Budget 2021: Nirmala Sitharaman meets President Kovind ahead of Budget speech
New Delhi, Feb 1: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday called on President Ram Nath Kovind before presenting the Union Budget 2021-22.
As per established tradition, the Finance Minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament.
The Union Cabinet will meet at 10.15 am to clear the Budget.
Also before the actual presentation, the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will approve the Budget for the fiscal year 2021-22.
While traditionally, copies of the Budget are brought to the Parliament complex before finance minister arrives, this year no document has been printed following the COVID-19 protocol.
Instead, the Budget copies will be disseminated electronically, with documents being uploaded on the government website as well as being made available on a special app developed for the same.
Expectations are running high as Sitharaman presents her third budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday. She has her task cut out to fire up a pandemic battered economy and revive the animal instinct in it.
Dressed in a red silk saree with off-white detailing and golden border, Sitharaman continued with the tradition she set in 2019 carrying the budget speech in a bahi-khata, which she used ditching the briefcase. She was seen holding a red bahi khata.
On the first day of the budget session of Parliament, Sitharaman on Friday tabled the pre-budget Economic Survey for 2020-21, which projected a 'V'-shaped recovery for the economy in the next financial year. The economy is projected to contract by 7.7 per cent in the current fiscal ending March 31, 2021 and expanding by 11 per cent in the next.
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Heavy rain, hailstorms likely to lash Uttarakhand on Tuesday; IMD issues warning
Dehradun/Pithoragarh (PTI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heavy rain and hailstorms across several districts of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, as temperatures remained markedly below normal in the region.
Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat, and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Most places across all districts are expected to receive light to moderate rain or thunderstorms, while higher reaches are likely to witness snowfall, officials said on Monday.
The weather department warned of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and intense spells of rain in six districts, including Dehradun and Nainital. Gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 kmph are also expected at isolated locations in these areas and other hilly districts.
In the state capital, Dehradun, the sky is forecast to remain partly cloudy with light rain and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds of 30-40 kmph.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city are expected to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Maximum temperatures during the past 24 hours remained markedly below normal in the hills and appreciably below normal in the plains. While no significant change in temperature is expected over the next 2-3 days, the IMD predicts a rise of 3-5 degrees Celsius during the subsequent 3-4 days.
Rainfall was recorded in several areas after 8.30 am today, with Ramnagar receiving 31.5 mm and Nainital recording 26.5 mm. Other areas, including Pithoragarh, Khatima and Champawat, also reported moderate precipitation.
Authorities have stopped a batch of 36 Adi Kailash pilgrims at the Dharchula base camp and placed the high-altitude yatra route on high alert following heavy rains and hailstorms in the district on Monday.
Dharchula SDM Ashish Joshi said the pilgrimage was halted due to adverse weather conditions. The issuance of new inner-line passes has been suspended until the weather normalises.
With 1,700 passes issued so far, pilgrims already at higher camps are being monitored for safety, the official added.
