CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Dassault and Reliance announced their joint venture and the creation of DRAL on 3 October 2016, barely two weeks after India signed a 7.878 billion euro deal for 36 Rafale jets in a flyaway condition.

Detailed explanation-2: -The five Rafale parts are being manufactured at the Nagpur plant of Dassault Reliance Aerospace. Five Rafale parts being manufactured in the Dassault Reliance Aerospace plant in Nagpur are sent to France to get fitted in all the Rafale jets, not just the Indian ones.

Detailed explanation-3: -Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused Indian prime minister Narendra Modi of dropping the requirement of licensed manufacture by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to ensure that the privately owned Reliance Defence Limited obtained an offset contract from Dassault.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft with long range air to air and air to ground missiles along with advanced radar and electronic warfare capabilities. The French firm Dassault Aviation is also involved in the maintenance of the aircraft whose serviceability is over 75 per cent.

Detailed explanation-5: -The French firm Dassault Aviation is also involved in the maintenance of the aircraft, whose serviceability is over 75 per cent. The Rafale was inducted swiftly into the Indian Air Force at the peak of the conflict with China and had started operating over Ladakh within a week of its arrival in the country.