Highlights

Following are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION DEL39 UKD-2NDLD CM Pushkar Singh Dhami to be new Uttarakhand CM Dehradun: Pushkar Singh Dhami will be the new chief minister of Uttarakhand following his election on Saturday as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the hill state where assembly polls are due next year. DEL7 PM-MSME-RETAIL Committed to empowering our traders: PM Modi New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday described as ''landmark'' the decision to include retail and wholesale trade as MSMEs, which will allow traders the benefits of priority sector lending, and said his government is committed to empowering the community.

DEL6 VIRUS-LD CASES India records 44,111 new COVID-19 cases, 738 deaths New Delhi: India saw a single-day rise of 44,111 new coronavirus infections, raising its tally to 3,05,02,362, while the death toll climbed to 4,01,050 with 738 new fatalities, the lowest in 86 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

DEL14 DEF-RAFALE-FRANCE-PROBE France begins judicial probe into Rafale deal with India: French media New Delhi: A French judge has been appointed to lead a ''highly sensitive'' judicial investigation into alleged ''corruption and favouritism'' in the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal with India, French investigative website Mediapart reported.

DEL29 BIZ-PRASAD-LD IT RULES First compliance report by Google, FB under new IT rules big step towards transparency: Prasad New Delhi: IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday lauded major social media platforms such as Google, Facebook and Instagram for publishing their first compliance report on voluntary removal of offensive posts as per new IT rules, terming it a big step towards transparency. DEL32 RAFALE-PROBE-LD BJP Rahul acting as 'agent' of rival firms, BJP alleges as Congress attacks govt on Rafale deal New Delhi: The BJP alleged on Saturday that Rahul Gandhi is acting as an agent of rival defence companies and being used as a ''pawn'', and also claimed he and the Congress keep raking up allegations of corruption in the Rafale deal in an attempt to ''weaken'' India.

MDS1 TL-COVAXIN-ANALYSIS Final analysis of Covaxin efficacy out; vaccine 65.2 percent effective against Delta variant Hyderabad: Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and 65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant.

DEL43 VIRUS-THIRD WAVE-MODEL Covid 3rd wave may see half the cases recorded during second surge, says govt panel scientist New Delhi: The third wave of coronavirus could hit the peak between October-November if Covid appropriate behaviour is not followed, but may see half the daily cases recorded during the second surge, according to a scientist of a government panel tasked with modelling of COVID-19 cases.

DEL18 ED-SEARCHES-LD RELIGIOUS CONVERSION ED raids in Delhi, UP in alleged religious conversion PMLA case New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at six locations in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in a money laundering case linked to alleged conversion of some deaf students and poor people to Islam in UP with purported funding from abroad, official sources said.

DEL8 ED-DESHMUKH-SUMMON ED issues fresh summons to ex-Maha home min Deshmukh in money laundering case Mumbai: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has been issued fresh summons by the ED for appearance on July 5 in a money laundering case investigation being conducted against him and others, officials said on Saturday. MDS9 KL-HEIST-SURENDRAN Heist case: Kerala BJP chief says ready to face any probe team Kozhikode: Kerala BJP chief K Surendran on Saturday said he was not afraid to appear before any probe team but said he was yet to decide whether or not to appear before the special investigation team probing into the Kodakara highway heist case.

LEGAL LGD1 WB-TMC-LAW OFFICER SG denies meeting West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari New Delhi: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has denied meeting West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari at his official residence here after the Trinamool Congress wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his removal over the issue.

LGD7 DL-HC-TWITTER-IT RULES In final stages of appointing interim resident grievance officer: Twitter tells Delhi HC New Delhi: Twitter has told the Delhi High Court that it is in the ''final stages'' of appointing an interim chief compliance officer and an interim resident grievance officer under the new Information Technology (IT) Rules.

FOREIGN FGN3 VIRUS-WHO-DELTA Delta variant dangerous and continuing to evolve and mutate: WHO chief United Nations/Geneva: The world is in a very ''dangerous period'' of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded by more transmissible variants like Delta, which is continuing to evolve and mutate, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned. By Yoshita Singh. FGN21 LANKA-INDIA-SAFETY-STUDY Indian Navy ship completes safety study near Colombo Port; submits report to Lankan authorities Colombo: The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka on Saturday said Indian naval ship, INS Sarvekshak, has surveyed 800 miles of the sea near the Colombo Port and a findings report has been sent to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Fisheries to resume safe navigation and commercial fishing.