HIGHLIGHTS AT 1700 HOURS

Following are the top PTI stories at 1700 hours:

DEL42 TERROR-LD INDIA

India will have 'all options' available in case there is another terror strike: Officials New Delhi: India will have "all options" available in case there is another terror strike, official sources asserted while maintaining that the government will insist on concrete steps by Pakistan in dismantling terror infrastructure.

DEL45 CONG-LD AAP ALLIANCE

Cong says no alliance with AAP in Delhi, will contest alone New Delhi: The Congress will not have an alliance with AAP and contest alone in Delhi in the coming Lok Sabha election, its state unit chief Sheila Dikshit said.

DEL43 UP-AKHILESH

SP, BSP give RLD three LS seats in UP, Akhilesh says Cong part of 'mahagatbandhan' Lucknow: The Rashtriya Lok Dal will contest three Lok Sabha seats as part of an alliance with the SP and the BSP, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said and also declared that the Congress was very much part of the "mahagatbandhan".

MDS6 TN-LD DMK

DMK finalises seat-sharing in TN; to contest 20 LS seats Chennai: The DMK announced that it would contest from 20 seats in Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha elections, with the M K Stalin-led party finalising its seat-sharing agreements with all of its allies -- a total eight of them.

BOM7 GJ-LD MODI

Asking govt to account for its work a new trend: Modi Adalaj (Guj): Asking the government to account for its work has now become a trend in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here.

DEL11 PULWAMA-LD NAVY CHIEF

Have reports of terrorists being trained to carry out operations through sea: Navy chief New Delhi: Weeks after the Pulwama attack, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba warned that there are reports about terrorists being trained to carry out operations through the sea.

DEL16 BJP-WEBSITE

Official website of BJP hacked, taken offline New Delhi: The official website of the Bharatiya Janata Party, http://www.bjp.org, was taken offline after hackers defaced the site.

DEL12 JK-LD ENCOUNTER

2 Hizbul Mujahideen militants killed in encounter in J-K's Pulwama Srinagar, Mar 5 (PTI) Two local militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen have been killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.

DEL46 POL-AP-TDP

TDP accuses TRS of misusing power to get AP voters' data to help Opposition New Delhi: The Telugu Desam Party accused Telangana's ruling TRS of misusing power to help TDP's rival YSR Congress, after a Hyderabad-based firm was embroiled in a row over alleged data theft of Andhra Pradesh voters.

DEL39 POL-BJP-LD AIRSTRIKE

Cong 'lowering' morale of forces by seeking air strike proof, says BJP New Delhi: The BJP accused the Congress of "lowering the morale and prestige" of the forces by seeking evidence of the air strike carried out by the Indian Air Force on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Pakistan.

MDS3 TN-AIRSTRIKE-SITHARAMAN

Balakot airstrike 'not military action' as no damage to civilians: Sitharaman Chennai: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Balakot airstrike, where the Indian Air Force targeted and destroyed a JeM camp in Pakistan last week, was "not a military action" as there was no damage to civilians.

LEGAL

LGD1 SC-FIRECRACKERS Improved formulation for manufacturing green crackers finalised, PESO tells SC

New Delhi: Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) told the Supreme Court that it has finalised "improved formulations" for making green firecrackers and product approvals will be given to manufacturers by March 21.

BUSINESS DCM33 BIZ-LD INDIA-US-HIGH DUTIES

India's import duties not high; within global trade norms of WTO: Govt New Delhi: Rejecting the US claims of imposing "tremendously high" tariffs, India said its import duties are not high and are within the norms of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

FOREIGN

FGN26 US-TRUMP-INDIA-LDALL GSP Trump plans to scrap India's preferential trade status; New Delhi says move won't hurt much

Washington/New Delhi: President Donald Trump has announced plans to scrap the preferential trade treatment for India, claiming that New Delhi has failed to assure the US of "equitable and reasonable" access to its markets, a move India said will not have a "significant impact" on its exports to America. By Lalit K Jha

SPORTS SPD8 SPO-IND-INNINGS

India 250 all out in second ODI Nagpur: India were all out for 250 in the second ODI against Australia here. PTI

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