Gandhi said that the BJP government has clearly mishandled the economy that was built by the United Progressive Alliance government, and is now resorting to selling the country's assets as a "last resort" to generate some money.
Apart from key bilateral issues, the two leaders also discussed situation in the region, particularly in wake of the increasing threat of terrorism and extremism from various sources including the Islamic State militant group.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
Russian firms expand their footprint in India. And take bigger steps to do business with India's private sector.
Most of these road contracts are spread across Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, with the government struggling to restart them.
Indian economy about to take-off
However, the budget arithmetic is slightly optimistic.
Banks are in need of government support to manage the stressed assets
The RBI governor's assurance should give investors enough confidence to start believing in the NBFC sector again, say bankers.
The IIT-Madras alumnus, who moved to Canada for an MBA programme and settled there, is not new to investing in India.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
Centre meets target of 18,000 villages but household metering remains a challenge
The two major railway unions have proposed to the government an unprecedented alternative to privatisation or inviting foreign investment, to help raise funds and improve revenue.
The economy hasn't gathered even half the traction that some of us assumed it would just a year back.
To facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) in high- speed rail projects, the government is likely to allow private sector entry in operations.
Allegations of a particular market player being favoured over others were flying thick and fast in the early days of the scam.
'COVID-19 will not stop the expansion of China's 'infrastructure power'.'
The assumption clearly was that project execution timelines would be adhered to and revenues would flow in as scheduled.
Significantly, about half of the CEOs who took part in the survey indicated that they propose to increase their investments in near future, 45 per cent cited no change in investment levels, while only 5 per cent expected a fall.
One hopes that the government will act on the Kelkar panel recommendations.
'No Budget has so far has addressed the issue of the government's abysmal productivity of capital spending, improving which will be the big game changer. 'But, the government's tight lock on businesses, banks, education, and even essential services like transportation and large parts of infrastructure and healthcare is destroying capital year after year,' points out Debashis Basu.
The road ministry has put forward two proposals before the Prime Minister's Office and the finance ministry.
The next Rail Budget to be presented early next year could contain a proposal for raising fares to pass on the burden of rising power cost to passengers.
'India-China economic ties are likely to take a hit in the wake of the new situation, but that also provides India with a new opportunity to strengthen its manufacturing base,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
The Indian PM shares the honour with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank saw economic growth slowdown in February, prompting it to cut rates ahead of the curve and wondered why markets were surprised with the decision to pause rate reduction. Noting that there is a need for an "informed and objective discussion" on the country's economy, Das said the RBI would do "whatever is necessary" to address growth slowdown, spikes in inflation as well to ensure good health of banks and non-bank lenders. The apex bank went for five consecutive rate cuts starting in February this year, making it a cumulative reduction of 1.35 per cent.
The Union Budget is not everyone's cup of tea. But here's how you can make it yours.
Santosh Kamath, partner (infrastructure and government services), KPMG in India, expects an extension of a tax holiday for the sector.
'It is easy to dramatise the events of today, but it is far more important to focus on the fact that we have a radically overvalued financial sector. It is a house of cards.'
The Budget sets out a comprehensive vision.
Little attention is being paid to keep roads, bridges and flyovers in good shape
Iran's growing proximity to China may have also played a part.
'We need to invest in our youth, we need to invest on our athletes, that should be the priority and then when we are in a position to realistically win at least 40 gold medals in the Olympic Games. For me personally that would be the right moment to host an Olympic Games'
In his first interview since becoming the chief economic advisor, Arvind Subramanian agrees the Narendra Modi government has taken some initial steps to revive private investments but says many more measures would be required to restore macroeconomic stability - reining in inflation and fiscal deficit - and bring the economy back on high-growth path. Subramanian, who has earlier worked in the research department of the International Monetary Fund, tells IMF Survey, an online magazine of IMF, that the Gujarat model is to be replicated across India but there also are macroeconomic problems at the national level that need to be addressed.
Ajai Shukla presents an action plan for Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to fix the systemic weaknesses in defence.
The new Cabinet member says growth cannot come unless all sectors of the economy -- agriculture, manufacturing and services -- expand.
'The attempt to build a negative narrative about India's economic performance is disingenuous.' 'For the investors as well as the targeted beneficiaries of welfare schemes, the ground reality is very different,' argues Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman, NITI Aayog.
With real estate valuations falling and other deals coming unstuck, the current management's improved target faces significant challenges.
'The current crisis is one of incomes, driven by poor job growth, agrarian distress and poor investment sentiment,' notes Harsh Pati Singhania, director, JK Organisation.
No one expects the government to publicly concede policy mistakes. But it can shed denial; and, stop the point-winning debating style to the formulation of public policy, says Rahul Khullar.
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