Feb 2 LIVE | Every jawan knows what you are hiding from people: Rahul in Lok Sabha

LS Speaker urges members to ask short questions

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday urged members to keep their questions brief and asked the ministers to give short replies during the Question Hour to ensure that more issues can be taken up.

His remarks came after Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje completed her reply to a supplementary query during the Question Hour.

"Members should ask short questions and ministers should give brief replies... so that more questions can be taken up," Birla said.

The Speaker also cautioned the House that he will interfere if someone goes against the norms. 

India manufacturing activity edges up in January, but business confidence hits 3.5-year low

India’s manufacturing sector showed a modest recovery in January, supported by a faster rise in new orders, even as business confidence fell to its lowest level in three-and-a-half years, according to a monthly survey released on Monday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 55.4 in January from a two-year low of 55 in December, remaining firmly in expansion territory. A PMI reading above 50 indicates growth.

HSBC said the rebound was driven by higher new orders, output and employment, though input costs rose moderately and margin pressures persisted. Domestic demand remained the key driver of sales growth, while export orders increased at a slower pace, with firms citing demand from Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the Middle East.

Manufacturers continued to add jobs, though hiring remained limited, marking the fastest pace of job creation in three months. At the same time, business optimism weakened sharply, with only 15 per cent of firms expecting higher output over the next year, while most anticipated no change.

Input price inflation accelerated to a four-month high, while output price inflation eased to a 22-month low, reflecting improved efficiency, cost control and competitive pressures, the survey noted.

Cold wave conditions prevail in Haryana, Punjab

Minimum temperatures remained close to the season's average in Punjab and Haryana on Monday, with Sirsa the coldest place in the region with a low of 6.6 degrees Celsius.

Ludhiana recorded a minimum of 8.4 degrees Celsius while Amritsar registered a low of 7.4 degrees Celsius.

Patiala recorded a low of 9.4 degrees, Pathankot 7.2 degrees, Hoshiarpur 8.3 degrees, while Faridkot recorded a low of 6.8 degrees Celsius.

Bathinda, however, experienced a cold night at 6.2 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a low of 9.8 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded a minimum of 10.2 degrees Celsius, Hisar 11 degrees, Karnal 9.7 degrees, Rohtak 12.2 degrees while Gurugram recorded a low of 8.9 degrees Celsius.

China executes four more members of Myanmar-based scam network

China has executed four people convicted of running large-scale scam and gambling operations from Myanmar that caused the deaths of six Chinese citizens, authorities said on Monday. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court announced the executions but did not specify when they were carried out.

The four were part of a group sentenced in November for operating scam centres and casinos in Myanmar’s Kokang region near the Chinese border. The network, linked to the influential Bai family, was accused of telecom fraud, gambling, kidnappings, extortion, forced prostitution and drug trafficking, defrauding victims of more than 29 billion yuan (about USD 4.2 billion). Group leader Bai Suocheng died of illness after his conviction.

The executions follow last week’s announcement that 11 others involved in similar scam operations had also been put to death. Appeals filed by the convicts were dismissed by the Guangdong Provincial High People’s Court.

The move is part of Beijing’s wider crackdown on industrial-scale scam operations across Southeast Asia, particularly in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, amid growing international pressure to curb cross-border organised crime.

Sunetra Pawar pays tribute to Y B Chavan on first official visit as deputy CM

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Sunetra Pawar on Monday visited Karad in Satara district and paid floral tributes at the memorial of the state’s first chief minister, Y B Chavan. The visit marked her first official tour since assuming office on January 31.

After travelling from Baramati in the morning, Sunetra Pawar paid homage at ‘Pritisangam’, Chavan’s memorial. Y B Chavan is widely regarded as a political mentor by NCP founder Sharad Pawar, while Sunetra Pawar’s late husband and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar frequently invoked Chavan’s ideology in public life.

Later in the day, Sunetra Pawar was scheduled to visit Phaltan to meet the family of Vidip Jadhav, the personal security officer of Ajit Pawar, who was among those killed in a plane crash in Baramati last week. Ajit Pawar and four others died in the crash on January 28.

Sunetra Pawar became Maharashtra’s first woman deputy chief minister on January 31.

Opposition protests in Kerala Assembly over rejection of parole discussion

UDF legislators staged a protest inside the Kerala Assembly on Monday after the Speaker rejected an adjournment motion seeking a discussion on the granting of parole to convicted prisoners. The motion, moved by Revolutionary Marxist Party of India MLA K K Rema, alleged that several convicts, including those recently sentenced, had been granted parole and released.

Speaker A M Samseer disallowed the motion, stating that the issue did not warrant an adjournment debate and could instead be raised as a submission. Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan criticised the decision, alleging that the parole granted to convicts was illegal and was creating law-and-order problems. He cited the case of CPI(M) leader and Payyannur municipal councillor V K Nishad, who was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in December but granted parole in January.

Responding, Local Self Government Minister M B Rajesh said the parole decision was taken earlier and accused the Opposition of raising the issue due to a lack of substantive matters. He also countered by referring to parole and sentence reductions granted during previous UDF governments.

As protests escalated, Opposition MLAs raised placards and entered the well of the House, shouting slogans. The Speaker maintained that the materials were brought in after the motion was rejected and allowed proceedings to continue despite the disruption.

Sreedharan pushes Kerala High-Speed Rail plan, opens project office despite budget snub

‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan on Monday set the Kerala high-speed rail corridor project formally in motion by inaugurating a project office in Ponnani, even as the Union Budget made no mention of the state. The office, opened by his wife Radha, will function as a public interface to explain the project and address concerns.

Sreedharan said public meetings would begin from February 15, starting in Malappuram, and extend to other districts along the proposed Thiruvananthapuram–Kannur corridor. Fieldwork to finalise alignment and station locations is expected to start in April and be completed before June, covering 22 proposed stations.

Emphasising the need to move quickly ahead of the monsoon, Sreedharan said work would proceed without waiting for formal approvals. The proposed rail line, with a top speed of 200 kmph, is envisaged to be implemented by the Railway Ministry, with the state government’s views to be incorporated after the DPR is prepared.

The move comes even as the Kerala government is pursuing a Regional Rapid Transit System along a similar route.

‘MGNREGA was a transformative law, Centre’s new scheme a flaw’: Congress slams Modi govt

Budget FY27 demonstrates commitment to macro stability: Fitch

India's Budget demonstrates the ongoing commitment to maintaining macro stability through a gradual path of government debt reduction balanced against a still-robust capex program to enhance growth prospects, Fitch Ratings said on Monday.

While the budget did not flag specific large-scale reform announcements, Fitch said it expects more reforms to be forthcoming, particularly on the deregulation agenda. Strong GDP growth is driving positive momentum in several of India's sovereign credit metrics and if sustained, could improve the credit profile over time, even as lingering fiscal challenges remain, it said.

Building on recent reform momentum should help accelerate private investment and give greater upside and resilience to India's potential growth, Fitch added. It said fiscal consolidation is set to be very modest with fiscal deficit target at 4.3 per cent of GDP in FY27, just a touch below 4.4 per cent in FY26.

"The slowing pace of consolidation is in line with our view that further progress on deficit reduction is becoming more difficult without compromising more on GDP growth," Fitch said.

NIA raids at multiple locations in Kashmir

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out searches at multiple locations in Srinagar, Bandipora and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with a terror case, officials said.

The searches were being carried out in Rafiabad, Sopore, Bomai (in Baramulla district, Bandipora and Parimpora area of the city, the officials said.

Further details are awaited, they added.