The minister was also hopeful that economic growth would touch 9-10 per cent towards close of the 11th Five-Year Plan ending 2012.
"NDA is a beautiful rainbow of regional aspirations... So nation's development through the development of states... At a time when we are working for a developed India, NDA is taking the lead in showing the spirit of sabka prayas," he said.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was on Friday given the additional charge of Finance Ministry with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being admitted to the hospital for a heart bypass surgery on Saturday.
The finance minister also says that India requires an investment of $850 billion to $1 trillion in the next 5-7 years.
'You have done the armed forces proud and brought honour to India by your performance par excellence,' the defence minister said.
At the first governors' conference chaired by him, President Pranab Mukherjee showed exactly why he was respected by his fellow party-men and opponents alike in his previous, political incarnation .
On July 25, Pranab Mukherjee will leave Rashtrapati Bhavan and move into 10 Rajaji Marg in Lutyens' Delhi.
Talks on pre-poll alliance were being held between the ruling Biju Janata Dal and the opposition BJP for the past few days.
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has recommended an NIA probe against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly receiving political funding from the banned terrorist organisation 'Sikhs for Justice', Raj Niwas sources said on Monday.
President Pranab Mukherjee will deliver his maiden address to the nation on Tuesday on the eve of 66th Independence Day.
After becoming the 13th President of India, Pranab Mukherjee will not only have a change in designation and address, but also in his mode of transport. In place of his favourite bulletproof Ambassador, Mukherjee will get a swanky Mercedes Benz limousine to go around
The last Bharat Ratna award was conferred upon Pranab Mukherjee in 2019 and was posthumously awarded to Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh. The award was not given to anyone between 2020 and 2023.
Till now, the maximum Bharat Ratnas were awarded in 1999 when four recipients were given the coveted award.
The government proposed to borrow about Rs 4.5 lakh crore (Rs 4.5 trillion) from the money market during the current fiscal against Rs 3.1 lakh crore (Rs 3.1 trillion) in the previous fiscal.
On the occasion, the PM presented a memento to the outgoing president.
Pranab Mukherjee was on Sunday elected as the 13th President of India, marking a new journey for the veteran Congress leader after over four decades of life in active politics.
Asserting that there is no need to press the panic button, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said the Dubai debt crisis would not have 'earth shaking' impact on India's economy.
Reacting to the charge by Banerjee, the Congress held her responsible for the growth of RSS in the state.
The United Progressive Alliance's new managers are beginning to realise that running the alliance without Pranab Mukherjee may not be very difficult, says A K Bhattacharya
When questioned on recent efforts by the US to bring up issues against India at the World Trade Organization, most recently to thwart India's efforts to market generic drugs, Rao reiterated the 'candour in the dialogue' both countries have which had helped maintain a balance, eschewing any extreme decisions.
After the announcement of the death of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakaran, the Congress on Monday said the Sri Lankan issue is a sensitive one and External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the matter. "Sri Lanka is a sensitive issue, our foreign minister is meeting the prime minister. The government of India will contact the Sri Lankan government to ascertain the facts,"said a Congress leader.
Confident of meeting the schedule of introducing the goods and service tax in the beginning of the next fiscal, state finance ministers will meet the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee around mid-June on various issues relating to the new tax system.
"She is a guest and should behave like a guest. She should not do anything that would hurt the people's sentiment," Pranab said while denying a report that the author was virtually under house arrest.
Their parleys, which staved off a breakdown between the Left and the ruling coalition for the time being, followed a series of meetings between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and top leaders of the party till late Thursday night.
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:
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon to discuss bilateral and regional issues.
President Pranab Mukherjee donned the hat of a teacher on Friday and gave lessons in Political History to XI and XII graders of a Delhi school on the eve of Teachers Day.
Rejecting Pakistan's contentions, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday that there had been no escalation of tensions on the part of India and that its military movements were routine winter exercises.
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata P president Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Wednesday that the 25-year-old alliance with Shiv Sena would not be snapped although Bal Thackeray's party had extended support to Pranab Mukherjee for presidential polls.
A leading British University -- the University of Wolverhampton -- has welcomed the election of veteran politician and one of its honorary graduates Pranab Mukherjee as the new President of India.
Scripting a new chapter in his illustrious career, Pranab Mukherjee will on Wednesday take over as India's 13th President. Watch the momentous ceremony LIVE on rediff.com
Russia is a perfect partner for defence co-operation and both countries could exploit opportunities for mutual benefit, Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who discussed Pakistan's response on the Mumbai terror attacks dossier with senior ministerial colleagues P Chidambaram and A K Antony, on Thursday said that India is examining the report received from Islamabad. "Pakistani authorities have admitted that elements in Pakistan were responsible for terror attacks in Mumbai," Mukherjee told reporters hours after Pakistan's response was handed over to India's High Commissioner.
As the race for Raisina Hill heats up, All India Majlis-e Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi met YSR Congress Party chief Jaganmohan Reddy in Hyderabad's Chanchalguda jail, and urged him to support UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for the coveted post of President of India.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi had a two-hour luncheon meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday afternoon, disclose highly placed sources at the President's house.
While Mukherjee has received number of honorary degrees, it is first such honour accorded to him by a country.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday 'problems' are being created from within the country and raking up of 'non-issues' hamper efforts to attract desired foreign investment.
During his talks and public speeches, Mukherjee urged Japan to look at India's "impeccable" non-proliferation record and back the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting.
The praise for peasants, most of whom are subsistence farmers, comes ahead of general elections due in a few months. The minister presented statistics to hard-sell the government's initiatives to prop up the agriculture sector and improve the conditions of roughly about 60 per cent of the country's population depending upon it.
