PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS DEBATE IN LOK SABHA TURNS INTO A SHRILL DELHI POLL CAMPAIGNThe Lok Sabha witnessed an acrimonious start to President’s Address debate yesterday with the Opposition Congress walking out in protest after the government fielded controversial Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma to open the discussions.“Why should we listen to someone the Election Commission has banned from Delhi poll campaign?” asked Congress leaders before walking out. They returned later to clash with the BJP as political divisions ahead of February 8 Delhi elections deepened. The highly polarised narrative of state polls found resonance in the Lower House today with Verma converting his intervention into a virtual Delhi poll canvassing speech.“Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal dared to call PM Narendra Modi a traitor — the same PM whose mention sends jitters down the spine of neighbours. Is Kejriwal not a traitor for saying this?” asked Verma.Verma, whom the EC last Thursday banned from Delhi campaign for 96 hours, said: “The agitation at Shaheen Bagh is not against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. People there are seeking ‘jehad bagh,’ calling for ‘Jinnah waali azadi,’ talking of dismembering India, and this CM says he supports them.“This CM also wants proof of surgical strikes by the Indian Army. Those who have doubts should send us a list next time and we will ensure they are put on the planes so they can see the strikes first hand. This is not the government of Rajiv Feroze Khan. This is the government of Narendra Modi and Modi madness is intact.”This triggered sporadic protests with TMC’s Saugata Roy questioning Verma for deviating from President’s Address. “Dada, chant Jai Shri Rama, all your sins will be washed,” Verma retorted.MODI STICKS TO PARTY SCRIPT IN DELHI POLL CAMPAIGN, ANTI-CAA PROTESTS IN FOCUSLaunching a scathing attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and also the Congress, PM Narendra Modi today described the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and violence in Seelampur and Jamia Millia Islamia earlier as a “well-planned experiment/design in divisive politics” to harm harmony.“Whether it is Seelampur, Jamia or Shaheen Bagh, protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act are not a coincidence but a well-planned experiment/design in divisive politics,” the PM said at his first political rally days before the Delhi polls on February 8, indicating that the BJP was in no mood to throttle back its election strategy despite criticism against some of its leaders over their speeches. The PM accused AAP and the Congress of “provoking” the people.“Much is being disseminated about the Constitution while keeping the Tricolor in front in an attempt to divert from the real conspiracy. People of Delhi are watching and know of this vote bank politics. This has to stop otherwise today it is this road (Shaheen Bagh), tomorrow it will be some other road,” he said.“The SC and HCs have expressed displeasure over violence and arson during demonstrations, but these people do not care about the courts....they do not listen to the courts yet talk about the Constitution. If the power of conspirators increases, then tomorrow another road, another street will be stopped. We cannot leave Delhi in this chaos. Only people of Delhi can stop it, vote for the BJP.”Recounting steps taken by his government, the PM accused the Congress of ignoring important issues for decades . “All issues could have been resolved much earlier but when self-interest comes first, country’s interests take a back seat. There is why we have had to take such important steps one after the other,” he explained.GANDHI'S FREEDOM STRUGGLE WAS A "DRAMA", SAYS BJP'S ANANTKUMAR HEGDEBJP MP Anantkumar Hegde has described the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi as "drama" and said his "blood boiled" when he read history and "such people came to be called Mahatma".The former Union Minister from Karnataka, prone to outrageous comments, made these remarks on Saturday at a public event in Bengaluru.The entire freedom movement was "staged with the consent and support of the British", said Hegde. "None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," the MP is quoted as saying.The BJP leader also labelled as "drama" Mahatma Gandhi's hunger strikes and satyagraha.The Congress slammed the BJP leader on social media. Party leader Abhishek Singhvi tweeted, "Awaiting Narendra Modi who invokes Mahatma Gandhi at the drop of a hat especially when repackaging his ideas and to gain international credibility to comment on Mr Hegde who is a senior BJP Leader."BJP leaders too found it difficult to defend Hegde on the controversial remarks, the party served him a show-cause notice.CORONAVIRUS: THIRD CASE IN FIVE DAYS, KERALA DECLARES STATE CALAMITY, CENTRE FORMS GOMOn the day Kerala reported a third case of the Novel Coronavirus and declared the outbreak as a “state calamity”, the central government set up a Group of Ministers to monitor measures taken across the country to prevent the virus from spreading further.Officials said the latest patient, from Kasaragod district, is a student in Wuhan — the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak — and had travelled back to India 10 days ago. All the three cases are “out of danger” with “normal symptoms of infection”, officials said.State Health Department officials said the third patient, a 22-year-old man, took the same route to return home — via Kunming in China, Kolkata and Kochi — as the first two patients who were also students in Wuhan. He travelled on a different flight - the third case has thrown up a new batch of contacts to be traced.Kerala government officials said 2,239 persons from the state who had been to China recently have been put under observation, including 2,155 under home quarantine, while 84 have been isolated in hospitals.In Delhi, meanwhile, five of those who were evacuated from Wuhan and quarantined at the Army’s facility in Manesar were moved to the Base Hospital after they displayed symptoms of cough and cold. Their samples, which were taken to AIIMS, tested negative.BREXIT DONE? NOT SO FAST. BRITAIN, EU ENTER NEW TRADE DEAL BATTLEJust three days after their formal parting, Britain and the European Union were already at loggerheads Monday over a future trade deal, setting the stage for months of bluster and bickering over how to refashion their economic and political ties.With Britain's formal exit from the bloc Friday night, many Britons had hoped to finally put the Brexit nightmare behind them.But judging by the statements from both sides of the English Channel on Monday, that hope seems likely to be unfulfilled.In remarks in Brussels, Europe's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, adopted a steely tone, insisting that Britain must commit to preventing unfair competition if it wants access to the market of 450 million Europeans without tariffs and quotas.Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded from London by threatening to walk away from talks if the EU tries to tie Britain too closely to its rules as a price for a free-trade agreement. Johnson also called for an end to "hysterical" fears about American food entering Britain - a reminder to Europeans that he hopes to strike a post-Brexit trade deal with the United States, too.AUDIO CAPTURED IRAN PLANE DOWNING: 'THAT SURELY IS THE LIGHT FROM A MISSILE'A leaked air-traffic control audiotape captures the frantic minutes after an Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit mistakenly launched a missile that downed a Ukrainian airliner that had just taken off from Tehran's international airport.After a transcript of the recording was released by a Ukrainian news site Sunday, Iran halted its cooperation with Ukraine's inquiry into the disaster, already described as reluctant, officials said. The Iranians said they expected such evidence would have been kept confidential.On the tape, an Iranian air traffic controller can be heard talking to a pilot on an arriving Iranian plane, who appears to be the first to warn of trouble."Flares on route, as if from a missile," the pilot reported. "Should anything like this be happening there?""We were not informed of this," the controller said. "What does this light look like?"The reply: "That surely is the light from a missile."When the controller then tried to raise the crew of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, there was no response.CHINA ADMITS 'SHORTCOMINGS' IN VIRUS RESPONSEChina's top leadership has admitted "shortcomings and difficulties" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak, as state media said a new hospital built at breakneck pace began receiving patients in the epicenter of the crisis.Sixty-four new deaths were confirmed on Tuesday - surpassing Monday's record to post the new biggest daily increase since the virus was detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan.The death toll in China stood at 425, exceeding the 349 mainland fatalities from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which killed nearly 800 globally.The government in Beijing nevertheless hit out at the United States for sparking "panic" with its response to the coronavirus, including a ban on foreigners who have recently been to China.MARITIME UNIONS OPPOSE 120 DAYS CLAUSE FOR NRI STATUSTerming the Budget 2020 proposal to tax NRIs in India as "draconian", maritime unions on Monday said they will call on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to express their concerns. Countries like Philippines and Ukraine compete with India for global share of seafarers, but they do not levy high income taxes on their seafaring citizens, leading maritime unions said.The Maritime Union of India (MUI) and National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) have initiated a strong protest campaign against the proposed change in the Union Budget.With the maximum period of stay in India being reduced from 182 to 120 days (some maintain it has not been reduced for seafarers), people have to spend more time abroad - more than 245 days compared to 183 days earlier, to get the NRI status as proposed in Budget 2020, it said."We have started collecting the protest letters signed by all members of NUSI and intend to submit them to both, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping within few days. Our nationwide protest against this Draconian and frustrating tax proposal is going to escalate in various forms across the country in the days to come," said NUSI General Secretary, Abdulgani Serang.MUI General Secretary, Amar Singh Thakur said, "such a tax proposal is going to retard the growth of Indian ship-manning sector as henceforth attracting young Indians to join merchant navy will be extremely difficult.(Confusion persists over whether the 120 days’ clause is applicable to seafarers or not. One senior Finance Ministry official says that seafarers are in subclause (a) of clause 1 of section 6. Amendment regarding reduction of days from 182 to 120 has been carried out in clause (b) – hence, for seafarers, the relevant no. of days stands at 182. We’re yet to see the whole amended Section 6 for us be sure either ways. – News Access India)CONG FIELDS CAPT AMARINDER IN DELHI POLL CAMPAIGNPunjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday called his Delhi counterpart and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal “a master of deceit” and accused the BJP of converting the entire country into Shaheen Bagh by resorting to polarisation as an election tactic.Addressing a meeting in Delhi, he said Kejriwal had done nothing exceptional by providing cheap power or setting up mohalla clinics. “Some people will surely be happy with these freebies but what has he really done for the development of Delhi? What has he done for creating jobs for your children,” he asked the audience.“The BJP is attempting to polarise the elections with Shaheen Bagh but they will not succeed. The entire country has become Shaheen Bagh with protests against CAA and NRC,” he remarked. Citing unrest in universities, he said, “Students are being shot at.”Amrinder said, “Kejriwal is giving power subsidy to only a section of residential consumers while my government spends Rs 9,000- Rs 10,000 crore on subsidy to all sections. Kejriwal is making commercial and industrial consumers in Delhi pay through their nose.”‘I AM A DEVOUT HINDU AND NOT WHAT THE BJP IS PORTRAYING’: DELHI CM KEJRIWALDelhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday trained his guns on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that the party’s entire campaign in Delhi revolves around the ongoing anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood and expressed dismay over the saffron party’s attempts to portray him as “anti-Hindu”.In a town hall address with Hindi news channel News18 India, Kejriwal identified himself as a “devout Hindu” when the anchor asked him a question on his religiosity. “I don’t know why they (BJP) have been trying to portray me anti-Hindu. I am a devout Hindu and a follower of Hanuman,” the Delhi CM said.Asked if he could recite the Hanuman Chalisa, Kejriwal sang a hymn.In another town hall address with Hindi news channel News-24, Kejriwal said, “The BJP has designed its entire election campaign around the Shaheen Bagh protest. It is because they have no real issue for the Delhi elections… Hence, they are calling me a terrorist… It was the duty of the BJP leadership to talk to the protesters and get the road blockade cleared.”SC SAYS WILL FRAME LARGER ISSUES IN SABARIMALA REFERENCEDespite objections from some senior advocates, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court decided Monday to go ahead with the framing of legal issues to be adjudicated upon in the Sabarimala reference on the larger question of discrimination against women at different religious places. The Bench said it will also hear arguments on whether a reference can be made from a pending review petition.“We will not abort hearing… We will frame the issues ourselves,” said the Bench of Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, M M Shantanagoudar, S A Nazeer, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant. It will meet again on February 7 to decide allocation of time for hearing different sides.The Sabarimala reference to the nine-judge Bench followed the September 19, 2019 decision of a five-judge Bench, headed by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi, to keep review petitions, challenging its September 28, 2018 order that lifted age restrictions on the entry of women to the hill shrine in Kerala, pending till a larger bench took a call on certain questions arising from it.BAIL TO CHINMAYANAND, JUDGE REFERS TO SILENCE WHEN ‘VIRGINITY IS AT STAKE’Granting bail to former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand, who was arrested last September on the charge of sexually assaulting a student of a law college he runs in Shahjahanpur, the Allahabad High Court, in its order Monday, called it “a complete matter of quid pro quo” and said the young woman’s conduct was “astonishing”, and that she “tried to blackmail him for ransom”.Justice Rahul Chaturvedi, in his order, said: “A girl, whose virginity is at stake, not uttering a single word to her own parent or before the Court regarding the alleged incident, is an astonishing conduct which speak volumes about the ingeniousness of the prosecution story.”“What is mind boggling, disturbing and matter of concern is that a student of LL.M., i.e. Miss “A” comes into contact with the applicant, seeks and enjoys his ‘patronage’ and ‘benevolence’ as well as on her family members and in lieu of that she was said to be exploited physically by the applicant, keeps mum throughout the entire long period for almost 9-10 months,” it noted, asking if “it is difficult to decipher as to who has used whom?”.10% INDIANS TO DEVELOP CANCER, 1 IN 15 WILL DIE OF DISEASE: WHOOne in 10 Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime, and one in 15 Indians will die of cancer, according to a latest World Health Organization (WHO) report.February 4 is World Cancer Day and the WHO has released two global reports on the occasion. There are an estimated 1.16 million new cancer cases, 7,84,800 cancer deaths, and 2.26 million 5-year prevalent cases in India’s population of 1.35 billion, said the WHO report on cancer burdens and patterns in India in 2018, released on Monday. The report aims to set the global agenda on cancer, mobilise stakeholders and help countries set priorities for investing in cancer control and universal health coverage.INDIA VS NEW ZEALAND: INDIA ANNOUNCE TEST SQUAD FOR NEW ZEALAND SERIESBCCI has announced the Test squad for the New Zealand series. With the injury to Rohit Sharma, young Prithvi Shaw has been recalled while Shubman Gill too finds a spot in the squad. Ishant Sharma has been named in the squad although there is uncertainty over his fitness. Navdeep Saini, who has been impressive in limited overs cricket, has been rewarded with a place in the Test squad.India Test squad:Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ishant Sharma (subject to fitness clearance).With the T20i series done and dusted, the 3 ODi will be played on Feb 5, 8 & 11.The Two Tests will begin on Feb 21 & 29 respectively.