HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9.15 pm: NATION DEL96 PM-3RDLD KASHMIR ****J-K touching new heights of development, breathing freely after Art 370 abrogation: PM at Srinagar rally Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is “breathing freely” after the abrogation of Article 370 and pledged accelerated progress over the next five years.**** DEL114 RJ-3RDLD RAHUL ****Rahul's Nyay Yatra: Cong promises right to employment, apprenticeships for youth Jaipur: The Congress on Thursday promised right to employment as well as apprenticeships for youths in a series of assurances made by its leader Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Rajasthan's Banswara.**** DEL109 CAB-DA-HIKE ****Centre hikes DA to 50 pc of basic pay for its employees New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) to 50 per cent of basic pay from the existing rate of 46 per cent effective from January 1 this year, benefitting over 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of general elections.**** DEL95 CAB-LPG-SUBSIDY ****Govt extends Rs 300 LPG subsidy for Ujjwala beneficiaries for FY25 New Delhi: Ahead of general elections, the government on Thursday announced the extension of Rs 300 per LPG cylinder subsidy to poor women under the Ujjwala Yojana for the next fiscal starting April 1.**** CAL33 WB-LD ALL MAMATA ****BJP spreading canards about Sandeshkhali; Bengal safest state for women: Mamata Kolkata: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the ''storm of Sandeshkhali' will decimate TMC in West Bengal'', state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday hit back accusing the BJP of spreading canards about Sandeshkhali incidents while asserting that the state is the safest place in the country for women.**** DEL120 BJP-CONG LEADER-LD JOIN ****Cong leader Padmaja Venugopal joins BJP, says grand old party lacks strong leadership New Delhi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran, joined the BJP here on Thursday and said she was not happy with the grand old party for several years as it lacked a strong leadership.**** DEL108 HP-CM-REBELS ****Himachal crisis: CM Sukhu set to meet Congress central leadership, says dialogue with rebels possible Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu suggested “dialogue” as a way out of the crisis triggered last week by six party rebels as he headed Thursday to Delhi for a meeting with the Congress central leadership.**** DEL92 BJP-LD TDP ****TDP chief Naidu in Delhi amid buzz of alliance with BJP New Delhi: Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu arrived here on Thursday and may meet senior BJP leaders amid a buzz that the two parties are likely to revive their alliance for Lok Sabha and assembly polls, which will be held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh.**** DEL118 DEF-NAVY-LD RESCUE ****Indian warship rescues 21 crew members of drone-hit vessel in Gulf of Aden New Delhi: Indian warship INS Kolkata rescued 21 crew members, including an Indian national, after three of their colleagues in a Barbados-flagged cargo vessel were killed following a Houthi missile strike on the bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.**** BOM19 MH-SAIBABA-2ND LD RELEASE ****It's a wonder I came out of jail alive: Ex-DU professor Saibaba after release from Nagpur jail Nagpur: Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was released from the Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday after his acquittal in an alleged Maoist links case, said it’s a “wonder that he could come out alive” despite suffering the “brutal” jail life.**** DEL83 ED-SP-MLA-3RDLD RAIDS ****ED raids SP MLA Irfan Solanki's premises in Kanpur; seizes diaries, cash Kanpur/Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted searches at the premises of jailed Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki and his family members in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said.**** LEGAL LGD37 SC-LD SHIV SENA ****Sena Vs Sena: SC questions speaker’s decision, summons original records on disqualification New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the use of “legislative majority” test by Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar while deciding that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction was the real Shiv Sena, and summoned the original records relating to the disqualification row from the speaker's office.**** LGD25 DL-COURT-EXCISE CUSTODY ****Excise scam: Delhi court extends judicial custody of AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday extended the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.**** LGD31 SC-NAVLAKHA ****NIA claims in SC Navlakha owes 1.64 cr towards house arrest security, activist terms it 'extortion' New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Gautam Navlakha is required to make a payment of Rs 1.64 crore towards expenses for making available police personnel for his security during house arrest even as the activist's lawyer disputed the figure and accused the agency of ''extortion''.**** LGD39 DL-HC-WFI ****WFI to withdraw circular on conducting trials for upcoming events, HC told New Delhi: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which has been placed under suspension by the Centre, told the Delhi High Court on Thursday it will withdraw its circular on conducting selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier Wrestling Tournament.**** FOREIGN FGN20 JAPAN- JAISHANKAR- RAISINA-CHINA ****Jaishankar blames China for not observing longstanding written agreements Tokyo: Taking a dig at China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said Beijing has not observed longstanding written agreements with India and blamed it for the bloodshed at the borders in 2020, the first in more than four decades.****