HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 2100 hours:

NATION

LGD44 SC-3RD LD WOMEN OFFICERS SC says women can get command positions in Army, directs permanent commission for all women officers

New Delhi: Calling for an end to gender bias in the armed forces, the Supreme Court on Monday opened the way for women in command positions in the Army and directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers within three months.

DEL93 DL-KEJRIWAL-2NDLD CHARGE Will work to fulfil promises made in guarantee card: AAP ministers after taking charge

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues took charge of their respective offices on Monday and asserted that they would work to fulfil the promises made in the "guarantee card", released during the poll campaign, including reduction in pollution and expansion of metro network.

DEL90 LD JAMIA VIDEO-REACTIONS BJP, Cong in war of word over 'Jamia videos'

New Delhi: A major political row broke out on Monday over some videos clips showing purported thrashing of Jamia students in the university library by security personnel in December, with the BJP accusing the Congress of giving "political colour" to the incident and the opposition party alleging that the government was "misusing" the police force as its "muscle men".

DEL85 LDALL NIRBHAYA Nirbhaya case: Court orders hanging of 4 convicts on March 3 at 6 am

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday ordered that the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case be hanged on March 3 after it issued fresh death warrants, observing that deferring the execution any further would be "sacrilegious" to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice.

DEL81 UK-4TH LD PARLIAMENTARIAN British MP, chair of group on Kashmir, denied entry into India; deported to Dubai

New Delhi/London: A British MP, critical of India's move to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status, on Monday said she was denied entry despite a valid visa after she landed at Delhi airport and deported to Dubai from where she had flown into the Indian capital.

DEL79 DL-ASSAM-LD CLAUSE6 MHA-appointed panel on Assam recommends 2/3rd quota for indigenous people in assembly, ILP

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) A Home Ministry-appointed committee has recommended that two-third seats in the Assam Assembly should be reserved for the indigenous people of the state and 1951 should be the cut-off year to define the local population, sources said on Monday. By Achinta Borah

LEGAL

LGD63 SC-JUDGES Govt takes 127 days, Collegium 119 days to deal with recommendation: Centre to SC

New Delhi: The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that on an average the government takes 127 days for clearing the recommendation sent to it during the process of appointment judges in higher judiciary, whereas the apex court Collegium takes 119 days to deal with it.

LGD56 SC-2NDLD SHAHEEN BAGH Shaheen Bagh protest: Blockade of public road troubling us, says SC

New Delhi: Blockade of public road at Shaheen Bagh is "troubling us", the Supreme Court said on Monday and suggested that the anti-CAA protestors go to another site where no public place would be blocked.

FOREIGN

FGN32 PAK-MILITANT-TALIBAN Pak govt confirms escape of top Taliban militant responsible for shooting Malala

Islamabad: Pakistan government on Monday for the first time admitted that former Pakistan Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who was responsible for the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and carrying out the deadly Peshawar Army school carnage in 2014, has escaped from prison. By Sajjad Hussain

FGN28 CHINA-VIRUS-2NDLD TOLL WHO experts join field inspections in China as death toll due to coronavirus climbs to 1,770

Beijing: Top WHO experts, including from the US, have joined the fight against the novel coronavirus in China that has claimed 1,770 lives, as Beijing stepped up its efforts by deploying 30,000 more medical staff in the worst-affected Wuhan city to contain the spread of the epidemic. By K J M Varma

BUSINESS

DEL96 BIZ-AGR LD TELCOS

Airtel, Voda Idea make part payment; DoT mulls encashing bank guarantees New Delhi: After a Supreme Court rap for missing payment deadline, top telecom firms Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices on Monday scrambled to pay a part of the outstanding dues even as the apex court refused to stop the government from taking coercive action for any further delay in clearing full dues.

DEL76 BIZ-LD-RBI-GOVERNOR-INTERVIEW

RBI Guv: Govt must continue reforms; green shoots of recovery need to sustain New Delhi: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said the government will have to use structural reforms to revive demand and support the sagging economy, and green shoots of the recovery visible now need to be sustained to pull India out of its worst slowdown in 11 years. By Kumar Dipankar & Ammar Zaidi

SPORTS

SPF23 SPO-CRI-T20-RANKING

Kohli slips to 10th; Rahul, Rohit static in ICC T20I rankings Dubai: India skipper Virat Kohli slipped to the 10th position but KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma remained static at the second and 11th place respectively in the latest ICC T20I rankings released on Monday.

PTI SRY

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)