Daily Bulletin: Sabarimala case in SC; Trump delivers State of the Union address; fuel prices decline; day's top stories

Sabarimala hearing at 10.30 am

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will begin to hear review petitions against its September 2018 verdict allowing women of reproductive age into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. A five-judge constitution bench, led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, will consider a batch of over 40 petitions.

The Sabarimala case was earlier scheduled for 22 January, but had to be cancelled as Justice Indu Malhotra, one of the judges on the panel, was on medical leave. Justice Malhotra, the only female judge on the bench, had dissented with the majority verdict in September 2018, saying courts must not interfere with issues concerning “deep religious sentiments”.

Four women from Kerala — Reshma CV, Shanila, Bindu A and Kanaka Durga — had moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking to intervene as parties in support of its September judgment. Bindu and Kanaka Durga were the first to have stepped into the hallowed precincts after the top court’s historic judgement.

Mamata Banerjee calls off dharna on Day 3

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday called off her dharna against the CBI attempting to question the Kolkata police chief in Ponzi scam cases. She said her decision was based on the talks she had held with leaders of major Opposition parties and “a “favourable” Supreme Court order.

Mamata had been sitting on the dharna since Sunday night at Metro Cinema, the spot where she had held a 26-day fast against the acquisition of farm land for the Tata Motors small car unit at Singur in 2006.

The Supreme Court had, earlier on Tuesday, directed Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to appear before the CBI and “faithfully” cooperate into the investigation of cases arising out of the Saradha chit fund scam, while it making it clear that he will not be arrested.

Later, the Ministry of Home Affairs requested the West Bengal government to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Kumar for sitting on a dharna with the chief minister.

Robert Vadra may appear before ED in money laundering case

Businessman Robert Vadra, who is also Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law,  is expected to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged possession of illegal foreign assets.

Vadra was directed by a Delhi court to cooperate with the investigation being carried out by the central agency after he sought anticipatory bail in the case.

Donald Trump calls for unity in State of the Union address

US president Donald Trump has begun his annual State of the Union address. In this address, he is expected to focus on key issues like immigration, national security and trade and call for unity in a hugely divided Congress, as he begins the second half of his first term in the White House.

The annual State of the Union address is the keynote prime time speech by the president to the Congress, in which he sets out his legislative agenda and national priorities for the next year and highlights his achievements to the American people.

The speech on Tuesday night (7:30 am IST on Wednesday) will be Trump’s third to a joint session of Congress. His initial appearance on 28 February, 2017, was weeks after his inauguration on 20 January and not considered a formal State of the Union.

Hearing in Bombay High Court on Maratha quota

The Bombay High Court will commence the final hearing into a bunch of petitions challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to grant quota to the Maratha community.

On 30 November, 2018, the Maharashtra legislature had passed a bill proposing 16 percent reservation in education and government jobs for Marathas, declared as a socially and educationally backward class by the government.

RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee begins three-day meet

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday began its three-day meet to decide on key rates amid expectations it will change its stance to neutral on low inflation but may not cut rates due to fiscal challenges and rising oil prices.

The six-member MPC, headed by RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, will meet till on Thursday for the sixth bimonthly monetary policy statement for 2018-19.

Deviating from the practice of releasing the MPC resolution in the afternoon, the RBI will place it on its website at 11.45 am on 7 February.

Fuel prices decline

Petrol prices were slashed for the sixth straight day while diesel rates also declined for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in major cities across the country, even as crude oil edged up, buoyed by expectations of tightening global supply and production cuts.

Petrol and diesel prices declined by up to 16 paise and 11 paise, respectively, after the state-run oil marketing companies reduced fuel prices.

After the price revision on Tuesday, petrol in Delhi was sold at Rs 70.44 a litre, Mumbai Rs 76.08, Chennai Rs 73.11 and Kolkata Rs 72.55 per litre, according to Indian Oil Corporation. Similarly, diesel in Delhi retailed at Rs 65.51 per litre, Mumbai, Rs 68.59, Chennai Rs 69.20 and Kolkata Rs 67.29 a litre.

India eye T20I prize against White Ferns after ODI triumph

After recording a 2-1 series win in the one-dayers, the Indian women’s team aim to get off to a winning start against New Zealand at Wellington. The match will be the first of Wednesday’s double-header at the Westpac Stadium, where the men’s teams lock horns later in the evening. For the Indians, Smriti Mandhana is expected to play a crucial role at the top of the order, having racked up match-winning knocks of 90 and 105 earlier in the one-dayers.

Follow live updates on the match on our blog here.

India look for a winning start to T20I series at Wellington against New Zealand

India will face New Zealand in the first of the three-match T20 international series at Wellington. After clinching the ODI series 4-1, Team India will look to make a winning start to the T20I series as they near the end of their long tour Down Under.

Apart from the series trophy, the team management will also look to fine-tune the squad ahead of the 2019 World Cup, with special focus on the middle-order. Rishabh Pant will be the center of attraction, while MS Dhoni will also be in focus as he returns to international T20 cricket after missing out on the series against Australia. Rohit Sharma will captain the Indian side in the absence of Virat Kohli.

Oppo to launch a mid-range smartphone with an in-display fingerprint scanner

Oppo has been teasing the launch of the Oppo K1 for a week now. What started off with a product landing page on Flipkart, the Oppo K1 is now all set to launch in India on Wednesday at an event scheduled for 12 pm in Delhi.

The mid-range smartphone was launched in China in October 2018 and features a few flagship features that will definitely turn heads. The USP here is definitely the inclusion of an in-display fingerprint scanner, which isn’t a common feature yet on mid-range smartphones. Then there’s that gorgeous dual-tone gradient back that definitely makes the phone look appealing.