HIGHLIGHTS

These are the top stories at 9.20 pm: Nation DEL92 LD INDOPAK No message to Pak for talks, says India; Dubs Pak PM's security advisor's claim as 'misleading, fictitious' New Delhi: India has not sent any message to Pakistan for talks as claimed by its Prime Minister Imran Khan's special advisor on national security, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday, and asserted that Islamabad's support to terrorism and use of abusive language against New Delhi are not conducive to normal neighbourly relations. DEL82 JK-ALLIANCE Political alliance formed by JK mainstream parties for restoration of special status Srinagar: Mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday held a meeting and formed an alliance for restoration of the special status of the erstwhile state as it existed before August 5 last year and also to initiate a dialogue between all stakeholders in the issue.

DEL83 MEA-SINOINDIA-JAISHANKAR Talks between India and China are going on; do not want to pre-judge: Jaishankar New Delhi: India and China are engaged in talks to resolve the border standoff and what is going on is "something confidential" between the two sides, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. DEL78 SINOINDIA-LADAKH J and K and Ladakh integral part of India, asserts MEA in a rebuff to China New Delhi: India on Thursday asserted that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh "have been, are, and would" remain an integral part of the country, insisting that China has no locus standi to comment on its internal matters.

DEL98 ENV-2NDLDALL POLLUTION Javadekar flags off 50 inspection teams, says only 4% pollution in Delhi-NCR due to stubble burning New Delhi: Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday appealed to Punjab government to curb stubble burning but asserted that only 4 per cent of pollution in Delhi-NCR is due to crop residue burning as the rest is due to local factors. MDS27 TL-RAINS-LD RELIEF Two days after heavy rains, Hyderabad limps back to normalcy; relief operations underway Hyderabad: After being battered by torrential rains that triggered one of the worst floods in recent times and claimed 50 lives, the city and other parts of Telangana were returning to normalcy on Thursday with relief measures being stepped up by the government.

DEL89 BIZ-LD GST-BORROWING Centre to borrow on behalf of states to meet GST shortfall New Delhi: The Central government will borrow up to Rs 1.1 lakh crore on behalf of the states to bridge the shortfall in GST collections, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. DEL12 VIRUS-LD CASES COVID-19: 67,708 new cases take India's virus tally to 73,07,097 New Delhi: India's COVID-19 tally of cases climbed to 73.07 lakh with 67,708 new cases in a day, while 63,83,441 people have recuperated so far pushing the national recovery rate to 87.35 per cent on Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

DEL75 VIRUS-PM-MEETING PM calls for scaling up of COVID-19 testing, sero surveys New Delhi: Calling for continued vigilance and a high state of preparedness against the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday directed health authorities to scale up COVID-19 testing and sero-surveys and said the facility to get tested regularly and speedily at a low cost must be available to all at the earliest. DEL84 BHANU ATHAIYA-LD DEAD India's first Oscar winner Bhanu Athaiya dies in Mumbai home Mumbai: Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, India’s first Oscar winner, died at her home on Thursday after prolonged illness, her daughter said. She was 91.

CAL6 BH-LD CHIRAG-INTERVIEW Nitish behaved with my father haughtily, worked to defeat LJP nominees in LS polls: Chirag Patna: LJP president Chirag Paswan trashed on Thursday suggestions that he parted ways with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) because of differences over seat-sharing for the Bihar assembly polls, and accused the chief minister of harming the Dalit community by creating a sub-group of Mahadalits. By Anwar Sayeed Legal LGD7 SC-HATHRAS Let Allahabad HC deal with Hathras case, says SC New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday said the Allahabad High Court be allowed to monitor the Hathras case in which a Dalit girl was allegedly brutally raped and died of injuries. LGD22 SC-FACEBOOK-ASSEMBLY Delhi Assembly committee's proceeding on Facebook without jurisdiction: Centre to SC New Delhi: The Centre Thursday told the Supreme Court that proceedings of the Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony committee, which has summoned Facebook India VP and MD Ajit Mohan to appear as a witness in connection with the north-east Delhi riots, is “without jurisdiction” as the issue pertained to law and order.

Business DEL28 BIZ-LD BARC-TRP TRP scam: BARC temporarily suspends weekly ratings of news channels Mumbai: Following the fake Television Rating Points (TRP) scam, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) on Thursday announced a temporary suspension of weekly ratings of news channels across languages. Foreign FGN35 VIRUS-IMF-LD MD World facing new Bretton Woods moment: IMF MD Washington: Facing the twin task of fighting the coronavirus pandemic today and building a better tomorrow, the world is experiencing a new Bretton Woods moment, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday. By Lalit K Jha.