The Union Budget is not everyone's cup of tea. But here's how you can make it yours.
Elections are not won or lost by expounding on such macro-economic matters. For the aam admi, what matters in manifestos are promises that will improve their quality of life, notes Vinayak Chatterjee.
The secretary defence production wants to make India (currently the largest importer of weaponry) one of the world's top five defence manufacturers and a global leader in artificial intelligence and cyberspace.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to make announcements in this regard on Thursday unveiling the annual budget of the Pentagon and the new defence strategy for the US to meet the needs of the time within the financial constraints.
The main responsibility for producing the Budget rests with the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the finance ministry
'The army is using its might to teach them a lesson'
This includes over $15 billion of proposed investment in the infrastructure sector in the Indo-Pacific and $9 billion for shoring up American defence in the region.
Engagement with neighbours is a strategic imperative, and not an option, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
Never before in post-reforms India have Union Budgets seen a steady reduction in fiscal deficit for five consecutive years, points out A K Bhattacharya.
'At this point, neither the army or the IAF has that immediate, punitive deterrent power against Pakistan.' 'Forget a three-week war; on the LoC, where the action is, Pakistan has until now fielded better infantry weapons, body armour, sniper rifles, and matching artillery' points out Shekhar Gupta.
The defence minister said that the expenditure has been highest in 2017-18. In the same manner, it was second highest in 2016-17 and third highest in 2015-16. The fourth highest defence expenditure since 2004-05 was in 2014-15.
Describing the DAD as the "guardian of defence finance", he emphasised the need to bolster the internal vigilance mechanism so that any suspicious activity can be detected and reviewed immediately.
'There are ominous portents of an isolationist administration not only building a physical wall to the south to prevent unwanted immigrants from entering the land of milk and honey, but also trade walls not just against China, but all nations,' foresees Sreekant Sambrani.
16 Indian Army divisions face China, 20 face Pakistan and two divisions are reserves. This powerful signal can hardly be missed in China or Pakistan, notes Ajai Shukla.
When corruption eats into the vitals of a nation, the State structures decompose and collapse. And when the leadership loses respect of the people, the war is lost, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
Pakistan's outgoing government has acknowledged that it provided grants of Rs 687 billion to the powerful military for security-related spending that were in addition to the annual defence budgets.
Stocks might hit new highs even before B-Day.
We can hope that some of the benefits of the rural spending - on irrigation, roads, etc -- will spur rural demand and improve rural productivity, says P V Subramanyam.
We can hope that some of the benefits of the rural spending - on irrigation, roads, etc -- will spur rural demand and improve rural productivity, says P V Subramanyam.
We can hope that some of the benefits of the rural spending - on irrigation, roads, etc -- will spur rural demand and improve rural productivity, says P V Subramanyam.
It is worrisome that salaries are consuming as much expenditure as equipment.
In less than two months since the announcement in March, the state has mobilised an armada of small and medium enterprises keen on making components for large equipment manufacturers.
The finance minister may stagger some of the recommendations.
The United States is set to unveil its new defence strategy on Thursday that will guide Pentagon budget cuts in coming years and is expected to end the decade-old policy of maintaining a force capable of fighting two wars at once.
India needs significantly more domestic wherewithal to achieve and sustain the stated objective of 7-9 per cent growth.
The 1.4% decline projected for 2025 is driven by a 5.6% (72,000) dip in the strength of railway employees to 1.2 million by next year.
The RSS chief's comment that if war broke out, the military would not be ready for at least six to seven months is correct as it faces a shortfall in training and alertness and an even greater lack of funds for defence preparedness, notes Ajai Shukla.
'While all would agree on the need to be ready to launch cross-border strikes on terror camps, there is sharp disagreement on how best to do it.' 'Through IAF fighters, or surface-to-surface missiles?' 'Or should army Special Forces be created to do the job?' 'If air strikes are the agreed priority, additional funding must be made available for the purchase of fighters and missiles.' 'If it is to be Special Forces, the army must be facilitated in raising a Special Forces Command,' notes Ajai Shukla.
To boost Make in India in defence production, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said foreign direct investment limit in defence manufacturing will be hiked to 74 per cent from 49 per cent while some weapons and platforms will be banned for imports.
For the modernisation of the armed forces, the Finance Minister allocated an additional Rs 5,000 crore.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday issued a new mobilisation order for the training of armed forces with a focus on developing an elite force capable of fighting and winning wars.
The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
As the United States and China joust for supremacy, India might remain on the sidelines with its limited resources.
Attacking the government over defence preparedness and shortage of equipment, the Bharatiya Janata Party specifically targetted Defence Minister A K Antony in Rajya Sabha saying his "no work, no mistake and clean image" was a dangerous policy.
She recited a Kashmiri verse, which was part of a poem by Sahitya Akademi award winner Pandit Dinanath Koul. She rendered the verse in both Kashmiri and Hindi. Besides, the minister quoted woman Tamil poet Avvaiyar, Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, a verse from Raghuvamsa by Kalidasa, as well as late finance minister Arun Jaitley while talking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Private players are increasingly looking at the defence market which is a promising multi billion-dollar arena.
Pakistan's actual spending on defence during fiscal 2012-13 may be as high as Rs 913 billion, almost double the official allocation of Rs 545 billion.
A near billion-dollar arms and defence equipment procurement deal between Bangladesh and China may raised eyebrows in New Delhi while giving ground to the belief of China's "strategic encirclement" of India. However, the present government of Bangladesh has been trying to modernise its defence not only with arms from China, but also from countries like Russia and other countries in recent years.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Tuesday after the proceedings were stalled by verbal clashes between the Opposition and Treasury benches over the fresh affidavit filed by the government in the SC on defence purchases.
Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe's, China's new defence minister's, first guest of honour could be his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
