The big news: Chandrababu Naidu may rethink alliance with BJP after Budget, and 9 other top stories
Other headlines: The CBI has challenged a 2005 Delhi High Court order in the Bofors case, and a student was found dead in a school toilet in Delhi.
A look at the headlines right now:
- Budget promise to double farmers’ income is a hollow assurance, says former PM Manmohan Singh, while BJP ally Telugu Desam Party says it was disappointed: A day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Budget 2018, the markets plunged with the Sensex shedding 840 points and the Nifty 256.
- CBI files appeal in Supreme Court challenging 2005 Delhi HC verdict in Bofors scam: In 2005, the Delhi High Court had quashed the charges against all the accused in the case.
- Class 9 boy found dead in school toilet in Delhi, police detain three people: According to the police, CCTV footage showed five people, including the child, fighting inside the toilet.
- Rajya Sabha adjourned after Opposition protests against Kasganj violence and Delhi sealing drive: In Delhi, popular markets will remain shut for two days as traders protest the sealing drive.
- At least 90 migrants die after their boat capsizes off the coast of Libya: As many as ten bodies have washed up on Libyan shores so far, the International Organization for Migration said.
- Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking to make rape, harassment, stalking gender-neutral: The bench called it an ‘imaginative petition’ and said the laws had ‘provisions for the protection of women and [were] in their favour’.
- In Iran, 29 women arrested after protests against hijab rule intensify: The country’s chief prosecutor called the escalating women’s agitation ‘trival’ and ‘childish’.
- Karnataka High Court strikes down shutdown called on February 4: The court said that such bandh calls were ‘unconstitutional’ and directed the state government to ensure the daily lives of people are not affected.
- Why was Judge Loya’s body not given to his family, asks Bombay Lawyers’ Association: Advocate Dushyant Dave said that the Maharashtra government’s investigation report contained several contradictions that need to be looked into.
- Chickens in India are dosed with a very strong drug used to treat critically ill patients, says study: Large-scale use of colistin could make bacteria resistant to it, making it useless for patients, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism said.