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• Former European Council president Donald Tusk says Brussels feels "empathy" towards an independent Scotland joining the European Union.


• Nicola Sturgeon has said an independent Scotland would seek full EU membership.


• When asked if this would be looked upon favorably, Mr. Tusk said, "emotionally I have no doubt that everyone will be enthusiastic".


• It came as other European leaders expressed sadness in the UK leaving the EU.

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• US officials have cited presidential privilege in withholding details of 24 emails related to President Donald Trump's hold on military assistance to Ukraine, US media reported.


• The revelation in a court filing around midnight on Friday came just hours after US senators holding Trump's impeachment trial voted largely on party lines against hearing witnesses that could have shed further light on the hold, an issue at the heart of Trump's impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

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• Russia’s government halted visa-free tourism for Chinese nationals and stopped issuing them with work visas over the deadly the deadly coronavirus outbreak.


• An order posted on the government website said the measures were to “ensure the safety of the country, protect public health and prevent the spread of the new coronavirus”.


• The order, dated, said that the FSB security service, which is in charge of border guards, should halt visa-free tourism from midnight.

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• The Philippines has reported the first death outside China from the coronavirus that has killed over 300 and spread to other countries, the World Health Organization said.


• The fatality is a 44-year-old Chinese man from the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected and appears to have been infected before arriving in the Philippines.

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• Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new scheme, “Vivad se Vishwas” (no dispute but trust) to resolve 483,000 direct tax disputes pending in various tribunals. The scheme offers waivers off penalty and interest if the disputed amount is paid before March 31, 2020.


• “This year, I propose to bring a scheme similar to the indirect tax, Sabka Vishwas, for reducing litigation even indirect taxes,” Sitharaman said in her budget speech.

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• One of the proposals of the union budget presented is to do away with tax exemptions that election commissioners enjoy. These perks, which are equivalent to those offered to Supreme Court judges, are on the value of rent-free accommodation, conveyance allowance and medical allowance.


• The budget says that these exemptions should be done away with by April 2021 for not just Election Commission members but also members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

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• Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a reduction in basic customs duty on imports of newsprint and lightweight coated paper from 10% to 5%.


• Addressing the Lok Sabha while presenting her second Union Budget, Sitharaman said she had received references saying that the levy on newsprint has put additional burden on the print media at a time when it is going through a difficult phase.

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• Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani will address rallies in Delhi ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for next week.


• BJP national president JP Nadda will also hold rallies in the city while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address two public gatherings.


• Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will hold roadshows at Kirari, Mundka, Vishwas Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, and Rithala.

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• National Institute of Technology, Agartala has invited online applications for the recruitment of Assistant Professors (Grade 1, and 2) in various departments on its official website.


• Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the post online at nita.ac.in on or before February 25, 2020, until 5.30 pm.


• NIT Agartala is conducting the recruitment drive to fill 58 vacancies of Assistant Professors in various departments.

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• As the Finance Minister presented Budget 2020 speech we have a panel of experts comprising Manas Chakravarty (Consulting Editor, Moneycontrol) and Gaurav Kapur (Chief Economist & SVP, IndusInd Bank) joining Ravi Krishnan (Deputy Executive Editor, Moneycontrol) to talk about the idea behind the FM’s budget 2020.


• The panel dissect the budget and question the lack of attention given to the growth slowdown with only 5% growth this year. They also speak about the reason behind the fiscal slippage and what steps the government should be taking to address it.

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• Erling Braut Haaland insisted he needs to get fitter despite making it seven goals in three games for Borussia Dortmund with another double in 5-0 Bundesliga thrashing of Union Berlin, while Bayern Munich usurped RB Leipzig at the top of the table.


• The 19-year-old Haaland, who had netted five times in his first two appearances after signing from Salzburg, scored either side of half-time at Signal Iduna Park on his first Dortmund start.

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• Shubman Gill is expected to retain his place in India's Test squad after scoring an unbeaten 204 for the A team in the drawn four-day game against New Zealand A in Christchurch.


• Resuming the day four at 127 for two, India A went on to make 448 for three in their second innings with Gill scoring his second double century on an away tour (the first one came in West Indies last year).

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• The Ministry of External Affairs appointed Gopal Baglay as India's next High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.


• Mr. Baglay, a 1992-batch officer of Indian Foreign Service, succeeds in Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who was appointed as the ambassador to the United States earlier this week.