India

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.

Surendranagar, Feb 12 (PTI) A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by the trustee of a residential school in Gujarat's Surendranagar district, police said on Wednesday.

The police on Wednesday arrested Batukbhai Bhatti after the Class 10 student's mother lodged an FIR at Chotila police station, accusing him of raping her daughter, an official said.

Jabalpur (MP), Feb 12 (PTI) Five persons were arrested on Wednesday from Jabalpur district in Madhya Pradesh for transporting meat of a chital in an SUV after hunting it in neighbouring Katni district, police said.

A police officer said the accused had hunted the deer in the forest areas of Sleemanabad in Katni district and were transporting the meat in their SUV when it was stopped for checking in the wee hours near Kudwari village.

Guwahati, Feb 12 (PTI) Opposition Congress on Wednesday announced it would start its second phase of 'Padyatra' (march) against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act across the north bank of Brahmaputra from Thursday.

The 'padyatra' will begin from Behali in Sonitpur and conclude in Nalbari on February 20.

Ludhiana, Feb 12 (PTI) Some members of the Muslim community on Wednesday launched an indefinite sit-in against the amended citizenship law and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC ) here.

The indefinite dharna began at Dana Mandi here near Jalandhar bypass on the lines of the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi.

Puducherry, Feb 12 (PTI) Stepping up his attack on Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Wednesday said she should either mend her ways or quit, as the union territory assembly saw two ministers slamming her for "causing hindrances" in implementing government decisions.

The government was in an unenviable situation due to 'lack' of allocation of sufficient funds by the Centre and "continued hindrances by the Lt Governor in the implementation of welfare schemes," he told the Union Terrritory assembly.

Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) A 57-year-old psychologist was arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old patient at his clinic in the western suburb of Borivali here, police said on Wednesday.

Based on a complaint lodged by the victim, the police arrested Surendra Mukherjee on Tuesday evening, senior inspector Namdev Shinde said.

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.

Cuttack, Feb 12 (PTI) The Cuttack district administration on Wednesday pulled down at least nine temples and six club buildings built illegally on government land for renovation and expansion of the SCB Medical College and Hospital here, officials said.

The authorities have also identified another temple and a club building located on roads leading from Ranihat bridge to the hospital for demolition as part of the eviction drive for the medical college expansion, said Deputy Commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Commissioner (CMC), AC Rout.