HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 2100 hours: NATION DEL47 RAHUL-GOVT-LD EMPLOYMENT Modi government harmful for employment: Rahul New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the biggest national issue is unemployment and alleged that the Narendra Modi government is ''harmful for employment''.

DEL44 CONG-NMP Cong slams Centre over NMP issue, asks govt to 'stop playing with national assets' Chandigarh: The Congress on Friday slammed the BJP government at the Centre over its National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) and asked it to stop playing with national assets.

DEL56 CBI-LD IIT JEE manipulation: 7 arrested by CBI New Delhi: The CBI has arrested seven persons including two directors of a Noida-based private institution in connection with alleged manipulation of JEE Mains examination 2021, officials said Friday.

DEL53 VIRUS-R VALUE After dropping below one, Covid R-value rises sharply to 1.17 in second half of August New Delhi: The R-value which reflects how rapidly coronavirus pandemic is spreading, has sharply risen close to 1.2 over the last fortnight, mainly driven by cases in states like Kerala and Maharashtra, say researchers.

DEL50 BIZ-RBI-FOREX RESERVES Forex reserves surge USD 16.663 bn to record high of USD 633.558 bn Mumbai: The country's foreign exchange reserves soared by USD 16.663 billion to touch a lifetime high of USD 633.558 billion in the week ended August 27, mainly due to an increase in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) holdings, RBI data showed. DEL49 BIZ-LD MARUTI SUZUKI Maruti recalls over 1.81 lakh units of various models to replace faulty electrical part New Delhi: The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Friday said it is recalling 1,81,754 units of petrol trims of various models, including Ciaz, Vitara Brezza and XL6, to replace faulty motor generator unit.

BOM17 LD ALL SHUKLA Actor Sidharth Shukla cremated, no sign of unnatural death in initial autopsy report Mumbai: TV and film actor Sidharth Shukla, whose sudden death at the age of 40 stunned the showbiz industry and TV fandom, was cremated here on Friday in the presence of his family, friends and colleagues DEL51 CONG-CASTE CENSUS-PANEL Cong constitutes panel to study matters related to caste census New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday constituted a seven-member committee to study matters related to caste census with senior leaders M Veerappa Moily, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Salman Khurshid being part of the panel.

LEGAL LGD28 SC-LD EXAMS SC stays Kerala govt's decision to conduct offline exams for Class XI New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday stayed for a week Kerala government's decision to conduct offline exams for Class XI commencing from September 6 amid the rising cases of COVID saying ''there is an alarming situation in the state.'' LGD27 SC-SHIVINDER-RFL How much time is needed for completing probe into siphoning of RFL funds, SC asks police New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday asked Delhi Police how much time it needed to complete the probe in a case in which former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh is accused of allegedly misappropriating about Rs 2,400 crore from Religare Finvest Ltd fund.

FOREIGN FGN49 PAK-UK-LD TALIBAN UK foreign secretary sees importance in engaging with Taliban Islamabad: UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Friday said it is important to engage with the Taliban government in Afghanistan for a range of reasons, including the safe passage of British citizens, but dismissed talks of recognising it officially as ''premature''. By Sajjad Hussain FGN45 CHINA-BRICS-AFGHAN Afghan crisis likely on BRICS summit agenda, indicates China Beijing: The crisis in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Taliban toppling the US-backed government in Kabul is expected to be discussed during the BRICS summit scheduled this month, China indicated on Friday.

By K J M Varma SPORTS SPD4 SPO-TT-MANIKA-COACH-FIXING Manika alleges national coach Roy asked her to fix match in Olympic qualifiers New Delhi: Table tennis star Manika Batra has alleged that national coach Soumyadeep Roy asked her to throw a match during the Olympic qualifiers in March and that was the main reason she refused his help in the singles competition of the Tokyo Games. By Bharat Sharma PTI SRY