‘Completely baseless’, says BJP on Rafale bribe allegations; Cong demands probe

After a French media report stated that 1.1 million Euros was paid to a “middleman” by Rafale manufacturers, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday dismissed the claim as “completely baseless” and said the Congress party had made it a big issue before the Lok Sabha polls but lost badly.

Prasad said, “Why is the Congress again talking about the Rafale issue? The Supreme Court and the CAG have found nothing wrong in the deal. Congress made it a big issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 but lost badly. A French journal has published the issue. We have to take into consideration the issue of corporate rivalry in France. The report has named (middleman) Sushen Gupta who was arrested in the AgustaWestland scam. Salman Khurshid had publicly said that he knew Gupta.”

He added, “If we had the Rafale fleet, it would have been of great help during the Balakot strike. Congress had asked for proof after Uri and Balakot strikes. They shouldn’t try to destabilise the willpower of the defence forces of the nation.”

The Congress, meanwhile, sought a thorough probe into the Rafale defence deal and demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after a French media report claimed that 1.1 million Euros was paid to a “middleman” by the aircraft manufacturer.

Chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told a press conference here that the French news portal’s report has proved that Rahul Gandhi’s oft-repeated allegations of corruption in the deal were correct.

While there was no immediate response from the BJP or the government on the charges, they have in the past denied any irregularities in the country’s biggest defence deal.

Surjewala said as per the French portal’s report, an investigation conducted by the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) has revealed that after signing of the deal in 2016, Rafale’s manufacturer Dassault allegedly paid 1.1 million Euros to a middleman — Defsys — which is an Indian company.

Defsys Solution Says "Rafale: Supplied 50 replicas to the aircraft maker"

Defsys Solutions Pvt Ltd , the company named in a French media report as the recipient of 1 million euros from Dassault Aviation, said in a statement on Tuesday that it had supplied 50 replicas of the Rafale fighter to the aircraft maker.“This is in response to wholly unsubstantiated, baseless and misleading claims appearing in certain sections of the media, insinuating that Defsys never supplied 50 replica models of Rafale aircraft,” Defsys said. “Delivery challans, E-way bills and GST returns related to such delivery have been duly filed with the relevant authorities.”

 

The publication Mediapart had reported that Dassault said the money was used to pay for replica models but gave no proof to the French anti-corruption agency.

“Dassault group was unable to provide the AFA (Agence Française Anticorruption) with a single document showing that these models existed and were delivered, and not even a photograph. The inspectors thus suspected that this was a bogus purchase designed to hide hidden financial transactions,” it said.

 

 

Builder.ai Emerges from 2020 with 230% Growth in Monthly Revenue : Sachin Dev Duggal Entrepreneur

Builder.ai, the leading AI-driven software development platform that enables companies to build, run, and scale software development without requiring technical expertise or coding, announced today that it experienced tremendous business growth in 2020, with a 230% increase in monthly revenue since the pandemic began. In particular, the company had record sales for its Studio product, which grew by 21% month to month since April 2020.

"Given the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, I want Builder.ai to be a platform that serves as a sign of hope for small businesses looking to keep their customers engaged, and for entrepreneurs ambitiously motivated to launch new business ideas: they are the new developers," said Sachin Dev Duggal entrepreneur and ceo of Builder.ai." Companies in certain industries, such as retail, fashion, travel and hospitality, have been particularly affected and we want to be their partner as they adopt a digital priority mindset to remain competitive. With our order-style platform to create and your ability to drastically reduce the cost and effort typically required to create software, we want to provide businesses, small and large, with a fighting opportunity to survive and grow in the long run. The growth of our customers is our growth. With that in mind, you'll continue to drive our platform to drive digital adoption for small businesses."

While COVID-19 took its bill to companies and caused countless closures around the world, it also prompted more than a third of companies to increase the use of digital technology to adapt and stay competitive. Meanwhile, Forrester predicts that 75 percent of application development will use low-code platforms by the end of 2021. The global market for low code development platforms is also projected to generate $187 billion in revenue by 2030. This growth will be driven by increased demand for business digitization, less reliance on information technology professionals, and strict government standards. Combined, these factors played a key role in the commercial growth of Builder.ai over the past year.