Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term.
The senior Congress leader's role has come under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 305 crore.
The Delhi government has given a go-ahead to the city police to prosecute former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others in connection with a four-year-old sedition case, as the ruling AAP denied the persistent BJP charge of blocking the proceedings in the matter.
The ED said that Chidambaram has remained evasive and therefore grant of pre-arrest bail at this stage would be highly detrimental to the investigation.
Higher Plan outlay in the Budget will provide stimulus to the economy and accelerate the growth process, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday. "The Budget for 2009-10 has been prepared with great skill and wisdom with the objective of stimulating the economy and returning to the high growth path," Chidambaram, who is also a former finance minister said in a statement on the Budget.
The court had also directed Chidambaram to cooperate with the investigation in both the cases as and when required.
The former union home and finance minister also alleged that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government would not have taken the bold decision had Jammu and Kashmir been a "Hindu-dominated" state.
With the tablet carefully kept inside a red cover with a golden-coloured national emblem embossed on it instead of the briefcase, Parliament will be her next destination after the call on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Chidambaram said he would count every additional rupee the government infuses into the economy and examine what the poor, hungry and devastated migrant workers get after walking hundreds of kilometres to their home states.
The top court had granted bail to Chidambaram in the case lodged by the CBI saying he is neither a 'flight risk' nor is there a possibility of 'his abscondence from the trial'.
He was produced before the court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea challenging the Delhi high court order which had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in the corruption case lodged by the CBI arising out of the INX Media scam.
The ED told the apex court that during the investigation it found Chidambaram had 11 'immovable properties' and 17 bank accounts abroad and his custodial interrogation was required to unearth the larger conspiracy in the case.
Defending champions CSK face off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, in the season opener on March 22.
The court extended the interim protection granted to Chidambaram and his son, Karti, till December 18.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday visited the site outside the Delhi High Court where a blast left nine persons dead.
These delightful idlis are great for breakfast or nashta.
Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar said the CBI demand was "justified" that Chidambaram has to be further interrogated in its custody.
It is understood that the agency wanted to put a fresh set of questions to him regarding the deal and hence had asked him to appear.
'This is a case of nepotism,' alleges Dr Subramanian Swamy.
Modi had challenge to the opposition to publicly declare that they are prepared to accord Indian citizenship to all Pakistanis.
His son Karti was questioned by the agency in the same case on Thursday for about six hours.
It's one big bowl of crunchy goodness.
The Opposition on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a 'kursi bachao budget' driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states in a bid to 'appease' Bharatiya Janata Party's allies.
The bench also extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Chidambaram till September 5.
'It's the court, not the government that decides where to put the people who indulge in corruption'
Reacting to the Delhi court order that allowed Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to become a witness in his complaint against Home Minister P Chidambaram in connection with the 2G telecom scam case, Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said that there was no case against Chidambaram. "There is no case against Chidambaram. The court has not yet given any indication as to whether it agrees to a case against Chidambaram or not," he said.
In a first, BJP crossed the 10 per cent vote share-mark in Tamil Nadu and has so far registered a share of 10.21 per cent, though it could not emerge in lead positions anywhere.
Lawyers have pointed out that the new laws increase police powers by extending the maximum limit of police custody from 15 days to 60 days or 90 days.
The ED had filed the first chargesheet in the case against Chidambaram's son Karti; later, a supplementary chargesheet was also filed against him.
The Punjab chief minister said he was asked by Kejriwal to visit different places for campaigning for INDIA bloc candidates.
Manjummel Boys gets so many things right, applauds Arjun Menon.
Virat Kohli has credited the T20 tournament's success to the strong 'connect' between players and fans.
Congress leaders in the upper house called CAB unconstitutional, 'arbitrary executive fiat' to push Hindutva agenda.
During the hearing, the Central Bureau of Investigation told the court that it has already filed its reply in the case.
He was commenting on a reply given by Jaitley to a question in Rajya Sabha.
The court directed Chidambaram to cooperate with the ED's investigation.
As the Supreme Court dismissed a plea for making Finance Minister P Chidambaram a co-accused in 2G case, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said that he remains "constitutionally and politically accountable" as the nation suffered a loss in spectrum pricing in 2008.
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget and said it focussed on youth, farmers, women, and has 'substantial allocations' for Maharashtra, but the opposition slammed the annual financial statement, claiming it neglected the western state and only seeks to please the saffron outfit's partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
