Opposition parties have slammed the decision to change the long-standing practice, alleging it was being done with an eye on the assembly polls in five states.
The Centre's programmes of maternity benefit and Child Protection Services also got a major boost in the Budget.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for reforming the World Health Organisation and streamlining its approval process for vaccines and therapeutics, and favoured making flexible the WTO's rules relating to trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights.
Customs and excise duty rates have been amended mainly to promote Make in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday mooted the idea of "One Nation, One Uniform" for the police, saying it is just a suggestion for consideration and he is not trying to impose it on the states.
The Congress rebels are seeking to install a person of their choice as the new chief minister of the state.
Yechury said the aim should be how to protect our economy from slowdown
India's sportsperson could not perform well in the past due to nepotism and corruption but his government cleaned up the system, he said.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
The dates of general elections in 2019 and the presentation of the final Budget of the Modi government are so far removed from each other that Jaitley is not under any pressure to present a populist Budget. Instead, he could well unveil an array of schemes and proposals that he believes are necessary for the economy, even if a few of them could be unpopular, says A K Bhattacharya.
'The BJP has everything to lose if it performs poorly in UP. It dreads a repeat of Bihar,' says Rajeev Sharma.
Aam Aadmi Party convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not form the government on June 4 and said if the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) comes to power, the direction and fate of the country will change.
In India elections are never fought in a straight line. It's fought on many issues, at many levels, with multiple emotions and with a bit of good luck, too. Sheela Bhatt reports from Rajasthan.
Railway Budget will be presented on July 8.
'China is struggling to get out of its property bubble.' 'Japan took 35 years to walk out of its equity bubble.' 'Bubbles can be difficult to forecast.'
Special status to Yoga by categorising its promotion as charitable.
Welcoming them into the BJP fold, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav cryptically said many people are feeling anxious and they will eventually join the saffron party in the coming days.
'What is most distressing is that the revival of the economy, creation of more employment, and reducing poverty are not on the agenda of the government at all.' 'We are an economy on the verge of a demographic disaster.'
'If some measures are implemented quickly, they can help revive growth.'
In spite of Budget's rural focus, the government has consistently stumbled in agriculture, says Shreekant Sambrani.
NEET is a court-ordered examination, supposedly aimed at meritocracy. However, over the past years when the incumbent Narendra Modi government at the Centre began implementing it, it took on political and casteist colours, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kejriwal's remarks came after the Delhi State Election Commission sought the advice of legal experts on if it can still hold polls for the three municipal corporations here following a communication from the Centre for their unification.
Though Sukhu has been putting up a brave face and there appears to be no immediate threat to his government, the BJP is looking to bring down his dispensation with bypoll wins amid a view that it may draw more legislators of the ruling party into its fold.
The early tabling of the financial Budget ends a 70-year tradition.
BJP's reversals in rural Gujarat has prompted many policy watchers to predict that the Budget would have incentives for the agriculture sector and the rural economy.
Senior bureaucrats say the government has planned a 'feel-good' Budget after the 'pain' of demonetisation.
Addressing the Grah Pravesham programme, to hand over new houses to their owners, via video conferencing, Modi said his government has given topmost priority to providing houses to the poor people.
'There can be no dispute over the adverse impact such a policy will surely have on India's manufacturing competitiveness,' notes A K Bhattacharya.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
In the run up to the elections Narendra Modi kept telling us achche din aane wale hain. Far from that, Jaitley's Budget just seems to be more of the wohi raat aur wohi din, says Mohan Guruswamy.
The Budget session of Parliament is all set for a stormy start on Tuesday with major opposition parties planning to corner the government.
Oil sank to the lowest level in a month after shedding all of its gains from the US-Iran clash as traders waited to see whether any further hostilities will disrupt exports from the East Asia.
The aid to Nepal increased substantially from Rs 650 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,050 crore in 2019-20.
'The strategies outlined in Jaitley's Budget won't create the millions of jobs needed to dispel the despair and cynicism of militant youth in the Red Corridor running from Nepal to Tamil Nadu.'
Leaders of several opposition parties on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme and termed it an important step in ensuring transparency in electoral funding.
'Modi is now the biggest messiah of OBCs and Dalits as V P Singh once was.'
'Investors should not go for lump-sum investments in infrastructure funds at this point.' 'The SIP route is the best to avoid any major disappointment.'
The budgetary allocation for the sector is Rs 60,908.22 crore, with Rs 6,400 crore earmarked for the centre's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY).
Liquidity issues post the crisis at DHFL, progress of monsoon, rupee trajectory at the domestic level and oil prices are some factors that will keep markets choppy, analysts say.
The maiden Railway Budget of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government seems to have not gone down well with the suburban commuters as it does not offer anything new to them, commuters associations in Mumbai said.
