Some facts about Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman was the first woman to be appointed full-time Defence Minister of India in September 2017. Although the defence portfolio was passed around to three ministers under Modi 1.0 government and Sitharaman was seen by many as a tail-end batsman coming in for the slog overs, she proved to be a tenacious player. She has, in fact, driven many of the policy changes like the new defence manufacturing policy and launched the UP and Tamil Nadu defence industrial corridors.

In 2003, during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure, she became a member of National Commission for Women till 2005. The following year, she joined the BJP and became the national spokesperson of the party.

While pursuing her masters, she met her to-be spouse Dr Parakala Prabhakar and they got married in 1986. The couple soon relocated to London, where Sitharaman briefly worked as a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers as well as a stint with BBC World before returning to India in 1991.

Nirmala Sitharaman's saris have not gone unnoticed. They have found appreciation.  Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had posted a picture of Sitharaman on his twitter account, appreciating her Sambalpuri attire. The finance minister, then, not only acknowledged his tweet but also shared her love for Sambalpuri and Bomkai saris. "Orissa-handloom sarees are one of my favorites-the colour, the weave, the texture, just so good."

Nirmala Sitharaman ditched the traditional briefcase before her first Budget 2019 speech, moving away from the British-era tradition and carried a red packet with the national emblem wrapped with a ribbon.

Nirmala Sitharaman completed her M. Phil in International Studies from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 1984 in India.