Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) All central and state government officers have been asked to follow norms in dealing with communications from MPs and MLAs or face action, according to an official order.

Chief secretaries of all states/union territories have been asked to sensitise officials with regard to their duties and obligations in so far as the movement of Members of Parliament (MPs) in general and more particularly during Parliament sessions, it said.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Retail inflation inched up to 7.59 per cent in January on costlier food items, showed government data on Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 7.35 per cent in December 2019 and 1.97 per cent in January last year.

The food inflation last month was 13.63 per cent, compared with (-)2.24 per cent in January 2019. However, it is down from 14.19 per cent in December.

The Reserve Bank of India had kept the key policy rate unchanged earlier this month mainly due to high inflation.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) While the previous governments had hesitated to touch the country's taxation system, the current BJP-led dispensation was making it more citizen centric, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, urging people to pay their dues for the development of India.

Speaking at the Times Now Summit here, he said the concern was that as some people always found ways to evade taxes, the honest got penalised.

Mumbai,Feb 12 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress chief and state Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Wednesday accused the RSS and the BJP of being anti-reservation, and said they are trying to do away with quota for STs, SCs and OBCs given by the Constitution.

He said the Congress will never let that happen and launch a fight against the BJP to protect reservation.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Arvind Kejriwal is likely to be sworn in as the chief minister of Delhi on February 16 for the third time at the Ramlila Maidan, sources said on Wednesday.

Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony at the Ramlila Maidan also assumes significance as it was from this ground that he along with Anna Hazare led a massive anti-corruption agitation.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad on Wednesday called for a 'Bharat Bandh' on February 23 against a Supreme Court ruling that states were not bound to provide reservation in promotion and appointments in public employment and also quota is not a fundamental right.

He urged MPs and MLAs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes to build pressure on the government to bring an ordinance to nullify the ruling.

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday congratulated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for winning the assembly elections.

"My best wishes and congratulations to Mr Kejriwal and the AAP on winning the Delhi Assembly elections," Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress has been decimated in the Delhi polls.

With Kejriwal set to become the chief minister of Delhi for the third straight term, leaders of non-BJP parties cutting across party lines said the poll outcome showed that elections can be fought and won on the development plank.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has dismissed a PIL seeking voting rights for prisoners, saying the facility was provided under the law and it can be taken away by law.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said the Supreme Court has held that the right to cast vote was neither a fundamental right nor a common law right and was only provided by a statute.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Newly elected Aam Aadmi Party MLAs chose Arvind Kejriwal as the leader of the legislature party on Wednesday, sources said, a move that will pave way for him to stake claim to form the next government in Delhi.

Chief Minister Kejriwal, who trumped his rivals by scripting a spectacular victory on Tuesday, met the MLAs at his official residence at Civil Lines during which he was elected the leader of the legislature party.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) A 40-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly firing at the convoy of newly elected AAP legislator Naresh Yadav in southwest Delhi when he and his supporters were returning home after visiting a temple, killing a party volunteer, police said on Wednesday.

The Aam Aadmi Party volunteer killed in the incident has been identified as Ashok Mann while the accused has been identified as Dharmender, alias Kallu, they said.