HIGHLIGHTS AT 1 PM

These are the top stories at 1 pm: NATION DEL25 DL-FARMERS-2NDLD HUNGER STRIKE Agitating farmers begin day-long fast, to intensify protest against farm laws New Delhi: A day-long hunger strike by farmers protesting against the Centre's three farm laws was underway at Delhi border points on Monday even as the agitation spread to different parts of the country with peasant unions staging demonstrations at district headquarters. DEL26 DEF-RAJNATH Indian forces fought PLA with utmost bravery; forced them to go back:: Rajanth on Ladakh row New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said India's armed forces stood up to aggression along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and fought the Chinese military with ''utmost bravery'', forcing it to go back.

DEL10 VIRUS-LD CASES COVID-19: Daily new cases dip below 30,000 again this month New Delhi: The daily new COVID-19 cases fell below 30,000 for the third time this month taking India's virus caseload to 98.84 lakh, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 93.88 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. CAL1 WB-SONOWAL Working to transform Guwahati as gateway to Southeast Asia: Sonowal Kolkata: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Monday that his government was working to transform Guwahati as a gateway to Southeast Asia.

BOM2 MH-SESSION-PROTEST Maha BJP legislators protest over Maratha quota issue Mumbai: Legislators of the Opposition BJP squatted on the stairs of the Vidhan Bhavan building here on Monday to protest against the Maharashtra government's ''lackadaisical attitude'' towards the Maratha quota and farmers' issues. BOM1 CG-BLAST-CRPF Chhattisgarh: CoBRA officer injured in IED blast dies Raipur: An officer of the CRPF's elite unit CoBRA, who was injured in an IED blast in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, died in the wee hours of Monday, a senior police official said.

MDS3 TL-DATTATREYA Himachal Governor Dattatreya escapes unhurt in road mishap in Telangana Hyderabad: Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatreya had a lucky escape after his car veered off the road on the national highway on Monday, police said. FOREIGN FGN8 VIRUS-GITANJALI-VACCINE Indian-American TIME's Kid of the Year Gitanjali focuses on effective COVID-19 vaccine distribution New York: Young Indian-American scientist Gitanjali Rao, TIME magazine's first-ever 'Kid of the Year', has said she is brainstorming about solutions for the effective vaccine distribution to address a pressing challenge posed by the coronavirus, and has set her sights on preventing future pandemics. By Yoshita Singh FGN6 US-MUMBAI-RANA US court rejects bail plea of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana Washington: A US court has denied the bail plea of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack and declared a fugitive by India, asserting that he has not negated the ''risk of flight''. By Lalit K Jha PTI SMN SMN SMN