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.

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.

Macron announces additional 700 mn euros for development of solar energy

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced an additional investment of 700 million euros for global solar energy generation by 2022 to reduce the use of fossil fuel and help combat climate change.

Speaking at the launch of the first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit, Macron called for "joint duties" towards a "planet that we are sharing" and took a dig at his US counterpart Donald Trump who pulled out of the 2015 Paris climate deal.

Macron said the summit to revolutionize the use of the clean energy by generating over 1,000 GW of solar power by 2030 was an outcome of the Paris accord even as "some left the floor" but others decided to act and keep acting.

The French President co-chaired the summit with with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan that was also attended by the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives.

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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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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