HIGHLIGHTS

These are the top stories at 5.15 pm: Nation LGD16 SC-2NDLD BHUSHAN-CONTEMPT Will give Bhushan time to reconsider statement refusing to apologise for contemptuous tweets: SC New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday granted two days to activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who has been held guilty of contempt, to reconsider his 'defiant statement' refusing to apologise for his contemptuous tweets against the judiciary. DEL53 SURVEY-2ND LD CITIES RANKING Swachh Survekshan: Indore gets cleanest city tag for 4th time in a row; Surat 2nd, Navi Mumbai 3rd New Delhi: Indore was adjudged India's cleanest city for a fourth straight year while Surat and Navi Mumbai grabbed the second and third positions respectively, as the Centre announced the results of its latest annual cleanliness survey on Thursday.

DEL11 VIRUS-LD CASES Record spike of 69,652 COVID-19 cases, India's virus tally crosses 28-lakh mark New Delhi: India's COVID-19 caseload went past 28 lakh with a record single-day spike of 69,652 infections, while the recoveries increased to 20,96,664 on Thursday pushing the recovery rate to 73.91 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data. DEL43 VIRUS-RECOVERIES India's COVID-19 recovery rate nears 74 pc, only 0.28 pc of active cases on ventilator support New Delhi: Recoveries among COVID-19 patients in the country surged to 20,96,664 on Thursday, pushing India's recovery rate to 73.91 per cent, while only 0.28 per cent people of 6,86,395 active cases are on ventilator support, the Union health ministry said.

DEL48 FACEBOOK-THAROOR-RATHORE BJP's Rathore writes to Speaker against Tharoor over Facebook row New Delhi: After BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, party member Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has shot off a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker against Shashi Tharoor for speaking in public about his intention to summon Facebook officials without discussing the matter first in the parliamentary committee the Congress leader heads. DEL46 CONG-LD RAJIV 'Man with vision, was ahead of his time': Cong remembers Rajiv Gandhi on birth anniversary New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday paid rich tributes to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary, with Rahul Gandhi saying his father was a man with a tremendous vision and was far ahead of his time. DEL34 MEA-JAISHANKAR Multilateralism did not rise to occasion when it was most in demand: Jaishankar New Delhi: Multilateralism did not rise to the occasion when it was most in demand, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday while referring to the "unprecedented" challenge thrown up by the coronavirus pandemic in diverse areas globally.

BOM9 CG-RAHUL-ECONOMY Modi govt destroyed unorganised economy in last 6 years: Rahul Raipur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Narendra Modi government of decimating the unorganised economy, comprising farmers, labourers and small businesses, in the last six years of its rule, and said that the country will not be able to generate jobs in the coming period as a result of that. DEL28 AVI-DGCA-AUDIT DGCA starts special safety audit of all Indian airlines New Delhi: The DGCA has started a special safety audit of all Indian airlines, around two weeks after the plane crash in Kerala's Kozhikode in which 18 people were killed, a senior official of the aviation regulator said on Thursday.

MDS6 KA-ISRO Space sector reforms not aimed at privatising ISRO: Chairman K Sivan Bengaluru: The recently announced space sector reforms are not aimed at privatisation of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), its Chairman and Secretary in the Department of Space, K Sivan asserted on Thursday. Business DEL49 BIZ-2NDLD-GMAIL-DISRUPTION Gmail services being restored, expect resolution for all users in near future: Google New Delhi: Google on Thursday said its Gmail service has been restored for some users and the outage issue will be resolved for all affected users "in the near future", hours after the popular emailing service faced a global disruption since this morning.

Foreign FGN6 US-DNC-HARRIS-LD NOMINATION Kamala Harris scripts history as she accepts Democratic Party's nomination for US vice-president Washington: Senator Kamala Harris has accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination to be the vice president of the United States, scripting history by becoming the first Indian-American and also the first Black woman to be on a major political party’s national ticket. By Lalit K Jha FGN15 US-DNC-OBAMA-TRUMP Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t: Obama New York: In his most blistering attack on Donald Trump, former president Barack Obama has accused his successor of treating the presidency like a "reality show" and said the top Republican leader “hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t.” By Yoshita Singh Sports SPD7 SPO-CRI-DHONI-LD PM Dhoni illustration of new India where family name doesn't make destiny: PM Modi New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the embodiment of a new India where family name does not make one's destiny in a letter to the enigmatic former captain, who retired from international cricket last week. PTI HDA.