Top news: Retail inflation breaches RBI’s target, spikes to 7.35% in December

Retail inflation rose to 7.35% in December – the highest since July 2014

Retail inflation rose to 7.35% in December from 5.54% the month before, government data showed on Monday. The rate of inflation exceeded the tolerance band of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee. At the current level, retail inflation is at its highest since July 2014.

President Macron discussed Kashmir with PM Modi last week, says France

French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a telephone conversation last Friday. Macron reportedly told Modi that Paris was closely following the developments in the region.

Sensex and Nifty end at all-time highs due to gains in IT and metal stocks, industrial growth

The BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty closed at record highs on Monday. The rise in the markets was the result of gains in metal and information technology stocks. Market sentiment was also lifted by the gain in the growth rate of industrial output for November.

CAA protests: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad seeks bail from Delhi High Court

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Monday filed a bail application in the Delhi High Court. Azad has been in jail since December 21 in connection with protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj area.

Jamia students confront vice chancellor, call for FIR against Delhi Police’s action

Hundreds of students from Jamia Millia Islamia University gheraoed Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar’s office on Monday, calling for the registration of a first information report against Delhi Police’s action during violence on the campus on December 15.

JNU fee hike protests: Teachers asked to resume classes as boycott continues

The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration on Monday told teachers to resume classes. Students and teachers have boycotted classes in protest against a hike in hostel and mess fees. The classes were supposed to begin on Monday.

Citizenship Act: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar calls for Assembly discussion on controversial law

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday called on the state Assembly to discuss the Citizenship Amendment Act. Kumar’s statement came after Opposition parties Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal criticised the law in a special session of the Assembly.

Ban BJP leader’s book comparing Narendra Modi to Shivaji: Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena on Monday called for a ban on a Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s book that has compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Maratha ruler Shivaji, describing it as “insulting”. The book, titled Aaj Ke Shivaji: Narendra Modi was released at an event organised by BJP’s Delhi unit.

In photos: Jammu and Kashmir receives heavy snowfall, Srinagar airport closed for second day

All flights to and from the Srinagar airport were cancelled for the second day on Monday following a fresh bout of snowfall. Kashmir Valley was cut off from the rest of the world due to the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, local reports said. Jammu and Ladakh regions also experienced heavy snowfall.

Masked woman in video is Delhi University student, claim police

A special investigation team of the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has identified a woman who was allegedly involved in the January 5 violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Last week, India Today had aired a sting operation in which one of the masked assailants was identified as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

JNU violence: Google, Apple and WhatsApp asked to respond to JNU professors’ plea to preserve data

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city police, the Delhi government, instant messaging company WhatsApp, and tech giants Google and Apple to respond to a plea of three professors of Jawaharlal Nehru University to preserve data, CCTV footage and other evidence related to the January 5 violence on the institution’s campus.

Sabarimala case: SC tells opposing lawyers to meet on January 17 to chart course of hearing

The Supreme Court on Monday gave three weeks to the lawyers in the Sabarimala case to finalise matters and decide the course of arguments and what matters will be added.

Chennai journalist who displayed anti-government book at fair held; press club calls it vendetta

The Chennai Police arrested a journalist on Sunday morning for allegedly intimidating and attacking book fair organisers after he was asked to vacate his stall. V Anbazhagan has been remanded to judicial custody till January 24.

Madhya Pradesh: 80 briefly detained for trying to wave black flags at Amit Shah in Jabalpur

The Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday detained 80 people for trying to wave black flags at Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Jabalpur city, PTI reported.

The 80 activists, mostly belonging to the Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India, were released after legal formalities, Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar said. They were taken into custody from ten different areas of the city.

Shaheen Bagh-like protests to oppose CAA now come up in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

Large groups of women have been holding sit-in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, similar to the demonstration in New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood. The protests were seen in the cities of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, and Gaya on Sunday.

Una case: Victim asks president to deport them to country where they will not face discrimination

One of the seven victims of the 2016 Una Dalit flogging incident has requested President Ram Nath Kovind to deport him and his brothers to a country where they will not face discrimination, The Times of India reported on Monday. Vashram Sarvaiya alleged that they have not been treated like citizens of India.

Modi should select five critics, hold televised Q&A session to clear doubts on CAA, says Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to confront the critics of the Citizenship Amendment Act. In a series of tweets, the former Union minister claimed that the only way to clear the public’s doubts on the amended law was to televise a discussion between the prime minister and his critics.

CAA and NRC: 48 members of BJP’s minority cell quit in Bhopal, say people have to take a stand

As many as 48 members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s minority cell in Bhopal have quit the party over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens. The members who have quit include Bhopal district minority cell vice president Adil Khan and state media chief Javed Baig. “Have you ever seen a government passing a law in Parliament, and then going from door to door seeking support for it?” asked Khan.

Opposition meet today to discuss CAA, protests; besides Trinamool, Mayawati and Kejriwal may skip

Opposition parties will hold a meeting in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the political situation in the country, especially in the backdrop of the economic downturn and the amended Citizenship Act. Interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is expected to chair the meeting. Besides the Congress, leaders from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Left parties are expected to attend. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress founder Mamata Banerjee and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati will skip the meeting. Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal may also boycott it.

West Bengal: CAA protestors damaging property will be ‘shot like in UP,’ warns BJP chief Dilip Ghosh

West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party President Dilip Ghosh on Sunday threatened to shoot anti-citizenship law protestors who damaged public property, just like in Uttar Pradesh. Ghosh criticised the Mamata Banerjee government “for not opening fire and ordering lathicharge” on Citizenship Act protestors who vandalised railway tracks, trains and other public property last month.

Delhi elections: BJP seeks Rs 500 crore in damages after AAP video spoofs Manoj Tiwari

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday filed a complaint to the Election Commission and sent a defamation notice to the Aam Aadmi Party after it tweeted an edited video of BJP leader Manoj Tiwari dancing to the AAP campaign song. Delhi is set to go to polls on February 8, and the results will be out on February 11.

Nine-judge SC bench to begin hearing Sabarimala review pleas from today

A nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Monday will start hearing a clutch of 60 petitions related to the entry of women into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. The bench will comprise Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, LN Rao, MM Shantanagoudar, SA Nazeer, RS Reddy, BR Gavai and Surya Kant. Most of the pleas listed are against the Supreme Court’s 2018 Sabarimala judgement.

‘Is the Constitution a mere administrative manual?’ Eminent personalities ask citizens to introspect

Eminent personalities urged the citizens of the country to “introspect and audit” the working of the Constitution on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the republic. “Is the Constitution a mere administrative manual which enables the elected governments to claim legitimacy for abuse of power, and allows the citizens to convert liberty into license disregarding rights of others?” the statement read. “Is it simply another text penned by ink, or a sacred text written in the blood of innumerable martyrs who transcended the barriers of caste, religion, region, ethnicity and language?”

We will rest only after undocumented migrants from Pakistan get citizenship, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the central government “will not rest” until the undocumented migrants from persecuted communities from the three neighbouring communities were given citizenship. He also accused the Opposition party leaders of misleading the public on the Citizenship Amendment Act, and challenged them to prove that the law can take away anyone’s citizenship.

J&K: Arrested senior police officer will be treated ‘at par with militants’, says top official

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday said a senior police official, part of the strategic anti-hijacking team at Srinagar airport, had been arrested along with two militants. Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Davinder Singh was caught on Saturday while ferrying the militants, reportedly from Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in a vehicle in Kulgam district.