HIGHLIGHTS

These are the top stories at 9.15 pm: Nation PAR14 RS-2NDLD NO CONFIDENCE MOTION 8 MPs suspended in RS; Naidu rejects motion of no-confidence against dy chair New Delhi: Eight opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha, including TMC leader Derek O'Brien and Sanjay Singh of AAP, were on Monday suspended for the remainder of the Monsoon session of Parliament for "unruly behaviour" during the passage of two farm bills, leading to protests and washing out of proceedings. DEL88 SUSPENSION-LD OPPOSITION Oppn parties hit out at govt over suspension of 8 MPs, hold protest on Parliament premises New Delhi: Opposition parties hit out at the government on Monday over the suspension of eight Rajya Sabha MPs and are holding an “indefinite” protest on the Parliament premises against the move.

DEL46 LD-PM Farm bills need of 21st century, mandis and MSP will stay: PM New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday that the farm sector reform bills passed by Parliament were the need of 21st century India and again reassured farmers that the government purchase of their produce coupled with the minimum support price mechanism will continue. PAR24 LS-LD AGRICULTURE Govt hikes support prices for wheat, five other rabi crops New Delhi: The government on Monday hiked the minimum price for buying six rabi crops, including wheat, by up to six per cent, as it sought to send a strong message to farmers on continuation of MSP-based procurement system. DEL58 PM-BIHAR-PROJECTS PM lays foundation for 9 highway projects in Bihar, inaugurates optical fibre connectivity New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for nine national highway projects worth over Rs 14,258 crore in poll-bound Bihar on Monday and launched optical fibre Internet services to connect the state's all 45,945 villages.

DEL93 NITISH-2NDLD OPPOSITION HOUSE Harivansh 'insulted' by oppn members, people of Bihar will give befitting reply: NDA leaders New Delhi: Bihar's ruling NDA on Monday sought to make the heckling of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh an election issue, saying opposition members' "misconduct" towards him has hurt the pride of the poll-bound state and people will give them a befitting reply in the assembly election. DEL13 VIRUS-LD CASES 86,961 new COVID-19 cases in India, tally reaches 54,87,580; death toll mounts to 87,882 New Delhi: India's COVID-19 tally reached 54.88 lakh with 86,961 people being infected in the past 24 hours, while 43,96,399 people have recuperated so far pushing the national recovery rate to 80.12 per cent on Sunday, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

DEL36 SINOINDIA-TALKS Army commanders of India, China hold 6th round of talks on border standoff New Delhi: Senior army commanders of India and China on Monday held talks on implementing a five-point agreement reached between the two countries on disengagement of troops and de-escalation of the tense situation in eastern Ladakh, government sources said. BOM21 MH-2ND LDALL COLLAPSE Maha: 13 dead in Bhiwandi building collapse; 20 rescued Thane: Thirteen persons, including seven children, died and 20 others, including a four-year-old boy, were rescued after a three-storeyed building collapsed in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi town on Monday, police said.

DEL43 UP-PLANE-2NDLD CRASH Four-seater aircraft crashes in UP, trainee pilot dead Azamgarh (UP): A four-seater aircraft crashed in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh on Monday, leaving a 21-year-old trainee pilot dead, officials said, as they suspected that bad weather led to the incident. DEL79 NAVY-LD WOMEN Breaking glass ceiling: Navy selects two officers for deployment on warships Kochi/New Delhi: In a historic first aimed at ensuring gender parity, the Indian Navy has selected two women officers as helicopter crew for deployment on frontline warships on short and long-duration missions, officials said on Monday.

DEL82 RAFALE-WOMAN 2NDLD PILOT IAF's Rafale fleet to have first woman pilot soon New Delhi: A woman fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force will soon join the newly-inducted Rafale fighter fleet as one of its crew flying the multi-role air dominance aircraft, official sources said on Monday. Legal LGD22 SC-SUDARSHAN TV-CENTRE Print & electronic media rarely cross line, digital media is completely uncontrolled: Centre to SC New Delhi: The print and electronic media “rarely cross the line” by the very nature of their composition but the digital media is “completely uncontrolled” and “remains unregulated” by and large, the Centre has told the Supreme Court. Business DEL56 BIZ-LD STOCKS Markets crash amid global meltdown; investors lose Rs 4.23 lakh cr Mumbai: The Sensex dived 812 points while the Nifty closed below the 11,300-mark on Monday, in tandem with a global selloff after a resurgence of coronavirus cases in Europe stoked fears of another round of lockdowns.

Foreign FGN26 UN-DECLARATION UNGA adopts forward-looking declaration to mark 75th anniversary of United Nations United Nations: The UN General Assembly adopted by consensus on Monday a forward-looking declaration on the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the world body that calls for strengthening mechanism to combat terrorism, reformed multilateralism, inclusive development and better preparedness to deal with challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic. By Yoshita Singh PTI HDA.