However, independent economists are not as gung-ho as the finance ministry over the likelihood of deficit target being met this time around, says Indivjal Dhasmana.
The PMO should also present an annual report, on the state of politics and society
Jaitley sets condition of 50% assets for applicability of capital gain tax.
Cash-strapped Air India should be run by professionals even if the government partially off-loads its stake to investors to keep it off-the-ground, a top global aviation professional has said.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
With the Congress already opposed to the proposed law, regional parties might become the swing factor, says T N Ninan.
The battered Congress has slammed the BJP on its decision to hike rail fares, the power crisis in the Capital and the abduction of Indians in Iraq. Anita Katyal reports how the Congress is wasting no time to criticise the ruling party.
'There will be millions of us who will feel fear and insecurity because of the menace of majoritarian ideology.' 'It is for the wellbeing and security of those of my fellow Indians, who are affected and who I care for, that I have voted,' says Aakar Patel.
'If you ask India's finest business leaders, they now tell you -- in whispers, of course -- that the mood has never been so glum after 1991,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Renu Mittal details the roadmap till June 1 when the new administration takes over.
The revision will do little to help the Congress party-led ruling alliance, which faces an uphill battle in elections due by May amid allegations of economic mismanagement, corruption scams and high inflation.
Businessmen love low import duties on their inputs and high duties on their outputs. And the Bharatiya Janata Party has a keen ear for business sentiment.
Activist Anna Hazare on Monday accused the Centre of not keeping its promise about passing the Jan Lokpal Bill and said he will sit on an indefinite hunger strike in his hometown Ralegan Sidhi from Tuesday for the passage of the anti-graft law in Parliament.
'In India, we are very far away from the per capita incomes of the West. And so the need to support many more people with much more money will come sooner in India than in other nations,' says Aakar Patel.
The decision to increase the quantum of capital infusion was taken at a meeting between Finance Minister P Chidambaram, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram in New Delhi.
All we want from the government is to give us visa and they can't even deliver that, says Inder Singh, chairman of Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin International
Outcome of Assembly polls in five states will set the tone for the winter session of Parliament beginning on Thursday though the government has listed a heavy legislative agenda and opposition is demanding extension of the 12-day sitting.
'...Unless we muck up our policies.' 'We have to become a modernised economy.' 'Our institutions should be stronger. And that is most important.' 'The rule of law should prevail and contracts should be enforced.' 'Above all, we have to recognise the importance of globalisation.' 'It is in our favour at this stage. We should grow and become globally competitive.'
NDA under Mr Modi is as focused on the rural poor with doles and hand-outs as the UPA under Dr Singh was.
Demonetisation hit informal sector hard and caused job losses which was not addressed by the budget, Moily said.
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu had begun seeing Governor Ravi's decisions and actions as a part of the state BJP's non-stop criticism of its government and directed from Delhi, a view strengthened by the governor's decision to return the NEET exemption bill, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Meanwhile, the AP CM said that the TDP is ready to bring no-trust motion against Centre as last resort.
Attacking the previous government, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the hike in rail fares was "thrusted upon" by the United Progressive Alliance, but it was a "bitter medicine" that had to be swallowed in the interest of sound health of the economy.
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dig up the perceived past of the DMK rival, now under a new leader in M K Stalin, may not gel with the voters, both old and new. If they are still going to vote for the AIADMK-BJP combine, it will be for entirely different reasons, and despite Modi's poll speeches, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The bad dream can turn into a ghoulish nightmare for the BJP if the Gujjars in Rajasthan and the Patels in Gujarat, both BJP-ruled states, were to fish in troubled waters and relaunch their respective agitations for quotas in government jobs,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
Indeed, this is one policy area where the Modi-led government is different from the one that was headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
'Today when people are fighting to get their salary, you are telling them you will privatise airports!'
'The Budget that Mr Jaitley will present on February 29 will be crucial.'
'The middle class is already alienated.' 'If the stockmarket is destabilised, the BJP is finished; the party will lose in every town.' 'And if the stockmarket crash happens now, the BJP will not cross the 150 mark in 2019.'
The truth is that few ministries in the Modi sarkar are working on new and updated legislation of any kind.
What the railways need to do is to establish a clear link between higher fares and better service, says T N Ninan.
The road for the Opposition is full of 'ifs' and 'buts', reports Sunil Gatade.
Defending his economic policies, Modi said demonetisation was 'a very big success story'.
The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
Land laws in India need not be archaic, say experts.
Still to recover from their electoral rout, defeated Congress members of Parliament and ministers are now faced with the heart-wrenching job of moving out of their official houses, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal
'Elections, my friends, are a boon for the Indian people.' 'That is the only time our high and mighty leaders are accessible to the masses.' 'So don't ruin that by agreeing to once-in-5-years elections,' argues A Ganesh Nadar.
The President may not have agreed with the government on many occasions. Not once was this ever made public -- though he told off ministers in private.
The Government on Friday managed to have its way in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam when the panel approved the draft report giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram with a 16-11 vote in its favour.
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