French elections: Macron seems to be cruising to victory
The Dollar Business Bureau In tune with the current global trend, two unlikely choices for political leadership have emerged from the first round of French elections held on April 23, 2017. The traditional socialist and republican parties took a beating as Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron will battle out the final round on May 7, 2017. While Emmanuel Macron, a new face on France's political scene, secured the maximum number of votes in the first round of French elections (23.8%); Marine Le Pen, the voice of rising protectionism, came second with 21.5% votes. Francois Fillon and Jean-Luc Melenchon, representatives of the centre-right and socialist ideologies, traditionally at the forefront of politics in France, were trailing behind in the vote count. The all-time low approval ratings of current President Francois ...
Rafale: India, France ink IGA, to sort out financial aspects
Source: PTI India and France on Monday inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on the sale of 36 French fighter jets, Rafale, but were unable to sign the final deal due to some “financial” aspects, which are expected to be sorted out in “couple of days”. This agreement was among the 14 pacts signed between the two countries after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Francois Hollande which focused ways to enhance cooperation in counter- terrorism, security and civil nuclear energy. “...Leaving out financial aspect, India and France have signed Inter-Governmental Agreement on purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets. We expect that even the financial aspects pertaining to purchase of Rafale jets will be resolved as ...
