Many world leaders on Monday condoled the death of former president Pranab Mukherjee, saying they have lost a true friend who made immense contributions to the strengthening of India's relations with their countries.
Will the finance minister present a legacy-seeking Budget?
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also managing the finance ministry, presented the Interim Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament on Monday. Following is the text of the entire Budget Speech:
There hasn't been a single confidence boosting measure by the government in the recent years.
Economic growth should be accompanied by social and political stability.
'When I met the prime minister, he asked me, "Dr Ganguly, what do you do with people in your company who lie to you?"' 'I said, "Prime Minister, we counsel them and give them a gentle warning. If they lie again, they are sacked".' '"This is my problem,'" Rajiv responded. "I can't sack people in government".' A revealing excerpt from former Hindustan Lever Chairman Dr Ashok S Ganguly's We Are Our Future: Reflections On Life.
'Every film had its challenges, but Mr India, Sadak and Gandhi were the toughest.' 'Mr India needed imagination, Sadak needed sensitivity and Gandhi demanded historical authenticity.'
He is not one for eating out, reveals Himanshu Sehgal of My Yellow Plate.
However, in reality, Mukherjee neither wore a cap nor did he give any salute.
India's macroeconomic authorities must focus on fiscal stabilisation and Mukherjee has to provide the leadership as finance minister.
'Something very drastic must have happened.'
'No actor knew him as well as I did.'
Narendra Modi along with his team of 65 ministers will attend President Pranab Mukherjee's 79th birthday bash at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on December 11. After a cake cutting and a toast by Team Modi, the President will host a dinner at the banquet hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Sena leader further said the RSS's agenda behind inviting Mukherjee as the chief guest to one of its event, held in Nagpur on June 7, would only be clear after the 2019 general elections.
For most of his first stint as finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee had Indira Gandhi as his prime minister. In his second stint, the prime minister was Manmohan Singh.
The Interim Budget was presented as an impressive report card of the UPA government -- the FM couldn't help lauding the UPA in pulling off an unprecedented GDP growth during its tenure.
The affidavit did not even refer to or mention any person. Therefore, the inference which is sought to be drawn that a clean chit has been given to Fernandes is unjustified and totally unwarranted, he said.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who faced trolling on social media in the wake of India and Pakistan reaching an understanding on May 10 to halt all military actions, has received support from veteran diplomat Nirupama Menon Rao, a body of Indian diplomats and a host of politicians from several parties.
A Ganesh Nadar writes an open letter to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting him to pardon the Bollywood actor currently in jail for possessing an AK 56 in 1993.
Marking a "political milestone" in the growing relationship between India and Israel, President Pranab Mukherjee arrived in Jerusalem on Tuesday on a three-day state visit, the first by an Indian Head of State. Here are the highlights from Day 1 of the visit.
'For the last 10 years the Congress made the RSS an idea of intolerance, anti-minority, especially anti-Muslim, and an idea of fascism.' 'That has been demolished now by Pranab Mukherjee.'
He was colourful. He was dramatic. He was The Master of His Craft. There never will be an editor as versatile as Pritish Nandy, notes Nikhil Lakshman.
Here are some best moments from Hollande's visit.
'If they do not have this minimum self-respect, I can only feel sympathy for them. I was quoting President Bush about the Hyde Act, the Leader of the Opposition was quoting the under secretary of the US administration. What can I do?' External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the NSG waiver, the Chinese stand and the domestic opposition to the nuclear deal.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee seems to have stuck to increasing income for the government as the sole focus of the Budget 2010. The key problem faced by people -- inflation has been thrown out of the window of consideration.
The United Progressive Alliance government has by now acquired the notoriety of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Not only has it been shy of taking decisions to defuse the various economic and political crises that have affected its governance, it has also let go of many opportunities to bounce back from a setback.
For any government, achieving those goals would be a tall task, given the current resource constraint the government faces.
If he expects the states to take steps for controlling inflation, he should also respect the country's federal structure and not assume a veto power at the GST Council.
The prime minister has been careful to say the right things about foreign investment and animal spirits; some of the more controversial aspects of the Mukherjee era are being given a high-profile review.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
The state of the economy did not deteriorate so sharply in the last eight days that the principles behind not announcing changes in tax rates in an Interim Budget had to be set aside. Nor can it be argued that the demand from industry and members of Parliament for some stimulus measures became so irresistible that the finance minister had to announce the tax rate changes in his reply to the Interim Budget debate.
Mr Mukherjee missed that last call, but Indian politics is as accommodative as an Indian airport. There is always a second announcement, a last and final call! Is Mr Mukherjee ready to fly?
Mukherjee also pointed out that in some cases, penal action had already been taken against middlemen after their role was established in defence deals.
For starters, the assumption of nominal (ie real plus inflation) GDP growth of 10.1 per cent for 2009-10 seems on the low side if it is assumed, as Mr Mukherjee said, that the worst of the financial crisis is over. Against this backdrop, the assumption of poor tax buoyancy in 2009-10 is confusing.
Cricket fraternity and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya.
Obama joked that he too wanted to wear a Modi kurta.
'One is happy. The moment one starts criticising the BJP, ED, IT and CBI comes to one's house.'
Two women candidates; Lok Sabha Speakers; Chief Justices; A Chief Election Commissioner; drafters of the Constitution; the RBI's first Indian governor; a farm leader who unsuccessfully contested four times; an iconic Bharata Natyam dancer...
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