Heena Sharma Blog

The Narendra Modi-led government has not released any money to Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), India’s only central government-owned pilot training institute, since 2015-16. The institute was established in 1985 by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Fursatganj in the Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh. Currently held by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Smriti Irani, the Amethi constituency was represented in Parliament by Rajiv Gandhi from 1981 until his death in 1991. Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi represented it from 1999 to 2004, and former Congress President Rahul Gandhi from 2004 to 2019. Rahul Gandhi has also served as a member of the IGRUA governing council in the past. IGRUA’s financial statements show that the last grant (Rs 5 crore) it received from the government was in 2014-15. According to Budget documents, the government made token provisions for the institutions but never released the money. For instance, in 2017-18, it made a nomina...

The budget session of Parliament is likely to be held from January 31 to Feb 13, and an interim budget is expected to be presented on February 1, government sources said Wednesday. They said the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs deliberated on the dates for the budget session at a meeting. Budget 2019 It is expected to be the last session of the current Lok Sabha as general elections are due in April-May. Read our full coverage on Interim budget 2019

In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP on its way to secure a comfortable majority in Parliament. Its ally, Apna Dal, won two seats in the politically crucial state Economy & Policy News : With the 2019 Lok Sabha election less than a year away, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah bet on Uttar Pradesh (UP) for the party repeating its 2014 performance and returning to power at the Centre. Addressing a public meeting at Chandauli district in eastern UP, on Sunday, Shah recalled that in run up to the 2014 poll, he had said the path to victory in Lok Sabha poll would traverse through UP. “I am repeating the same today for the 2019 Lok Sabha poll that UP would play a key role in forming the next government at the Centre and re-electing the Narendra Modi government,” he added. In 2014, the BJP had won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, ally Apna Dal won two. Shah said he was confident the tally would rise to 74. ...