 "FirstUp: New income tax bill to be tabled in Parliament, Japanese PM to meet Trump...Top news today")
Thursday, February 6, is set to be a day filled with several significant events.
The government is set to introduce a new Income Tax Bill in the Parliament today, as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech last week.
In another important development, the Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington DC. On the other hand, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the Dominican Republic to advance Trump’s America First foreign policy.
Senior US District Judge John Coughenour will also hold hearing on Trump’s bid to eliminate birthright citizenship. Whereas in South Korea, impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol will face his sixth impeachment hearing.
In the world of sports, Team India will face England in the first of the three-match ODI series at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
It will also be two years since the deadly 7.8-magnitude quake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, killing more than 40,000 people and erasing entire cities.
Here’s how the day will unfold.
The new Income Tax Bill to be tabled
A new Income Tax Bill will be introduced in Parliament today, set to replace the Income Tax Act of 1961.
Announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget 2025 speech, the new bill will be clear and direct in text and will cut down the number of sections in tax laws from 298 to nearly half. It will also be simple to understand for taxpayers and tax administration and expected to tax certainty and less litigation, she added.
However, the bill will not introduce any new taxes, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey confirmed in an interview with Moneycontrol.
The new bill is also expected to promote an online process, which will make tax filing completely digital and reduce the number of legal disputes.
Japanese PM to meet Trump in US
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to meet President Donald Trump in Washington DC during his visit to the United States today.
“Through this visit, we hope to build a strong relationship of trust with the new US administration and take the US-Japan alliance to new heights,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday.
According to Nikkei, Ishiba plans to discuss increasing imports of US shale gas with Trump and address a Nippon Steel bid to acquire US Steel, which was blocked by former President Joe Biden, as reported by NHK_._
US Secretary of State’s Central America visit
US Secretary of State Mark Rubio is set to visit the Dominican Republic today as part of his first official trip to Central America since taking office.
During this visit, Rubio will meet with senior officials and business leaders to advance President Donald Trump’s America First foreign policy.
According to a press release from the US State Department, “Secretary Rubio’s engagements will promote regional cooperation on our core, shared interests: stopping illegal and large-scale migration, fighting the scourge of transnational criminal organizations and drug traffickers, countering China, and deepening economic partnerships to enhance prosperity.”
Earlier this month, Rubio also visited El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala as part of his ongoing efforts to strengthen US ties in Central America.
Hearing on Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order
Senior US District Judge John Coughenour is set to hear arguments today regarding a request from Democratic state attorneys general from Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon.
The attorneys are seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing the executive order on birthright citizenship signed by Trump after he took office last month.
The executive mandates that US agencies deny citizenship to children born in the US if neither of their parents is a US citizen or legal permanent resident.
The order has already sparked five lawsuits, with civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general from 22 states calling it “unconstitutional”.
South Korea President Yoon’s sixth impeachment hearing
South Korea’s Constitutional Court is set to hold the sixth hearing of the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-Yeol today.
During the fifth hearing on Tuesday, Yoon denied allegations regarding his actions on the night of December 3, when he declared an emergency martial law. Yoon stated that “nothing really happened” that night and refuted claims that he had ordered martial law troops to drag lawmakers out of the National Assembly.
Also read: From star prosecutor to an impeached president: The rise and fall of South Korea's Yoon Seok Yeol
Yoon has become South Korea’s first sitting president to be indicted while in office. He remains in detention and is escorted from the facility to a Seoul court for hearings. The trial is expected to last around six months.
India vs Eng ODI
Team India will take on England in the first match of the three-match ODI series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, recently defeated Jos Buttler’s England 4-1 in a five-match T20I series.
While England’s squad remains largely unchanged from their T20I lineup, India has included several new faces in their team. The experienced trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and others are making their return to the squad for the upcoming ODI series.
Two years of Turkey, Syria earthquake
On 6 February 2023, a series of powerful earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, marking the worst disaster the region had experienced in two decades.
The 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes devastated 11 provinces in Turkey, killing 53,725 people, injuring over 107,000, and leaving millions homeless as thousands of buildings collapsed.
Following the investigation, experts blamed poor construction and weak enforcement of building codes, even in Turkey’s earthquake-prone regions, for the scale of destruction.
Two years on, millions in both Turkey and Syria continue to struggle to rebuild their lives amid ongoing challenges.
With input from agencies
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