Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday makes history as she presents a record ninth consecutive Budget that is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs.
The Congress party has strongly criticized the Union Budget, calling it 'lacklustre' and 'disappointing,' claiming it fails to address the needs of farmers, unemployed youth, and other key sectors.
Sitharaman took charge of the Finance Ministry on May 31, 2019, and has steered the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical turmoil, making India the fastest-growing major economy in the world.
Chidambaram said that Operation Black Thunder was the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple, by keeping the Army out of the Sikh worship place.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram fell unconscious at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Tuesday and was taken to hospital. Sources said he probably fainted due to the heat after a hectic day. His son Karti later said on X that his father is fine and is being examined by doctors. The incident occurred during a prayer meeting at the ashram. Chidambaram was carried to an ambulance by other leaders. Earlier in the day, he attended the extended Congress Working Committee meeting at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial.
'The preparedness of our defence forces and positioning of intelligence assets were very different in 2008, so we had to rebuild our assets and preparedness.'
However, the prime minister has told confidants that he was unable to do justice to the foreign affairs portfolio and admitted the need for a full-time foreign minister.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a fresh case of corruption against former finance minister P Chidambaram's son and Congress MP, Karti Chidambaram, for allegedly giving relief to alcoholic beverage company Diageo Scotland over a ban on the duty-free sale of its whisky, officials said on Thursday.
The former Union finance minister warned that the INDIA bloc was fighting against a "formidable machinery", which must be fought on all fronts.
The office of former prime minister Manmohan Singh may have taken a special interest to try and keep afloat Vijay Mallya's ailing Kingfisher Airlines against the run of play, e-mails and letters claiming this and accessed by CNN-News18 indicate.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday stayed the trial court proceedings against senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.
Soon after Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the Union Budget 2013 in Parliament, Trinamool Congress leader and former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi joined us for the Budget chat.
Here are some facts related to the Budget presentation in independent India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 will present a record eighth consecutive budget that is expected to contain measures to shore up weakening economic growth and ease the burden on the middle class struggling with high prices and stagnant wage growth while being fiscally prudent.
Duvvuri Subbarao recounts how his tensions with P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, then finance ministers, over monetary policy spilled over into other issues in the central bank in this excerpt from Who Moved My Interest Rate?, his memoir of his term as Reserve Bank of India governor.
Chidambaram complained of illness and pain in the stomach, the sources said, adding that he was treated for gastrointestinal-related problems.
The country's new home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, today said he prefers a Congressman as his successor in the finance ministry, setting off speculation about the implication of his statement.
When former finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in August 2019, it was considered by some as payback from Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah who likely held his predecessor in the home ministry responsible for his own arrest nine years earlier, in July 2010.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, broke away from the colonial tradition of carrying a Budget briefcase in July 2019, opting instead for a traditional 'bahi-khata', to carry the Union Budget papers.
He argued that if inflation is low, stable and moving towards the 4 per cent target, why has the RBI not revised downward the bank rate fixed in June 2023?
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday nominated former home minister and Congress member P Chidambaram to the department-related parliamentary standing committee on home affairs.
"We did not abuse RBI governors," says Chidambaram.
Opposition MPs in India's Rajya Sabha raised concerns about US President Donald Trump's tariff threats, demanding the government clarify its response and engage in discussions with opposition parties. Leaders like P Chidambaram and Sagarika Ghose warned of potential economic repercussions, including depressed exports, lower FDI, and a significant tariff burden. The debate also touched on other issues such as the government's economic policies, demonetization, and the impact of GST on common citizens.
Congress leader and ex-finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Union Budget was the "most capitalist" with nothing for the poor and farmers while sops were being provided to big industrialists turning India into a very "unequal country". At a press conference after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget, he said because of the ruling party's "brute majority" the Lok Sabha pass the Budget but people will reject it. He claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party was going to elections, scheduled in five states, not with their performance or with the promises and assurances to the people, but solely "with the agenda of dividing the country and bringing Hindutva back to power".
A Delhi court on Saturday took cognisance of the chargesheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate against former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case and summoned them on December 20.
Justice A K Pathak had asked Chidambaram to join questioning and cooperate in the investigation as and when called by the CBI.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
The CBI suspects that Chidamabaram and his son Karti also received kickbacks from other companies.
"His (Chidambaram) arrest is good news. He is now cornered from all sides," Indrani Mukerjea told reporters in a sessions court where she was produced to attend trial in the case of killing of her daughter Sheena Bora.
He has moved another application for direction to jail authorities to provide adequate security considering that he has Z category security.
The court extended the judicial custody of Chidambaram after the Central Bureua of Investigation sought extension of the veteran Congress leader's judicial remand.
'During his stint as prime minister, he got 270 million people out of poverty.' 'This, according to the World Bank, is the fastest compression of poverty anywhere in the world.' Arvind Mayaram, the former finance secretary, recalls his encounters with Dr Manmohan Singh.
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.
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.
'We, as a nation, must rise up and refuse to be silent spectators to the death of democracy. We stand with P Chidambaram and reiterate our unwavering belief in his innocence'
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.
The court directed Tihar authorities to provide Chidambaram with medicines, western toilet, security and separate cell.
The Supreme Court's decision to take up the case on Friday without granting him any interim relief, put to rest all the strategies being worked upon.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday rejected Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's contention in Lok Sabha that UPA government left behind double digit inflation.
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