HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9:30 PM: NATION: CAB-2NDLD KARMAYOGI SCHEME Cabinet approves ‘Mission Karmayogi’ for major reforms in bureaucracy New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved ‘Mission Karmayogi’, dubbed as the biggest bureaucratic reform initiative, aimed at capacity building to make government employees more "creative, proactive, professional and technology-enabled", ending the culture of working in silos and ensuring transparency. DEL117 LD SINOINDIA India bolsters presence in strategic heights of Pangong lake area amid border tension with China; another round of military talks inconclusive New Delhi: The Indian Army has further bolstered its presence in at least three strategic heights in the southern bank of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh, days after foiling China's "provocative" actions to change the status quo in the area, government sources said on Wednesday.

DEL110 PAR-PANEL-2NDLD FACEBOOK Facebook India chief Ajit Mohan appears before Par panel debating misuse of social media platforms New Delhi: Amid a raging row over Facebook's alleged political "bias", India head of the social media platform Ajit Mohan was on Wednesday questioned for nearly two hours by a parliamentary panel, which is discussing alleged misuse of social media platforms. DEL105 PAR-LDALL SESSION No Question Hour, curtailed Zero Hour in Parliament's monsoon session; Oppn cries foul New Delhi: There will be no Question Hour, a curtailed Zero Hour and no private members' bills during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats have decided, prompting opposition leaders to accuse the government of trying to "murder the democracy" in the name of the COVID-19 pandemic and of reducing "Parliament to a notice board".

DEL61 PMCARES FUND PM CARES Fund got Rs 3,076-cr in just five days: Account statement New Delhi: The PM CARES Fund, set up in March to deal with emergency situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, received Rs 3,076.62 crore in just five days of its formation, as per an account statement made public by the fund on Wednesday. DEL86 VIRUS-RECOVERIES COVID-19 recoveries cross 29 lakh, exceed active cases by more than 21 lakh New Delhi: The number patients who have recuperated from COVID-19 in India has crossed 29 lakh, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday, underlining that the last 10 lakh recoveries were recorded in only 17 days as against the 10 lakh before that which took 22 days.

DEL93 AVI-DOMESTIC-FLIGHTS Govt allows airlines to fly 60 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic passenger flights New Delhi: In further easing of restrictions, the government on Wednesday permitted Indian airlines to increase the number of domestic passenger flights to 60 per cent of their pre-COVID services, according to an official order. DEL90 HUA-METRO Metro services to resume from Sept 7, normal operations from Sept 12: Puri New Delhi: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said Metro services will resume in a graded manner from September 7 across the country and passengers will have to follow preventive measures against COVID-19 such as maintaining social distancing and wearing face mask.

DEL115 FRANCE-INDIA-UNSC France expresses 'strong support' for India, other G4 nations in bid for permanent UNSC seat New Delhi: France on Wednesday expressed "strong support" for India and the other G4 countries in their bid for a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council. DEL100 JK-SHELLING Pakistan Army shells two areas along LoC in J-K's Poonch Jammu: Pakistan Army personnel engaged in heavy firing and mortar shelling in two sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Wednesday in violation of a ceasefire agreement, officials said.

DEL108 ED-2NDLD ARREST ED arrests hawala dealer Naresh Jain in PMLA case worth over Rs 1 lakh crore New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested alleged hawala dealer Naresh Jain in a money laundering probe case linked to dubious transactions worth over Rs 1 lakh crore made using over 550 shell firms over the last few years, officials said on Wednesday. LEGAL: LGD25 RAJPUT-LD LAWYER SSR case: Malicious campaign by few channels to defame Sushant's family, benefit Rhea: lawyer New Delhi: Sushant Sigh Rajput's family lawyer Vikas Singh Wednesday said a malicious campaign relating to his mental health was being run by few TV channels to defame his family and benefit actress Rhea Chakraborty, who has been accused of abetting the actor's suicide.

LGD26 VIRUS-SC-LD MORATORIUM Borrowers assail in SC charging of interest on EMIs during moratorium period New Delhi: Borrowers and various bodies representing different sectors on Wednesday assailed before the Supreme Court the charging of "penal' interest on deferred EMI payments by banks under the moratorium scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. BUSINESS: DEL99 BIZ-LD APPS-BAN India bans 118 more mobile apps with Chinese links, including PUBG New Delhi: India on Wednesday banned 118 more mobile apps with Chinese links, including popular game PUBG, citing data privacy concerns and a threat to national security.

FOREIGN: FGN52 US-PENTAGON-CHINA-NUKE China aiming to double size of its nuclear arsenal: Pentagon Washington: China is seeking to "at least double" the number of its nuclear warheads in the next decade from the "low- 200s" now, according to a Pentagon report..