HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION DEL85 LD AGNIPATH Agnipath: Violence, arson in states; govt defends scheme, faces opposition ire New Delhi/Patna/Lucknow: Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.

DEL75 LDALL INDIA-ASEAN India fully supports strong and unified ASEAN: Jaishankar New Delhi: Foreign ministers of India and the ASEAN nations on Thursday agreed to work towards a ''meaningful and substantive'' comprehensive strategic partnership even as the two sides explored ways to navigate the implications of the developments in Ukraine on trade and regional security.

DEL59 JK-LD RAJNATH-PAK Pakistan trying to bleed India with a thousand cuts: Rajnath Srinagar: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said Pakistan is continuously trying to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir through its approach of “bleed India with a thousand cuts”, but warned that a befitting reply will be given if attempt is made to hurt the unity and integrity of the nation.

DEL81 VACCINE-NTAGI-BOOSTER GAP NTAGI members agree on reducing Covid booster dose gap to 6 months; discuss monkeypox New Delhi: Members of the government advisory panel NTAGI on Thursday agreed on reducing the gap between the second and precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the current nine to six months, official sources said. By Payal Banerjee DEL61 CONG-RAHUL-NOTICES Cong seeks action against ED officials over ‘selective leaks'; serves notices on HM, FM New Delhi: The Congress has sought action against Enforcement Directorate officials who ''selectively leaked'' to some media houses information related to Rahul Gandhi's questioning, as the party also served a legal notice on three Union ministers over the issue.

DEL9 VIRUS-LD CASES India reports 12,213 new COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths New Delhi: The single day rise in new coronavirus infections were recorded over 12,000 after 111 days, registering 38.4 per cent jump in daily cases while the active cases have increased to 58,215, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Thursday.

DEL38 CONG-MPs-LD POLICE Cong MPs allege Delhi Police treated them like 'terrorists' during protest; meet Birla, Naidu New Delhi: Congress MPs Thursday met the LoK Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman to raise the issue of Delhi Police action against party lawmakers including some women during their protests in the national capital, and alleged they were treated like ''terrorists''. CAL11 WB-ASSEMBLY-LD BJP MLAs West Bengal Assembly speaker revokes suspension of seven BJP MLAs Kolkata: West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Thursday revoked the suspension of seven BJP MLAs, including that of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, taking into consideration separate motions filed by two saffron camp legislators.

BUSINESS DEL84 BIZ-SWISSBANKS-INDIA Indians' funds in Swiss banks jump 50 pc to over Rs 30k cr on surge in securities, institutional holdings; customer deposits up too New Delhi/Zurich: Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through India-based branches and other financial institutions, jumped to a 14-year-high of 3.83 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 30,500 crore) in 2021 on a sharp surge in holdings via securities and similar instruments while customer deposits rose as well, annual data from Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday.

DEL87 BIZ-RBI-LD MASTERCARD RBI lifts curbs on Mastercard, allows it to onboard new customers Mumbai: The RBI on Thursday lifted the restrictions imposed last year on Mastercard and allowed the global payment processor to onboard new customers for debit, credit or prepaid cards in India, after satisfactory compliance with data storage norms.

LEGAL LGD5 SC-2NDLD DEMOLITION SC on UP demolitions: Authorities should strictly follow due process under law New Delhi: Stating that ''everything should be fair'' and authorities should strictly follow the due procedure under the law, the Supreme Court Thursday gave the Uttar Pradesh government and its authorities three days to respond to pleas which alleged that the houses of those accused in last week's violence were illegally demolished.

LGD11 SC-LD JUDGE SC judge MR Shah falls ill in Himachal, being airlifted to Delhi New Delhi: Supreme Court Judge Justice M R Shah was being airlifted to Delhi after falling sick in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, according to sources. FOREIGN FGN56 LANKA-INDIA-RICE-IMPORTS Sri Lanka to import 50,000 MT of rice under Indian credit line: PM Wickremesinghe Colombo: Crisis-hit Sri Lanka has decided to import 50,000 metric tonnes of rice under the Indian credit line to curb an abnormal rise in rice prices, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday, as the island nation is grappling with an impending food shortage.

FGN43 UK-INDIA-HAZARIKA-EXTRADITION Indian-origin doctor Mukul Hazarika freed in terror charge extradition case in UK London: An Indian-origin doctor from Assam fighting against being extradited to India on a terror charge for allegedly being chairman of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) or ULFA (I) won his legal fight as he was discharged by a UK court on Thursday. By Aditi Khanna PTI TDS TDS