Daily Bulletin: Nirmala Sitharaman to present NDA-2 maiden Union Budget at 11 am; Subramanian Swamy to be cross-examined today in National Herald case; day's top stories

Nirmala Sitharaman to present Union Budget 2019 in Parliament today All eyes will be on India’s first female finance minister in almost five decades Nirmala Sitharaman who will present the Union Budget 2019 on Friday (5 July) in the Parliament. This will be the first budget of the second term of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, which retained power at the Centre by winning the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a massive mandate. [caption id=“attachment_5044341” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. PTI[/caption] A mini-stimulus to take the economy out of five-year low alongside giving some tax relief to common man may be on the cards, as  Sitharaman does a tightrope walk balancing the needs of the economy and fiscal constraints in her maiden Budget. Sitharaman will begin her Budget speech at 11 am. The Budget is expected to boost spending at the cost of short-term slippage in fiscal deficit targets as she lays down the Modi 2.0 government’s road map for the economy and the nation in the next five years. Follow LIVE UPDATES on Union Budget 2019 There is likely to be a push for infrastructure-spending, including on roads and railways to drive the growth which had slowed to a five-year low of 5.8 percent in the first three months of 2019 — well below China’s 6.4 percent. Above all, she will have to do all this while keeping the fiscal deficit below 3.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Some believe Sitharaman may give relief to the common man by raising personal income tax threshold for certain categories while at the same time, upping spending on agriculture, healthcare, and social sectors. Supreme Court to decide on plea seeking court-monitored probe into Haren Pandya murder today A Supreme Court Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra on Friday is expected to announce the judgment on a petition seeking a court-monitored probe into the murder of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya in 2003. The court had referred the case filed by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) before Justice Mishra’s Bench as it had already heard an appeal in the same Pandya death case. Pandya, a former minister of state for home in the then Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, was shot dead on March 26, 2003, in Ahmedabad near Law Garden area of the city during his morning walk. It was alleged that Pandya was killed by henchmen who were acting on the basis of a contract put out by Mr. Vanzara. The allegation, the petition said, was based on a recent witness testimony in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Subramanian Swamy to be cross-examined at Delhi court in the National Herald case today On February 23, a Delhi court had deferred the cross-examination of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the National Herald case, filed by him against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi and others, to 30 30 March. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal deferred the matter as Swamy was unavailable and is likely to take up the matter in before rouse avenue court today. Gandhis’ defence lawyers will cross-examine BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy. The defence has urged the court to ask Swamy to not to tweet about the case. Swamy, in a private criminal complaint, had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which the Young Indian (YI) Private Limited obtained the right to recover the Rs 90.25 crore the Associate Journals Limited owed to the Congress. All the seven accused in the case: Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Vora, senior Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, and Sam Pitroda and the YI have denied the allegations levelled against them. Delhi HC likely to hear PIL seeking SIT probe in Delhi temple desecration incident today A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was moved in Delhi High Court on Wednesday in the wake of the recent attack on a Durga temple situated in Chandni Chowk area of the national capital. The court is likely to take up the matter on Friday The petitioner, advocate Alakh Alok Shrivastava, sought the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) duly monitored by the court to thoroughly investigate the alleged conspiracy behind the attack. The petition also seeks initiation of stringent action against the perpetrators and formulation of suitable guidelines in order to avoid such attacks on other religious places in future, considering the wider ramifications of such attacks in ensuring communal harmony and peace in the society.  Pakistan VS Bangladesh in ICC World Cup today Pakistan is to face a Herculean task against Bangladesh on Friday, as they try to overturn a massive difference in net run-rate and pip New Zealand to the fourth and final World Cup semi-final spot. Due to their heavy defeat against the West Indies, Pakistan can only qualify if they bat first, put together a mammoth total and then bowl out Bangladesh as quickly as possible. However, if Bangladesh bat first, Pakistan’s slim chance will be snuffed out without a ball being bowled. Apple is finally fixing its MacBook keyboards, says analyst Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that Apple’s upcoming MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops will feature new scissor switches, which will be more reliable than Apple’s current, defective butterfly key switches. The new switches will also have longer key travel. Anna Karenina to get small screen adaptation Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is getting another TV remake, with Gwyneth Hughes attached as writer. The Girl scribe Hughes will develop an adaptation of the 1878 novel with BBC Studios-backed producer Expectation, reported Deadline. The project is in the early stages of development.