HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION DEL167 4THLD VIRUS COVID-19: Maha, Punjab impose curfew; most of India under lock down as coronavirus cases climb to 433 New Delhi: The governments in Maharashtra and Punjab imposed state-wide curfew on Monday, as most of India huddled in a lock down and airlines prepared to stop operations in desperate measures to curtail the spread of fast-spreading COVID-19, which has infected 433 people in the country so far. DEL146 VIRUS-LDALL QUARANTINE HOMES Coronavirus: Church priest in Kerala arrested for holding mass; quarantined homes in TN to be stamped with alert stickers Thrissur(Ker)/Chennai: As coronavirus cases in the country surge past 400, a priest in Kerala who conducted a mass at a church defying a government order against public gatherings was arrested on Monday while authorities in Tamil Nadu plan to paste 'Do Not Visit' stickers outside houses of home quarantined people.

BOM42 MP-CHOUHAN-OATH Shivraj Singh Chouhan returns as Madhya Pradesh chief minister Bhopal: Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday returned as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for the fourth time, over 15 months after his government was voted out of power. DEL189 PARL-LD ADJOURN Parliament adjourned sine die 11 days before schedule due to coronavirus outbreak New Delhi: Parliament was adjourned sine die on Monday, 11 days before its Budget Session was scheduled to conclude, in view of the intensifying nationwide measures to encourage social distancing to combat the coronavirus.

DEL168 UP-AYODHYA-2NDLD TEMPLE Ayodhya deity being shifted to allow Ram temple construction, rituals begin Ayodhya: Priests on Monday began rituals for shifting the Ram Lalla idol here to a temporary new location, clearing the site to allow construction of a Ram temple. DEL90 DL-ASSEMBLY-LD BUDGET Delhi Assembly passes budget for 2020-21; Rs 50 Cr set aside to deal with coronavirus New Delhi: The Delhi Assembly passed a Rs 65,000-crore budget for the 2020-21 financial year on Monday, with an emphasis on the education, health and transport sectors.

DEL182 VIRUS-LD HRD-JNV Coronavirus: HRD directs JNVs to make available unoccupied hostels to district admins New Delhi: The HRD Ministry on Monday directed Navodaya schools in the country to make their unoccupied hostels available to respective district administration to be used as any kind of medical facility in view of the coronavirus outbreak. DEL100 CONG-LD VIRUS-RAHUL Rahul questions 'delay' in stopping export of ventilators, suggests 'criminal conspiracy' New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of delaying its decision to ban the export of life-saving equipment like ventilators amid the coronavirus outbreak, suggesting a "criminal conspiracy".

LEGAL LGD36 SC-VIRUS-2NDLD PAROLE Coronavirus: SC asks states, UTs to consider releasing prisoners to decongest jails New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday directed all states and Union Territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offences entailing up to 7-year jail term to decongest prisons in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. LGD31 SC-VIRUS-LD CENTRE Govt taking active steps to deal with coronavirus, even critics lauding its efforts: SC New Delhi: The government is actively dealing with the situation related to coronavirus pandemic and even critics have appreciated its efforts, the Supreme Court said on Monday while stressing that "this is not politics but facts".

BUSINESS DEL86 BIZ-STOCKS-CLOSE Market bleeds: Sensex, Nifty post worst ever one-day crash Mumbai: In its worst ever crash, the BSE sensex plummetted 3,934.72 points or 13. 15 per cent to 25,981.24 on Monday after several Indian states announced lockdown following a spurt in the number of coronavirus cases. DEL192 BIZ-PETROL-LD EXCISE HIKE Govt gets nod to raise excise duty on petro, diesel by Rs 8 in future; Parl approves Finance Bill New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday took authorisation to raise excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 8 per litre each in future as Parliament passed the Finance Bill, 2020, that also allowed pension funds to be treated like sovereign wealth funds.

DEL93 BIZ-RBI-LIQUIDITY RBI to infuse Rs 1 lakh crore through term repo auction Mumbai: In a bid to provide additional liquidity to the system hit by the coronavirus outbreak, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday decided to inject Rs 1 lakh crore and assured such move further also if required. DEL176 BIZ-PM-LD ECONOMY Ensure production of essential items not impacted: PM tells India Inc New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked captains of India Inc to ensure that production of essential items is not impacted in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and there is no hoarding and black marketing.

FOREIGN FGN24 VIRUS-NEPAL-BORDER Coronavirus: Nepal seals borders with India, China Kathmandu: The Nepal government has closed its borders with India and China for a week starting Monday, in a bid to prevent a possible outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the Himalayan nation. By Shirish B Pradhan..