Daily Current Affairs – February 1, 2026

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares the Union Budget for FY2026-27, a core team of senior bureaucrats is shaping its fiscal strategy. Anuradha Thakur, Arvind Shrivastava, Vumlunmang Vualnam, M Nagaraju, Arunish Chawla, K Moses Chalai, and V Anantha Nageswaran are key figures. Their work involves taxation, expenditure, disinvestment, and financial sector policy.

Union Budget 2026 Highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget today, February 1, 2026. Taxpayers, businesses, and markets are eagerly waiting for announcements for FY27 that may impact their day-to-day lives. This budget comes following last year's focus on middle-class tax relief, capital spending, manufacturing, and jobs.

The Chinese community in Kolkata now has only about 2,000 people, down from about 50,000 in the 1960s. In the SIR process in West Bengal 389 of 484 voters have been categorised as untraceable or absent. For a community that began coming to the city since the 1840s, and has dealt with racism in many forms, the dwindling numbers in the SIR are a reflection of many leaving the country, reports Shrabana…

The Budget is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including U.S. tariffs

Shahid Rind, Balochistan government spokesperson, said that the attacks were carried out at different locations, including at Quetta, Gwadar, Makram, Hub, Chaman, Naseerabad, in the province

MEA clarification follows release of Epstein mails discussing the Israel visit, PMO meetings, U.S.-India relations during Trump 1.0; also includes emails from Hardeep Puri to Epstein, and from Epstein to Anil Ambani

IFCI shares may draw attention in the special Budget session after SEBI granted clearance for NSE’s long-awaited IPO. IFCI holds indirect exposure through its majority stake in SHCIL, which owns shares in NSE, making the stock sensitive to developments around the exchange’s proposed listing and investor sentiment closely.

Amidst global volatility and stretched valuations, Indian equities are experiencing sharp polarization. Investors are advised to favor large-cap stocks for their attractive risk-reward profile. While India's long-term growth story remains strong, near-term returns may be muted due to geopolitical uncertainty and FII outflows.

Bank holidays next week: The new week is beginning tomorrow. This leads us to the question — What are the bank holidays next week, between 2 and 8 February 2026?

Bank holidays in February 2026: The RBI has announced a total of eight holidays for all public and private banks across India in January 2026, including the State Bank of India. Check dates and weekend holidays here.

India’s Ketan Chawla began his Asian Snooker Championships campaign with a gritty 4-2 win over Mohanna Alobaidli in his opening Group ‘B’ match

Pearl Fernandes (49’) scored the only goal of the game right after the resumption in the second half