INDIA DISPLAYS ITS MILITARY MIGHT, CULTURAL HERITAGE ON REPUBLIC DAYThe nation celebrated the 71st Republic Day on Sunday with a grand militaryparade and exhibition of its history, cultural diversity and strategicweaponry at the Rajpath.Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro was the chief guest for thisyear's ceremony which started with Prime Minister Narendra Modi payingtributes to martyrs at the National War Memorial.This was the third time that a Brazilian President was the chief guest atthe Republic Day.There were several firsts in the celebration this year, including the PrimeMinister paying homage at the National War Memorial, display of Chinook andApache helicopters in the fly past and showcasing of the A-SAT weaponssystem.Jammu and Kashmir, which participated in the parade for the first time as aUnion Territory, had the "Back to Village" programme for displaced KashmiriPandits as the theme for its tableau.Twenty-two tableaux were on display during the parade, of which 16 were ofvarious states and UTs and six were of ministries, departments and theNational Disaster Response Force (NDRF).Captain Tania Shergill, a woman and a fourth-generation Army officer, ledthe marching contingent of the Corps of Signals.VIOLENCE, WEAPONS NOT SOLUTIONS; RESOLVE ISSUES THROUGH PEACEFUL DIALOGUE:PM MODIViolence never resolves any issue and no problem can be worked out bycreating another, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday in his monthly'Mann ki Baat' radio address-the first of the year.He appealed to those seeking to settle issues through violence to return tothe mainstream, saying they should have faith in the capabilities of Indiato resolve matters peacefully."On the solemn occasion of Republic Day, I would appeal to anyone in anypart of the country, who's still seeking solutions to problems throughviolence and weapons, to return to the mainstream. They should have faith intheir own capabilities and the capabilities of this country to resolveissues peacefully," Modi said.He urged people to together "forge a new India, where every issue isresolved on a platform of peace." The prime minister pointed out that a fewdays ago, 644 militants from eight different groups in North Eastsurrendered with their weapons. "Those who had strayed towards the path ofviolence have expressed their faith in peace and decided to become a partnerin the country's progress and return to the mainstream," he said.The biggest reason behind the reduction in insurgency in the northeast isthat "every issue of the region is being honestly and peacefully solvedthrough dialogue", he said.Noting that the 21st century is the era of knowledge, science and democracy,Modi wondered whether anyone has ever heard of a place where life has turnedbetter due to violence.EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE CAAThe Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which has triggered a set of dominoprotests across the country, will be taken up for debate in the EuropeanParliament next week. The European Parliament will also vote on a draftresolution, which states the law will "create the largest statelessnesscrisis in the world."The resolution was tabled by the European United Left/ Nordic Green Left(GUE/NGL) Group in the Parliament. It will be taken up for discussion nextweek on Wednesday and voted on the day after. "The CAA marks a dangerousshift in the way citizenship will be determined in India and is set tocreate the largest statelessness crisis in the world and cause immense humansuffering," the resolution says.The draft, which has been characterised under the "Relations with Asiancountries" section, urges Indian authorities to "engage constructively" withthose protesting against the CAA and consider their demands to repeal the"discriminatory" Citizenship law."Instead of addressing the concerns, offering corrective action, calling forsecurity forces to act with restraint and ensuring accountability, manygovernment leaders have been engaging in efforts to discredit, rebuke andthreaten the protesters," the resolution states.As background, the resolution sets out that since the May 2019 election, thegovernment of India has "reinforced its nationalistic orientation" as italso makes a reference to the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu andKashmir, which removed the special constitutional status of the region.The EU Parliament should not take actions that call into question the rightsand authority of democratically-elected legislatures, official sources inDelhi said on Sunday. The Citizenship Amendment Act is a matter entirelyinternal to India and the law was adopted through democratic means after apublic debate in both houses of Parliament, they said.The Indian government has stressed that the new Act does not deny anycitizenship rights but has been brought in to protect the oppressedminorities of neighbouring countries and provide them citizenship.DELHI ELECTIONS: KEJRIWAL GOVT TOPS THE CHART OF 'LIARS', SAYS AMIT SHAHRaking up the anti-CAA sit-in protest at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area for thesecond consecutive day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged voters to "pressthe EVM button so hard that it sends currents in Shaheen Bagh".Addressing a rally in Delhi's Babarpur, Shah said a BJP govt in Delhi wouldprevent "incidents like Shaheen Bagh". "When you vote on February 8 here inBabarpur, press the EVM button so hard that it sends currents in ShaheenBagh," Amit Shah told the gathering.Delhi will go to polls on February 8 and the results will be declared onFebruary 11. The Home Minister also accused Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal andCongress leader Rahul Gandhi of "misleading" the protesters in the city andinstigating riots over the CAA.The Home Minister also said the Kejriwal government only managed to top thechart of "liars" while other government's top it for services such as purewater, electrification and road construction.Shah's remarks came a day after he said there should be "no Shaheen Bagh" inDelhi and appealed to people to choose the lotus symbol on voting day sothat protesters have to leave the place by the evening of February 11, whenresults are declared. He urged Delhiites to vote for the BJP in largenumbers so that protesters feel compelled to vacate the area.Arvind Kejriwal says that Union Home Minister Amit Shah's jibes atinstitutions in the national capital amounted to "insulting" its people."Over the last five years, the people have worked hard to improve livingconditions in Delhi. Two crore residents got together to ensure properelectric and water supply to its schools and hospitals. But what does AmitShah do? He comes here and makes fun of their hard work," Arvind Kejriwalsaid in a video posted on social media on Sunday. "Government schools inDelhi registered 96 per cent results this year, and the credit for this goesto the painstaking efforts of 16 lakh students and their parents. This was ahistoric result, and it was not right of Amit Shah to insult our studentsand their parents with his remarks," he said.Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the BJP terms the people of Delhi as"sell-outs" just because they benefit from free electricity, water, busservices, education and medical facilities. "But while your tax targets arelargely unfulfilled, Delhi's tax collection has doubled from 30,000 crore to60,000 crore. You should look inwards instead of making fun of hardworkingDelhiites," he said.THREE ROCKETS HIT U.S. EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD, ONE INJUREDThree rockets slammed into the U.S. Embassy in Iraq's capital on Sunday inthe first direct hit reported after months of close calls, as thousands keptup anti-government sit-ins across the country.The attack marked a dangerous escalation in the spree of rocket attacks inrecent months that have targeted the embassy or Iraqi military bases whereAmerican troops are deployed.None of the attacks has been claimed but Washington has repeatedly blamedIran-backed military factions in Iraq. On Sunday, one rocket hit an embassycafeteria at dinner time while two others landed nearby, a security sourcetold AFP. The US embassy did not immediately respond to requests forcomment, but a statement by Iraqi security forces earlier in the eveningsaid there were no casualties. However, at least one person has been woundedin the attack, a senior Iraqi official said.TRUMP SAYS 'GET RID' OF UKRAINE ENVOY ON TAPEDonald Trump demanded the dismissal of Marie Yovanovitch, the Ambassador toUkraine and a key figure in the President's impeachment trial, according toa video recording released to U.S. media on Saturday.The footage was reportedly taken during an April 2018 donor dinner at ahotel and released to news outlets by an attorney for Lev Parnas, anindicted associate of Mr. Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.Mr. Parnas and his business partner Igor Fruman are key players in Mr.Trump's alleged campaign to pressure the government of Ukraine to dig updirt on Joe Biden, a potential election opponent for the President.The issue is central to Mr. Trump's ongoing impeachment trial in the U.S.Senate.His order to fire the Ambassador came after Mr. Parnas told him that Ms.Yovanovich was an impediment, and claiming that she had privately disparagedthe President. "Get rid of her!" Mr. Trump says on the tape, reportedlyaddressing a White House aide at the dining table. "Get her out tomorrow. Idon't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it."Images taken at an awkward angle appear at the start of the one hour,23-minute long video. The rest of the recording shows a tan background, asif the camera were covered, but Mr. Trump's distinctive voice is clear.CHINA RACES TO CONTAIN CORONAVIRUS AS DEATH TOLL SHOOTS UP TOChina early on Monday announced an unprecedented extension of the Lunar NewYear (LNY) holidays in the latest attempt to contain the spread the ofrapidly spreading novel Coronavirus that has killed at least 80 and infectednearly 2800.Health experts said Sunday that the seven-day holiday window for the LNY -which started on January 25 -- was a "critical period" to contain the virusas hundreds of millions of Chinese will begin their return journey home atthe end of it.They said the ability of the virus to spread was getting stronger and thatit could also infect during the 1 day-to-14 day incubation period.university students, in Wuhan and elsewhere in Hubei province.Apart from Wuhan, 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chineseauthorities to stop the virus from spreading.President Xi Jinping has called the "accelerating spread" of the virus a"grave situation".The External Affairs Ministry said on Sunday that as of now no Indian inChina has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak and the embassy inBeijing is in close touch with all Indians, includingExternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is closely monitoring the situation,MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.SHIPPING MIN TABLEAU SHOWCASES 'S P MOOKERJEE PORT'The Republic Day tableau of the Shipping Ministry themed on 150 years of theKolkata Port Trust carried its old name till the full-dress rehearsal threedays ago, but the float on Rajpath on Sunday was represented with itsrechristened identity -- Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port'.Kolkata Port Trust was recently renamed by Prime Minister Narendra Modiafter Mookerjee, the founder of Jan Sangh.Trade unions at the Kolkata Port Trust have protested against the decision,saying the move will hurt the history of the organisation.The float depicted a sea dock with labourers and engineers working on sitein the backdrop of the iconic Howrah Bridge of Kolkata, and the iconic clicktower of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), along with containers.AFTER ASSAM & UP, THREE MORE STATES CHARGE SHARJEEL IMAM WITH SEDITIONA day after sedition cases were filed in Assam and UP against Sharjeel Imam,a PhD student in JNU, for an anti-CAA speech he made at Aligarh MuslimUniversity on January 16, charges under the same offence were slappedagainst him in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Delhi.Police in Delhi and UP, meanwhile, have started conducting searches to traceImam. Aligarh SSP Akash Kulhary said two teams are conducting searches indifferent areas of Delhi. "We are working closely with Delhi Police andshould be able to find him soon," said Kulhary.Delhi Police have sent a team to Bihar to look for Imam. Jehanabad SPManeesh said local police assisted a team from Delhi in conducting searchesSunday morning at Iman's village Kako. Imam's three relatives were detainedfor about four hours and released.Delhi Police's DCP (Crime) Rajesh Deo said that "it was noticed that oneSharjeel Imam, a permanent resident of Bihar and student of JNU, has beendelivering very inflammatory and instigatory speeches in his opposition toCAA and NRC. He had previously delivered one such speech in Jamia onDecember 13 and thereafter has given one even more inflammatory andinstigatory speech against the government, which is being widely circulatedon social media."Deo said that these speeches have the potential to "harm the religiousharmony between different religious segments of the society and the unityand integrity of India."300 SIGNATORIES INCLUDING NASEERUDDIN SHAH, MIRA NAIR ISSUE OPEN LETTEROPPOSING CAA, NRCNaseeruddin Shah, Mira Nair, Ratna Pathak Shah, Jaaved Jafferi vocalist TMKrishna, author Amitav Ghosh, historian Romila Thapar and 300 othersignatories have extended support to students protesting against CAA-NRCwith an open letter published on Indian Cultural Forum. They have expressedtheir solidarity with the students protesting against the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) and against the National Register of Citizens (NRC).Part of their letter reads: "We are artists, filmmakers, writers andscholars. Our work reflects people's lives, struggles and hopes. We offerour dreams to everyone. But what dream can show us the way in the midst ofthe present nightmare? Our vision for this nation demands that we speak upnow, in the name of our democracy and the constitution that protects it.""We stand in solidarity with the students and others who are protesting andspeaking out against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and against theNational Register of Citizens (NRC). We salute their collective cry forupholding the principles of the Constitution of India, with its promise of aplural and diverse society. We are aware that we have not always lived up tothat promise, and many of us have too often remained silent in the face ofinjustice. The gravity of this moment demands that each of us stand for ourprinciples."GREEN SHOOTS: MID-CAPS, SMALL-CAPS RALLY IN NEW YEARAfter a lacklustre performance over the last two calendar years, the mid-capand small-cap indices are showing some promise in 2020, with both theindices on the Bombay Stock Exchange surging by 5.7 per cent and 8.4 percent respectively in January till date. This growth has come even as thebenchmark Sensex (index of 30 bluechip stocks) has grown by only 0.7 percent in this period, amid festering concerns over economic revival.In 2018, while Sensex rose 5.9 per cent, the mid-cap and small-cap indicesfell about 13 and 23 per cent respectively. Similarly, in 2019, while Sensexjumped over 14 per cent during the calendar year, the mid- and small-capindices fell about 3 and 7 per cent respectively.There is a view that a Budget aimed at providing a thrust to the investmentand consumption engines of the economy and an uptick in revenue growth forcompanies will see the mid- and small-cap companies outperform as theirvaluations remain reasonable.NBA LEGEND KOBE BRYANT KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH IN CALIFORNIAKobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and becameone of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-yearcareer spent entirely with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicoptercrash on Sunday. He was 41.The crash happened around 10 a.m. near about 30 miles northwest of downtownLos Angeles.Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said it was aSikorsky S-76 and it was not known what caused the crash.Bryant and his 13 year old daughter Gianna were among the passengerstraveling onboard the helicopter. Nine people died in the crash, includingthe pilot.T201 SERIES IN NZ: INDIA GO UP 2-0India tightened their grip on the T20I series with a seven-wicket drubbingof New Zealand in the second match after their bowlers stifled the hosts ona pocket-sized Eden Park here on Sunday.Boasting a formidable batting line-up, chasing 133 proved to be a cakewalkfor the visitors on a pitch that was slightly on the slower side.The very short boundary ensured the match ended with as many as 15 balls tospare.The trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami allowed norespite to Kane Williamson's team after New Zealand surprisingly chose tobat, restricting them to 132 for five.KL Rahul then scored 57 not out off 50 balls while Shreyas Iyer scored 44off 33 balls, the duo adding 86 runs for the third wicket and after RohitSharma's twin failure.AUS OPEN: ROGER FEDERER IN QUARTER FINALRoger Federer regained control after a slow start against Hungarian MartonFucsovics to march into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 4-66-1 6-2 6-2 win on a chilly evening at the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. Thesix-time Australian Open winner, who was two points from defeat against JohnMillman in his previous round, looked rusty in the first set with Fucsovicsbreaking him in the seventh game to win the set.The third-seeded Federer will now face American Tennys Sandgren, whodefeated No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini 7-6(5) 7-5 6-7(2) 6-4 earlier on Sunday.Novak Djokovic continued his imperious progress through the Australian Opendraw on Sunday, negotiating a potentially tricky encounter with DiegoSchwartzman 6-3 6-4 6-4 to reach the last eight at Melbourne Park for the11th time. The seven-times champion only added to a strong feeling aroundthe tournament that the Serbian is again the man to beat at the year's firstGrand Slam as he ousted the Argentine in just over two hours on Rod LaverArena.Djokovic moves on to a quarter-final meeting with Canadian Milos Raonic, whohe has beaten in all nine of their previous meetings - including at the samestage of the 2015 tournament.In-form Canadian Milos Raonic pounded down 35 aces and 55 winners toovercome Croatian Marin Cilic 6-4 6-3 7-5.