BUDGET TODAY, ALL EYES ON BOOSTER SHOT TO REVIVE ECONOMY

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the

financial year 2021-22. As India emerges from the Covid crisis, the ninth

Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely

expected to focus on spending for job creation and rural development,

generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the

hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign

investments.

This is the fifth time since Independence that a Budget is being presented

against the backdrop of a full-year of recession

The recession of 1957-58 was because rains failed. In 1965-66, a fall in

farm output & costs of '65 war led to negative growth The recessions of

1972-73 and 1979-80 were due to a combination of factors. But this is the

first time that manufacturing and services have seen a steep fall.

The challenge before the government is to generate resources to increase

growth and maintain the distribution of welfare benefits. As the Economic

Survey has amply hinted, the government will be attempting to raise

borrowings in the form of debt.

The first half of the Budget session will end on Feb 13, instead of Feb 15

(as planned earlier)

A consensus on the issue was reached at an all-party meeting called by Rajya

Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday.

PM MODI'S MANN KI BAAT

The country was "saddened" by the "insult" to the national flag by

protesters on Republic Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his first

Mann ki Baat address of the new year.

Modi also referred to the "inspirational" performance of the Indian

cricketers in Australia, and claimed that the country's vaccination

programme against Covid-19 was setting an example for the world.

"We have to infuse times to come with new hope and novelty. Last year, we

displayed exemplary patience and courage. This year too, we have to work

hard to attain our resolves. We have to take our country forward at a faster

pace," he said.

India, Modi said, is "undertaking the world's biggest Covid Vaccine

Programme", and "we are vaccinating our citizens faster than anywhere in the

world". "In just 15 days, India has vaccinated over 30 lakh Corona Warriors,

whereas an advanced country such as America took 18 days to get the same

done; Britain 36 days!"

The "Made in India vaccine" is a "symbol of India's self-reliance" and

"self-pride", Modi said.

"During the moment of crisis, India is able to serve the world today, since

she is capable, self-reliant in the field of medicines, vaccines. The same

thought underpins the Atmanirbhar Bharat Campaign. The more India is

capable, the more will she serve humanity; correspondingly the world will

benefit more!"

AS UP FARMERS FLOCK TO GHAZIPUR BORDER PROTEST, SP & BSP CHANGE STRATEGY,

GET MORE VOCAL

Swelling crowds at the protests against the three central farm laws at the

Ghazipur border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have forced the two main

opposition parties in India's most populous state - Samajwadi Party (SP) and

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) - to recalibrate their strategies.

BSP chief and former UP CM Mayawati, whose involvement in the farmers' stir

was limited to seemingly perfunctory tweets, went ballistic last Friday,

posting four tweets to declare her party's decision to boycott President Ram

Nath Kovind's address to Parliament, supporting Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)

leaders, and urging the Narendra Modi not to make farmer leaders scapegoats

using the violence on Republic Day.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has been opposing the farm laws from the beginning;

his party also organised a tractor rally across the state on 26 January. SP

workers also held protests in many districts but they were all party events,

and had nothing to do with the Ghazipur protests.

That changed Friday, a day after a video of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait

weeping went viral in the state, drawing thousands of farmers out of their

homes to join the Ghazipur protest. Yadav called up the BKU leader to

inquire about his health, and subsequently, SP leaders from Muzaffarnagar

joined the protest.

The fresh protests seem to have provided Akhilesh Yadav an opportunity to

regain prominence in the state.

"Earlier, it was largely a farmer's protest but after Tikait's call, it has

also turned into politics of caste," says Political analyst Prof. Badri

Narayan. "Jats from Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh have started

mobilising after his call. In this scenario, Akhilesh's politics must be

aggressive."

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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MYANMAR MILITARY DECLARES 1-YEAR EMERGENCY, SUU KYI DETAINED

Myanmar's military declared a one-year state of emergency on Monday and

appointed a general as acting president, after arresting civilian leader

Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior officials.

An announcement on military-owned Myawaddy TV said the move was needed to

preserve the "stability" of the state, accusing the country's election

commission of failing to address "huge irregularities" in the November

election.

Phone and internet access to Naypyitaw was lost and Suu Kyi's National

League for Democracy party could not be reached.

The 75-year-old Suu Kyi is by far the country's most dominant politician,

and became the country's leader after leading a decades-long nonviolent

struggle against military rule.

Suu Kyi's party captured 396 out of 476 seats in the combined lower and

upper houses of Parliament in the November polls, but the military holds 25%

of the total seats under the 2008 military-drafted constitution and several

key ministerial positions are also reserved for military appointees.

The military, known as the Tatmadaw, charged that there was massive voting

fraud in the election, though it has failed to provide proof. The state

Union Election Commission last week rejected its allegations.

OVER 2,000 PEOPLE ARRESTED DURING ANTI-PUTIN PROTESTS ACROSS RUSSIA

More than 2,000 people were arrested in Russian cities as a government

crackdown and travel curbs failed to stop supporters of jailed opposition

leader Alexey Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, from

engaging in the second wave of national protests in a week.

Navalny, who defied threats of arrest to return from Germany in mid-January

after a nerve-agent attack that he said was an attempt by Putin to kill him,

has vowed to keep up the pressure on the authorities even from behind bars.

A Russian court is preparing to hand him a possible 3 1/2 year prison term.

Navalny and his allies were hoping to repeat the success seen on Jan. 23,

when they brought out tens of thousands of supporters in more than 150

cities around the country despite police bans. By 3 p.m. Moscow time on

Sunday, more than 2,000 people had been detained in several Russian cities.

The authorities have warned against participation in the protests and most

of the Navalny aides who weren't already in prison were picked up this week

and are now facing criminal charges. Still, the Kremlin is worried by the

scale of the demonstrations and looking for ways to cool public discontent

that has been building up amid slumping incomes and the coronavirus

downturn, three people close to the government said.

THE REST

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SASIKALA DISCHARGED, SENDS A SIGNAL FROM JAYA'S CAR WITH ADMK FLAG

Four days after she completed her four-year jail term in a disproportionate

assets case, and minutes after her discharge following treatment for Covid,

V K Sasikala sent a political signal to her supporters - she came out of the

hospital in Bengaluru on Sunday inside the late J Jayalalithaa's trademark

Toyota Prado vehicle with an AIADMK flag on it.

The message from the former Tamil Nadu chief minister's close aide and

ex-general secretary of AIADMK was not lost on the ruling party in her

state. Senior AIADMK minister D Jayakumar said using the flag was "against

the interests" of the party as Sasikala had been expelled. "Sasikala has no

right to use the AIADMK flag on the vehicle," he said.

In early 2017, amid a tussle for power in Tamil Nadu following

Jayalalithaa's death, Sasikala had recaptured the AIADMK government from

rebel leader O Panneerselvam through a floor test in the Assembly. She

installed E K Palaniswami, one of her trusted aides, as Chief Minister. But

Palaniswami and Panneerselvam then joined hands to oust her from the party

after she was jailed in the case in which Jayalalithaa was the first

accused.

On Sunday, Sasikala's nephew and the man who emerged as a leader in her

absence, T T V Dhinakaran, hit back at the party. "She is the general

secretary of AIADMK.cases in this regard are pending in court. So that is

why there is a party flag on her car," he said.

BEHIND STIR REVIVAL: TIKAIT'S TEARS, ANTI-NATIONAL TAG

Following the Red Fort incident, humiliation, demoralisation and defeat were

writ large on the faces of not only the protesting farmers who have been

braving the harsh cold for two months on Delhi borders, but also their

supporters from different walks of life. Many detractors started saying they

had been proven right, while calling it a move backed by Khalistanis.

Meanwhile, Delhi and UP police started pressuring protesters sitting at the

Delhi border to abandon their cause. Disheartened, many had started

retreating from the protest site assuming that it is all over.

But once again., mass mobilisation is ongoing in Punjab to send in

reinforcements to Delhi.

While the emotional appeal of UP farm leader Rakesh Tikait mobilised

thousands of farmers, the movement being branded as "anti-national" and some

sections referring to the protesters as "terrorists" dealt a sharp blow to

the sentiments of the people of Punjab. What also did not go down well with

them was the terming of 'Nishan Sahib' (religious flag of Sikhs), which was

hoisted at Lal Qila, as the flag of Khalistan. Nishan Sahib was there on the

Punjab tableau also which was presented during the Republic Day parade the

same day," said Narinder Singh, a teacher.

"We are against what happened at Red Fort but false propaganda against

Punjabis was taken as an insult and now everyone irrespective of their

religion wants to participate physically in this movement and go to Delhi,"

said Kewal Krishan, a social worker from Mukerian.

The protest at Singhu border has had men at the forefront for over two

months now. But apprehension that their loved ones would be arrested,

determination to show support, and BKU leader Rakesh Tikait's emotional

appeal from the Ghazipur border in UP have led to hundreds of women farmers

arriving at the protest site over the last two days - many for the first

time.

UNIVERSITIES, PSUs TO SEEK GOVERNMENT NOD FOR VIRTUAL EVENTS: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has made the government's prior

clearance mandatory for hosting international conferences, trainings, and

seminars online and also forbidden such virtual events on themes related to

India's security, Northeast states, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh or any other

issue concerning the country's "internal matters".

The fresh set of guidelines, issued in November last year and part of the

new "approval procedure" notified by the MEA for organising virtual events,

apply to all government ministries and departments, Public Sector

Undertakings, public-funded universities, and organisations controlled and

run by the Union and state governments.

The organisers of the virtual event will now have to approach their

respective "administrative secretary" for approval regarding the theme and

the list of participants.

AS COVID CASES DIP, CINEMA HALLS ALLOWED TO RUN AT FULL CAPACITY

With the Covid count dipping in many parts of the country, the Government

Sunday announced that movie theatres will be allowed to run at 100 per cent

capacity from February 1 in the latest set of SOPs released by Union I&B

Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Last October, the Government had allowed movie theatres to run with 50 per

cent seating as part of its move to ease curbs and revive the economy.

Javadekar said that "now cinema halls can operate with full capacity" while

adhering to sanitisation and Covid protocols, and that people will be

allowed to buy food from stalls inside the theatres. The "restrictions put

in place due to Covid-19 are on the verge of ending", he said.

In the guidelines, theatres have been asked to ensure that there is a

sufficient time interval between successive screenings on a single screen

and staggered show timings in a multiplex with various screens.

The guidelines specify that respiratory etiquette must be followed,

including use of face masks, maintenance of adequate social distancing of at

least six feet outside auditoriums, common areas and waiting areas, and

prohibition on spitting in public.

In India, the total no. of Covid-19 cases identified since the start of

pandemic stands at over 10.75 million while the current active cases are at

around 1.65 lakhs. The total no. of deaths so far stands at a little over

1.54 lakhs

The last 7 days have seen an average of 12,841 new cases a day while the

recoveries have averaged at 14,963 a day. The deaths by Covid-19 have

averaged 131 a day over the last 7 days.

India continues to carry out about 7.5 lakh Covid tests a day, with a

positivity rate of about 1.93% over the last 7 days.

The total no. of cases identified world-wide since the start of pandemic

stands close to 103.51 million while the current active cases are at a

little over 26 million. The total no. of deaths so far stands at about 2.23

million The last 7 days have seen an average of about 5.35 lakhs new cases

a day while the recoveries have averaged at about 4.82 lakhs a day. The

deaths by Covid-19 have averaged 14,044 a day over the last 7 days.

JOURNALIST MANDEEP PUNIA WAS ARRESTED FOR 'MISBEHAVING' WITH COPS, SAYS

DELHI POLICE

Delhi Police has arrested freelance journalist Mandeep Punia for allegedly

misbehaving with police personnel and obstructing a public servant from

discharging duties at the Singhu border, where farmers have been protesting

farm laws for over two months.

According to Delhi Police, Punia was arrested on Saturday night. An FIR

under the IPC section 186 (obstructing public servant in the discharge of

public functions) and section 353 (assaulting a public servant in the

execution of duty) has been filed against Punia at Alipur police station,

the police said.

On Friday, Alipur SHO Pradeep Paliwal was injured in a clash that broke out

at Singhu border between farmers and locals.

Hours before he was detained, Punia had gone live on Facebook alleging that

police had allowed men claiming to be locals to pelt the protesters at

Singhu with stones on Friday. "Punia's arrest came hours after he questioned

the role of the police," K B Pandit, president of the Indian Journalists

Union, said.

DELHI UNIVERSITY TO REOPEN TODAY FOR FINAL-YEAR STUDENTS

Delhi University colleges will reopen in a graded manner today for

final-year students who want to use college facilities for practicals.

While students may go to their colleges on a voluntary basis for practical

work, theory classes will continue to be held online.

Different colleges have adopted different systems of calling students.

St Stephen's College has also opened its hostel, with small batches of

residents requiring the facilities returning from January 10. Some colleges

are also considering providing facilities on a limited basis to final-year

students who need it.

However, most colleges said making hostel facilities available is currently

not on the cards.

RS 1.2L CR: ALL-TIME HIGH GST COLLECTION IN JAN

GST collection surged to an all-time high of about Rs 1.20 lakh crore in

January as economic activities picked up after the withdrawal of stringent

lockdown restrictions.

Mop-up from the GST, which is levied when a consumable item is sold or a

service such as travel booking rendered, in January was 8 per cent higher

than such receipts in the same month of 2020.

In a statement, the Finance Ministry said the January collections were the

highest ever since the implementation of the nationwide tax in July 2017.

The previous best was in December 2020 when Rs 1,15,174 crore was collected.

This is the fourth straight month of over Rs 1 lakh crore tax collection.

5G ROLL OUT 'SOON' IN INDIA, MASS ADOPTION COULD STILL BE YEARS AWAY

With talks of "timely" 5G roll out in India resurfacing again after a

Covid-hit year that delayed spectrum auction, there are hopes that the

fifth-generation cellular technology could be a reality in the second half

of the year, even though various reports suggest that its mass adoption

could still be years away.

The government is not selling traditional 5G spectrum in the upcoming

auction the bidding for which will commence in March, but a tweak in the

notice inviting applications has raised hope that companies will be able to

launch 5G even on existing bands. The amendment reduced the notice time

period required for telecom companies to give to make advancements and

upgrades in technology from one year to six months.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on January 28 successfully demonstrated live 5G

service on a use case basis over a commercial network in Hyderabad city over

its existing liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz band through the NSA

(non-standalone) network technology - that is, fall back on 4G network.

Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani last month said that

Reliance Jio will pioneer India's "5G Revolution" in the second half of

2021.

BCCI WILL LET FANS BACK IN STADIUM FOR MOTERA TEST ON FEB 24

Signalling cricket's complete unlockdown, the BCCI will allow spectators in

the stands for the third Test between India and England from February 24 to

28 at the refurbished Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium at Motera near

Ahmedabad, The Indian Express has learnt.

The India-England series will start in Chennai on February 5 behind closed

doors, and there is still no clarity on the presence of fans for the second

Test at the same venue.

The pink-ball day-night Test at Motera will also be the first international

game at the new stadium where capacity has been increased to 1,10,000,

making it the biggest in the world.

"As the seating capacity is more than a lakh, the GCA can easily accommodate

50 per cent crowds for the third and fourth Tests. The Government has

allowed sports stadiums to run with 50 per cent capacity so it has been

decided to allow fans for the matches in Ahmedabad.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. -

C.S. Lewis

OFF TRACK

Grandpa was always going on about the good old days, and the lower cost of

living, in particular.

"When I was a kid, my mom could send me to the store, and I'd get a salami,

two pints of milk, 6 oranges, 2 loaves o' bread, a magazine, and some new

blue jeans... all for a dollar!!"

Then Grandpa said sadly, "You can't DO that anymore..... they got those darn

video cameras everywhere you look."