From Republic Day parade to US-Mexico border unease: 5 key developments

In other news, finance ministry to impose additional service tax on domestic hotel, tour aggregators

Business Standard brings you the key developments from across the country and the world.

Republic Day parade: India displays military might, cultural diversity

In a first, 'black cat' commandos of elite counter-terror force National Security Guard (NSG) participated in theRepublic Day parade at Rajpath in New Delhi. 

Amid fears of possible terror attacks, a tight security blanket was thrown around the national capital including the venue. Nearly 60,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across Delhi.

Service tax blow for online travel players

Domestic hotel and tour aggregators such as OYO Rooms, EaseMyTrip and MakeMyTrip were expecting tax relief in the Budget to be presented on February 1. But the mood has turned sombre, with the finance ministry deciding to impose service tax on what they receive from customers and not just the commission earned from hotels and others. 

Mexican Prez cancels trip to Washington after he refuses to pay for wall

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto today cancelled his planned trip to the US after President Donald Trump tweeted that he should cancel his visit if Mexico is "unwilling to pay" for the massive border wall being build to stop illegal migrants from entering America. Trump also tweeted that the US has a $60 billion trade deficit with Mexico.

Good news! RBI may lift weekly cash withdrawal limit by February end

With the cash crunch situation easing, the Reserve Bank might do away with the weekly withdrawal limits from banks as well as ATMs by the end of next month, bankers said.

The RBI had recently raised the ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 a day but maintained the weekly cap at Rs 24,000 for saving account and Rs 1 lakh for current account holders.

Shiv Sena ditches BJP, to go solo in BMC polls

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray led a blistering attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) while announcing his party's decision to break the 25-year-old alliance with the Centre's ruling party. Indicating that his party would not play second fiddle during the elections, Thackeray said that the Shiv Sena will unfurl saffron flags on top of all civic bodies as well as the state legislature.