Articles by "Arun Jaitley"
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Hello Jammu News at 3:34:00 PM 0


New Delhi, Aug 24  :  BJP stalwart and former finance minister Arun Jaitley died on Saturday at AIIMS . He was 66.

In a brief statement, the hospital said Jaitley died at 12.07 pm.

It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Arun Jaitley, former Finance Minister of Government of India, at 12.07 pm on August 24, the AIIMS said.

Jaitley was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on August 9 and was treated by a multi-disciplinary team of senior doctors.

Hospital sources had earlier said he was on life support.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, had been a key member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the BJP government's first term. He held the finance and defence portfolios, and often acted as the chief troubleshooter of the government.

Jaitley did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election, because of his ill-health.

In May this year, Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS for treatment.

He had undergone a renal transplant on May 14 last year at AIIMS with Railways Minister Piyush Goyal filling in for him in the finance ministry at that time.

Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April last year, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018.

In September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition.
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Hello Jammu News at 6:40:00 PM 0


New York, Apr 11 :  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has discussed India's economic reforms and outlook for the future as he addressed investors here. 

India's Consulate General in New York tweeted Wednesday that since his arrival in the city, Jaitley "held a series of roundtables with the investors community of New York on India's economic reforms and vision for the future. Investors are bullish on India. 

Jaitley is visiting the US to attend the IMF-World Bank meeting in Washington from April 12 to 14. 

Jaitley addressed an interactive session jointly organized by industry chamber FICCI, the Indian Consulate in New York and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. 

"When we do reforms, we have to make sure that benefit reaches last man in the queue," a tweet by FICCI said, citing the Finance Minister as saying at the interactive session, attended by MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga among other top business executives and investors. 

Another tweet by FICCI said that Jaitley told the interactive session that getting bank accounts for all, providing 99% of population with access to toilets, modern approach of cooking, rural road connectivity, house for all were part of the efforts towards social reforms. 

Over the next five years, reducing poverty, providing best infrastructure, new cities to manage migration, increasing participation of women, will be the focus, another tweet by FICCI said, citing Jaitley as saying during the interactive session. 

Earlier, Jaitley addressed investors at a roundtable on India's reforms & economic outlook' organized by the US-India Business Council, industry chamber CII and US stock exchange Nasdaq. 

Accompanying Jaitley are top officials from the Ministry of Finance, including Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das is also slated to attend the IMF-World Bank meetings.               [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 6:18:00 PM 0


New Delhi, Mar 29 :  The BJP Friday cited the Samjhauta train blast case judgment to assert that the probe focussed on establishing the Congress's "political theory of Hindu terror", as it accused the opposition party of "smearing" Hindus on the basis of "forged" evidence for political benefits.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Arun Jaitley also took a swipe Congress leaders, including its president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, over their temple visits, saying those who believed Hindus to be terrorists are now busy showing their dedication to the religion. 

It is good that they visit temples and also acknowledge that it is the birthplace of Lord Ram, he said in an apparent reference to Priyanka's visit to Ayodhya.

Attacking the Congress over the Samjhauta blast verdict, Jaitley said people cannot tolerate an entire community being labelled as terrorists.

Reading parts of the judgment slamming the National Investigation Agency for miserably failing to prove allegations against the accused -- all of whom, including Swami Aseemanand, were acquitted -- Jaitley said the investigation was carried out between 2007-09 when the UPA was in power.

The court, which released the verdict in its entirety on Thursday, said it has to "conclude this judgment with deep pain and anguish as a dastardly act of violence remained unpunished for want of credible and admissible evidence. There are gaping holes in the prosecution evidence and an act of terrorism has remained unsolved." 

The blast in Samjhauta Express between India and Pakistan took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari, the last railway station on the Indian side. 

Jaitley said wrong set of people were "framed" by forging evidence and the entire Hindu community was "smeared", something, he added, that happened for the first time in history.

"Who will take accountability for this? It rests with the leadership of the Congress. The society will never forgive them," the BJP leader, accompanied by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and party's media head Anil Baluni, told a press conference.

Innocents were killed in the blast but investigators focussed not on real culprits but on establishing the political theory of Hindu terrorism, he said, alleging that the Congress gave the slogan of "Hindu terrorism" for its "vote bank" politics.

In other cases also evidence were forged to probe this theory, he added, for political benefits.

The finance minister said the US state department kept telling India about terrorists involved in blasts and gave their names as well but that line of investigation was not pursued. There were reports that the US state department suspected terror outfit LeT's role in the blasts.

To a question about the then home secretary R K Singh, who is now a BJP leader and Union minister, echoing the Hindu terror view, Jaitley said it is not important what bureaucrats said as such decisions are taken at political level.               [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 11:24:00 PM 0



New Delhi, Feb 19 :   The Union Cabinet Tuesday gave its nod to re-issue the contentious Triple Talaq ordinance that makes the practice of instant triple talaq by Muslim men a penal offence.

The Cabinet has given its nod to the Triple Talaq ordinance, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters in the Cabinet briefing, noting that it is among those ordinances and bills which had been passed by the Lok Sabha but could not be taken up in the Rajya Sabha due to continuous protests by opposition parties. 

Once signed by President Ram Nath Kovind, the triple talaq ordinance will come into force for the third time in less than one year.

A bill on the ordinance making the practise of 'talaq-e-biddat' (instance divorce) void and an offence is pending in Rajya Sabha. The bill will lapse on June 3 with the dissolution of the present Lok Sabha. 

Opposition parties and some community leaders have claimed that jail term for a man for divorcing his wife is legally untenable. The government has asserted that it provides justice and equality to Muslim women.

To a question about the need for a government to clear several ordinances, including the one on triple talaq, weeks ahead of the general election, Jaitley said discussions on these ordinances and bills had been "physically prevented" in Parliament. 

"It (discussion) has not been prevented because numbers were against it... Indian democracy cannot be helpless. Extraordinary situations do call for such steps," he said, adding that some ordinances, including one against inter-state ponzi scheme, are in a larger national interest. 

The government has promulgated the ordinance on triple talaq twice. 

Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq will be illegal, void and would attract a jail term of three years for the husband 

A Bill to convert the earlier ordinance, issued in September, 2018, was cleared by the Lok Sabha in December and was pending in the Rajya Sabha 

Since the Bill could not get parliamentary approval, a fresh ordinance was issued. 

Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision of bail for the accused before trial. 

These amendments were cleared by the Cabinet on August 29, 2018. While the ordinance makes it a "non-bailable" offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail. 

In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted by police at the police station itself. 

A provision has been added to allow the magistrate to grant bail "after hearing the wife", the government had said.                                                   [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 3:33:00 PM 0


New Delhi, Feb 18 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said India needs fewer and mega banks to achieve economies of scale in the sector.

After the amalgamation of five associates and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI in 2017, the government earlier this year approved the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda.

"With the experience in the past really has been of SBI merger, now it is second one which is taking place," Jaitley said after the customary post-budget address to the RBI board.

"India needs fewer and mega banks which are strong because in every sense, from borrowing rates to optimum utilisation, the economies of scale as far as banking sector is concerned are of great help," he said.

The Union Cabinet last month approved the merger of the three banks to create the country's third-largest lender after SBI and ICICI Bank.

The amalgamation, the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in India, would be effective from April 1, 2019.

After the merger, the number of public sector banks will come down to 18.

In September 2018, the Alternative Mechanism, headed by Jaitley, gave in-principle approval for the merger of the three banks to create a global-sized lender.                               [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 3:31:00 PM 0

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal Friday announced a capital expenditure allocation of Rs 1.58 lakh crore for the Railways, the highest ever for the national transporter, in an effort to put its flagging revenues back on track. Last year, then finance minister Arun Jaitley had allocated an amount of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for the Railways in his budget.


New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Finance Minister Piyush Goyal Friday announced a capital expenditure allocation of Rs 1.58 lakh crore for the Railways, the highest ever for the national transporter, in an effort to put its flagging revenues back on track. Last year, then finance minister Arun Jaitley had allocated an amount of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for the Railways in his budget. 

Goyal, who is also the Railway minister, said so far 2018-2019 has been the safest for the Indian Railways and all unmanned level crossings on the broad gauge network have been completely eliminated.

"Capital expenditure programme of the Railways is at all-time high of Rs 1.58 lakh crore in next financial year. Vande Bharat Express, indigenously developed semi-high speed train, will give Indian passengers world class experience.

"This major leap in wholly developed technology by our engineers will give an impetus to the Make in India programme and create jobs," he said in his debut budget speech.

The budget estimates under revenue for the year 2019-20 (gross) is Rs 2,72,705.68 crore, recording an increase of Rs 22,854.67 crore over the revised estimates of Rs 2,49,851.01 crore for 2018-19. 

In the budget, funds of Rs 7,255 crore have been allocated for construction of new lines, Rs 2,200 crore for gauge conversion, Rs 700 crore for doubling, Rs 6,114.82 crore for rolling stock and Rs 1,750 crore for signalling and telecom. 

Goyal also announced that the operating ratio for the current fiscal has improved to 96.2 per cent, and in the next financial year the aim will be to lower it to 95 per cent.

No railway fare hike was announced in the Railway Budget for 2019. Lok Sabha elections are slated to be held in April-May.

The planned expenditure would be a 148 per cent hike from the levels of 2014. 

Developing passenger amenities has been allocated a sum of Rs 3,422 crores which is an additional outlay of around Rs 1,000 crore for the comfort of rail users.


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Hello Jammu News at 5:37:00 PM 0


New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) Union Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday termed 'mahagathbandhans' in India as tried, tested and failed ideas, saying if such an alliance is formed again then 2019 will be a contest between a stable government led by a strong leader and an "anarchic combination".

Expressing confidence about the BJP's win in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said this is not a time for India to test an anarchic kind of combination when it is on the growth path.

Giving historical accounts of 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) in India, Jaitley said, "You tried it under Chandra Shekhar, it was partly tried under V P Singh, it was tried under Charan Singh and it was tried under I K Gujaral and Devi Gowda. It's an experiment where policy gets killed and the longevity of the government is a few months." 

"So, these (mahagathbandhans) are tried, tested and failed ideas much that they sound very fancy. In order to have a big alliance, you must have a large nucleus and smaller groups aligned around them. You cannot have a nucleolus of a handful of people and you cannot have an alliance of political parities whose interests are regional," the finance minister said at the HT Leadership Summit here.

Jaitley's comments have come in the run-up to the upcoming assembly polls in some major states and also the Lok Sabha elections. These remarks assume significance amidst talk of formation of a grand alliance of opposition parties to defeat the BJP in 2019. 

He further said "you cannot have an alliance with parties whose leaders are maverick or they want to be in alliance to have criminal cases to be closed. If you get together this kind of a crowd then 2019 will be a choice between a stable government with a strong leader versus a completely anarchic combination". 

Observing that history had provided India a great opportunity, he said, India has been growing fast consistently despite global slowdown and other factors. 

"So, therefore, this is when we need coherence, governance and policy. This is not time where you can go in for an anarchic kind of combination. I think aspirational societies never commit suicide. So, I am very clear what will happen in 2019," he said.

Dismissing Congress President Rahul Gandhi's allegation that the Narendra Modi- led government is responsible for mounting bad loans in the banking sector, Jaitley said, "I think some people need to grow up and understand these issues. Debate on these issues has to be a grown-up debate." 

The total amount of debt given till 2007-08 was about Rs 18 lakh crore by public sector banks in the country and when the global slowdown began this Rs 18 lakh crore went up to Rs 55 lakh crore in 2014, he said.

Year after year, he said, the previous UPA government was asking banks to grow their lending by 31 per cent.

"So the undeserving and unstable projects were all been funded. That's when the bank loot started. So the Congress president must realise that this was the genesis of the problem," he said.

The second crime that they committed was instead of accepting the problem of additional capacity, banks were asked to roll over the debt when the borrower started defaulting, he said.

Citing an example of Vijay Mallya without taking his name, Jaitley said "in one of the most controversial cases where person has escaped to the UK, it was the RBI which wrote to the SBI to please give him (Mallya) a second restructuring".

So you have managed the system to such an extent that the RBI telling State Bank of India that someone should be given a second restructuring, he added.

Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom, has been charged of defaulting on bank loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.

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Hello Jammu News at 5:35:00 PM 0


New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) With non-BJP ruled states refusing to cut taxes on fuel, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday questioned Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his "reluctant allies" if they are only committed to tweets and television bytes when it comes to giving relief to the common man.

In a Facebook post titled 'The oil prices and the hypocrisy of the opposition', Jaitley accused the government critics of doing a 'volte face' by terming the cut in petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2.5 per litre by the Centre as 'bad economics'.

He said states collect extra taxes when oil prices go up since their taxes are ad valorem.

"Yet we have a situation where a number of non-BJP non-NDA States have refused to pass on any benefit to the consumer. What are the people supposed to conclude? 

"Are Rahul Gandhi and his reluctant allies only committed to tweets and television bytes when it comes to give relief to the common man?" Jaitley said.

He said the challenges thrown up by the increase in the international price of crude oil is serious and cannot be resolved by either the tweets or television bytes of some opposition leaders.

"Must not the non-BJP States be candid with the people and tell them that both in 2017 and 2018 they refused to give any relief to the people even from their higher revenues. They sent out tweets and gave television bytes but when it came to performance, they looked the other way, Jaitley said.

The government had on Thursday announced a Rs 2.5 per litre cut in petrol and diesel prices, of which Rs 1.5 per litre is on account of reduction in excise duty and the remaining Rs 1 per litre would be absorbed by oil marketing companies.

It also appealed to the state governments to cut VAT rates. BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh followed suit.

Non-BJP ruled states like Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal have refused to cut taxes.

Jaitley said the political crisis in Venezuela and Libya has adversely impacted oil producing countries and the US sanctions on Iran also have increased uncertainties over supplies.

He said the high cost of crude oil has also impacted the currency situation.

"India's macroeconomic fundamentals with regard to its fiscal deficit, inflation, foreign exchange reserves etc. are fairly stable. Tax collections are encouraging," Jaitley said.

However, a high cost of crude oil adversely impacts the current account deficit. That, in turn, impacts the currency. Additionally, the hardening of the dollar has further impacted most global currencies.

"Both the factors have an impact on the cost of fuel available to a citizen," he said, adding the cost of crude oil has reached its highest level in the past four years.

Stating that the government critics rejoiced the political consequences of the increase of the crude prices, Jaitley said when the price was reduced, the critics did a "volte face and argued that this is bad economics".

"Even Rahul Gandhi, whose party had inflicted a double digit inflation on India during the past five years of UPA-II, gave television bytes and released tweets advocating a price reduction," Jaitley said.

"Let me categorically assure all that there is no going back on deregulation of oil prices," he added.

He said the NDA government has an "exemplary record" of fiscal prudence and has maintained the gradual glide path since 2014 to bring down fiscal deficit. "We will continue to do so".

"No Government can be insensitive towards its people," Jaitley added.

Last year in October, when the oil prices were rising, the Centre cut excise duty by Rs 2.

"We have requested the States to make a similar cut. Most of the BJP-NDA States did so. The others refused to do so," Jaitley said, adding in an extraordinary situation, the capacity of an economy to give relief will depend on its fiscal strength.

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Hello Jammu News at 5:31:00 PM 0


New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said a Parliament approved legislation can restore mandatory linking of biometric ID Aadhaar with mobile phones and bank accounts, but did not say if the government will bring a new law for the same.


The Supreme Court had last month upheld the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric based unique identity number, but restricted its use by private entities like telecom operators for verifying identity of mobile phone user.

Jaitley said the verdict was a "very sound judgment" as the court accepted that there is legitimate state aim in Aadhaar.

"Aadhaar is not a citizenship card," he said at the HT Leadership Summit here. "Because after all you have a system where you give a lot of government money in form of various support and subsidies to all kinds of people. That was the principle objective of Aadhaar." 

The Supreme Court, he said, upheld most of what Aadhaar does.

"What had not been upheld falls in two categories. One is the principle of proportionality that Aadhaar will help in these cases and then do it by an appropriate law.

"So the whole argument which was given that private companies can't use it, there is Section 57 which says you can authorise others either by law or contract. So what has been struck down is by contract," he said.

Finance Minister said a legal provision through a legislation can restore linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones and bank accounts.

"By law it can still be done, provided you do it under the adequate provision of law and do it on the basis of that in this field it is necessary," he said.

He, however, did not say if the government plans to bring a law in Parliament for the purpose.

Jaitley said the Supreme Court has permitted Aadhaar linkage in several areas like income tax, based on "the principle of proportionality".

"If you are able to show the kind of data that in mobile telephony it (Aadhaar linkage) will help, it can happen. So mobile and bank accounts are two critical areas," he said.

The Supreme Court declared constitutional the government's extraordinary attempt to give every resident a biometric ID. It, however, drew a clear line between two kinds of use for biometric authentication -- its use for state-provided services like payment of subsidies and taxation records was declared acceptable but restricted its use as authentication tool by the private sector like telecom companies and banks.

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Hello Jammu News at 1:08:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Sep 24: Seeking to calm the nerves of worried investors, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Monday that the government would take all measures to ensure adequate liquidity for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and mutual funds.

The minister's remarks come in the wake of stock markets witnessing sudden and stiff fall in intra-day trade on Friday over concerns of liquidity crisis being faced by some of the NBFCs.

"The Government will take all measures to ensure that adequate liquidity is maintained/provided to the NBFCs, the mutual funds and the SMEs," Jaitley tweeted ahead of the opening of stock markets.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and market regulator Sebi said on Sunday that they were closely monitoring the developments in the financial sector and were ready to take "appropriate actions" to calm the jittery investors.

There are liquidity concerns following default in repayment of loans by diversified IL&FS group. Another housing finance company, DHFL, too is reportedly facing liquidity crisis. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 4:53:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Sep 20: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday launched a scathing attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi calling him "Clown Prince" and that he was "lying" about Modi government waiving Rs 2.5 lakh crore of loans of 15 industrialists.

Taking to a Facebook blog to reply to Gandhi's charges made during his political rallies, Jaitley said not a single rupee of any debtor has been waived by the BJP government.

Loans to the country's 12 defaulters were given out prior to 2014 and it was only the present government which was making recoveries, he said, adding that defaulters are losing their companies and assets as they are being auctioned to recover dues.

"You lied on the Rafale deal, you lied on the NPAs. Your temperament to concoct facts raises a legitimate question do people whose natural preference is falsehood deserve to be a part of the public discourse," he said. "The world's largest democracy must seriously introspect whether public discourse should be allowed to be polluted by the falsehood of a 'Clown Prince'."

Gandhi has repeatedly attacked the Narendra Modi government on the deal to purchase Rafale fighter jets from France, which he claims is being done at more than three times the price the previous UPA government had agreed upon. Also, he has accused the government of waiving Rs 2.5 lakh crore of loans defaulted by top industrialists.

Countering his charges, Jaitley in the blog titled - Falsehood of a 'Clown Prince' - said the previous Congress-led UPA government "concealed" the loans despite default by rolling them over and NPAs or bad loans were hidden under the carpet.

"The truth, Mr Rahul Gandhi, is that your Government allowed the banks to be looted. The loans were inadequately securitized. Your Government was in complicity," he wrote.

Jaitley charged Gandhi of "concocting a lie" and repeating it as many times and went on to cite previous arguments he had made to counter the charges on Rafale deal.

"In mature democracies, those who rely on falsehood are considered unfit for public life. Many have been banished from political activity because they were caught lying. But this rule obviously can't apply to a dynastic organisation like Congress party," he said.

"If the 'Rafale concoctions' were the first big lie, the second one stated repeatedly is that Mr Modi waived off Rs 2.50 lakh crores of 15 industrialists. Every word of that sentence repeatedly uttered by Rahul Gandhi is false."

Listing out the top 12 defaulters that included likes of Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel, Jaitley said while UPA leaders are claiming that the non-performing assets (NPAs) when they exited the government in 2014 was only Rs 2.5 lakh crore, "the truth is that actually NPAs were hidden under the carpet".

"In 2015, an asset quality review (AQR) was conducted by the Reserve Bank of India and as a result of AQR and subsequent transparent recognition by banks it was found that the NPAs were actually Rs 8.96 lakh crores and the real amount was being hidden," he said, adding that the UPA never took effective steps that could result in recovery or reduction of the NPAs.

Post-2014-15, NPAs increased not because more monies were lent but because interest was mounting up on the overdue amounts, he said. "Some of the defaulters were given a second restructuring so that the defaults could continue to be hidden".

An account is a 'performing account' as long as the debt is being serviced by the principal/interest being paid. The moment a debtor is unable to service the debt, a default occurs and on expiry of 90 days an account is declared a non-performing asset.

"During the UPA, most of these accounts were not declared as NPAs," Jaitley said, listing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) brought by his government as the "only effective move".

Under IBC, loan defaulting firms are being auctioned to recover the debt.

"The RBI, in the first installment, identified 12 major defaulters. These 12 defaulters, towards principal interest and penal interest, jointly owed about Rs 3 lakh crores to various banks. The banks under UPA took no steps to recover these loans. They did not prosecute a single major debtor who had siphoned off money," he said.

The BJP-led NDA government, he said, enabled the banks to effectively pursue the recovery.

"The recoveries are being done by the banks only now. By repeating a lie on several occasions, you can't change that reality," he said.

While the recovery action under IBC has been initiated, some defaulters are being prosecuted, he said.

"All these defaulters got their debt in the pre-2014 era. Many got their limits substantially expanded during that period. Though these defaults occurred in the pre-2014 period, the same remained hidden on the pretext of rollover, restructuring, and ever-greening," he said. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 5:19:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Aug 30: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said India is expected to surpass Britain next year to become world's fifth largest economy.

"This year, in terms of size, we have overtaken France. Next year we are likely to overtake Britain. Therefore, we will be the fifth largest (economy)," he said here.

Other economies in the world is growing at much lesser rate, he said, adding that India has the potential to be among top three economies of the world in the next 10-20 years. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:11:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Aug 23: President Ram Nath Kovind today re-appointed Arun Jaitley as Finance Minister, after he recovered from a kidney ailment.

"The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed to assign the portfolios of the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs to Arun Jaitley," a notification said.

Jaitley will resume charge of both finance and corporate affairs portfolios today at the North Block office.

He underwent a renal transplant on May 14 and on the same day, his ministerial charges were given to Piyush Goyal on an interim basis.

Since his surgery, he has been staying in a controlled environment as per the doctors advice.

He, however, attended the Rajya Sabha for the election of Deputy Chairman on August 9. This was his first public appearance since May 14.

He has been leader of Rajya Sabha since 2000. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:50:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Aug 9: Union Minister Arun Jaitley today attended the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha for the first time after undergoing a renal transplant in May.

Jaitley, who is also the Leader of the Upper House, was holding the charge of Finance and Corporate Affairs Ministries.

He underwent a renal transplant on May 14 and on the same day, his ministerial charges were given to Piyush Goyal on an interim basis.

Rajya Sabha members would be voting to elect the Deputy Chairperson today. (PTI)

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Hello Jammu News at 6:12:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Jul 13: Union Minister Arun Jaitley today exuded confidence that India will pip Great Britain to become the fifth largest economy in the world next year if economic expansion continues at the projected rate.

However, rising international crude oil prices and the global trade war would throw up challenges going forward, he said.

"If we keep growing at the rate which is being projected, it is likely that next year we will be the fifth largest economy ahead of Great Britain," Jaitley said in a Facebook post titled 'The Congress Gave Slogans to Rural India - Prime Minister Modi Gave Resources'.

"This is in consonance with the rest of the narrative. Being the fastest growing economy for the last four years, we can look at the next decade as one of economic expansion," he added.

A latest World Bank report has said that the Indian economy has become world's sixth-biggest economy, pushing France to seventh place. The US tops the list followed by China, Japan, Germany and Britain.

The new calculations were arrived on the basis of Indian economy's performance in 2017.

India's gross domestic product (GDP) was valued at USD 2.597 trillion at the end of 2017 overtaking the French economy, which was amounted at USD 2.582 trillion last year.

"We have already seen a significant move up in India's ranking in the ease of doing business and as a preferred investment destination. Today we stand to be tested in the midst of a global challenge thrown up on account of the international crude oil prices and the trade war," Jaitley said.

Crude oil prices, which were around USD 66 a barrel, in April are now hovering around USD 75 a barrel.

The Indian economy is estimated to grow at 7-7.5 per cent in the current fiscal, higher than 6.7 per cent growth clocked in 2017-18 fiscal.

"The recently released World Bank data reveals that India has now become the sixth largest economy relegating France to the seventh position. Obviously, on account of disparity in the size of the population, there would be a very significant difference in the per capita of the two countries," he said.

The NDA government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has ensured that rural India and the less privileged get the first right on resources and if this, along with increased expenditure, continues for the next decade the impact on India's rural poor would be significant, he said.

"This benefits all irrespective of religion, caste or community. The Congress provided India's poor with slogan. Prime Minister Modi has given them resources. This will ensure faster growth and lead to a faster depletion in the poverty," Jaitley added.

He said the Congress party in 1970s and 1980s followed the model of "populist slogans" rather than "sound policy and actual expenditure for the welfare of the poor".

"The 1971 Garibi Hatao' model was one of redistribution of poverty rather than the generation of wealth and resources. The result of this misguided approach was that the lives of the poor did not move up significantly.

"On the contrary, the present Prime Minister is a man of many words and many more actions. He announces stiff targets and programmes which at first sight appear to be difficult, if not impossible. He follows it up with the actual implementation and delivers the promise," Jaitley said.

He said the government's programmes for rural India will lead to increased incomes, increased social security, improved quality of life, higher income from agriculture and better healthcare.

Jaitley said ever since the present government took over, it has been working to translate the advantages of faster growth to rural India as well as to bring a significant section of people into the neo-middle class and bring people out of poverty. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 2:24:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Jul 5: Union Minister Arun Jaitley today said the Supreme Court verdict has made it clear that the Delhi government has no police powers and, hence, it cannot set up an investigating agency to probe crimes committed in the past.

Secondly, the presumption that the issue concerning administration of the UT cadre of services has been decided in favour of the city government would be wholly erroneous , the minister said in a Facebook post on Supreme Court's observations in the Delhi government case.

There are several issues which had directly not been commented upon, but by implication there is some indication of those issues. However, unless issues of importance are flagged, discussed and a specific opinion is rendered, none can assume that silence implies an opinion in favour of one or the other, Jaitley said.

As Delhi has no police powers, it cannot set up an investigative agency to probe crimes as had been done in the past, said the Minister.

Secondly, the Supreme Court has held categorically that Delhi cannot compare itself at par with other States and, therefore, any presumption that the administration of the UT cadre of services has been decided in favour of the Delhi government would be wholly erroneous, the minister added.

The 5-judge bench of Supreme Court yesterday unanimously held that Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a state and clipped the powers of the Lieutenant Governor (LG), saying he has no "independent decision making power" and has to act on the aid and advice of the elected government.

The apex court laid down broad parameters for the governance of the national capital, which has witnessed a bitter power tussle between the Centre and Delhi government since the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power in 2014.

Jaitley said the judgement elaborates at length the constitutional philosophy behind the Constitution and reaffirms precisely the text of what the Constitution says.

It does not add to the powers of the state government or the central government nor does it in any way dilute the same. It emphasises at the importance of elected state government, but Delhi being a Union Territory makes its powers subservient to the central government, he said.

Jaitley said, ordinarily, in the larger interest of democracy and federal politics, the Lieutenant Governor should accept the exercise of power by the state.

But if it has good and cogent reasons supported by material to disagree, he can record the same in writing and refer the same to the President (i.e. the central government), which will resolve the difference of opinion between the state government and the Lieutenant Governor.

The decision of the central government will be binding both on the Lieutenant Governor and the elected state government. Thus, hereto the opinion of the centre is over-riding, Jaitley said.

He said the judgement gives due importance to the opinion of the elected state government, but maintains the primacy of the central government in the larger interest of the national capital.

Delhi is not a state and, therefore, there could be no assumption that powers which belong to state government's also belongs to the elected government of the Union Territory.

It has been specifically held by the Supreme Court that it is crystal clear that by no stretch of imagination, NCT of Delhi can be accorded the status of a state under the present constitutional scheme and the status of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is not that of a Governor of a State, rather he remains an administrator, in a limited sense, working with the designation of Lieutenant Governor, Jaitley added. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 3:26:00 PM 0
New Delhi, Jun 22 : Terrorists have to be dealt with firmly to protect human rights of ordinary citizens, Union Minister Arun Jaitley said today.

Raising a question as to whether fidayeens, who are willing to die and willing to kill, should be dealt with through Satyagraha', Jaitley said that a terrorist who refuses to surrender and refuses a ceasefire offer has to be dealt with as anybody taking law in his own hand. This is not muscular'. It is the rule of law .

Every Indian is concerned as to who can hold this country together, Jaitley said, adding that an elected government, a dialogue with the people, a humane approach towards the average Kashmiri is the ultimate object of the Indian State with which few can disagree.

At times we get caught in the idioms that we create. One such phrase is muscular policy in Kashmir . To deal with a killer is also a law and order issue. It can't wait a political solution.

A fidayeen is willing to die. He is also willing to kill. Should he be dealt with by offering Satyagraha before him? When he advances to kill, should the security forces that confront him, ask him to sit on a table and have dialogue with them? Jaitley raised the question in his Facebook post.

He said the policy that should be followed in Kashmir has to be to protect the ordinary citizen of the valley; get him freedom from the terror; provide him with a better quality of life and environment.

It is paramount to protect India's sovereignty and the right to life of its citizens, he said.

The Maoist sponsored human rights organisations only espouse the cause of separatism and violence be it Kashmir or Chhattisgarh and have brought a bad name to a very precious and valuable concept of human rights, Jaitley added.

Our policy has to be Save the Human Rights of every Indian be it a tribal or a Kashmiri from terrorists, Jaitley said. PTI

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Hello Jammu News at 8:05:00 PM 0
New Delhi, June 13 : Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for anti-Narendra Modi tirade, Union Minister Arun Jaitley questioned the Congress President's wisdom saying that it has to be acquired through learning and cannot be inherited.

The Congress party has become "ideologyless" because its "only obsession is a person called Narendra Modi", Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

Gandhi has been attacking the BJP government for waiving loans of Rs 2.5 lakh crore by big corporates, as also criticising the Mudra Yojana.

Observing that the UPA government during 2008-2014 indiscriminately lent money through banks to 15 big loan defaulters, Jaitley said Gandhi prefers the "Gobbelian traditions to say the exact opposite".

"For a President of a national party not to understand this basic procedure of bank functioning should be a matter of concern to the entire party as also the country. In dynastic parties political positions are heritable. Unfortunately wisdom is not heritable. It has to be acquired through learning," he said in a post titled 'Is Congress Becoming Ideologyless? Is Anti-Modism its only ideology?' 

Gandhi earlier this week cited the examples of successful American entrepreneurs to attack Modi's policies, and described the founder of Coca-Cola as a 'shikanji seller' and that of McDonald's a 'dhaba wala'.

"Though factually what he stated was incorrect, the larger point is that he saw virtues in these professions which can act as a launch pad for many start-ups.

"The great grandson of the man who authored 'The Discovery of India' could with his customary inaccuracies one day give to this country his monumental work on 'The Rediscovery of Coca Cola'," Jaitley said.

He further said that there is no ideological pattern in Gandhi's statements. "Ignorance with anti-Modism is a common thread", he said.

Dynastic political parties are family and personality dominated and ideology takes a back seat, he said.

"The leader's ill-informed instincts become the ideology. This can only happen to a party which becomes ideologyless; pushes itself to the fringe; is willing to act as a tailender to regional parties. All this because its only obsession is a person called Narendra Modi," Jaitley said.

The minister also questioned the Congress party's 'sudden love for the Other Backward Classes' saying Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had opposed the Mandal Commission and the Congress Party recently opposed the grant of constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes.

On Congress leader P Chidambaram's comment that frying pakodas is not job creation, Jaitley said "being cleverer than rest of his colleagues, he perhaps was trying to neutralise the success story of the Mudra Yojana where 12.90 crore loans have been given for self-employment to various weaker sections".

Jaitley said the total of these loans has touched Rs 6 lakh crores and created work for millions of people.PTI
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Hello Jammu News at 7:28:00 PM 0
New Delhi, May 28 : The Delhi High Court today accepted the apology tendered by dissident Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas for levelling allegations against Union Minister Arun Jaitley.

Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw noted that Vishwas, in a letter submitted in the court today, has without any reservation, unequivocally withdrawn all the allegations levelled against the BJP leader.

The court disposed of the suit in which Vishwas was the only one against whom the defamation suit remained after Kejriwal and four other AAP leaders -- Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and Deepak Bajpai-- had tendered unequivocal apology to Jaitley in the Rs 10 crore defamation suit filed against them by the union minister.

Vishwas, through his advocate Amit Yadav, tendered sincere apology to Jaitley and his family members for causing any harm to them.

Senior advocate Rajiv Nayar and advocate Manik Dogra, who appeared for Jaitley, said they have accepted Vishwas's apology.

The court said, "apology has been accepted by the plaintiff and this court and decree is passed in favour of Arun Jaitley and against Kumar Vishwas in terms of letter handed over today..."

Vishwas had earlier told the court that before making any statement or apology to Jaitley, he wanted to know if Kejriwal lied when he said his allegations against the union minister were based on documents.

The dissident AAP leader had told the court that he needed more time to decide what statement he will make so that the suit can be disposed of as he was personally not interested in taking the matter forward.

Jaitley had lodged the Rs 10 crore defamation suit in December 2015 against Kejriwal and the five AAP leaders after they had alleged financial irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association when the union minister was its president. The BJP leader had denied all the allegations.PTI

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Hello Jammu News at 2:23:00 PM 0
New Delhi, May 14 : Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday underwent a successful kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here.
Releasing a statement, the institute said both, the Minister and the donor, were stable and recovering well.
"Mr Arun Jaitley, the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, underwent renal translate surgery today at AIIMS, Delhi. The surgery has been successful. Both the recipient and donor are stable and recovering well," the AIIMS release said.
Earlier on April 5, Mr Jaitley had tweeted about being treated for kidney related problems.
"I am being treated for kidney related problems & certain infections that I have contracted. I am therefore currently working from controlled environment at home. The future course of my treatment would be determined by the doctors treating me".
Due to the ailment, the Finance Minister was working from controlled environment at home and has been undergoing dialysis for the past one month.
Mr Jaitley took oath as the Rajya Sabha Member representing Uttar Pradesh on April 15. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had also undergone kidney transplant in December 2016 at the AIIMS.UNI
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