Inflation At 5-Year High; Opposition Meet On CAA-NRC And Other Big Stories

The Times of India is leading with its exclusive interview of Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal today. The minister has came out in strong defence of Jawaharlal Nehru University vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, who has been under fire for his alleged failure to reach out to students and restore normalcy on the campus. The paper also carried a story on retail inflation which rose to its highest in December.

The national daily is leading with a report on retail inflation which rose by 7.35% in December, the most since July 2014, driven largely by higher vegetable prices, and to some extent by an increase in phone tariffs, posing a political and economic challenge to the Narendra Modi government. The Hindustan Times has also carried a story on the high-profile meeting of opposition parties that was called in Delhi; six major rivals of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance government were not present during a discussion on issues such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the state of the economy, the daily reports.

The retail inflation is running way beyond the tolerance limit set for the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee, reports the Telegraph as it leads with the story. The paper also carries a reaction of monk at the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission on PM Modi's speech on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). "We could not have whispered into the Prime Minister's ears to stop midway," a monk at the mission was quoted as saying by the daily.

The Asian Age is leading with the opposition meeting that was called in Delhi. Twenty parties passed a resolution asking states opposed to NRC to also drop NPR. The daily also reports on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has said that National Register of Citizens will not be implemented in the state.