The Union Budget is not everyone's cup of tea. But here's how you can make it yours.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'
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.
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.
'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.
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.
I am happy I didn't knock anyone down, driving recklessly or trying to show off. However, in one instance of road rage (the consequence of arguing with a driver who disrespected my right to cross the road peacefully) I did find a man in a SUV taking his anger out on me by driving his vehicle over my feet, recalls Shyam G Menon.
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.
It is worrisome that salaries are consuming as much expenditure as equipment.
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.
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.
But the government will present a second tranche of Supplementary Demands for Grants during the Budget session of Parliament in February, when it can seek additional spending.
The finance minister may stagger some of the recommendations.
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.
The 54-page document tabled in Parliament detailed how the Modi-government pull the economy from being counted among the most fragile-five in the world to being the fasted growing and the most attractive investment destination.
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.
'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.
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.
India needs significantly more domestic wherewithal to achieve and sustain the stated objective of 7-9 per cent growth.
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.
For the modernisation of the armed forces, the Finance Minister allocated an additional Rs 5,000 crore.
As the United States and China joust for supremacy, India might remain on the sidelines with its limited resources.
The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
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).
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.
A piece of slightly negative news can cause a serious setback, warns Debashis Basu.
In the event of the BJP's poor performance in the assembly polls this year and in early 2025, Modi's hold will get further weakened because he will no longer remain the invincible electoral persona tightly controlling the machine at his disposal, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe's, China's new defence minister's, first guest of honour could be his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
Private players are increasingly looking at the defence market which is a promising multi billion-dollar arena.
This is the first "Green budget" of the government for effective containment of pollution in the city, the deputy chief minister said in the budget session of the assembly in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
