Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday makes history as she presents a record ninth consecutive Budget that is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs.
The Congress party has strongly criticized the Union Budget, calling it 'lacklustre' and 'disappointing,' claiming it fails to address the needs of farmers, unemployed youth, and other key sectors.
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
Here are some facts related to the Budget presentation in independent India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 will present a record eighth consecutive budget that is expected to contain measures to shore up weakening economic growth and ease the burden on the middle class struggling with high prices and stagnant wage growth while being fiscally prudent.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a fresh case of corruption against former finance minister P Chidambaram's son and Congress MP, Karti Chidambaram, for allegedly giving relief to alcoholic beverage company Diageo Scotland over a ban on the duty-free sale of its whisky, officials said on Thursday.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
Wedding preparations for Parineeti Chopra and AAP leader Raghav Chadha are in full swing.
Eminent economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Monday described the electoral bonds scheme as a scandal and welcomed the Supreme Court's recent judgment annulling it.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term.
Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday nominated former home minister and Congress member P Chidambaram to the department-related parliamentary standing committee on home affairs.
He argued that if inflation is low, stable and moving towards the 4 per cent target, why has the RBI not revised downward the bank rate fixed in June 2023?
The Rajya Sabha chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his points.
He has moved another application for direction to jail authorities to provide adequate security considering that he has Z category security.
The fastest bowler in the nation enjoyed a relaxed evening at the Rushikonda beach in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
A non-Gandhi is set to become the Congress president after 24 years.
What he has said is shocking and shameful, former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, noting that the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has repeated his remarks.
Priyanka Chopra, Parineeti's Mimi Didi, flew in from LA for the engagement ceremony.
The court extended the judicial custody of Chidambaram after the Central Bureua of Investigation sought extension of the veteran Congress leader's judicial remand.
Modi had challenge to the opposition to publicly declare that they are prepared to accord Indian citizenship to all Pakistanis.
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will head all the three committees.
'Once the Hon'ble Supreme Court has declared the law, we are obliged to accept it. However, it is necessary to point out that the majority has not upheld the wisdom of the decision; nor has the majority concluded that the stated objectives were achieved,' the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Chidambaram, a senior Congress leader, in the INX Media money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the dismal state of the Indian economy and the terrifying rise in COVID-19 infections with each passing day.
Like other inmates, he will also have access to the prison's library and can watch television for a specified period.
Naidu informed the House that he had received letters from Singh and 13 other MPs seeking leave of absence on medical grounds.
The court directed Tihar authorities to provide Chidambaram with medicines, western toilet, security and separate cell.
He was produced before the court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea challenging the Delhi high court order which had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in the corruption case lodged by the CBI arising out of the INX Media scam.
Her expression of strong support to Chidambaram, who has also been a home minister, came a day after the Delhi high court refused to grant him any protection from arrest in the INX media case.
Apart from INX Media and Aircel-Maxis, the four other firms which are under the scanner are Diageo Scotland, Essar Steel, Katara Holdings and Elforge Ltd. These firms were granted FIPB approval when Chidambaram was the FM, reports Shrimi Choudhary.
The Congress leader gave the statement when he was asked what he has to say after the court order.
RBI has announced a 50 bpc rate cut, India Inc cheers the move.
An "exhaustive" list of witnesses, which includes former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was on Tuesday placed before the JPC probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam, but a decision whether to call them was deferred.
The action came after investigations carried out by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the home ministry in 2020.
Shivakumar, 57, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on September 3 in a money laundering case.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been appointed on the Board of Governors of Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The TMC chief had said that she would never allow the Centre to conduct a similar exercise in West Bengal.
Growth and economic reforms in India must take centre-stage again and acts of corruption or security concerns should not distract the attention of the government and the people, said Union Home Minister and former finance minister P Chidambaram recently.
Cong leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, former Prez Pranab Mukherjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as well as CMs of six states to be present at the occasion.
The Congress on Monday distanced itself from former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's statement that the banning of Salman Rushdie's controversial novel 'The Satanic Verses' by the Rajiv Gandhi government was wrong.
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