No pre-budget Halwa ceremony this year

News Today:

Changes expected in Custom duty on electronics in Budget

The government is likely to rejig customs duties on components or sub-parts of consumer electronics and mobile phones in the upcoming Union budget, two people familiar with the development said.The changes aim to encourage local manufacturing and increase local sourcing of components, one of the people cited above said, asking not to be named. HT

No pre-budget Halwa ceremony this year

For the first time, there will be no customary ‘halwa ceremony’ this year due to the pandemic for officials and staff who undergo a mandatory lock-in to give the final touches to the Union Budget to be presented on February 1.. Deccan Herald

Amendments to the cadre rules of the three AIS are arbitrary, unreasonable and unconstitutional: Retired Bureaucrats

The retired bureaucrats from the Constitutional Conduct Group said in a statement on Thursday: “We are… of the view that the proposed set of amendments to the cadre rules of the three AIS (All India Services) are arbitrary, unreasonable and unconstitutional. They interfere with the basic structure of the Constitution of India as a Union of States and can cause irreparable damage to the one institution which Sardar Patel held as being the most critical to the unity of the country.”. Telegraph

BA.2 variant under investigation

In the last couple of weeks, there has been a noticeable increase in the discovery of BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron from several countries, leading to fresh worries about the possibility of another surge in cases. Last week, the UK Health Security Agency flagged this sub-variant and designated it as a ‘variant under investigation’. And, in its latest weekly bulletin, the World Health Organisation noted that a number of countries had reported an increase in the BA.2 sub-variant in the last seven days.. Indian Express

Lack of land connectivity between India and Central Asia one of the main issue

Overcoming the lack of land connectivity between India and Central Asia’s land–locked countries was one of the “main issues of discussion” during the first India-Central Asia Summit hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, officials said on Thursday. Hindu

Google Trends Today

Change the image, attitude and perception of Air India

Tata Sky announced its rebranding yesterday to Tata Play. The announcement also mentioned that subscribers of Tata Play would get access to a Netflix subscription via their membership for the Tata Binge+ service.

Google Trends

Twitter Trends 

1. This winter has been colder, wetter, and largely fog-less.
2. Russian officials not optimistic but willing to keep communication open after US makes no concessions on Ukraine
3. A robot managed to successfully perform surgery without human assistance for the first time ever!
4. 14 Omicron symptoms ranked from most to least prevalent

Compiled from Twitter