A look at the headlines today:
1. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to present budget today
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union budget 2020 today. This is no ordinary budget. At no point since Manmohan Singh, as P.V. Narasimha Rao’s finance minister, set in motion India’s liberalisation story in 1991 has the annual event assumed such significance. At stake is not just the future of India’s fortunes, but also the political legacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Till about three years ago, India was the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Then everything went awry. As non-performing assets piled up, banks and the financial system came under immense stress. In them, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) that lend to small businesses and consumers, in turn, faced a shortage of cash, percolating the woe down the value chain. Modi’s demonetisation of high value currency notes in 2016 remains an unmitigated disaster, particularly for small businesses and farmers. Spending by rural population, already plagued by bad crops and falling prices, plummeted. Rule changes like the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) and Goods and Services Tax (GST), aimed at structurally cleaning up and simplifying the system, led to transitional pangs, further compounding the problem.
2. Coronavirus: Air India flight with 324 Indians returns from Wuhan
Air India's jumbo B747 plane, evacuating 324 Indian nationals from the coronavirus-hit Wuhan in China, landed today morning. The plane reached Delhi around 7.30am. There are five doctors from Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital and one paramedical staff on board. The flight had departed from Delhi airport at 1.17pm on Friday to evacuate Indian nationals from China, where more than 200 people—none of them Indian—have died due to novel coronavirus. On Friday evening, the Air India spokesperson had stated that another special flight may take off from Delhi airport to evacuate Indians from Wuhan. The Indian Army has set up a quarantine facility in Manesar near Delhi to keep around 300 Indian students being evacuated from China's Hubei province in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Separately, border-guarding force ITBP has set up a 600-bedded facility in southwest Delhi's Chhawla area to quarantine and provide basic medical care to those suspected to have been affected by the coronavirus. An additional 50-bedded critical care facility has also been set up at the Safdarjung Hospital in the national capital, a Union Health Ministry statement said.
3. Coronavirus: Death toll rises to 259 in China, infections surge to nearly 12000
The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China has risen to 259 with total confirmed cases surging to 11,791 amid stepped up efforts by a number of countries to evacuate their nationals from Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus. Chinese health authorities have announced that the death toll has risen to 259 with total confirmed cases increasing to 11,791, the biggest increase since China began reporting the spread of the virulent virus on January 21. China's National Health Commission said in its daily report on Saturday that 1,795 patients remained in critical condition, and 17,988 people were suspected of being infected with the virus as of the end of Friday. A total of 243 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery. Friday saw 2,102 new confirmed cases, 5,019 new suspected cases, and 46 deaths. So far about 124 positive cases have been reported in a host of countries, including India where the first case was confirmed in Kerala. Hubei province and its provincial capital Wuhan remained the ground zero of the virus with 45 deaths and 1,347 confirmed cases, according to the Chinese commission's report.
4. Kerala Blasters host Chennaiyin FC in battle to remain in hunt for top 4 spot
Kerala Blasters FC and Chennaiyin FC will hope to remain in the hunt for a top 4 spot with a win when they face each other in an Indian Super League match today. Kerala are currently in the eighth spot with 14 points from as many games. Eelco Schattorie's men have no other option but register all three points, if they are to keep their slim chances of making it to the top-four alive. Chennaiyin, who have 18 points from 13 matches, can draw level with Odisha FC, who are currently fourth on the table, with a win. "Mathematically, anyone can reach fourth. Odisha won four games in a row. We were also behind, then we won two games in a row. It is all about that momentum, any team can qualify," said Kerala assistant coach Ishfaq Ahmed, who was deputising for the suspended Schattorie. Kerala started 2020 with two successive wins but back-to-back defeats against Jamshedpur FC and FC Goa have left them in a desperate state. In both these games, Kerala played well in attack and looked set to salvage a point, if not three. However, defensive mistakes cost them both matches.
5. Kenin v Muguruza - the 750-1 Australian Open final that nobody saw coming
Serena Williams dominated talk before the Australian Open but Saturday's women's final is between unseeded Garbine Muguruza and unheralded Sofia Kenin—a 750-1 longshot of a championship match that nobody predicted. After a tournament of surprises, the 21-year-old Kenin can even supplant Williams as the top-ranked American if she manages another plot twist by beating Spain's Muguruza in Melbourne. The 38-year-old American legend Williams was attempting to equal the record 24 Grand Slam titles of Australian Margaret Court, but she lost in the third round to China's Wang Qiang. Reigning champion Naomi Osaka went out at the same stage to 15-year-old sensation Coco Gauff, who was promptly turfed out herself by fellow American Kenin. Six of the top 10 seeds exited in the third round, seemingly blowing the tournament open for Australia's world number one Ashleigh Barty. But step forward Moscow-born 14th seed Kenin once more, who showed remarkably few nerves in her first Grand Slam semi-final on Thursday as she broke home hearts in straight sets. Even if she loses the final, Kenin will reach a career-high nine in the world, rising from her current position of 15th.
-Inputs from PTI
