A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Tumbling jobs, farm distress are key as government seeks to make last mark Budget 2019 before polls: Interim budgets usually do not contain major announcements, but it is an opportunity for the government to make grand promises.
  2. Centre did not release unemployment report as it is still under process, says NITI Aayog: Two members of the National Statistical Commission had resigned this week after the government allegedly failed to publish the survey report.
  3. GDP grew 7.2% in 2017-’18 instead of 6.7% estimated earlier, says Centre: The GDP estimates and other aggregates for 2015-’16 and 2016-’17 were also revised using latest available data, said the Central Statistics Office.  
  4. At least two suspected militants killed in Pulwama gunfight: Internet services were snapped in Pulwama and nearby Shopian as a precautionary measure.  
  5. Law banning drinking, cooking in public passed by the Goa Assembly, to carry fines up to Rs 10,000: Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said the amendments are aimed at protecting and preserving tourism potential of Goa.  
  6. Narendra Modi-led panel to meet on Friday evening to pick new CBI chief: Ahead of the meet, the government on Thursday appointed four IPS officers in the CBI.
  7. No one who cheats India can escape and hide, says Arun Jaitley: The Union finance minister’s statements came in the backdrop of the extradition of AgustaWestland bribery case accused Rajeev Saxena and Deepak Talwar.  
  8. Swaminarayan temple vandalised in US’ Kentucky, police investigating it as a hate crime: The miscreants sprayed black paint on the temple deity and left a knife stuck on a chair.  
  9. HD Deve Gowda talks of rift between JD(S) and Congress, says he will not ‘keep quiet now’: The JD(S) chief blamed Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the tension between the coalition partners. 
  10. Declare West Bengal a ‘critical and vulnerable’ state, BJP urges poll panel: The BJP alleged that the state’s chief electoral officer was impartial, and requested that an IAS officer from outside the state be appointed to supervise him.