HIGHLIGHTS

DEL18 VIRUS- RECOVERIES COVID-19 recoveries near 34 lakh; five states contribute 61 pc of total active cases New Delhi: The number of people recovered from COVID-19 in India has surged to 33,98,844, further improving the recovery rate to 77.77 per cent, while the case fatality rate has dropped to 1.69 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Following are the top stories at 1710 hours: NATION DEL27 PM-SCHEME PM to launch flagship fisheries scheme, app for farmers on Thursday New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will digitally launch the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) on Thursday and also inaugurate the e-Gopala App, a comprehensive breed improvement marketplace and information portal for direct use of farmers. DEL18 VIRUS- RECOVERIES COVID-19 recoveries near 34 lakh; five states contribute 61 pc of total active cases New Delhi: The number of people recovered from COVID-19 in India has surged to 33,98,844, further improving the recovery rate to 77.77 per cent, while the case fatality rate has dropped to 1.69 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said Wednesday. BOM25 MH-KANGANA-LD ARRIVAL Kangana Ranaut lands in Mumbai amid protest at airport Mumbai: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut landed here from her home state Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday afternoon, amid protests by Shiv Sena workers at the airport over her remarks on Mumbai police.

DEL35 RS-DEPUTYCHAIRMAN-LD NOMINATION Harivansh files nomination as NDA candidate to RS deputy chairman post; likely to get elected New Delhi: JD(U) MP Harivansh on Wednesday filed his nomination as the ruling NDA candidate to the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman's post and is likely to be elected, even as the opposition is working to field a joint candidate against him to force a contest. DEL29 RAHUL-LOCKDOWN Lockdown not an attack on coronavirus, but on poor: Rahul New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the lockdown was not an attack on coronavirus but on the poor people and proved to be a "death sentence" for the unorganised sector as it "finished" jobs and small businesses. DEL28 VIRUS-TESTING COVID-19: India's cumulative testing crosses 5.18cr; over 33.95k recoveries so far New Delhi: Over 11.54 lakh COVID-19 tests were conducted in a span of 24 hours taking India's cumulative tests to over 5.18 crore so far, while during the same period nearly 75,000 people have recuperated from the disease taking the total number of recoveries to 33,98,844 in the country, the Centre said on Wednesday. DEL34 DL-VIRUS-PRESCRIPTION Prescription not needed for COVID-19 testing: Delhi govt order New Delhi: A doctor's prescription for COVID-19 testing would not be required in the national capital from now with the Delhi government issuing an order on Wednesday in this regard. MDS11 AP-KISAN-LD RAIL First Kisan Rail from South India chugs off with fruits to Delhi Amaravati/New Delhi: Connecting the farms to the agricultural markets, the first 'Kisan Rail' from south India chugged off from Anantapuramu on Wednesday carrying 322 tonnes of fresh fruits to the famous Azadpur Mandi in the national Capital.

BUSINESS DEL31 BIZ-STOCKS-CLOSE Sensex drops 171 pts; Nifty ends below 11,300 Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled 171 points on Wednesday, tracking losses in index heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Infosys amid weak cues from Asian peers. LEGAL LGD17 SC-LD MARATHA QUOTA SC stays implementation of 2018 Maharashtra law granting reservation to Marathas in education & jobs New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday stayed the implementation of 2018 Maharashtra law granting reservation to Marathas in education and jobs but made it clear that the status of those who have availed of the benefits will not be disturbed.

LGD16 SC-AIR TICKET-REFUND SC asks Centre to clarify if refund will be given for tickets booked for air travel during lockdown New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the Centre to clarify whether it is willing to give complete refund of air tickets booked for travel during the COVID-19 lockdown. FOREIGN FGN27 RUSSIA-JAISHANKAR-BILATERALS Jaishankar meets his Kyrgyz, Tajik counterparts; discusses ways to enhance bilateral ties Moscow: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday held separate bilateral meetings with his Kyrgyz and Tajik counterparts here and discussed bilateral ties and ways to boost India's strategic partnership with the two Central Asian countries.

FGN18 VIRUS-OXFORD-LD VACCINE Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine trial paused after participant illness London: The human trials of one of the most promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates, being developed by the University of Oxford, has been put on hold after a UK participant had an adverse reaction to it. By Aditi Khanna SPORTS SPD6 SPO-MINISTER-NDTL-WADA NDTL is now fully WADA compliant, request you to lift suspension: Rijiju New Delhi: Claiming that the National Dope Testing Laboratory is now "fully WADA-compliant", Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has requested the global anti-doping agency to lift its suspension on NDTL, which was punished for non-conformity with international standards. PTI SRY