The incident took place at an event held in Mumbai to celebrate the silver jubilee of NSDL on Saturday.

India certainly wants to be a friend but if the US also wants a friend, the friend can't be a weak friend, the friend should not be weakened, Sitharaman told reporters at a new conference concluding her US visit.

In her first public appearance before the Atlantic Council think-tank, the finance minister told a select group of Washington audience about how the people together with the Indian government successfully faced the challenge posed by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns.

Sitharaman, who is in Washington DC for the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, discussed the current economic situation and India’s approach towards addressing the prevailing challenges in Sri Lanka on Monday, the Ministry of Finance said.

Ms Georgieva also congratulated India on its successful vaccination programme to control the spread of COVID-19.

Sitharaman highlighted India's performance in the digital world and the government's efforts to build the digital infrastructure framework over the last decade.

Currently, GST is a four-tier structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Besides, gold and gold jewellery attract 3 per cent tax. In addition, there is an exempt list of items like unbranded and unpacked food items which do not attract the levy.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that major supply chains have broken.

The Finance Bill was approved by the Lower House after accepting 39 official amendments moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and rejecting the amendments proposed by the opposition by voice vote.

The bill, introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was passed after cut motions, moved by various opposition members, were rejected.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha Sitharaman said the Kashmir issue should not have gone to the global forum as it was an internal issue.

BJP's central observer for Manipur, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that N Biren Singh will remain the state's chief minister after he was unanimously elected as legislative party leader.

BJP's central leadership will be accompanied by Manipur caretaker CM N Biren Singh, BJP leader Biswajit Singh who are camping in New Delhi discussing govt formation with the party's top leadership.

Sitharaman said GST Council is a body in which every finance minister from every state sits and decides on how the disbursements happen.  

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's warning came as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that she was responding to the point raised by a Congress member who was not present in the House.

The government was looking to sell 5 per cent stake in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) this month, which could have fetched over Rs 60,000 crore to the exchequer. The IPO would have helped meet the curtailed disinvestment target of Rs 78,000 crore this fiscal.

Sitharaman, in her Budget speech on February 1, had announced that Digital Rupee or Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) would be issued by the RBI in the coming fiscal year. She had also announced the government will levy 30 per cent tax on gains made from any other private digital assets from April 1.

The Reserve Bank of India and the Union government have not given any sort of recognition to cryptocurrencies and, therefore, they are not legal in the country right now, the Union minister of state for finance, who had come here to attend a function, told reporters.

Without naming Rahul Gandhi, the Finance Minister referred to the Congress leader's remarks on poverty to counter the criticism from Opposition leaders, including former finance minister P Chidambaram of the Budget leaving out the poor.

Replying to the general discussion on Union Budget, the minister said, "I am not going to legalize it or ban it at this stage. Banning or not banning will come subsequently, when consultations give me input".