The Reserve Bank of India will announce the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2018-19 this morning. The three-day policy review meeting by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began in Mumbai on Tuesday. 

The MPC is headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. 

"The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began its three-day meet to decide on key rates amid expectations that it would change stance to neutral on low inflation but may not cut rates due to fiscal challenges and rising oil prices. 

In its last bi-monthly monetary policy, the bank had kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent and the reverse repo rate at 6.25 percent. 

The central bank has maintained status quo on interest rate in its last three bi-monthly monetary policies after hiking the repo rate twice this fiscal by 25 basis points each. 

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for the establishment of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog for conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny. 

It will lead to the development of the cattle population in the country including the development and conservation of indigenous breeds. It will result in the growth of the livestock sector which is more inclusive, benefit women, and small and marginal farmers. 

The Aayog will work in collaboration with Veterinary, Animal Sciences or Agriculture University or departments or organizations of the Central or State Government engaged in the task of research in the field of breeding and rearing of the cow, organic manure, biogas etc. Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog was announced in the budget on the 1st of this month.

The government has approved a plan to use space technology in border management to check intrusion. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said, over three thousand incidents of intrusion on country’s borders took place in the last four years. He said, 27 such incidents were also reported till the 24th of last month.

Mr Rijiju said Island development, border security, communication and navigation, Geographic Information System and border infrastructure development are the areas which have been identified for use of space technology in improving border management. 

The Minister said, to execute the project, a short, medium and long term plan has been approved for implementation in five years in coordination with Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO and Ministry of Defence.

The Union Cabinet on February 6 approved the proposal to amend Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018, a move that is aimed to put an end to the hazard of illicit deposit schemes and prevent such schemes from duping the poor and gullible.

According to the Bill, a deposit-taking scheme will be considered unregulated if it is not registered with regulators such as Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), RBI, SEBI, among others.

"The Bill contains a substantive banning clause which bans deposit takers from promoting, operating, issuing advertisements or accepting deposits in any Unregulated Deposit Scheme. The principle is that the Bill would ban unregulated deposit taking activities altogether, by making them an offence ex-ante rather than the existing legislative-cum-regulatory framework which only comes into effect ex-post with considerable time lags," a government release said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Tuesday said it has imposed a total penalty of Rs 2.2 crore on private sector lender Axis Bank in two separate cases. A penalty of Rs 2 crore has also been imposed on UCO Bank and Rs 1 crore on Syndicate Bank for violation of norms. The RBI said penalty of Rs 2 crore has been imposed each on Axis Bank and UCO Bank for non-compliance of norms related to payment through cheques.

In another case, a penalty of Rs 20 lakh has been imposed on Axis Bank for contravention of the directions related to detection and impounding of counterfeit notes.

The penalty on Syndicate Bank has been imposed for violation of guidelines related to checking fraud and managing risk. The RBI, however, said the action on banks is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. 

Noted flautist (flute player) Rajendra Prasanna, Kathak dancer Shobha Koser, folk singer Anwar Khan Manganiyar, and Odissi dancer Sujata Mohapatra among others were conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards by President Ram Nath Kovind today.

In a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President awarded a total of 42 artistes in five categories for the year 2017, including a joint award to Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha for their contribution in Hindustani vocal music.

The Maharashtra government has set up a committee to review various schemes being implemented for the welfare of tribals in the state.

The 17-member committee, headed by former MLA and Shramjeevi Sanghatna president Vivek Pandit, will undertake study of various works done for providing employment opportunities, minimum wages and proper livelihood to tribals, as per a recent government order.

It will suggest measures to ensure that children in tribal regions were not deprived of education, the order said.

The committee will hold its meetings every three months and submit its recommendations to the government, it added.

In Karnataka, eight days Budget session will commence today with Governor Vajubhai Vala addressing the joint sitting of the legislature. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will present the state budget on February 8th. 

Karnataka Government Chief Whip Ganesh Hukkeri has issued whip to all ruling party legislators of Congress and JD(S) to attend the Budget session from February 6th to 15th. 

Meanwhile, the Ramnagara police have sought permission from the Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar to arrest Kampli Congress MLA Ganesh who is facing an FIR for assaulting fellow MLA Anand Singh during their stay in a resort. 

The session derives importance in the background of both BJP and Congress making claims that disgruntled MLAs from each side may cross over while voting on the Finance Bill.

The Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be open for general public from today. The visitors can visit the garden between 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. It will remain open till the 10th of next month.

The gardens will, however, remain closed for visitors on Mondays on account of maintenance. The people can also visit Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden and Musical Garden.

From this year, an online booking facility has been introduced under which visitors can plan their visit to the Gardens well in advance. Online Booking can be done by visiting www.presidentofindia.gov.in.

Entry and exit for all online and walk-in visitors will be from Gate number- 35 of President’s Estate, Rashtrapati Bhavan. The main attraction of this year’s Udyanotsav, beside Tulips and Exotic flowers, are bulbous flowerings.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will today lay the foundation stone for three highway projects worth over two thousand 300 crore rupees in Odisha. 

The projects will ensure better connectivity of the mineral-rich Angul and Dhenkanal districts of Odisha with the rest of the state. 

An official release said, Mr Gadkari, will also visit Paradip Port to inaugurate port projects worth 431 Crore rupees and lay foundation for six projects worth over three thousand crore rupees. 

The Ministry said, the projects will help in generating employment opportunities in the region and improve the socio-economic condition of the local people. The Minister will be accompanied by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.