Monday, 3 February
Amar Ujala comments on the Union Budget and argues that one expected a balanced budget due to the country’s adverse economic situation and the Budget did not disappoint. Although, it adds, only time will tell how true the claims of increased spending leading to an increase in demand are. The changes in the income tax regimes have will encourage people to spend more rather than save. However, the disinvestment target is way too ambitious.
Dainik Jagran writes that since coronavirus has reached Kerala, it has become imperative to take preventive measures against the deadly virus. It writes that the virus has spread to more than a dozen countries and therefore, an antidote is needed urgently. Kerala has dealt with Nipah virus effectively earlier, so one hopes that they will have public health measures in place to meet the coronavirus threat since the health infrastructure there is much better than other states.
Tuesday, 4 February
Amar Ujala says that the coronavirus is far more dangerous than SARS, which spread from China in. It adds that the coronavirus is a threat, to not only China’s economy, but to the world economy as well. China’s growth rate is expected to fall from 6.1 per cent to 5.6 per cent, which will impact the world economy.
Dainik Jagran criticises the behaviour of the Opposition for stalling the Budget session and calls it negative politics. It writes that the parliamentarians have a responsibility to discuss important national issues and not stall the house for narrow political gains.
Wednesday, 5 February
Amar Ujala comments on the 15th Finance Commission report, which has reduced the central government’s contribution to states to 41 per cent from 42 per cent because of Jammu and Kashmir is now a union territory. However, some questions are being raised over the cooperative federalism Modi government keeps harping on. The biggest complaint by the states is the reduced collections of GST and the need to fill that shortfall. They have got no solid assurance from the government. Furthermore, the imbalance between the north and south is a big issue. The southern states want the Finance Commission to keep 1971 as the base year for calculations rather than 2011. Their argument is that by doing so, the southern states are paying a hefty price for keeping their population in check.
Dainik Jagran asks why the Congress was pretending to ‘fight’ Delhi’s election. It writes that it seems as if the party is not keen to cash on their rule from 1998 to 2013 — 15 years of Sheila Dixit regime with a legacy of development. Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi held rallies only at the end of the campaign window while on the ground, the Congress party machinery seems to be comatose.
Thursday, 6 February
Amar Ujala writes that the defence expo in Lucknow is an example of India’s growing prowess in the defence sector and it also indicates the role being set up for Uttar Pradesh in defence production. There are two defence corridors being planned, in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The emphasis is not just on digital transformation of defence but also on the preparedness to meet challenges of terrorism etc. The NDA government has made defence production its priority when it came to power in 2014. With 100 per cent foreign direct investment in defence being opened in the last 5 years, Rs 1700 crore of FDI has come in.
Friday, 7 February
Dainik Bhaskar argues that the bitterness of poll campaigning is not good for democracy. Referring to the high decibel and bitter campaign for Delhi, the paper writes that calling Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a terrorist, instigating a crowd to raise slogans of shooting anti-nationals and saying that the youth would beat up the PM, are all in bad taste. The campaign should not become so vile that people start thinking democracy means anarchic behaviour. This isn’t a healthy phenomenon.
Dainik Jagran is of the opinion that after the Prime Minister’s detailed response to CAA in Parliament, it hopes people understand the reality and not get carried away by opposition propaganda. The PM rightfully made the point that the Opposition considers Muslims less as citizens of the country. There is no doubt that this will have an adverse impact on the country.