Our Rafale deal 20% cheaper than what UPA govt negotiated: Arun Jaitley

Clearing the air around the Rafale deal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that the present NDA government has negotiated hard to keep prices down by at least 20 per cent for each aircraft as per 2016 deal, compared to that of the UPA in 2007.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Jaitley underlined the fact that each of these aircraft was coming fully loaded and the deal is government-to-government, without involving anyone in between.

“Can you compare a basic aircraft’s pricing with a loaded aircraft? Can you compare a simple aircraft with a weaponised aircraft?... If in 2012 they had come to an agreement, the first would have been delivered in 2017. From 2007 to 2017 the escalations would have gone up, along with a foreign exchange variation. So there is India specific add-ons and the foreign exchange variants… Is the Congress party aware that if you take the 2007 L1 offer and the escalation clause without the add-ons, the price negotiated in 2015-16 is cheaper?” Jaitley said.

Modi govt not populist even in election year: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has refuted charges that it is resorting to populist measures by going for supplementary demand for grants that will hit the exchequer by Rs 59.5 billion.

Replying to a debate, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Lok Sabha the supplementary showed “this (demand for grants) is the lowest ever in the past 15 years. It is just 0.2 per cent of the total Budget, compared to 14 per cent in 2008-09 (the election year in the UPA’s tenure).” The House later passed the first batch of supplementary demand for FY19.

He said it was rather the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government which has widened the Centre’s fiscal deficit by a huge margin, compared to the Budget Estimates (BE) in election years.

“The UPA handed down the fiscal deficit at 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to us. We brought it down to an estimated 3.3 per cent in the current financial year,” Goyal said.

Chidambaram says Modicare, MSP, jobs 'jumlas'; asks Jaitley 12 questions

The Opposition on Thursday targetted the government over the agrarian crisis, unemployment, and other issues, with Congress leader P Chidambaram dubbing its economic policy as a "betrayal" of the country and saying all norms of fiscal prudence have been thrown out of the window.

The 40-minute speech of Chidambaram, who initiated the debate on the 2018-19 budget in the Rajya Sabha, witnessed continuous ruckus and sloganeering by ruling BJP members who sought an apology from the Congress for such disruptions during the Prime Minister's speech in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

An unfazed Chidambaram continued to target the government in a loud pitch and sought replies to 12 questions relating to the economy, while describing minimum support price (MSP) for foodgrains, job creation and the Ayushman Bharat scheme as the three "Jumlas" (rhetoric) of the BJP-led government in its last full budget before the 2019 polls.

Chidambaram attacks Modi govt over unjust growth in Gujarat

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Tuesday his only regret in life was not having served as finance minister in a government which had an "absolute majority", as he targeted the Modi government over its economic policies.

Chidambaram said development had indeed "gone crazy" in Gujarat, and criticised the BJP government in the state for leading what he called a "skewed, unfair, unjust and inequitable growth".

He also came down heavily on the Centre's bullet train project whose foundation was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad recently.

"The only regret in my life is that I was never a finance minister in a government with absolute majority," he told businessmen at a function organised by the Congress party at Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).

Referring to the massive majority the BJP-led NDA had in the Lok Sabha, he said anything could have been done with that kind of mandate.

"We could have completely reformed the finance sector, we could have passed the direct taxes code, we could have passed a near perfect GST. With that kind of majority, any laws could have been changed. Anyway, that did not happen," he said.
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Vote for BJP, save Gujarat from casteism: Modi's written message to voters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged the people of Gujarat to vote for the BJP in the Assembly polls embracing its development agenda, and save the state by rejecting "casteism, communalism and dynastic politics".

On the first day of the BJP's door-to-door outreach drive - Gujarat Gaurav Maha-Sampark Abhiyan - BJP workers and leaders, including its president Amit Shah, distributed copies of Modi's message-cum-appeal among people.

ALSO READ: Manmohan Singh to campaign in Gujarat today, will interact with traders

In the written message addressed to the people of Gujarat, Modi urged them to remember what the state was before the BJP assumed power in 1995, and appealed to them to vote for his party to carry forward the "journey of development" that began 22 years back.

"Just compare what was Gujarat 22 years back and what it is now. Thanks to the good governance of the BJP governments, Gujarat has reached new heights of development, so much so that it is now known across the world," he said in the message.

Modi said a young person of 22-25 years cannot even imagine what Gujarat was in the past when casteism and communalism "destroyed" it.
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Vice President election 2017: MPs to vote today, result to be out by 7 pm

Ruling NDA's candidate M Venkaiah Naidu is tipped to be India's next vice president as members of Parliament gear up to cast their ballot today.

The name of the next vice president of India will be known today evening after members of Parliament cast their ballot during the day in Parliament House.

The ruling NDA, which has a majority in the Lok Sabha, will find it easy to place its candidate as the next vice president.

The opposition has fielded Gopal Krishna Gandhi against Naidu.

The BJD and the JD(U) which had supported NDA nominee Ramnath Kovind for the post of president, have decided to back opposition nominee Gandhi.

Though the JD(U) has broken ties with 'mahagathbandhan' and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in Bihar, it has decided to vote for Gandhi, a former governor of West Bengal.

Members of Parliament will use special pens for marking their choice in the election to be held between 10 am and 5 pm tomorrow.
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PM Modi dismisses opposition's criticism of an early Budget

Latest News - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the opposition has no real issue against his government and defended the decision to advance presentation of the Union Budget, to be tabled on February 1, saying it will facilitate execution of more development work.

He also cited the inclusion of several "common achievers" among the Padma awardees this year to claim it had happened for the first time as earlier the honour would be bestowed on those doing the rounds of power corridors.

At a meeting of BJP parliamentary party executive, which was followed by another of NDA leaders, Modi said the early passage of budget would lead to early start of developmental work. Earlier these works would begin only after monsoon had ended, he said referring to the (Read More)