AFTER A SUPERCHARGED CAMPAIGN, DELHI GOES TO POLLS TODAY; SHAHEEN BAGH PROTESTORS READY TOOAfter a hectic and high-octane election campaign, the capital goes to pollstoday. To ensure safe polling, at least 40,000 Delhi Police personnel,19,000 home guards, and 190 companies of paramilitary forces have beendeployed across the city - apart from checking drives, flying squads andpatrolling on boats in the Yamuna.The days leading up to the elections have witnessed anti-CAA protests inparts of the city, two shootings at Jamia and Shaheen Bagh, and provocativesloganeering that earned the ire of the Election Commission.In order to ensure that February 8 goes by smoothly, especially at ShaheenBagh, special security arrangements were put in place by police as well asvolunteers at the 55-day protest site. On Friday, at least three SHOs ofSouth East district were stationed at Shaheen Bagh, and the layers ofbarricades leading up to the site were guarded by the paramilitary force.A volunteer at the protest and local resident Heena (45) said, "We don'twant any violent party to take advantage of the election and disturb thewomen. In the morning, the youngsters will go and cast their vote while theelderly will sit here. After 2-3 pm, the youngsters will sit here and theold women will go.I ASSURE YOU CAA WON'T LEAD TO OUTSIDER INFLUX: PM IN ASSAMAssuring the people of Assam that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will notlead to outsiders settling in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi saidFriday that "certain forces" were spreading misinformation on the CAA andthat the country will "neither tolerate nor forgive" them.The Prime Minister was in Assam for the first time after the violentprotests in December against the new citizenship law that left six peopledead.Amidst loud cheers, and fluttering Tricolours and All Bodo Students Unionflags, Modi asked the gathering in Kokrajhar in Bodoland Territorial Regionto celebrate the government's accord with Bodo groups signed last month.Following the signing, over 1,600 members of the Bodo militant outfit NDFBlaid down their weapons."I have come to assure the people of Assam that the country will neithertolerate nor forgive anti-Assam and anti-India mentality and its supporters.These are the same forces that are spreading rumours in Assam and Northeastthat through CAA people from outside will come to Assam and they will besettled here. I want to assure that nothing of that sort will happen," Modisaid.He said that just like Bodo groups have come together to join themainstream, others' "misconceptions too will get cleared soon"."Friends, have trust in me, I am yours. Your sadness and pain, your hopesand aspirations, your children's bright future. I will not be behind indoing whatever I can for that," Modi said.Modi pitched the recent Bodo accord as a way to "permanent peace" andwelcomed all those who gave up arms and returned to the mainstream. He saidit marked a new beginning for Assam and the Northeast in the 21st century.CHAOS IN LS AS VARDHAN ATTACKS RAHULA day after PM Narendra Modi attacked Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha,treasury and Opposition members came to near blows inside the House afterHealth Minister Harsh Vardhan, instead of answering the Congress MP'squestion, condemned his "danda" jibe against the PM.As Rahul rose during Question Hour to seek clarification on lack of medicalcolleges in his parliamentary segment Wayanad, Vardhan started reading aprepared text, condemning his comments against the PM during a poll rally inDelhi. "I condemn in no uncertain words the outlandish personal remarks madeby Rahul Gandhi against Prime Minister Modi," read out Vardhan.Provoked, Congress MPs protested. But Vardhan continued to read the textdespite Speaker Om Birla asking him to answer the question. Amid vociferousprotests, Congress MP Manickam Tagore tried to snatch the paper that Vardhanwas reading. Rahul later called the ruckus "orchestrated".The Health Minister said: "In a recent speech, Rahul Gandhi used words like'after six months country's youth will beat Narendra Modi with sticks andthrow him out'. I am surprised that his own father was Prime Minister and Idon't think that in the worst of cases our party leaders made suchoutlandish personal remarks against him....". As Manickam Tagore rushed tothe Well to snatch Vardhan's paper, BJP's Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, awrestler, physically restrained him. Congress MP from Kerala Hibi Eden andUnion Minister Smriti Irani were seen trying to intervene.The House was adjourned as BJP MPs demanded that Tagore be expelled. BothBJP leaders and a Rahul-led Congress delegation later met the Speaker in hischamber. The House re-assembled at 1 pm but was again adjourned till 2 pm.Outside Parliament Rahul told the media: "The orchestrated ruckus inParliament today was designed to prevent me from questioning the government.The youth can clearly see the PM has no clue on how to tackle unemployment.To protect him, the BJP will keep disrupting Parliament."NARENDRA MODI ATTRIBUTED WRONG QUOTE TO OMAR ABDULLAH, SAYS SITARAM YECHURYThe Opposition parties on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi ofattributing a wrong quote to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister OmarAbdullah, saying it was picked from a satire website."PM Modi, while replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address,in Parliament claimed that statements made by two J&K ex-CMs were notacceptable. It has now been shown that these statements have been taken fromsatire website Faking News," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury wroteon Twitter.The party's Polit Bureau accused Mr. Modi of using false charges to frameMr. Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti. "That theModi government should take recourse to such false news for slapping thenotorious Public Safety Act (PSA) belies the claims that everything isnormal in J&K...," it said.On February 6, Mr. Modi said Mr. Abdullah had said dilution of Article 370would cause a massive earthquake that would divide Kashmir from India. Hourslater, Mr. Abdullah and Ms. Mufti were booked under the PSA. Both have beenunder arrest since August 5 when the Rajya Sabha approved the withdrawal ofthe special status from Jammu and Kashmir.DEATH OF DOCTOR WHO SOUNDED CORONAVIRUS ALARM SPARKS ANGER AT GOVERNMENTA Chinese doctor who was reprimanded for warning against a "SARS-like"coronavirus before it was officially recognised died of the virus on Friday,triggering a wave of mourning in China and rare online expressions of angertowards the government.The death of Li Wenliang, 34, came as Chinese President Xi Jinping assuredthe United States that China was doing all it could to contain the virus.The death toll in mainland China reached 637 on Friday, with a total to31,211 cases, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid in Geneva."For the last two days there had been fewer reported infections in China,which is good news, but we caution against reading too much into that," hetold the WHO Executive Board. "The numbers could go up again."Ophthalmologist Li was among eight people reprimanded by police in the cityof Wuhan, the epicentre of the flu-like contagion in central Hubei province,for spreading "illegal and false" information.Li was forced to sign a letter on Jan. 3, saying he had "severely disruptedsocial order" and was threatened with charges.Social media users called Li a hero, accusing authorities of incompetence.JARED KUSHNER PRESENTS ISRAEL-BACKED MIDDLE EAST PLAN TO UNITED NATIONSUS President Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with UNSecurity Council members on Thursday behind closed-doors to brief them onthe US peace plan for the Middle East.The initiative allows for Israel to retain sovereignty over all itssettlements and the strategic Jordan Valley. A newly created Palestine wouldremain a disjointed state under the highly criticized US plan.Having worked on the proposal for nearly three years, Kushner and the Trumpadministration set up the Mideast plan with the aim of ending theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict.While Trump hailed the plan as the "deal of the century," Palestinians havealready rejected it, saying they were never included in the talks in thefirst place. The European Union has also slammed the US plan, saying theproposal departs from established international agreements.Kushner told reporters after the briefing that he blamed PalestinianPresident Mohammed Abbas for a spike in violence in Israel in the days sinceTrump announced the plan. "He calls for days of rage in response and he saidthat even before he saw the plan," Kushner said.EXPECT 80% OF INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS TO MOVE TO NEW SLAB REGIME, SAYS GOVTThe government said Friday that its estimates show that about 80 per cent ofindividual taxpayers would switch to the new tax regime announced in theUnion Budget last week and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that thenew tax regime is the first step towards a no-exemption lower tax system inIndia. Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that the Income Taxdepartment had run a simulation on about 5.8 crore tax returns. It showedthat 69 percent of existing tax payers will benefit from the new slabs while11 per cent would see no change in their tax outgo by switching to the newsystem. Thus, the government's expectation is that 80 percent will switch tothe new system, which some experts had criticised as being too complicatedsince it had more income slabs.Under the new system, tax payers who forgo deductions and exemptions such asthose for housing loans, rent and so on, will have to pay income tax atlower rates. Sitharaman also said that the new tax system is only abeginning. That's why it was "not compulsory" but optional for tax payers.The government introduced this new system with the intent of putting moremoney into people's wallets. In the budget speech, Sitharaman had said thiswould put around Rs 40,000 crore (the government revenue forgone) in thehands of tax payers as the government tries to put the economy back ontrack.The government expects the bulk of those who file I-T returns to shift tothe new simplified tax regime which does away with exemptions for long-termsavings. More disposable income is expected to boost demand, and give animmediate fillip to growth.Sitharaman also rebutted criticism on the dividend distribution tax (DDT)which the Budget had abolished at the company level. Earlier, DDT was taxedat the corporate level, the budget proposed that it is taxed as income inthe hands of investors. "When DDT was taxed at company level it didn't work,when it is taxed at shareholder level it is unacceptable. So should dividendbe taxed or not?," said Sitharaman.She also said it was too early to make changes to the long term capitalgains tax (LTCG) which was introduced in 2018. In the run-up to the Budget,investors and traders had lobbied hard for abolishing LTCG.POLL ON MIND, SC HEARING ON SHAHEEN BAGH STIR DEFERREDThe Supreme Court on Friday deferred to February 10 a hearing on petitionsseeking removal of protesters opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)to clear Kalindi Kunj Road that connects South Delhi to Noida."We understand there is a problem and we have to see how to resolve it. Wewill take it up on Monday. We will be in a better position by then," a Benchheaded by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul told the petitioners.As the petitioners' counsel said elections would be over by Monday, theBench responded, "Exactly. That's why on Monday. Why should we influenceit?"SEVERAL INDIANS UNDER CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINE ON CRUISE SHIP OFF JAPANSeveral Indian crew members and passengers on board a cruise ship have beenquarantined off Japan in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar said on Friday.He said none of them have tested positive and India is closely following thedevelopments."Many Indian crew and some Indian passengers are on board the cruise shipDiamond Princess quarantined off Japan due to Coronavirus. None have testedpositive, as per the latest information provided by our Embassy (in Tokyo).We are closely following the developments," Mr Jaishankar said in a tweet.At least 61 people on a cruise liner off Japan tested positive forcoronavirus on Friday (February 7), and thousands of passengers remainconfined to their cabins.A North Dinajpur youth has sought the help of central and Bengal governmentsfor disembarkation of him and over 150 other crew members from the evssel."I am on board the ship and so far, 62 people, including some crew members,have been diagnosed with coronavirus. Some of them have been shifted fromthe ship in ambulances, which have lined up at the port. I am worried and soare the other crew members. In total, 160 Indians work on this ship," Binaysaid in a video.Diamond Princess had 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members when it dockedat Yokohama. The ship has been quarantined by the Japanese authorities tillFebruary 19, said an update issued by Princess Cruises, the company thatruns the cruise liner.LET CONVICTS EXHAUST ALL OPTIONS IN A WEEK: SCThe Supreme Court today deferred to February 11 hearing on the Centre'sappeal against the Delhi HC's verdict dismissing its plea challenging thestay on execution of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhayagang-rape and murder case."Let the one-week time (given by the High Court to convicts) be over. May beall options will be exhausted by then. We'll consider then...," athree-judge Bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Friday dismissed the pleas of Delhi Governmentand Tihar jail authorities seeking fresh date for execution of the fourdeath row convicts.UP TO FIVE-YEAR JAIL, RS50L FINE FOR FAIR SKIN, HAIR GROWTH MAGIC CURE ADSPeople promising magic remedies for enhanced sexual capacity, fair skin,hair growth, changed foetal sex among other unnatural solutions could facejail from two to five years and fine raging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh,if government-proposed amendments to existing laws are approved byParliament.Noting that the draft amendment law had been framed "to keep pace with thechanging times and technology and in view of the concerns raised at severalquarters on the implementation and effectiveness of the existinglegislation", the government has invited public suggestions within 45 daysof the notification of the draft amendments on February 3.FROM RICHES TO RAGS: ANIL AMBANI PLEADS POVERTY, SAYS HIS NET WORTH IS ZEROA UK court on Friday directed Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani to pay$100 million within six weeks towards a conditional order granted to threeChinese banks pursuing the recovery of over $680 million as part of a loanagreement.In what is, in effect, a deposit to be paid to court pending a full trial inthe case, Judge David Waksman has set a six-week timeline for such a paymentas he concluded that he did not accept Ambani's defence that his net worthwas nearly zero, or that his family would not step in to assist him when"push came to shove".Earlier, Ambani had pleaded poverty in his dispute with the three Chinesebanks . "The value of my investments has collapsed," Anil Ambani said,according to a court filing by the banks in a London lawsuit.The lawsuit was filed by the three Chinese banks, which argued that they hadprovided a loan of $925 million to RCom in 2012, on condition that hepersonally guarantee the debt.WHATSAPP PAY SET FOR PHASED ROLL OUT IN INDIA; GRANTED NPCI PERMISSIONFacebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has secured regulatory approvalfor launching its digital payment platform - WhatApp Pay - in a phasedmanner, close to two years after the US-based company's pilot run. TheNational Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) granted permission to theCalifornia-headquartered company on Thursday to operate WhatsApp Pay.WhatsApp is said to have assured the RBI and NPCI that it will comply withthe data localisation norms. WhatsApp's resistance to the government's standon data localisation was a key reason behind the delay in the company'spayment service launch.Once WhatsApp is able to do a full roll-out of the payment service, it'sexpected to capture the lion's share in that space. The messaging servicegiant counts India as its biggest market with more than 400 million users.PHONEPE TO CREATE WORLD'S BIGGEST ATM NETWORK OF 2 MN IN INDIA BY YEAR ENDPhonePe says it will by the end of this year create an Automated TellerMachine (ATM) network of 2 million, helping the Walmart-owned service tofight rivals Alibaba-backed Paytm, Google Pay and Amazon Pay as they competein India's crowded digital payments market.The service-billed as India's first and world's largest-enablesneighbourhood stores to act as ATMs for PhonePe users. It had a pilot run inDelhi-NCR and is now being rolled out across 500,000 shops in 300 cities.Subscribers use the PhonePe app to locate shops offering the ATM service andthen click the "withdraw" button to transfer an amount to the merchant. Oncethe amount is transferred, the merchant gives the customer cash equal to theamount transferred. PhonePe will not charge for the service and it has set awithdrawal limit of Rs 1,000 for now.India has 200,000 ATMs that frequently run out of cash and they are fewerthan those in BRICS nations, according to the International Monetary Fund.PhonePe hopes to fill in this gap.