Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) India has not closed its doors on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and will carry out a cost benefit analysis to evaluate its merit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.

In his address at the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar said India pulled out of the RCEP as the offer made by countries of the bloc did not match India's expectations.

"Where RCEP is concerned, we have to look at cost and benefit. We will evaluate RCEP on its economic and trade merit. We have not closed our mind to it," he said.

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The year 2020 should be the year of implementation of the bilateral decisions taken by India and Russia last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.

Modi made these remarks when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on him, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

During their interaction, Lavrov briefed the Prime Minister on his country's position on key international and regional issues.

Lavrov is in Delhi to participate in the 'Raisina Dialogue'.

Patna, Jan 15 (PTI) The Janata Dal (United) headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is exploring a tie-up with the BJP for the upcoming assembly polls in Delhi, a senior leader said here on Wednesday.

"I am in talks with the BJP leadership. Once things finalised, we will be in a position to share details like seat-sharing," JD (U) national general secretary Sanjay Jha disclosed this at a function held to mark Makar Sankranti here.

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) A series of protests were organised in several colleges of the Delhi University on Wednesday against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

At Ramjas College, a group of students read out the Preamble of the Constitution.

New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI) Amid registration boycott by a section of students, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) again extended the deadline to register for the next semester till January 17.

"The registration deadline for ongoing winter session has been extended up to January 17 without late fees. However, registration will continue till February 9 by paying late fees up to Rs 500," a senior varsity official said.

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) A group of Union ministers will visit Jammu and Kashmir later this month to spread awareness about the positive impact of abrogation of Article 370 provisions and the development measures taken by the government for the region, sources said on Wednesday.

The schedule for the visit of the ministers to the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir is likely to be finalised at a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on January 17.

NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Iran has asserted that its attack on a United States military base in Iraq was an act of self-defence in response to the assassination of Iranian top commander Qassem Soleimani.

“We took action in self-defence under Article 51 of (the United Nations) Charter,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the annual Raisina Dialogue conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded 24 new faces, dropping 15 sitting MLAs, in its list of candidates for the February 8 Delhi assembly elections announced on Tuesday.

The new candidates included Atishi Marlena, Dilip Pandey and Raghav Chadha, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and five others who recently defected from the Congress.

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India in the midst of spiralling tension between his country and the US.

On Wednesday, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also deliver a lecture at the Raisina Dialogue, the External Affairs Ministry's flagship annual conference.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will hold talks with Zarif on Thursday morning over breakfast, according to the ministry.

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party announced on Tuesday that it will contest all the 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly polls scheduled for February 8 and released its first list of 15 candidates.

LJP leader Kali Pandey, who is the party's in-charge for the Delhi polls, said his party's alliance to the BJP was confined to Bihar and added that this was for the saffron party to decide if it wanted a tie-up in the national capital as well.