Airport sources said the defence minister had also told officials not to come to the terminal to see her off.

Vijay Gokhale on last Tuesday said the non-military and pre-emptive strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) training camp in Balakot had killed "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, should not have occurred, but that government's efforts to thwart several attacks had resulted in far lesser terror incidents in the last five years than before 2014.

The officials, who briefed Sitharaman Sunday, told her that the probable cause of the mishap was fire from an overheated silencer of one of the parked cars and accentuated by strong wings, it spread quickly, the spokesman said.

"We have given the contract to HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) for 83 light combat fighter aircraft. Sukhois are being manufactured in India," she said.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, Sitharaman said, "you can wake one who is sleeping, but how will you wake someone who is acting to sleep."

Rahul also accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of lying in this matter.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday accused the previous UPA government of doing "nothing" during its 10-year rule to upgrade Defence Public Sector Undertakings, two days after a Mirage-2000 crashed in Bengaluru during a sortie killing both the pilots.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman approved procurement of the Sig Sauer rifles which will be used by troops deployed along the nearly 3,600-km border with China.

Addressing Yuva Kranti Yatra at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi, the Congress president alleged that Modi stole opportunities from youth to give Rs. 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani.

Amul's latest caricature shows Vicky Kaushal holding a butter bread in his hand.

Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday watched film "Uri: The Surgical Strike" with war veterans at a Bengaluru mall.

JPC for issues like the 2G Spectrum or Bofors were set up in the past following aspects like money trail and related bank account in Switzerland published extensively by the media, Sitharaman said.

The K-9 Vajra is one of the two howitzers to have been inducted into the Army after a long gap of more than 30 years following the shadow of the Bofors scandal.

The decision to induct women in the military police with an aim to enhance their representation in the armed forces was announced by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat last year.

Hitting out at Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for reportedly stating that no major terror attack took place during the BJP-led government's rule, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram asked whether she was giving a clean chit to Pakistan in the Pathankot and Uri attacks.

Speaking on the party's political resolution on the last day of the two-day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Convention here, she also accused the Congress of seeking help from Pakistan to remove Modi as the Prime Minister and said it was possible only under Modi's leadership that the country could foresee a bright future.

In his public meeting a few hours later in Agra, Modi accused Congress leaders of insulting the country's women.

Little did Rahul Gandhi know that his comments on Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during debate on Rafale deal in Parliament would evoke a bashing from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who accused the Congress President of insulting the women of the country.   

“When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies, to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the PM's Rafale lie, the RM lied to Parliament. Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL. Or resign,” tweeted Gandhi.