Today’s news LIVE: Jan 27 | No discussions on VB-G RAM G Act and the SIR: Govt tells Oppn

No discussions on VB-G RAM G Act and the SIR: Govt tells Opposition

The government on Tuesday rejected Opposition's demands for renewed discussions on the VB-G RAM G Act and the SIR exercise during the Budget session of Parliament, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju saying the two issues had already been debated by both Houses and "we cannot reverse the gear".

Rijiju made these remarks after an all-party meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh that was attended by as many as 51 leaders, including ministers, from 39 political parties on the eve of the session.

The Budget Session of Parliament commences on January 28 with the address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey in Parliament on Thursday and present the Union Budget on February 1, which is a Sunday.

During the all-party meeting, opposition members, including the Congress' Jairam Ramesh and John Brittas of the CPI(M), objected to the non-circulation of government business for the session, which Rijiju said would be done in due course.

Opposition members wanted a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, VB-G RAM G law on employment guarantee that replaced the MGNREGA scheme, the tariffs imposed by the US on India, foreign policy matters, concerns over air pollution, state of the economy, ban on social media for early teens, among other issues, sources said.

"Once a law is before the nation, we have to follow it. We cannot reverse the gear and go back to the past," Rijiju said, responding to opposition's contentions on the VB-G RAM G Act, which was passed by Parliament during the Winter Session.

Delhi records its highest January rainfall in 4 years

Delhi recorded its highest January rainfall in four years since 2022 as heavy rain and thunderstorms battered parts of the national capital on Tuesday, dragging temperatures down sharply and, unusually, triggering a sudden deterioration in air quality, which plunged into the 'very poor' category.

With the latest spell of rain, Delhi's monthly total rainfall for January has risen to 24 mm, making it the highest January total since 2022. The wettest January day in recent years remains January 8, 2022, when the city recorded 40.6 mm of rainfall.

This month, Delhi received 19.8 mm of rainfall on January 23, and Tuesday's spell added 4.2 mm at Safdarjung, along with a trace of rain at other stations till 5.30 pm, taking the cumulative January rainfall to 24 mm, the highest for the month in four years, barring the 2022 peak event.

At Safdarjung, considered Delhi's base station, the maximum temperature settled at 16.9 degrees Celsius, 5.2 degrees Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 8.0 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees Celsius below normal. 

TCS to invest ₹330 crore in new Brazil facility, create 1,600 jobs

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced a ₹330-crore investment to set up a major delivery and innovation centre in Londrina, Brazil, strengthening its footprint in Latin America. The facility, spread across 9,000 square metres, will be completed by 2027 and is expected to generate 1,600 new jobs, marking one of TCS’s largest investments in the region.

The Londrina campus will consolidate TCS’s existing workforce in Brazil into a single location while also creating additional capacity. A ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Paraná Governor Carlos Roberto Massa Júnior (Ratinho Júnior) and TCS Brazil country head Bruno Rocha. TCS currently employs around 2,500 people in Brazil and serves about 200 clients across sectors including banking, insurance, mining, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and telecom.

Rocha described Brazil as a strategic market for TCS, where the company has operated for over two decades. Ratinho Júnior said the investment would position Paraná as a key IT services hub, supported by the state’s public university network. TCS reported a 14.5% revenue growth from Latin America in the December quarter, with the region contributing 2% to its overall revenues.

Stock markets end high as India-EU seal historic trade deals

Iran's currency falls to a record low after nationwide protests

Iran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests killed at least 6,126 people while many others still are feared dead, activists said on Tuesday (January 27), as a US aircraft carrier group arrived in the Middle East to lead any American military response to the crisis.

Iran's currency, the rial, meanwhile fell to a record low of 1.5 million to USD 1.

Iranian state media has tried to accuse forces abroad for the protests as the theocracy remains broadly unable to address the country's ailing economy, which is still squeezed by international sanctions, particularly over its nuclear program.

On Tuesday, exchange shops offered the record-low rial-to-dollar rate in Tehran.

Already, Iran has vastly limited its subsidized currency rates to cut down on corruption. It also has offered the equivalent of USD 7 a month to most people in the country to cover rising costs. However, Iran's people have seen the rial fall from 32,000 to USD 1 just a decade ago — which has devoured the value of their savings.

Protest march held in Kolkata over 'harassment' of people during Bengal SIR

An organisation led by West Bengal minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury took out a march in Kolkata on Tuesday (January 27) to protest against the alleged harassment of people during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

The procession by Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Hind began in the Rajabazar area of north-central Kolkata and culminated at Esplanade in the central part of the city, covering a distance of about 4.5 kilometres.

A large number of protesters, including women and elderly persons, participated in the march and raised slogans against the Centre and the Election Commission.

Chowdhury alleged that residents of West Bengal, including senior citizens, were being forced to stand in long queues for hours for verification, which is "inhuman".

He alleged that the central government was pressuring the Election Commission to conduct the SIR ahead of the state assembly elections this year.

India-EU FTA a huge confidence boost for textile & apparel sector: Industry bodies

Indian garments and clothing will get zero-duty access to the European Union market as part of the import duty concessions granted by the 27-nation bloc under the free trade pact, providing textiles and apparel exporters much-needed level playing field against competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam, industry bodies said on Tuesday (January 27).

The European Union and India on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) here.

Currently, the European Union is the second biggest market for India's textile and apparel exports, after the United States.

Industry projections estimate that Indian apparel exports could grow by 20-25 per cent year-on-year after operationalisation of the FTA as against the current growth rate of 3.01 per cent in the EU market.

Plea in SC challenges definition of caste discrimination in 2026 UGC regulations

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court challenging a recently notified University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation, alleging that it has adopted a non-inclusionary definition of caste-based discrimination and excludes certain categories from institutional protection.

The plea submitted that regulation 3(c) of the recently notified UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 is "non-inclusionary" and fails to protect students and faculty who do not belong to reserved categories.

The plea, filed by Vineet Jindal, assailed the regulation on the grounds that caste-based discrimination is defined strictly as discrimination against members of the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

It said by limiting the scope of "caste-based discrimination" only to SC, ST, and OBC categories, the UGC has effectively denied institutional protection and grievance redressal to individuals belonging to the "general" or non-reserved categories who may also face harassment or bias based on their caste identity.

It said the provision in its present "exclusionary form" creates a hierarchy of protection that is unconstitutional.

HYDRAA rescues nine workers, engineers stranded in Hyderabad lake

Nine workers and engineers who were stranded in the middle of Mir Alam lake in Hyderabad after their boat engine failed were rescued in a midnight operation by the HYDRAA, officials said on Tuesday.

The workers and engineers entered the crocodile "inhabited" lake in a boat on Sunday to conduct soil testing for a proposed bridge across the Mir Alam tank, but the engine malfunctioned when they were trying to return in the evening and got stuck.

The group contacted a mechanic, who informed them that the repairs can be carried out if the boat was brought to the shore. They tried to manually push the boat to the shore but were unable to do so due to thick water hyacinths.

As darkness fell, and fear of crocodiles in the waterbody, the group called 'Dial 100'. The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency's Disaster Response Force (DRF) control room, after getting the call, immediately launched an operation after speaking to the group members.

Already resigned, nothing to say on suspension: Bareilly City Magistrate

Bareilly City Magistrate Alankar Agnihotri on Tuesday declined to comment on his suspension by the Uttar Pradesh government, maintaining that he had already tendered his resignation a day before.

He claimed that a conspiracy was hatched against him, and that he overheard a derogatory remark about him while he was at the district magistrate's office on Monday night.

Agnihotri, a 2019-batch Provincial Civil Service officer, resigned from service on Monday citing deep disagreement with government policies, especially the new University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, which he said could foment caste-based discontent in campuses.

His resignation has stoked a major political and administrative controversy in the state. Talking to reporters at his official residence on Tuesday morning, the Bareilly City Magistrate said he has already resigned and therefore has nothing to say on the suspension order.

"As you are aware, I have already submitted my resignation. Whether you suspend me or take any other action after that, I have no comment," he said.