Arun Jaitley

Ahead of the Union Budget 2018-19 presentation by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament, the key Indian equity indices on Thursday traded with appreciable gains.

Leaders of various opposition parties met here on Monday to informally discuss coordination between them during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.

Steps taken towards development of inclusive "employment-intensive" industry, and building of "resilient infrastructure improved the overall business environment, said the Economic Survey 2017-18 released on Monday.

The Economic Survey tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament on Monday had a pink cover as it lay "special emphasis" on gender.

The last full Union Budget to be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the forthcoming session of Parliament beginning on Monday will be unlike his previous four such exercises because of the complete overhaul of the indirect tax regime effected by implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) last year.

Following the Indian tradition of having something sweet before setting out on an auspicious work, the Finance Ministry here on Saturday performed the "halwa" ceremony to mark the commencement of the printing process for the 2018-19 Budget.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that most political parties are "fairly satisfied" with the present system of political funding and would not like to move on to a transparent system such as electoral bonds.

The Union Budget 2018 will be presented on February 1, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday moved a privilege motion in the Rajya Sabha against Congress President Rahul Gandhi for "mocking" Finance Minister Arun Jaitley by "twisting" his name.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were among the high-profile guests at the wedding reception of star cricketer Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma here on Thursday.