THE budget session of parliament began on January 31 with Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of both houses. On February 1, the union budget 2020-21 was presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In the budget speech, one would hardly get any indication of either the economic slowdown or the unemployment rate, which is the highest in decades. But, the finance minister announced selling shares of LIC, the biggest financer of government schemes.