BHARAT BANDH TODAY, CALLED BY 10 TRADE UNIONS Ten central trade unions have called for Bharat Bandh, a nationwide strike, today, against government's "disinvestment, privatisation and labour reform policies". According to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which is affiliated to the CPI(M), over 25 crore workers will participate in the nationwide strike. The BJP-affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh is not participating in the Bharat Bandh. "The government failing to tackle the crises-ridden economy is busy in privatizing and selling Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), natural resources and other national assets which are detrimental to the national interest and national development," the Centre of Indian Trade Unions said in a release. Banking services like deposit and withdrawal, cheque clearing and instrument issuance are expected to be impacted due to Bharat Bandh. However, services at private sector banks are unlikely to be impacted. Other than banking, transport and other key services are also likely to be disrupted in many states due to this nationwide strike call. The government has warned central trade unions of "consequences" if they go on a proposed 24-hour nationwide strike. "Any employee going on strike in any form would face the consequences which, besides deduction of wages, may also include appropriate disciplinary action," an order issued by the Ministry of Personnel said. In its order, the Ministry said government servants were prohibited from participating in strikes or protests. All the senior officials have also been instructed not to sanction any leave to the government officials and employees. AMIT SHAH: 90 PER CENT PROMISES IN BJP ELECTION MANIFESTO FULFILLED At a time when contradictory statements and indications have come from the ruling party over the NRC, BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the BJP has given sanctity to the party's election manifesto by fulfilling almost 90 per cent of the promises made. "You pick the BJP's manifesto and you can see 90 per cent of the work promised in it has been done. There have been issues that (previous) governments were scared to take up - be it scrapping of Article 370, Article 35-A, giving citizenship to refugees, taking a clear stand on Ram Janmabhoomi issue, or removing triple talaq. But the Prime Minister has taken a stand on (such) issues with clarity and resolved them," Shah said at a function organised to release a book on Modi. Shah however, did not speak about the contentious NRC issue. The BJP's manifesto before 2019 Lok Sabha polls, however, promised NRC in a phased manner. Shah's remark assumes significance at a time when there has been a flip-flop over the issue of NRC among BJP leaders. While a section of party leaders maintain NRC would follow the CAA, PM Modi has said that the government has not even discussed the issue of a nationwide NRC. MEA ARRANGING VISIT OF ENVOYS TO KASHMIR The Ministry of External Affairs is organising a visit of Delhi-based envoys of European and some other countries to the Kashmir Valley to see the things for themselves in a bid to show that the government's claim of "full normalcy" is reflected on the ground. Some of the envoys who had expressed their interest in visiting the Valley after the Centre abrogated special status to Jammu and Kashmir, have been approached. The MEA is keen to avoid a repeat of European Parliament members' visit in October last. During that visit, Kashmir had observed a spontaneous and complete shutdown, defying claims of the people embracing normalcy on their own. That visit had caused a lot of controversy and diplomatic embarrassment. WHEN MOB RAN RIOT IN JNU: 17 COPS INSIDE, 116 AT GATE; 0 HELD At least 17 police personnel and one patrol vehicle was stationed inside the JNU campus, and another 116 were standing by at the gate, while masked men and women attacked students and teachers on Sunday evening, according to several mid-level officers who gave fresh details of the deployment at a time when the department has come under criticism for not stopping the assault or apprehending any of the suspects. The team inside was of plain-clothes personnel posted in the campus to maintain law and order for approximately a month now, according to the officials. They are stationed inside the campus, along with a PCR van, round the clock. There were an additional 116 policemen outside the gates between 4pm and 8pm - the most serious assaults are alleged to have taken place between 5.30pm and 7.30pm - waiting for permission to enter the campus. "Our 15-20 personnel deployed at the administration block on Delhi high court's order were unarmed and in plainclothes. They did their best to contain the situation but the rioters were large in numbers. The policemen used public address system to warn them and stop them," said deputy commissioner of police (South West), Devender Arya, who denied accusations that the police did not act on time. On Tuesday, more than 48 hours after the attack, the police were yet to identify or apprehend any suspect. "Our officers outside the gate were waiting for the permission to enter the campus. By the time our teams entered the campus with reinforcement, the mob had vanished," Arya added. JNUSU alleged the attacks took place in front of police officials and cited images and videos that purported to show suspects leaving the campus with bats and sticks unchallenged. IRAN LAUNCHES MISSILE ATTACK ON IRAQ BASE HOUSING U.S. TROOPS Iran on Wednesday launched a missile attack on an Iraqi airbase where U.S. forces are based, threatening "more crushing responses" if Washington carried out further strikes, Iranian state media said. It said the missiles were in response to a US strike last week that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi top commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Security sources told AFP that nine rockets hit the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in the country's west, the largest of the Iraqi military compounds where foreign troops are based. The attack came in three waves just after midnight,. The Pentagon said Iran had fired more than a dozen missiles against Ain al-Asad and another installation hosting US and coalition forces near Arbil. WITHDRAWAL OF US TROOPS WILL BE 'WORST THING' FOR IRAQ: TRUMP Pulling out U.S. troops from Iraq will be the "worst thing" for the country, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after the Iraqi parliament demanded expulsion of American forces. Some 5,000 U.S. soldiers are deployed in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the IS terror group. On Sunday, the Iraqi parliament had passed a resolution to terminate the agreement that allows for U.S troops in the country. Mr. Trump said if Iraq expels U.S. troops now, "I think it's the worst thing that can happen to Iraq". "If we leave that would mean that Iran would have a much bigger foothold, and the people in Iraq do not want to see Iran running the country," he said. In a brief interaction with reporters at the Oval Office of the White House, Trump said at some point the U.S. will want to get out of Iraq. "But this isn't the right point. The other thing is, if we do get out, we've spent a tremendous amount of money on building airports and building one of the largest embassies we have in the world. We want to be reimbursed to the various costs that we have had," he said. US DENIES IRANIAN FM VISA FOR SECURITY COUNCIL MEET The US has denied Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif a visa to attend the upcoming UN Security Council (UNSC) meet, it was reported on Tuesday. In a statement on Tuesday, Zarif said his Ministry had "weeks ago" requested a visa to take part in the meeting to be held on Thursday. Zarif rejected false claims by American officials that they did not have time to process the application. "The Americans are trying to create the impression that our request to attend the meeting was put forth following the assassination of General Soleimani. He (Secretary of State Mike Pompeo) has told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that they couldn't issue the visa due to shortage of time, whereas the request had been sent several weeks in advance," he said. The Minister added that Washington's denial was an outright violation of the terms of a 1947 UN Headquarters agreement, which required the US to allow foreign officials into the country for UN affairs. JNUSU PREZ BOOKED DOR DISRUPTIONS PRIOR TO BLACK SUNDAY; DEEPIKA PADUKONE STANDS UP TO BE COUNTED The riot-struck JNU resumed academic work on Tuesday with Vice Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar asking students to return to the campus and the JNU Students Union saying that they won't "put up with the VC any longer". Hours before the VC appealed for calm, informing students that the winter semester registration process had commenced after the three-day disruption, the JNUSU sought Kumar's instant removal, accusing him of complicity with the ABVP in allegedly framing JNUSU leaders for the January 5 campus violence. The trigger was the Delhi Police filing FIRs today against 20 students, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, vice-president and general secretary, all accused of vandalising the varsity server room and obstructing the winter semester registration process on January 4. Ghosh and others have been booked under Sections 341, 323 and 506 of the IPC. Of the four FIRs, the first pertains to the destruction of university communication system; second and third to the scuffle between students and obstruction of semester registration process and the final one regarding Sunday rioting and attacks on the campus. As slogans of "azadi", raised by former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, resonated through the air at JNU, the campus had a surprise guest on Tuesday. At 7.45 pm, Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone arrived at the university to lend solidarity to JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh. A member of her team said she wanted to "express her anguish at the JNU violence". While she did not address the gathering, Padukone told Ghosh that she was "proud" of her, and asked her to "take care". Padukone's visit comes a day after several film personalities gathered on Carter Road in Mumbai to express solidarity with JNU students. Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Anubhav Sinha and Vishal Bharadwaj, as well as actors Dia Mirza, Taapsee Pannu and Rahul Bose, were among those occupying the promenade. Also at the protest were actors Richa Chadha, Ali Fazal and Saurabh Shukla, directors Sudhir Mishra and Zoya Akhtar, and lyricist Swanand Kirkire. OUTRAGE OVER TECH HONCHOS' PRESENCE AT RSS EVENT Technology firms Accenture and Zoho have found themselves at the centre of a Twitter controversy. This came after a user pointed out that top executives of these firms were attending a RSS event in Chennai. Several twitter users questioned the companies for supporting the right wing RSS. Zoho's co-founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu is set to be the chief guest while Accenture's managing director and head of operations (Chennai) Rama S Ramachandran is to be the guest of honour at the 'Resurgent Bharath' event to be held in Chennai on February 2. Several Twitter users called for a boycott of Accenture and Zoho services. "People if you do business with @zoho @zohosocial @zohocrm, you are funding the RSS. People if you do business with @Accenture , you are funding RSS. You are funding fascists in India," said one Twitter user. Zoho is a web-based office suite, like Microsoft Office. Several people also questioned the companies' policies on allowing their employees to attend such events organised by "religious organisations." In response, Vembu tweeted: "I don't decide my views based on Twitter attacks. If you dislike which events I attend, please do what your conscience dictates and I will do what mine dictates. We earn our daily bread due to our work and we will continue to do quality work. I won't be responding to attacks." ISRO CONFIDENT OF SMOOTH LANDING OF NEXT CHANDRAYAAN The Indian Space Research Organisation's maiden attempt at a soft landing on the moon failed on September 7, 2019, as it lost contact with the lander during its controlled descent. THE CHANDRAYAAN-2'S Vikram lander ended up spinning over 410 degrees, deviating from a calibrated spin of 55 degrees, and making a hard landing on the moon, according to ISRO scientists. The anomaly, which occurred during the second of four phases of the landing process, was reflected in the computer systems in the mission control room, but ISRO scientists could not intervene to correct it as the lander was on autonomous mode, using data already fed into its system before the start of the powered descent. ISRO's maiden attempt at a soft landing on the moon failed on September 7, 2019, as it lost contact with the lander during its controlled descent. With the communication system on the failed lander supplying data on its performance right up to 400 metres before crashing on the surface of the moon, ISRO is now confident that the errors that occurred will be corrected during Chandrayaan-3, which has been cleared for launch in 14-16 months. CLOSE TO TIPPING POINT OF MAJOR RECESSION, SAYS NOBEL LAUREATE ABHIJIT BANERJEE Sounding the alarm on the state of the Indian economy, Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee has said "we are extremely close to a tipping point of a major recession". Comparing the slowing growth of the economy to the 1991 economic crisis, Banerjee, who along with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, suggested that the focus should be on stimulating demand to revive the growth story. Speaking at the Express Adda along with Duflo in Mumbai on Monday, he said: "The critical problem in the Indian economy is demand. You definitely want to stimulate demand." "At the risk of being censured by my macro economic friends, I feel we should forget about Budget deficits and meeting targets. We should even forget about inflation targeting. Let the economy rip a bit. We want to be open-handed right now. Since we are still a pretty closed economy, I do not think it is hard for the government to be more open-handed," he said. Commenting on the government's move to cut corporate tax as a stimulus to spur investment in the private sector, he said, "I do not think that is what's going to save the economy right now. The corporate sector is sitting on a bunch of cash actually. It isn't using it for a good reason that there is no demand." NIRBHAYA CONVICTS TO BE HANGED ON JAN 22 A Delhi court on Tuesday issued death warrants for the execution of four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar Jail in the national Capital. Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora ordered that the four convicts - Mukesh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- be hanged after the prosecution said there was no plea pending before any court or the President by any of them at this juncture and the review petitions of each one of them had already been dismissed by the Supreme Court. As the counsel for two of the convicts -- Mukesh and Vinay -- said they were in the process of filing curative petition in the Supreme Court, the prosecution counsel said: "In between the issuance and the execution of death warrants, if the convicts want to file curative petitions, they can do so." NEON, SAMSUNG'S AI-POWERED AVATAR IS WORLD'S FIRST 'ARTIFICIAL HUMAN' World's first 'Artificial Human' - Neon - was introduced by Samsung backed Star Labs at CES 2020. This is the latest entry in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) world. Star Labs demonstrated six Neon avatars (in videos) that can converse, sympathise like real human beings. Neon is the brainchild of CEO and President of Star Labs Pranav Mistry. Basically, Neon makes video chatbots that look and act like real people. Neons aren't all-knowing smart assistants, androids, surrogates or copies of real humans. Instead, they're designed to have conversations and behave like real humans. They form memories and learn new skills but don't have a physical embodiment, at least not now. Neons can help with "goal-oriented tasks or can be personalized to assist in tasks that require human touch." They can act as teachers, financial advisers, health care providers, concierges, actors, spokespeople or TV anchors. Mistry tries to break it down a little more. A Neon is a "virtual individual" who can "go anywhere we see a human can go." You'll be able to have video phone chats with them or display them on your smart TVs, just like you'd talk to your parents using Skype or FaceTime. They won't be miniature but will have a "lifelike quality and lifelike scale," meaning during a video chat on your phone, you'll see them as if they're a regular person you're talking to. "In the future, holographic can come and be a part of it," Mistry said. But don't expect them to show up as physical robots, he said. That's not the plan for Neon. INDIA WIN INDORE T20I Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second T20 International here today. The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off. Shreyas Iyer scored 34 and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home. Earlier, the Indian bowlers fired in unison on Jasprit Bumrah's return to international cricket with Navdeep Saini shining bright as the hosts restricted Sri Lanka to 142/9. Shardul Thakur (3/23) was India's highest wicket-taker but it was Saini (2/18) who impressed the most. Kuldeep Yadav (2/38) also picked up two wickets.