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Hospital infections kill more Americans each year than AIDS, car accidents and breast cancer combined -- and researchers are searching for solutions. This week, a study of 153 Veterans Affairs hospitals shows that doing a simple swab test to identify and isolate the few patients carrying infection-causing bacteria can save lives. It's called screening, but even more important is cleaning. Studies are rolling in that hospitals need to be cleaner. In fact, if you're visiting a friend or relative in the hospital, don't bring flowers or candy -- take gloves and a canister of bleach wipes. Hospitals do an inadequate...

India has told the United States that it will not be buying American for its $10-billion fighter aircraft deal. This more or less leaves the Eurofighter Typhoon and the French Rafale as the only remaining contenders for the deal. The two US contenders, Boeing and Lockheed, received formal letters fr om the Indian Ministry of Defence as to why their respective aircraft, the F/A-18 Superhornet and the F-16 Superviper, did not fulfil the technical requirements of Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft contract, said US and Indian sources. Defence Minister AK Antony has been signaling privately for weeks that the Indian Air...

Battle royale for India's MMRCA crown By Greg Waldron An air show on the scale of next week's Aero India is bound to throw up surprises, but one certainty is a massive push by the six contenders in India's pivotal medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition. Delegations from Boeing, Dassault, Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin, RSK MiG and Saab will number in the dozens, if not hundreds, and no expense will be spared on chalets, booths, flight simulators and pricey flight demonstrations. It is hard to overstate the importance of the $10 billion MMRCA competition. With an order of 126 fighters on...

Dogfight! India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Decision Ashley J. Tellis Carnegie Report, January 2011 The Indian air force (IAF) is entering the final stages of selecting a new medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA). At a cost of about $10 billion for 126 aircraft, the MMRCA competition is the largest Indian fighter tender in years. Eight countries and six companies eagerly await the outcome of the selection process, which has garnered high-profile attention for its sheer size, its international political implications, and its impact on the viability of key aircraft manufacturers. Furthermore, the winner will obtain a long and lucrative association...

Shortlisting, Shortly Nov 22, 2010 By Asia-Pacific Staff New Delhi Prospects are increasing that India will sustain four offerings in its $12-billion Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program but soon eliminate the MiG-35 and F‑16IN from the field. The downselect, which industry officials had widely expected would not take place until after February’s Aero India show in Bangalore, could become official as early as next month, program watchers indicate. The actual announcement of the decision, however, is still not expected until after the air show. Remaining in the battle to build at least 126 fighters would be the Saab Gripen,...

UK closes in on $11bn fighter deal The European-made Typhoon fighter is winning the fight for the $11.5bn (£7.1bn) contract to supply 126 fighters to the Indian Air Force in a deal worth $5 billion and 2,000 new jobs to Britain. By Praveen Swami and Dean Nelson Published: 10:00PM GMT 06 Nov 2010 The multi-role combat aircraft, manufactured by a joint venture between Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Alenia Aeronautica and the German-Spanish giant EADS, has come top in the Indian Air Force's technical assessment of rival bids, beating the American F16 and F18s, the Russian MiG 35 and its closest...

US eyes Indian jet deal that could create 27,000 jobs October 16th, 2010 PTI Washington: The Obama administration is eyeing a lucrative multi-billion dollar tender for medium multi-role combat aircraft of Indian Air Force as this has the potential to create a whooping 27,000 jobs in the US. At a time when unemployment rate continues to be at low ebb and the US President, Mr Barack Obama is struggling to create fresh jobs; such a deal bagged by an American company could give him a big political boost. Two major fighter jet manufacturing company – Boeing and Lockheed Martin –...

Air Force gives Gripen fighter a second chance Ajai Shukla / New Delhi April 03, 2010, 0:55 IST Sweden’s futuristic medium fighter, the Gripen NG, has been given a second chance in the $11 billion contest to select a Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has asked Gripen International, which last month failed to send the Gripen NG fighter for trials in India on the dates allotted by the IAF, to send the fighter for trials in the middle of May. Business Standard had reported, on March 9, that Gripen...

The great Indian duel Ajai Shukla / New Delhi August 15, 2009, 0:11 IST Six fighter aircraft are facing off in the world's toughest testing ground. Over the last weeks, two Indian air force aces have busied themselves with what might well be the world’s most expensive video game: sitting at a simulator in the US and learning to fly one of the world’s most advanced fighters, Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet. Trained on the simulator, they were strapped into the real thing, gunning the twin F-414 turbofan engines to hurtle into the sky at speeds touching 2000 kmph. Through the...

India torn between East and West in multi-role combat aircraft contest By Siva Govindasamy At a time when defence budgets are shrinking or money is being diverted towards domestic welfare programmes in the face of a worsening global economic situation, India stands out as an exception. New Delhi has allocated $30 billion until 2012 to modernise its armed forces, and former finance minister P Chidambaram promised when presenting the 2008 budget to India's parliament: "Any further amount that is needed for the defence forces, especially for capital expenditure, will be provided." That was before the global economic crisis became full...

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 India may buy advanced Israeli aircraft By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: India may be buying Israeli-made advanced fighter aircraft, according to Defence News, an online military and defence news portal. In a Tel Aviv-datelined dispatch, it said, “Fighter jets vying for India’s $8 billion Medium-range Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme may have to make room for a late entry: the Israel Air Force F-16I Sufa, or Storm. In an unprecedented move aimed at sharpening its edge over fellow US and international competitors, Lockheed Martin is eyeing the F-16I as a low-cost, high-performance alternative to the French Rafale,...