HIGHLIGHTS

Just when they thought they had reached home, their plane skidded off the runway at the airport here, breaking into two as it fell into a 35-feet gorge in pelting rain, survivors of the crash said on Saturday. DEL50 AVI-LD PURI-PLANE AIE plane crash: Aviation minister reaches Kozhikode to take stock of relief measures New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reached Kozhikode on Saturday to take stock of the relief measures after an Air India Express plane crashed in the city a day ago.

These are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION MDS26 2ND LD PLANE Black box of crashed AI Express flight recovered, toll rises to 18; Probe underway Kozhikode: The crucial black box of the ill-fated Air India Express flight that could throw light on how it overshot the runway here and crashed has been recovered while the toll in the mishap rose to 18 on Saturday with a passenger succumbing to injuries, officials said. MDS33 KL-LD PLANE-SURVIVORS Shaken and stunned, Kozhikode crash survivors recall the horror that was Kozhikode: It all happened in a flash. Or so it seemed. Just when they thought they had reached home, their plane skidded off the runway at the airport here, breaking into two as it fell into a 35-feet gorge in pelting rain, survivors of the crash said on Saturday.

DEL50 AVI-LD PURI-PLANE AIE plane crash: Aviation minister reaches Kozhikode to take stock of relief measures New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reached Kozhikode on Saturday to take stock of the relief measures after an Air India Express plane crashed in the city a day ago. DEL69 AVI-2NDLD DGCA-NOTICE DGCA had issued notice to Kozhikode airport in July 2019 over critical safety lapses New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA had issued a show-cause notice to the director of the Kozhikode airport on July 11 last year after it found "various critical safety lapses" in different places, including the runway and the apron, officials said on Saturday.

DEL75 AVI-PLANE-2NDLD AVIATION EXPERT DGCA should not allow landings at Kozhikode airport during monsoons: Aviation safety expert Mumbai/Chennai: A day after the crash of an Air India Express plane, aviation safety expert Captain Ranganathan, who had earlier flagged concerns about Kozhikode airport runway, on Saturday said regulator DGCA should not allow landing of flights during monsoons on runway 10 at the aerodrome. DEL49 VIRUS-2NDLD CASES India records 61,537 new COVID-19 cases, 933 deaths New Delhi: With India registering 61,537 more cases, the coronavirus tally reached 20,88,611 on Saturday, while 14,27,005 people have so far recuperated from COVID-19 pushing the recovery rate to 68.32 per cent, the Union health ministry said.

DEL43 SINOINDIA-TALKS Border row: India and China hold Major General-level talks New Delhi: Talks between senior army commanders of India and China were underway on Saturday to take forward the disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at a number of friction points including in Daulat Beg Oldi and Depsang in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the developments said. DEL27 BSF-2NDLD INTRUDER BSF kills Pak intruder along IB in Barmer New Delhi: A Pakistani infiltrator was killed by the Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday along the India-Pakistan International Border in Rajasthan's Barmer district, officials said.

DEL73 PM-LD SWACHH BHARAT PM launches week-long campaign to free India of garbage New Delhi: Prime Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a week-long garbage-free India campaign in the run up to Independence Day and asserted that the Swachh Bharat Mission has been a big support in the fight against coronavirus. DEL71 RAHUL-DEFENCE-REPORT 'Centre's anti-democracy experiment': Rahul on removal of MoD report New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday stepped up his attack against the Centre on the issue of removal of a defence ministry report mentioning Chinese 'transgressions', saying this was not a coincidence but the government's "anti-democracy experiment".

DEL31 UP-ADITYANATH-TRUST 'UP CM to be invited to lay foundation stone for public facilities on land for mosque in Ayodhya' Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be invited to lay the foundation stone for various public facilities at a mosque to be built in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village by a trust formed by the state Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of its officebearers said on Saturday. BUSINESS DEL39 BIZ-LD CAG Girish Chandra Murmu assumes office as CAG New Delhi: Girish Chandra Murmu has assumed office as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India from August 8, 2020, an official statement said on Saturday.

FOREIGN FGN30 LANKA-2NDLD RAJAPAKSA Sri Lanka's strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa to take oath as PM for 4th time on Sunday Colombo: Mahinda Rajapaksa will be sworn in as Sri Lanka's prime minister at a historic Buddhist temple on Sunday, allowing the powerful Rajapaksa clan to consolidate their grip on power in the island nation. FGN26 BANGLA-INDIA-CHINA Bangladesh's ties with India, China stand on different perspectives: foreign minister Dhaka: Bangladesh's ties with India and China should not be compared as they stand on different perspectives, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said on Saturday, describing Dhaka's relationship with New Delhi as "historic" and "rock-solid" which cannot be hindered by anything.

FGN2 UAE-INDIA-PLANE Indian consulate in Dubai to remain open to share info related to Air India plane crash Dubai: The Indian Consulate in Dubai will remain open on Saturday to help those who need assistance to travel to Kerala and provide information about the crash of the Air India Express flight that skidded off a hilltop runway and split in two while landing in heavy rain at an airport in Kozhikode, killing at least 17 people. PTI HDA HDA.