Defence experts want defence expenditure to be at 3% of GDP, which they consider minimum to counter the two-front threat from China and Pakistan, internal insurgencies, and dominating a 7,500 km coastline and the Indian Ocean beyond. What Arun Jaitley has given India this Budget is 2.16% of GDP, observes Ajai Shukla.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and other top leaders paid rich tributes to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who died on Saturday.
While Modi will be performing yoga along with thousands of people at the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh, his cabinet colleagues Singh and Jaitley have been assigned the task of leading the 2nd IYD programmes in Lucknow and Mumbai respectively.
Jaitley, while reviewing the security situation of Jammu and Kashmir at a high level meeting, also asked the forces to deal firmly with the inimical elements but ensure safety of the innocent people, officials said.
Jaitley said the Indian Army and the Border Security Force are "dominating" the Line of Control irrespective of where the troubles are being created by foreign insurgents or domestic terrorists.
The AIIMS has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley's health condition since August 10.
The GST Council, headed by Jaitley and comprising representatives of all the states, is scheduled to meet in Srinagar on May 18-19 to finalise tax rates on different goods and services after unifying at least 10 indirect taxes into the Goods and Services Tax.
Decision-making has to be much quicker, the finance minister said.
Today no big militant can dream of committing terror acts, the MoD said.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who we saw on Sunday night at the N D Modi stadium, played gully cricket on the premises of the Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi on Monday, November 20, 2023.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley underlined that defence of every square inch of our mother land comes before anything else.
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The government on Wednesday asserted that the appointment of Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army Chief is final as the Congress raked up a controversy involving minister and former Army chief Gen V K Singh and demanded his resignation.
The appointment of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next army chief will not be affected by the change of government, said new Defence Minister Arun Jaitley whose party BJP had strongly opposed the United Progressive Alliance government for elevating him to the top post.
In a speech, Jaitley said that while he expected to hit targeted levels for direct taxes, reaching the goal for indirect taxes would be a "challenge".
Rubbishing Congress' claim of having blacklisted AgustaWestland, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said he had as defence minister in June 2014 put the transaction to buy 12 helicopters from the Italian firm on hold and in July barred any future contract with it.
The defence ministry need not come to the Centre to get green clearances for constructing border roads and strategically important projects coming within 100 kms of the Line of Actual Control, the environment ministry said on Thursday.
As the Congress mounted offensive over Narendra Modi's remarks on the AgustaWestland chopper deal case, the government on Tuesday hit back saying the prime minister cannot be gagged against speaking on corruption.
In a stern warning to Pakistan, India on Sunday said there cannot be a dialogue with Islamabad if ceasefire violations are repeated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assets worth Rs 1.26 crore while Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stands out as the richest minister with assets totalling Rs 72.10 crore.
Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Santosh Gangwar, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, BJP national general-secretary Arun Singh and party MP Maneka Gandhi also visited the hospital to know about his wellbeing.
The CII delegation includes many eminent names.
Heated exchanges were witnessed between Union Minister Arun Jaitley and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani in the Delhi high court on Wednesday during the former's cross-examination in a defamation case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Jaitley's fiscal arithmetic, Crisil said, is "shaky", and the scope for fiscal slippage "remains high".
The capital outlay for the three services, for modernisation, stood at Rs 78,586.68 crore
As many as 20 Union ministers are expected to visit different parts of Gujarat between May 27 and June 12 to participate in the 'Vikas Parv' (development festival) organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit.
A Bill to change the PCA (1988) was introduced in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said demonetisation left Maoists in many parts of India and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir "fund starved".
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Jaitley can make his innings -- notwithstanding its likely length -- to be a watershed tenure, or just add to the image of the MoD drifting rudderless, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
While Arun Jaitley remains part of the decision making process, Piyush Goyal, who was given additional charge on May 14, attends cabinet meetings and takes the day-to-day decisions.
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Congress has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "absence" in Delhi and his engagement in state election campaigns at a time when unabated ceasefire violations continued from across the border.
The reshuffle may take place before Modi departs for China to attend the BRICS summit.
There is buzz that the PM, confident of an election victory, will introduce 25 new ministers.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh virtually conducted the final breakthrough blast of the Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh and flagged of a 20,000-km-long motorcycle expedition of the BRO on Thursday.
Gandhi accusing the minister of 'lying' on HAL's capability to build the jet fighters, saying her position is untenable.
The Indian Air Force is wasting crores of Rupees on replacing the Avro-748, which has been a bits-and-pieces aircraft without any real operational role, says Ajai Shukla
Here's the lowdown of charges and counter-charges over the multi-dollar deal.
Jaitley said security forces need not use force if the protests are peaceful.
The 'slow pace' of acquisition of weapon systems is a matter of concern and the new government will work towards 'expediting' the procurement process to meet the requirements of the armed forces, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.
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