Highlights: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Hits Out at Congress, Says ‘They are With Separatists Today’

 The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Finance Bill, 2024, thus completing the exercise for passage of the interim budget 2024-25.

The Finance Bill, 2024, does not propose any change in the tax structure as the final budget will be tabled in July after the new government assumes office post the general elections in April-May.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the Finance Bill, 2024, does not propose any change in tax structure.

"We have focused on development despite presenting an interim budget ahead of elections, Chaudhary said replying to a discussion on the bill.

Earlier in the day the Lok Sabha approved the Rs 47.66-lakh crore interim Budget 2024-25 of the Union Government and second batch of supplementary demands for grants.

A minor fire broke out at the laboratory wing of the state-run Niloufer hospital here on Wednesday following which it was extinguished.

No one was injured in the incident, officials said.

Based on preliminary inquiry, the fire is suspected to have been caused due to a short-circuit in a fridge in the lab.

Smoke engulfed the hospital premises due to the presence of rubber material there and patient attendants outside panicked as smoke started billowing the windows, they said.

As a precautionary measure, the fire tenders were called. "Since our staff are trained, the room was opened and fire was immediately put out," a senior health official said. 

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the ongoing construction activities across the state have created employment opportunities on a large scale.

He said youths, in search of employment, were migrating to other states owing to lack of requisite skills and were taking up extremely low-paying jobs there.

The chief minister was speaking at the inauguration of a skill training centre at Gogamukh in Dhemaji district for labourers registered with Assam Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, and their family members.

He stressed on the need for the state's youths to get trained in new-age and modern technical work so that they can equip themselves for remunerative job opportunities available across the country as well as abroad.

The Assam government has joined hands with Larsen and Toubro (L&T) to set up the centre with the objective of enhancing the skills of registered construction workers, aligning trained resources in the construction industry, connecting trainees with future skills and modern technology, and making unemployed youths with construction skills.

Lok Sabha MP Kunwar Danish Ali has alleged that he received a threatening call at his office in central Delhi.

After receiving a complaint from Ali's office at the Tilak Marg police station, an FIR under IPC sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) was registered, an official said on Wednesday.

"We have launched an investigation into the matter. An FIR has been registered against an unknown caller. Teams have been formed to investigate and nab the accused," a senior police officer said.

According to the complaint, calls were made by an unidentified person to the MP's office number repeatedly on Tuesday from 8 pm to 8.30 pm.

"The caller asked if this was the office of Danish Ali. When Ali's personal secretary confirmed, the caller threatened and used abusive language. We checked the number of the call.

Rahul Gandhi veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says, “Be it election platform or Parliament, every speech of the Prime Minister is just a 'heap of lies'. He has become so engrossed in his lies, his applause and his media that every question related to the public makes him angry. Anger is a guarantee of destruction, not development.”

Delhi High Court denies bail to AAP leader Sanjay Singh in the money laundering case related to alleged liquor policy scam.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, "Using taxpayers' money, the Government of Karnataka has given full-page national newspaper advertisements...Six claims...but two are outrageously false claims...One, zero has been given as drought, disaster relief by the Central Government...Combining both disaster management and capital investment, a total of Rs 12,476 Crores has been given...Secondly, special grant. I mentioned in the beginning itself that special grant was not even there in the final recommendation. So, there is no recommendation of the Finance Commission but you are mentioning that here...I would like to humbly say that all of these things are arising out of just one mindset - mindset of separatism - what the Deputy CM's brother said. Congress is with separatists today..."

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar met with PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi, just few days after he jumped ship from the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar to join the NDA again. 

“We are studying the court order and will take action as per the law. We will inform the court how all Enforcement Directorate summons were illegal,” the Aam Aadmi Party said in a statement. This comes after Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court asked Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on February 17 regarding the Delhi Excise Policy case. 

Delhi Court has issued summons to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for February 17 in the money laundering case related to the excise policy.

ACMM Divya Malhotra of Rouse Avenue Court issued the summons to Kejriwal for February 17 and took cognizance of ED's complaint.

The Enforcement Directorate has raided the house of IFS officer Sushant Patnaik in Dehradun and also ordered a note-counting machine. The raid follows the one at former Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat's residence. 

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday exempted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from personal appearance and directed him to appear before it on February 29 in a criminal defamation case. 

Amid speculation that RLD's Jayant Chaudhary may join hands with the BJP, senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav on Wednesday accused the saffron party of "creating confusion" and said the former will remain with the INDIA bloc. "The BJP is doing the work of creating confusion. He (Jayant) is not going anywhere. He will remain with the INDIA bloc with full strength and will do the work of defeating the BJP," Yadav told reporters when asked about the speculation regarding the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) going to the BJP-led NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The Samajwadi Party national general secretary said Jayant Chaudhary will remain with the INDIA bloc and defeat the BJP in the general elections.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has reached his residence in Delhi. He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union HM Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda later today.

Supporters of Sharad Pawar hold protest outside the NCP office in Mumbai after EC ruled in favour of the faction led by Ajit Pawar in connection with dispute in the NCP.

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was produced before PMLA Court in Ranchi on Wednesday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the residence and office of a reputed businessman in Kolkata in connection with a money laundering case in Jharkhand. A team of three ED officials, including a woman investigator, first reached the residence of the said businessman at Mudiali in South Kolkata. Soon after that another team of central agency sleuths started parallel raid and search operations at the office of the same businessman in Bidhan Sarani in South Kolkata.

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday travelled in a Delhi Metro train. News agency ANI has shared the visuals on the social media platform X.

The Allahabad High Court has fixed February 12 as the next date of hearing in the Gyanvapi case. The High Court was hearing an appeal filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee challenging an order of the Varanasi court allowing Hindu devotees to offer prayers in the cellar of Gyanvapi mosque.

The Delhi High Court has reserved order on bail plea of Amit Chakravarty, HR head of news portal NewsClick, in the case registered by Delhi Police under the provisions of the UAPA. While reserving order, Court noted that Chakravarty has turned approver in the case.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi. According to sources, during the meeting, talks will be held regarding a possible alliance in Tamil Nadu for the LS elections. 

BJP MPs from Karnataka are holding protest in Parliament over alleged misuse of funds by Karnataka government.

A man has been killed by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Wednesday. The body of Michcha Hadma was found on a road on the outskirts of his village Timapur under Basaguda police station limits on Tuesday, a police official said. As per preliminary information, a group of unidentified Naxalites attacked him with an axe following which he died on the spot, he said.

Security has been beefed up outside Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah's residence in Jammu on Wednesday. This comes ahead of his proposed visit to Rajouri district as no permission has been given to Abdullah to travel to Rajouri. This comes amid apprehensions of provocation by political leaders on ST reservation to Pahari community.

TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu is likely to meet BJP leaders today in Delhi. As per sources, the discussion is likely to be about ongoing politics in Andhra Pradesh ahead of the elections. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the motion of thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha in the second half today. The Parliament session has also been extended by one day in view of the Centre’s plan to bring a White Paper on the state of the nation’s economy, which will compare the UPA Years and the 10 years of Modi-led government.

The NDRF and the SDRF are carrying out firefighting and cooling operations at the firecracker factory in Harda in Madhya Pradesh where a massive explosion took place yesterday affecting the nearby houses.

Given the “Chalo Delhi” protest in the national capital against the BJP-led central government, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, deputy DK Shivakumar and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have landed in Delhi. The protest by all Congress ministers will begin at 11 am on Wednesday at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.  
 

A woman hailing from West Bengal's Darjeeling was allegedly raped here for a week by her friend who also thrashed and tortured her by "pouring hot dal", police said on Tuesday. The accused, identified as Paras (28), was booked for rape, sodomy, and causing hurt. He was arrested on February 2, they added. The woman had been staying with Paras for around a month in a rented accommodation in Raju Park in south Delhi's Neb Sarai area, the police said.

A 65-year-old man fell into an open Nullaha in Sawant Marg, behind Dahisar Borivali Railway bridge in Mumbai at around 1.50am on Wednesday. He was rescued and taken to Shatabdi Hospital but the doctors declared him dead at 4:15 am, the Mumbai Fire Brigade said.

Budget session: General discussion on the interim budget 2024-25, and the interim budget on Jammu and Kashmir 2024-25 is to be started in the Rajya Sabha after PM Modi's address. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the motion of thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha in the second half today.