HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION DEL75 ELECTIONS-BJP LD LIST ****Modi to fight again from Varanasi; 34 ministers in BJP's first list of 195 candidates New Delhi: The ruling BJP on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani in the first list of 195 candidates.**** CAL60 BH-PM-PROJECTS-LD BEGUSARAI ****PM unveils oil and gas projects worth Rs 1.62 lakh cr across India Begusarai (Bihar): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled a series of oil and gas sector projects worth about Rs 1.62 lakh crore across the country from Bihar's Begusarai district.**** CAL59 WB-MODI-LD ALL RALLY ****Modi attacks TMC over corruption, sets target for Bengal BJP to win all 42 LS seats Krishnanagar (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday intensified attack against the Mamata Banerjee government, labelling it as being synonymous with ''oppression, dynasty politics, and betrayal'' and claimed that the TMC has achieved a ''mastery'' in turning schemes into scams.**** CAL57 BH-PM-2ND LD NITISH ****I will remain with NDA forever, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar assures PM Aurangabad/Begusarai (Bihar): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would remain with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) forever.**** DEL78 LD HIMACHAL ****Cong rebel Rana claims to be in touch with 9 more MLAs, calls CM 'liar no. 1' as HP crisis smoulders Shimla: Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators ''feeling suffocated'' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister ''liar number one''.**** DEL74 UP-CEC-EVMs ****LS polls: Chief Election Commissioner allays fears of EVM tampering Lucknow: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday sought to allay fears pertaining to the EVMs and asserted that political parties and candidates are informed about the specific EVM which has gone to a particular polling station.**** DEL51 JK-MODI-RALLY-BJP ****BJP prepares for PM's first Srinagar visit since repeal of Art 370, expects 1 lakh people at rally Srinagar: The BJP is finalising preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kashmir on March 7, with party leaders saying they expect around one lakh people at his first rally in the Valley since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.**** BOM25 GJ-ELECTIONS-BJP-LIST ****BJP announces names for 15 Gujarat Lok Sabha seats; 5 MPs dropped, 2 Union ministers fielded Ahmedabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced names of candidates for 15 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, dropping five sitting MPs and giving tickets to Union ministers Mansukh Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala.**** CAL61 WB-BJP-LIST-CANDIDATES ****BJP Bengal chief Sukanta, central ministers Nisith and Shantanu among LS nominees in 1st list Kolkata: Sitting MPs, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, union ministers Nisith Pramanik and Shantanu Thakur are among the 195 candidates who featured in the first list of nominees announced by the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.**** BUSINESS DEL83 BIZ-LDALL GOOGLE-PLAYSTORE ****Naukri, 99acres, few apps back on Google Play Store; govt says delisting of apps can't be permitted New Delhi: Naukri, 99acres and NaukriGulf were among a handful of apps that made a comeback on Google Play Store after they complied with the tech giant's payment norms even as the government talked tough, calling delisting of Indian apps unacceptable and summoning a meeting on the issue next week.**** LEGAL LGD9 LAWYERS BODY-GOOGLE ****AIBA seeks action against Google for spreading 'false' info about PM New Delhi: The All India Bar Association (AIBA) on Saturday sought stringent penal action against Google for allegedly spreading false information about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.**** FOREIGN FGN41 US-INDIAN-2NDLD STUDENT ****Classical dancer from India shot dead in US; Indian mission condemns 'reprehensible gun attack' New York: In yet another deadly attack on Indians and Indian-Americans in the US in recent months, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India and a student of Washington University, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri.**** FGN36 CHINA-US-PRESSURE ****China’s development system is creating 'many competitive pressures' in the world, top US trade official Beijing/Abu Dhabi: US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has said that China’s economic development system is creating ''many competitive pressures'' in the world and termed the steep decline in US-China bilateral trade last year as a positive indication for the diversification of global trade. By K J M Varma**** MNK MNK MNK