HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9 pm: DEL314 BIZ-2NDLD BUDGET FM woos middle class, women with tax, savings sops ahead of elections New Delhi: In Modi government's last full Budget before general elections, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday unveiled tax rebates and saving plans to woo the middle class, women and pensioners, and announced massive spending on housing and infrastructure as she walked the tightrope between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations.

DEL316 BUD-LD DISINVESTMENT Govt lowers FY'23 disinvestment target to Rs 50K cr; pegs target for FY'24 at Rs 51K cr New Delhi: The government has scaled down the disinvestment target for the current fiscal to Rs 50,000 crore, from Rs 65,000 crore budgeted last year, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday.

DEL290 BUD-LD STATES CMs of non-BJP ruled states say Union Budget 'disappointing', 'anti-poor' New Delhi: Chief ministers of non-BJP-ruled states on Wednesday said the Union Budget was ''disappointing'' and ''discriminatory'' and had failed to address the country's economic concerns, while those from the saffron party hailed it as visionary and benefiting all sections of society.

DEL321 BUD-POL-LD REAX 'Amrit Kaal' vs 'Mitra Kaal': BJP says Budget all-inclusive, Oppn alleges it ignores poor, has nothing on jobs, inflation New Delhi: The ruling BJP on Wednesday hailed the Union Budget as an ''all-inclusive'' document which reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ''farsighted'' leadership to make a new India, while the Opposition dismissed it as ''anti-people'' and mere rhetoric lacking the vision for creating jobs and taming inflation.

DEL289 JK-3RDLD AVALANCHE Two Polish nationals killed in massive snow avalanche in Kashmir's Gulmarg Srinagar: A massive avalanche hit the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir's ski resort Gulmarg on Wednesday, killing two Polish tourists and trapping 21 skiers who were rescued from the slopes that had been declared a ''no go zone'', police said.

DEL300 BIZ-STOCKS LD ADANI Adani group stocks nosedive; Adani Enterprises tumble over 28 pc, Adani Ports over 19 pc New Delhi: Shares of Adani Group firms slumped on Wednesday and have lost more than Rs 7 lakh crore of their combined market capitalisation in the last five trading sessions amid concerns over US-based short seller Hindenburg Research's report.

BOM29 MH-SECURITY-LD ARMY CHIEF Security of nation can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on largesse of others: Army chief General Pande Pune: Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande on Wednesday said no country is willing to share the latest, ''state-of-the-art'' technologies and it implies that the security of the nation can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on the largesse of others, highlighting the impact of asymmetric warfare and digital resilience.

MDS20 ISRO-SSLV MISSION-PROBLEMS-EXPLANATION ISRO puts out exhaustive account of what went wrong with first development flight of SSLV Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday gave a detailed account of what went wrong with the first development flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D1) last year and why the mission could not be accomplished.

MDS27 TN-FLIGHT SNAG Delhi flight cancelled after technical glitch during 'pushback' Chennai: A Delhi-bound flight with over 100 passengers was cancelled on Wednesday after a technical snag reportedly during the 'pushback process,' was noticed, official sources here said.

LEGAL: LGD13 SC-LD PRIVACY POLICY Privacy policy: SC asks WhatsApp to give wide publicity to undertaking given to Centre in 2021 New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed WhatsApp to widely publicise its undertaking given to the Centre that it will not limit functionality for users not agreeing to its 2021 privacy policy but will continue to remind users about the update, and ''maintain this approach'' till the proposed data protection law comes into effect.

LGD11 UP-COURT-KAPPAN Court formalities completed for Kappan's release on bail Lucknow: The sureties required for the release of Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan on bail have been submitted in a court here and his lawyer said he might walk out of jail on Thursday.

FOREIGN: FGN33 PAK-BLAST-LD ARREST Peshawar mosque blast: 17 suspects arrested as Pak Army chief directs generals to eliminate threat of militancy Peshawar/Islamabad: Pakistan's security agencies arrested 17 suspects in connection with the suicide blast in a high-security zone mosque in Peshawar that killed 101 people, including 97 policemen, as Army chief Gen Asim Munir vowed zero tolerance for terror groups and directed his generals to eliminate the threat of militancy.

FGN26 US-DOVAL-HICKS-LD DEFENCE Building alliances and partnerships top priority: top Pentagon official tells NSA Doval Washington: US Deputy Defence Secretary Dr Kathleen Hicks told National Security Advisor Ajit Doval that building alliances and partnerships are a ''top priority'' for her department, the Pentagon has said, amidst the Indo-Pacific region's increasingly contested strategic environment and China's aggressive behaviour. By Lalit K Jha.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)