Congress slams budget as 'old wine in a new bottle'
New Delhi: Describing the Union Budget as "insipid" and "old wine in a new bottle", the Congress on Friday alleged that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman belied expectations and gave no "meaningful relief" to any section of society.
The budget has been prepared without listening to the voices of either ordinary citizens or knowledgeable economists, senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram claimed.
Terming the budget "insipid", Chidambaram said that belying widespread expectations, the finance minister has given no meaningful relief to any section of society.
"The Modi government treats India as one big state government and has taken upon itself to do things that are the right and duty of state governments. This is not cooperative federalism, it is an unequal partnership imposed by the Centre upon state governments," Chidambaram said.
In this year's Budget, the finance minister hiked the tax on petrol and diesel, raised import duty on gold, levied additional surcharge on the super rich and brought a tax on high value cash withdrawals as she sought to spur growth with reduction in corporate tax and sops to housing sector, start-ups and electric vehicles.
Criticising the Budget, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it was just a repetition of "old promises".
"They (the BJP) are talking about a new India, but it is simply old wine in a new bottle," he told reporters outside Parliament. He claimed that no new initiatives were announced by the government.
The Modi government has tried to project India as "El Dorado" (a place of fabulous wealth for all), but in reality the pain of the economy is being experienced, he said.
"There is no plan for employment generation, there is no distinct plan for giving any facilities to agriculture sector, labour sector. This is nothing but a litany of old promises," Chowdhury said.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also slammed the government over the budget proposals and asked if a "mundane jugglery of acronyms" can pass off for vision of a New India.
"An utterly lacklustre, nondescript, uninspiring and directionless Budget 2019. Zero on economic revival. Zero on rural growth. Zero on job creation. Zero on Urban rejuvenation. Can a mundane jugglery of 'acronyms' pass off for vision for a 'New India'?" he said on Twitter.
The BJP has been "tom-tomming" the Sensex as a barometer of economic growth, but the Sensex lost 395 points post budget, giving a thumbs down to the maiden budget of Modi 2.0, Surjewala said in a series of tweets.
"FM says Fiscal Deficit will be 3.3%. Truth is otherwise. Expenses on rural development, infrastructure, food subsidy were not included as part of Fiscal Deficit. Real Fiscal Deficit is estimated at 4.7%. Skulduggery of figures?" Surjewala said.
He also claimed that GDP projections were "overstated" by the government.
"Budget Estimates project GDP at 8%. Economic Survery 2019 projects GDP at 7% Actual GDP last Quarter of FY19 is 6.8%. Perception V/S Reality!" he said in a tweet.
Surjewala alleged that the government had "betrayed" India's youth with "no word" on unemployment, new opportunities, public education, and high fee structure.
"Modi 2.0 - Corporates with an annual turnover of ?400,00,00,000 (?400Cr) get an income tax break from 30% to 25%. No relief for honest tax payer'!" he said in another tweet.
Surjewala slammed the government for the hike in petrol and diesel prises and said the move was like adding salt to injury.
"#Budget2019 so far -- Maximum Intent, Minimum Content! Maximum Catchphrases, Minimum Catch-points!" he tweeted when the Budget was being presented.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
