Congress leader Sheila Dikshit has qualified her headline-making comment describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "man with a vision". Today, she told us: "Vision means nothing if there is no change on the ground."

Mr Modi, she said, was a "good communicator but people have elected him for what he can do for them, not to hear him speak."

The former Kerala governor and three-time chief minister of Delhi was quoted by the Indian Express newspaper this morning as saying that when she met PM Modi in July, she saw a confident man with a vision and a new language.
 "I said when I met him I found him a confident man, a man who had a vision. But I said there was no visibility of the vision. There is talk, yes, everyday a vision is being given to the people, but no action is being taken," Ms Dikshit told us.

"I don't think I have said anything wrong. That was my impression of the man and I stand by it. But what he said five months ago, nothing has come on the ground. Have prices come down? Have all those people whose bank accounts were supposed to have been made public? All these are questions which everybody is beginning to ask," said the 76-year-old Congress veteran.

Ms Dikshit is the second Congress leader after Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor to appear appreciative of PM Modi, who took power in May after his party, the BJP, defeated the Congress-led UPA in the national election.

She sought to draw a distinction between her comments and those of Mr Tharoor, who was dropped as Congress spokesperson for what was seen as his "constant and unnecessary adulation" of PM Modi.

"The context is not same at all....yes he looked confident and seemed to have good vision. But all this vision he comes out with practically every day, every week, has yet to reach the people and unless people feel the vision is touching them, I don't think a vision is a vision," Ms Dikshit toldus.

Europe's Airbus and Tata Sons have bid for a multi-billion dollar contract to replace the Indian Air Force's ageing fleet of AVRO cargo planes, as New Delhi looks to boost the role of the local private sector in modernising its armed forces.

Under the bid, estimated by analysts to be worth at least $2 billion or Rs. 12,200 crore, Airbus' Defence and Space unit and Tata's Advanced Systems would replace the 56 AVRO jets with Airbus' C295 transport planes, the European manufacturer said on Tuesday. 
 Airbus would supply the first 16 planes in "fly away" condition from its own assembly line, while the subsequent 40 would be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems in India.

They would be the first military planes built by an Indian private company on Indian soil, with current manufacturing dominated by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have raised the foreign investment limit in defence since coming to power in May, and are moving to clear a backlog of military equipment orders and close the gap on strategic rival China.

The goverment has said it will prioritise companies which have pledged to manufacture within India.

Indian companies such as Tata, Larsen & Toubro and Mahindra Group are spending billions of dollars to build arms, as they look to win a chunk of the $250 billion that analysts estimate India will spend on defence kit over the next decade.

The government first issued a tender for a foreign supplier and Indian private firm to replace the Avro jets in May 2012, but a lack of interest from potential bidders and ministerial infighting led to a series of delays.

India is trying to replace much of its outdated fleet of military planes. The biggest contract is a $15 billion deal with France's Dassault Aviation to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets, which is still to be finalised.

 
As the government today revealed three names in the Supreme Court in connection with untaxed or black money in foreign accounts, opposition parties alleged that the names had been released selectively to protect powerful people.

Former union minister Salman Khurshid of the Congress said, "Whatever names they have given, if they feel it's right then let them go ahead. We have no issues about the government releasing names. But selective naming should not be done."

The names revealed today are Pradip Burman of the Dabur India group, Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya and five members of Goa-based mining firm Timblo. In its affidavit to the court, the government said they are being prosecuted for tax evasion as unaccounted for money was found in their foreign accounts.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party, said he had revealed the same names two years ago but the government was deliberately shielding powerful people on the black money list.

"We want the government to say whether all the names that we disclosed ear;ier are in the list or not. The list of all foreign account holders should be revealed and there should be uniform action against the guilty, " Mr Kejriwal said.

The government told the court this morning that it has no intention of withholding names and they would be revealed in cases where tax evasion was established.

Earlier, the government had drawn criticism for saying the names could not be revealed as tax treaties with other countries didn't allow it unless charges are framed in court. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had then told us that names would be shared with the Supreme Court as and when investigations were completed and "some names will embarrass the Congress."

The Left questioned why no politicians' names had been revealed in court. "Where are the names that will embarrass the Congress party?" asked CPI leader D Raja.