Tag: Arun Jaitley

Operation Green to overhaul agriculture: Jaitley focuses on strengthening the rural sector

- by India Writes Network

Announcing a ₹500 crore Operation Green for the development of the agricultural sector Finance Minister ArunJaitley has reinforced the focus of the government in increasing the income of farmers and raising the minimum support price.
Presenting the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2018-19, the minister proposed an Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 2000 crore and the upgradation of rural haats to Grameen agricultural markets. In increasing the Minimum Support Price of all cropsto at least 1.5 times that of the production cost, he promised the full support of the government in ensuring the payment of full MSP even if farmers sell below MSP. He proposed the introduction of Kishan credit cards.

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India-Pakistan ties hit new low, Jaitley likely to skip SAARC meet

- by India Writes Network

Signalling a deepening frostiness in bilateral ties with Pakistan, India’s Finance Minister is expected to skip the meeting of SAARC finance ministers in Islamabad August 25-26. Instead, India may send economic affairs secretary for the SAARC meet, informed sources said.
There is no official word on Jaitley’s participation in the SAARC finance ministers’ meeting in Islamabad. The final decision will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The relations between India and Pakistan have plummeted to a new low, with both sides trading accusations and playing a game of one-upmanship. In a tit-for-tat response to Pakistan’s support for violence in Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi, in his Independence Day speech, subtly alluded to human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan, saying people from these regions currently administered by Pakistan have thanked him. This is the first time an Indian prime minister has raised Balochistan and PoK in their Independence Day message, signalling a hardening of the Modi government’s posture towards Pakistan and the drawing of a new line on Kashmir.
Pakistan’s response to Mr Modi’s remarks suggest intransigence, which suggest that bilateral ties are headed for a deep freezer in days to come with minimal high-level contacts.

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‘Tyranny of the unelected’, a step towards ‘committed judiciary’?

- by N Sathiya Moorthy

Independent of the validity of the across-the-board arguments favouring transparency and accountability in judicial appoints all-round, India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might have over-stated his position and that of the government by publicly questioning the ‘tyranny of the unelected’ as ‘flawed’ and against the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.

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