Delhi

New Delhi, January 3; GANASHAKTI: India has stopped printing Rs 2,000 notes in a bid to slowly reduce their circulation, a highly placed government source told ThePrint.

The cut in circulation does not mean the Rs 2,000 notes will become invalid. In all likelihood, the denomination will be gradually phased out.

The decision comes on the back of suspicion in the Modi government that the high-denomination banknote was being used for hoarding, tax evasion and money laundering.

New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) Cracking the whip on unruly MPs, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has suspended 45 Lok Sabha members belonging to the TDP and the AIADMK since Wednesday after they created ruckus in the House and continuously disrupted proceedings for days.

New Delhi/Chandigarh, Jan 3 (PTI) Senior advocate and Aam Aadmi Party leader HS Phoolka, who is fighting the legal battle for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, resigned from the party Thursday.

The move comes amid speculation of a possible alliance between the Congress and the AAP for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In a tweet, Phoolka said he will explain the reason behind his decision in a press briefing in Delhi Friday.

New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) The Delhi unit of Youth Congress Thursday staged a protest near Parliament House, demanding the Modi government's response to a tape allegedly connected to the Rafale deal.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had tried to play the audio tape of purported conversation between a Goa minister and a person in the Lok Sabha but was denied permission by the Speaker on Wednesday.

New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) A 15-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by her classmate, who also got two of his friends to record the alleged act, police said Thursday.

The incident took place inside the washroom of a government school in Chanakyapuri in the last week of December, they said.

The victim's classmate allegedly kissed her inside the washroom of the school and asked two of his friends to record the act, a senior police officer said.

New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken Friday resigned as the party's Delhi unit chief citing health reasons, a few months before the Lok Sabha elections, sources said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Congress party affairs in-charge P C Chacko and Maken held a meeting Thursday evening. Gandhi has accepted his resignation, they said.

The 54-year-old leader had taken over as the Congress's Delhi unit chief four years ago, after the party lost the 2015 assembly elections.

New Delhi, January 2; INN: All India KisanSabha (AIKS) condemns the attack on Saghir Khan and 2 others by Gaurakshaks in Alwar District of Rajasthan. It is in continuation of similar attacks on farmers or cattle rearers transporting cattle that have been going on in this region in the last few years.

AIKS demands that the newly elected Congress Government in Rajasthan should immediately act against the culprits. It is shocking that the police have arrested the victim on the charge of “cow smuggling” while not taking any strong deterrent action against the culprits.

New Delhi, January 2: The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared in an interview that after the judicial process the government will be ready to make all efforts for the Ram temple.

This stance of the Prime Minister, welcomed by the RSS as a “positive step”, is deplorable. It is a move to pressurize the Supreme Court by indicating that the government will take steps to facilitate the building of the temple irrespective of the verdict of the court.

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) The government Wednesday approved the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda (BoB) to make it a globally competitive lender.

With the merger, BoB will become the third largest bank after State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

"There will be no impact on the service conditions of the employees and there will be no retrenchment following the merger," Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters about decisions taken by the Union Cabinet.

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed high drama after Congress president Rahul Gandhi sought permission to play a purported audio tape of a Goa minister on the Rafale deal but refused to authenticate it, prompting Union Minister Arun Jaitley to accuse him of speaking "lies repeatedly".

Initiating a discussion on the Rafale issue, Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he "does not have guts" to come to Parliament to confront questions on the issue and "hides" in his room.