HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9.15 pm: NATION DEL74 2NDLD AFGHAN-INDIA-TALIBAN Concerns relating to terrorism primary focus: India on Afghanistan New Delhi: India's immediate focus in Afghanistan is to ensure that Afghan soil is not used for terrorist activities against it and it was still ''very early days'' to talk about any possible recognition to the Taliban, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday.

DEL62 VIRUS-HEALTH-INTERNATIONAL TRAVELLERS Amid fear of new Covid strains, RT-PCR test compulsory for those arriving from 7 more nations New Delhi: Amid fear of new COVID-19 strains, RT-PCR test is compulsory for passengers arriving from seven more countries, including South Africa, Bangladesh and China, the Centre said on Thursday.

DEL22 VIRUS-2NDLD CASES India logs 47,092 new COVID-19 cases, highest in two months New Delhi: India recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 infections in over two months with 47,092 people contracting the disease as the country's total tally of cases rose to 3,28,57,937.

DEL66 VACCINATION-LD POPULATION Over half of India's adult population received at least 1 dose of Covid vaccine: Govt New Delhi: More than half of India's adult population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 16 per cent have got both, the Union government said on Thursday as the cumulative number of doses administered in the country crossed 67 crore.

DEL65 MHA-FOREIGNERS-VISA Govt extends visas of all foreign nationals stuck in India due to COVID-19 till Sep 30 New Delhi: The government on Thursday extended till September 30 visas of all foreign nationals stuck in India due to COVID-19 pandemic, an official spokesperson said here.

DEL61 ED-PMC BANK-ATTACH PMC bank fraud: ED attaches HDIL group's shares worth Rs 233 crore New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached partly-paid compulsorily convertible preference shares worth Rs 233 crore of HDIL group companies in the alleged multi-crore-rupee PMC bank fraud and money-laundering case.

DEL58 PARLIAMENT-BIRLA-DIGNITY MPs should maintain dignity of Parliament, we don't want to act like headmasters: LS Speaker Srinagar: Underlining that MPs should maintain the dignity of Parliament while sharing their views, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said chairs of Houses don't want to act like headmasters and punish the members for their misconduct.

MDS14 KL-VIRUS-LD CASES Kerala logs 32,097 fresh COVID cases, 188 deaths Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's overall Covid cases breached 41 lakh as its consistently high daily numbers showed no signs of a let-up, with the southern state once again witnessing over 30,000 new infections on Thursday.

CAL3 WB-SIT-ASSIST WB govt appoints 10 IPS officers to assist SIT probe on post-poll violence Kolkata: The West Bengal government has appointed ten IPS officers to assist a special investigating team (SIT) formed by the Calcutta High Court to probe cases of post-poll violence in the state, a senior official said on Thursday.

LEGAL LGD10 SC-JAMIAT-LD MEDIA Section of media gives communal colour to news bringing bad name to nation, says SC New Delhi: A section of media gives communal colour to news bringing bad name to the country, the Supreme Court rued on Thursday, expressing serious concern over fake news on social media including web portals and YouTube which listen only to “the powerful voices” and not judges and institutions.

LGD8 DL-HC-RIOTS-LD FIR Delhi riots: Police can’t lodge 5 FIRs on same incident, says HC; quashes 4 New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has held that police cannot lodge five FIRs for the same incident and quashed four of them registered for the alleged offences of looting and setting on fire a compound during the north-east Delhi riots last year.

LGD19 DL-COURT-SEDITION JNU's Sharjeel Imam tried to imbibe sense of hopelessness in Muslims: Police tells court in sedition case New Delhi: Delhi Police told a court here on Thursday that JNU student Sharjeel Imam, arrested in a sedition case under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA, tried to instil a sense of hopelessness in Muslims through his alleged inflammatory speeches.

FOREIGN FGN31 SLOVENIA-JAISHANKAR Jaishankar discusses key challenges facing India and EU with Slovenian president Ljubljana: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met Slovenian President Borut Pahor and discussed key challenges facing India and the European Union.

FGN24 AFGHAN-TALIBAN-GOVT Taliban all set to announce its new govt in Afghanistan; Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada to be named Supreme Leader Peshawar: The Taliban are all set to announce the formation of a new government in Kabul on the lines of the Iranian leadership, with the group's top religious leader Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada as Afghanistan's supreme authority, a senior member of the group has said.

FGN30 UK-INDIA-LD DIALOGUE India, UK agree investment boost at Economic and Financial Dialogue London: New steps to tackle climate change and boost investment were announced on Thursday at the 11th India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, driving forward the bilateral agenda of an Enhanced Trade Partnership. By Aditi Khanna PTI MGA MGA MGA