Meanwhile, Jaitley will represent India in a bilateral dialogue on defence in Japan. Sitharaman will take charge of her office after Jaitley returns from Japan.

Nirmala Sitharaman is married to Dr. Parakala Prabhakar, alumnus of Jawharlal Nehru University and London School of Economics, and they have one daughter.

Nirmala Sitharaman was earlier Minister of State (Independent Charge) Commerce.

In the biggest turnaround in the third major reshuffle of the union Cabinet, Nirmala Sitharaman was on Sunday named the new Defence Minister, becoming only the second woman o hold the post since former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

The major revamp of the Narendra Modi government recognised the works of Ministers of State Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nirmala Sitharaman and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Nirmala Sitharaman today said the Centre will cooperate with Tamil Nadu if it brings an ordinance seeking exemption from NEET for government colleges for one year.

According to Nirmala Sitharaman, GST rates were fixed by following the revenue-neutral philosophy.

Sitharaman, who was speaking about small savings in reference to gross capital formation and savings, did not give any details on the revival plan, particularly when interest rates on savings have been falling.

Nirmala Sitharaman demanded that Congress president Sonia Gandhi should tender an apology for insulting the Army Chief.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that India will get the same number of H1B visas that it used to get previously.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will go a long way in boosting India’s exports.

India is looking for young entrepreneurs to build business houses and create more jobs, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today, asking business graduates to become fountainhead of commercially viable ideas.

India is holding talks talks with the Donald Trump administration over the US H1-B visa issue and also working with the industries, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Strongly defending “cow protection”, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday reminded the Parliament that it was part of India’s freedom movement.

Amid concerns being raised by India Inc on the US visa regime, the commerce and industry ministry today confirmed a meeting with industry including Nasscom to discuss the issue. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that the government had to implement the recent demonetisation as a duty to the nation in order to tackle the menace of black money and bring unaccounted money back into the banking system.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday indicated that startups may get additional tax benefits in the forthcoming budget, to be unveiled on 1 February.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has expressed her disappointment over India’s rank remaining low in terms of ease of doing business.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today launched a logo of the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM). She termed this as "an ambitious task" as India's intellectual property related activities need great traction.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that the government has so far not discussed the issue of withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan.