Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday gave final touches to the first full Budget of Modi government's third term that is expected to balance the aspiration of the middle class for tax cut and needs of the economy to boost growth. Sitharaman will on February 1 present a record eighth consecutive Budget that is expected to contain measures to shore up weakening economic growth and ease the burden on the middle class struggling with high prices and stagnant wage growth while being fiscally prudent. "Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman interacts with the Secretaries and the senior officials involved in the Budget making process @FinMinIndia while giving final touches to the Union Budget 2025-26 at her office in North Block, in New Delhi, today," the finance ministry said in a post on X. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary also participated in the meeting, it said. The Budget will come in the backdrop of the GDP growth rate projected to fall to 4-year low of 6.4 per cent in the current financial year, close to its decadal average. The Economic Survey 2024-25 tabled by the Finance Minister in both Houses has estimated India's GDP growing in the range of 6.3-6.8 per cent in FY26, much lower than what is needed to become a developed country, and requires deregulation and reforms in areas like land and labour to stimulate growth. It indicated that India's world-beating growth is moderating and more needs to be done to achieve the near 8 per cent annual rate required to achieve the Viksit Bharat target by 2047. The 6.3-6.8 per cent growth rate in the 2025-26 financial year compares to an estimated 6.4 per cent growth in the current year ending March 31 -- the weakest since the pandemic -- and 8.2 per cent in the 2023-24 financial year.
India is set to see above-average temperatures in February after a warmer January, the weather office said on Friday, posing a risk to key winter-sown crops such as wheat, rapeseed and chickpea. Maximum and minimum temperatures in most parts of the country would be above-average in the month, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) told a virtual news conference. Fiscal deficit for April-December was $105.58 billion, or 56.7 per cent of the estimate for the financial year, government data showed on Friday.
Delhi households save an average of ₹25,000 per month due to the AAP government's welfare schemes, and if the party returns to power, new initiatives will add another ₹10,000 to their savings, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday. Speaking at the launch of the 'Bachat Patra' campaign, which highlights the financial benefits of AAP's policies, Kejriwal cited proposed schemes such as free bus travel for students, Mahila Samman Yojana, and Sanjeevani Yojana. With the Union Budget set for February 1, he contrasted AAP's welfare approach with BJP's policies.
AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the people of Delhi for the success of their 'struggle' to stop the flow of contaminated water. Taking to X, he said that ammonia levels in the water dropped from 7 ppm to 2 ppm, saving Delhi from a potential water crisis. "Many congratulations to the people of Delhi. Our struggle bore fruit. The poisonous water that was being sent to Delhi has now stopped. The amount of ammonia in the water coming to Delhi has decreased from 7 ppm to 2 ppm. If we had not raised our voice and struggled, half the population of Delhi would not have been getting water today. We saved Delhi from a huge water crisis. The Election Commission has issued a notice and threatened me. My reply to the Election Commission," he wrote in his X post.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal went to the Election Commission's office here on Friday and furnished his reply to the poll body over its notice to him on his "poison mixed" in Yamuna water remark. Kejriwal was accompanied by Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and her Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann. The former Delhi chief minister went to the Election Commission's office without an appointment. Sources from the Election Commission (EC) said that they accepted the meetings as a "special case" as campaigning in Delhi is at its peak. "The Commission accepted the manner of meeting with Arvind Kejriwal today as a special case, altering its earlier schedule in view of the thick of the campaign period in Delhi and for leaving no scope for complaint for any stakeholders," an EC source said.
Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, the Indian Air Force (IAF) officer who was recently chosen as the 'Prime' astronaut for Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) Gaganyaan mission, has been selected as the pilot for Axiom Mission 4, scheduled for Spring 2025. Shubhanshu Shukla, a serving IAF officer, will serve as the pilot for Ax-4 mission. The Ax-4 mission will be commanded by former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson, Axiom Space's director of Human Spaceflight. The two mission specialists are ESA project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. The Ax-4 mission will "realize the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation's first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years.
 "News updates: FM gives final touches to her record eighth Budget")
