Friday, November 22
India is negotiating with US to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones at a cost of over USD 3 billion to crank up its overall surveillance apparatus along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and in the Indian Ocean. The MQ-9B drone is a variant of MQ-9 "Reaper" that was reportedly used to fire a modified version of the Hellfire missile which eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul last month. The long-endurance-hunter-killer drones are being procured for the three services as they can carry out a variety of roles including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, over-the-horizon targeting and hitting stationary ground targets.
In press conference, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia on Sunday alleged Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is the "kingpin" of the excise policy "scam" and said handcuffs are getting close to him as nodes of corruption are being un-ravelled. Adesh Gupta The Delhi BJP president, who also addressed the press conference, said, "Delhi's excise policy has proved to be a corrupt one. Arvind Kejriwal is the kingpin of this entire scam." On the AAP's claim that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be a direct fight between Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP spokesperson said everyone knows what happened in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa polls. The public will give the AAP a reply, he said.
