THE HEADLINES:
- In the first meeting of NITI Aayog , Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with eminent economists ; Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hints at more spending cuts and stable tax regime.
- Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi heads for big showdown with Nitish Kumar, convenes legislative party meet.
- Delhi to go to polls tomorrow; CEC says not a single case of paid news noticed during electioneering.
- In Maharashtra, the number of deaths due to swine flu goes up to 27.
- France and Germany present a new peace plan to end conflict in Ukraine; US extends full support.
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The meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with eminent economists and experts at the National Institution for Transforming India, NITI Aayog in the national capital, is underway. The meeting has been called to seek their suggestions for the forthcoming budget. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and experts including Mukesh Butani, Nitin Desai, Parthasarathi Shome are also present at the meeting. The government had set up the NITI Aayog by replacing the Planning Commission last month.
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today hinted at more cuts in spending, so as to contain fiscal deficit within limits for the current fiscal. Addressing a gathering of industrialists and planners in Mumbai via video conferencing, he said, the Government does not want to live on borrowed money indefinitely and so, is trying to rationalise expenditure. The Minister said, the whole concept of spending beyond one's means and leaving the next generation in debt to repay, is never a prudent fiscal policy. Ahead of Budget 2015-16 to be unveiled later this month, Mr. Jaitley hinted at a stable tax regime, saying that no unfair effort will be made by states and the Centre to mop up revenues.
"I have always believed that there taxes are to be paid, taxes will be collected but no unfair effort would be made by the state so that investors are unnecessarily harassed in that area itself. We have setup mechanisms which are extremely investor friendly, which encourage investors rather than deter them away from investing in India."
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In Bihar, infighting in the ruling Janta Dal(U) has deepened with Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi convening a legislative party meeting on the 20th of this month, ahead of the commencement of the winter session of the state assembly. Mr. Manjhi has refused to attend the legislative party meeting convened by National Party President Sharad Yadav tomorrow to decide on the issue of finding his successor. Mr. Manjhi has termed tomorrow's meeting as unconstitutional since he alone, being the leader of the legislature party, enjoys the right to convene such a meeting. The Chief Minister who has not buckled under the pressure of Nitish Kumar to resign, has reportedly decided to sack five of his ministerial colleagues on the charges of non-performance. On the other hand, mounting fresh offensive against the Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has convened a meeting of the Core Committee this afternoon, to take stock of the prevailing situation in the party arising out of open defiance by Manjhi and his loyalists to accept the party high command Sharad Yadav's wish to reinstall Nitish Kumar as the next Chief Minister.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manjhi, accompanied by two of his ministerial colleagues, left for Khagaria to attend an official meeting, making it obvious that he would not attend the meeting of the core committee. He has instead, convened a meeting of his ministerial colleagues this evening, apparently to mark their presence.
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The Supreme Court today refused to entertain the plea of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran in the Aircel-Maxis case. The court said, they can approach the Delhi High Court against the trial court order summoning them as accused. A Bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and R Banumathi said, it was not inclined to interfere in the matter which has arisen out of the 2G spectrum allocation scam probe. On October 29th last year, a special 2G court had summoned the Maran brothers and six others, including Malaysian industrialist T Ananda Krishnan as accused in the Aircel-Maxis deal case. The Special CBI court had directed them to appear before it on March 2nd after taking cognizance of the chargesheet filed against the eight accused.
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The stage is set for polling in Delhi which will be held tomorrow for 70 seats in the Assembly elections. Over 1.33 crore electorate will decide the fate of 673 candidates in the fray. Polling will take place at 12,177 polling stations, of which 714 have been identified as critical. Of these, 191 are highly critical. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for tomorrow's polls. The Delhi Metro will start operations at 4 AM tomorrow.
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In an exclusive interview to All India Radio, the Chief Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma has said that not a single case of paid news was noticed in the electioneering in the Delhi Assembly polls. The CEC assured Delhi voters that EVMs are hundred per cent fool-proof and tampering with them is not possible.
"Our EVM machines are 100 percent foolproof. Nobody can play mischief and if anybody wants to play mischief, there is adequate institutional safeguard. In Delhi election, till today, we don't have a single case of paid news. In my knowledge, not a single paid news, we have seen."
He said that voters can exercise their franchise safely. Talking about NOTA, Mr. Brahma said, it provides a good opportunity for the voters to express their unhappiness over the candidates or political parties.
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The Aam Aadmi Party today hit back at the BJP, questioning it for full-page advertisements in national dallies published, a day before polling in the city. Party leader Manish Sisodia sought to know the source of crores of rupees spent on the advertisements. Reacting to the objection raised by the AAP, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said, it seems that the Aam Aadmi Party is unaware of the Model Code of conduct. According to the Representation of People's Act, no election matter can be displayed by means of cinematograph, television or other similar medium like internet, cable channel, radio, social and display media and live media during 48 hours before the conclusion of voting. However, the law is silent on publication of advertisements in newspapers.
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An AAP delegation today met Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi and told their version of alleged case against AAP candidate Naresh Balyan from Uttam Nagar Constituency in connection with the seizure of liquor. Talking to media after the meeting AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that the party is not opposed to investigation and Mr Balyan will join investigation after the polls.
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Congress Central Election Authority met in New Delhi to discuss organizational polls. Party sources said, dates for the polls are likely to be finalized in the meeting. Membership drive and its evaluation will be taken up for discussions. Organizational weakness is also being discussed after the party lost the Lok Sabha elections.
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The Madras High Court today directed the Tamil Nadu government to issue a circular banning beauty contests in colleges and other educational institutions. Passing an interim orders on a plea, Justice T S Sivagnanam said, It is not known as to how walking the ramp would benefit a student pursuing a course of engineering.
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In Maharashtra, the number of deaths due to swine flu has risen to 27 with four being from Mumbai. The number of positive cases in Mumbai has risen to 23 and two deaths were reported yesterday. In the state, there are 117 positive cases and Nagpur has been affected the worst with 14 deaths and 42 positive cases. The number of deaths in Pune rose to 8 with the death of a woman from Ambegaon. Medical sources informed that Pune has recorded 11 new cases of swine flu.
Efforts are being taken across Maharashtra to spread awareness about swine flu and prevent spreading of the disease. Public awareness camp has been set up in Nagpur, which has been affected the worst. Mobile vans have also been arranged to cater to the patients and 8 screening camps have been set up in the city. Meanwhile, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Additional Municipal Commissioner addressed a press conference in Mumbai yesterday and assured that the situation is not alarming in the city. He advised people not to self-medicate if they get cough, cold or fever and headache and ensure that those suffering from swine flu should not leave medication midway as the disease can reoccur, unless fully treated.
In Madhya Pradesh, two students of the School of Planning and Architecture in Bhopal have been tested positive for swine flu. Our correspondent reports, at least 23 people have died in the state due to swine flu this year.
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After a positive opening, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surrendered all its initial gains, and had declined 63 points, to 28,788 in afternoon trade, a short while ago. Earlier in the morning, however, the Sensex had advanced 56 points. Similarly, the Nifty at the National Stock Exchange index had dropped 24 points, to 8,687 a short while ago.
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France and Germany have presented a new peace plan for Ukraine to try to end the conflict between the government troops and pro-Russia rebels. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said that the new proposals put forward by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President Fracois Hollande gave him renewed hopes for peace. The plan will be taken to Moscow today where Russia has promised talks in a constructive atmosphere. The announcement followed a visit to the Ukrainian capital Kiev by the US Secretary of State John Kerry. He gave his full support to the Franco-German initiative.
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In Bangladesh, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia said that the anti-government agitation will continue till the opposition's goals are achieved despite protests by various sections of society. In a statement released to the press last night, Khaleda Zia reiterated the opposition's demand for fresh inclusive elections under a caretaker government. The BNP-led 20-party opposition alliance's agitation entered the 32nd day today. 54 people have been killed and over 700 injured in the agitation. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who ruled out the imposition of emergency in the country, termed the opposition's violent acts as crimes against humanity.
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In Nepal, the meeting of the Constituent Assembly, CA held without the opposition parties, extended the deadline of the Questionnaire Committee for five days despite the protest of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, RPP-N. CA members of RPP-N opposed the CA meeting as soon as CA Chairman Subas Chandra Nembang started the meeting. Later, they began shouting slogans at the well while Nembang continued the meeting claiming that their protest was premature. Opposition parties, including the Unified CPN-Maoist and Madhes-based parties boycotted the CA meeting and announced further protest programmes, claiming that the Constitution should be drafted through a consensus. The next meeting of the CA has been scheduled for February 12th.
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China's Special Envoy and Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liu Jianchao has called for continuity in the close friendship that Sri Lanka has with China. Speaking to local media in Colombo today, Jianchao said that engagement with Sri Lanka will be reinforced by the exchange of high-level visits. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will be visiting China in March while foreign Minister Mangala Samarweera will visit Beijing later this month. The Special Envoy met President Sirisena and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and discussed issues of mutual interest, including those related to political, economic and cultural cooperation.
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At the 35th National Games being held in Kerala, Services continues to top the medals tally with 33 gold medals, followed by Haryana in the second position with 25 gold. Maharashtra is in the third spot with 23 gold medals. Hosts Kerala are in the fourth position with 13 gold medals. In Swimming, finals of men and women 400 metre free-style and 50 metre back-stroke will take place today. Besides, the final for 200 metre individual medal will also be held today. In the water-polo semi-final, Kerala women's team will clash with West Bengal. Gymnastics competitions will conclude today. In shooting, men's Rapid Fire pistol event will take place today. Boxing events will start at Thriprayar in Thrissur today.
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The Jharkhand government will provide tablets to all girls students studying in class 9, 10, 11 and 12 in government Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalayas across the state. Announcing this today at the concluding function of two-days 'Baal Samagam' - children festivals, in the presence of Chief Minister Raghuwar Das, the state Education Secretary Aradhana Patnaik said that the scheme will be implemented from April of this year.
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