"Making Up For Lost Time": Minister's Dig At Congress Over Defence Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pesented the interim budget - the last one before the next government takes over after the general elections due this year - in the Parliament yesterday. The Government resisted the temptation of spending a large chunk of money on schemes for the poor and instead stuck to the path of fiscal consolidation to attract investors. Ms Sitharaman, in an exclusive interview with NDTV, said the absence of such measures in her budget was a nod to the "confidence" people have in Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the Lok Sabha elections.