars that run solely on gasoline or diesel by 2019 by only releasing new models that are electric or plug-in hybrids. Then, France and the U.K. declared they would ban sales of gas and diesel-powered cars by 2040. Underscoring this trend is data from Norway, as electric models amounted to 42 percent of Norwegian new car sales in June.

European demand for oil to propel its passenger vehicles has been falling for years. Many experts expect a sharper decline in the years ahead as the shift toward electric vehicles spreads across the world. And that raises questions about whether surging electric vehicle sales will ultimately cause the global oil market, which has grown on average by 1 to 2 percent a year for decades and now totals 96 million barrels per day, to decline after hitting a ceiling.

Energy experts call this concept “peak oil demand.” We are debating when and if this will occur.

A forecast with caveats

The International Energy Agency (IEA), which represents 29 oil-importing industrial countries, produces bellwether forecasts that foresee electric cars phasing in slowly. Its baseline projection envisions 150 million electric vehicles on the world’s roads by 2030, or about 10 percent of all passenger vehicles at that point. In comparison, only two million electric vehicles are operating today – 0.2 percent of the 1.2 billion on the road. The IEA estimates this shift will save nearly two million barrels per day of oil, relative to its business-as-usual projection of the world using at least 70 million barrels of oil per day for transportation by 2040. That consumption level would mark a 30 percent increase from roughly 54 million barrels now.
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ArcelorMittal denies French pollution charge, says 97% residue recycled

Facing allegations of pollution, steel giant ArcelorMittal has said 97 per cent of residues from the Florange site in France are recycled or recovered and its internal probe has concluded that there is no wrong-doing.

The statement comes amid reports by French newspaper The Repulicain Lorrain that the public prosecutor's office in Thionville has opened an investigation into the alleged acid pollution of ArcelorMittal's crassier in Florange of France.

"ArcelorMittal and all of Florange's staff work are in full compliance with our authorisations to operate and store our residues. For the past 10 years, the Florange site has considerably reduced the volume of residues deposited in the storage area and today, 97 per cent of the residues from the site are recycled or recovered," said Eric Niedziela, CEO of ArcelorMittal Atlantique and Lorraine, in a statement.

"Our internal investigation concludes that there is neither fraud nor pollution," Niedziela said.

Announcing the conclusion of the internal investigation, Niedziela stressed: "We take our responsibilities very seriously and continue to work intensively to improve treatment and recovery of our residues to reduce our environmental footprint."

The steelmaker said: "No dumping of pure acid has been done... The acid used for the pickling process is systematically regenerated and reused."

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Dunkirk was victory for morale but ultimately a humiliating military defeat

For Britons, Dunkirk is one of the proudest moments of World War II. The evacuation of 338,226 troops and other personnel from the beaches of northern France – which took place between May 26 and June 4 1940 – was an act of stubborn defiance by a plucky island nation against Hitler’s blitzkrieg. It was a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Yet this was anything but a military success. Quite often we now forget the catastrophic defeat that led to “Operation Dynamo”.

On May 10, 1940, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) – totalling approximately 400,000 at the height of the campaign and commanded by Lord Gort – was deployed in Belgium, alongside its allies, as part of a defensive line against German invasion. But by May 13, German units had pierced French defences and crossed the River Meuse near Sedan, close to the Belgian border in northeast France. Within a week, German panzer divisions had reached the French coast south of Boulogne, trapping the BEF and the French 1st Army in a small pocket around the channel ports, cutting them off from the main Allied force.

The German advance to the English Channel between May 16 and May 21, 1940. The History Department of the United States Military Academy
The British retreat to Dunkirk was controversial. But poor planning, intelligence, leadership, and communications had left the Allies in a desperate situation.

Prime minster Winston Churchill had promised the French that the BEF would play its part in a coordinated counterattack against the German flank. However, Lord Gort was preparing to evacuate his troops, apparently with the blessing of the secretary of state for war, Anthony Eden. To escape annihilation, the BEF staged a fighting retreat to the coast, and rescue plans were hastily made, including appeals for owners of “self-propelled pleasure craft between 30 and 100 feet” to contact the Admiralty.
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Euro zone's June quarter deficit at decade low, Germany widens surplus

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The euro zonE public deficit dropped in the first quarter of the year to its lowest level in nearly a decade, driven by a widening surplus in Germany and despite France's increasing fiscal gap, data released on Thursday showed.

The figures, published by the European Union's statistics office Eurostat, confirmed the improving state of the bloc's public finances, although public debt increased in the first quarter driven by a further expansion of Italy's debt, the second largest in the 19-country currency bloc.

Eurostat said that government deficit in the euro zone dropped to 0.9 per cent of output in the first quarter of the year from 1.1 per cent in the previous quarter, confirming a long-lasting downward trend.

It was the lowest level of public deficit since the last quarter of 2007, when the global financial crisis began hitting euro zone's economies forcing higher public spending to prop up the financial sector.

The fall in the bloc's fiscal gap was helped by Germany's thrift, as the bloc's largest economy further expanded its surplus to 1.5 percent of output in the first quarter from 1.4 percent in the last quarter of 2016, and 0.7 percent in the third quarter of last year.

The widening of the surplus goes against calls on Germany from other euro zone countries and European Union institutions to increase spending and rise wages to help strengthen the bloc's recovery.
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Court rules in favour of Google in 1.1-billion euro French tax bill case

US internet giant Google on Wednesday won a court challenge against demands by French authorities that it pay 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in back taxes.

The Paris administrative court ruled that Google Ireland was not subject to corporate and value-added taxes (VAT) for the period 2005-2010, striking down the tax administration's demands for back payments.

The ruling in favour of Google, now part of Alphabet Inc, followed a court adviser's recommendation that Google did not have a "permanent establishment" or sufficient taxable presence to justify the bill.
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French President Emmanuel Macron marches to parliamentary majority

“Bien joué” – or “well played” – was sprawled across a picture of Emmanuel Macron on the cover of the newspaper Libération the day after he won the French presidential election.

And more congratulations are in order after the first round of the legislative elections. Today’s Libération cover shows Macron resting his chin on what looks like his fist – with the letters OPA, the French acronym for “corporate takeover” sprawled across the picture.

Since Macron founded his party, En Marche!, in April 2016, he has wiped out the French political establishment and captured the imagination of a large segment of the voting public despite a historic abstention rate of 51 percent in the legislative elections.

So what is the basis of Macron’s political allure?

A presidency of the future

At the end of round one of the legislative elections, Macron and his party are on pace to win more than 400 seats out of 577 in the French Parliament. This number of seats is likely to hold, or even increase, in the June 18 second round that French election law mandates in electoral districts where no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

The populist National Front came in third place – and they will get three to five seats, which is well below what party leader Marine Le Pen had hoped for, but more than the two seats that the National Front currently occupies. Le Pen herself seems on track to win a seat in the northern city of Henin-Beaumont during the second round. The National Front’s momentum has slowed, but it is far from gone, and Marine Le Pen is not abdicating her role as a political figure any time soon.

The far left party La France insoumise, or “France Unbowed,” led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, came in fourth place, and the French Socialists dropped to fifth. The Socialists, the party of the last president, Francois Hollande, imploded during this election cycle and may end up with as few as 15 seats. The centre right Republicans are the only former establishment party that is still a plausible political force. They came in second and trailed Macron’s party by 15 percentage points.
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Four reasons why the French parliamentary elections matter

The 2017 French presidential election saw the victory of newcomer Emmanuel Macron. But the French aren’t done voting. Elections for the lower house of French Parliament, the National Assembly, will take place on June 11 and 18.

Here are four reasons you should be keeping an eye on these elections:

No majority, no agenda
First, it can make or break Macron’s agenda of reforming the labor market and bringing back growth to a morose French economy. The French Constitution grants extensive powers to the president. These include, for instance, the authority to dissolve the Parliament and nominate the prime minister (the head of the government), as well as broad control of defense and foreign policy.

But, the president must have the support of a majority in Parliament to govern, pass laws and implement his campaign agenda. Macron would still be able to shape French foreign policy, even without a majority in the Parliament, but he would have limited say over domestic policy.

Unpredictable election
Second, this parliamentary election is unpredictable because of the French voting system.

The parliamentary election includes essentially 577 mini-contests – one for each district that represents an area of France – which take place over two rounds. A candidate can win outright in the first round if he or she receives more than 50 percent of the votes. If no one reaches that threshold, then there is a runoff in the second round with anyone whose score from the first round equaled at least 12.5 percent of registered voters.

Such an electoral system encourages preelection agreements between compatible parties, as well as deals between the two rounds. Thus, an eligible candidate might choose not to contest the second round to ensure the victory of an ally, or to block a rival.

Although the alliance supporting Macron has a very good shot at achieving a majority in Parliament, one cannot rule out two other outcomes that would be unfavorable to the new president. Another party or coalition could win a majority in the Parliament, which would be a major blow to Macron’s domestic agenda. Or, there could be a fragmented outcome, with no party or coalition able to achieve a majority.
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President Emmanuel Macron names Edouard Philippe as French PM

Newly sworn-in French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday named Edouard Philippe, the 46-year-old Mayor of Le Havre city, as his Prime Minister.

Philippe is a member of the centre-right Les Republicains party and is close to Alaine Juppe, the former Prime Minister, reports CNN.

The 39-year-old former investment banker and economy minister was inaugurated on Sunday as the 25th President of France and also the youngest in the nation's history in a ceremony at the Élysee Palace.

Macron is counting on winning votes from centre-right supporters in the legislative elections next month.

His party Le Republique en Marche is scrambling to get 577 candidates together to contest every seat in the country.

Philippe, a lawyer with experience working in the private sector, was born in Rouen and grew up a Left-wing environment.

He was a socialist in his younger days before switching his allegiances to the right.

He has only been a member of Parliament for one term, serving in the National Assembly representing the constituency of Seine-Maritime in Normandy, northern France, since 2012.

He has been Mayor of Le Havre since 2010.

Macron was sworn-in as the President after his landslide victory over far-right National Front leader Marine le Pen, with 66 per cent of the vote in the run-off poll held on May 7.

He is also slated to travel to Germany later on Monday to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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