HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 2100 hours:

DEL21 LDALL VIRAAT INS Viraat row: Fmr Navy chief Ramdas, others reject Modi's charge, Cong calls PM ''serial liar''

New Delhi: A full-blown controversy broke out on Thursday over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allegation that Rajiv Gandhi used INS Viraat as a "personal taxi" with former Navy chief Admiral (retd) L Ramdas as well as a former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier rejecting it and the charge becoming fodder for a political slugfest between the Congress and the BJP.

ELN41 UP-LDALL SHAH The more the oppn leaders hurl abuses at Modi the more the lotus will bloom:Shah

Sant Kabirnagar/Siddharthnagar/Balrampur (UP): Hitting out at the Congress and other opposition parties, BJP chief Amit Shah Thursday said the more their leaders hurl abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi the more the lotus will bloom.

ELN7 WB-LD MODI Mamata insulting the Constitution by not accepting me as PM: Modi

Bankura/Purulia (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is insulting the Constitution by saying that she is not ready to accept him as the prime minister of the country.

DEL19 POLLS-MISMATCH-RULE EC prepares for bigger VVPAT count on May 23

New Delhi: As it prepares for the mammoth exercise of counting of votes for Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission has stated that in case of a mismatch between EVM and VVPAT machine counts, the latter will be held valid.

ELN50 UP-LD PRIYANKA Never saw a more coward, weak PM than Modi: Priyanka

Pratapgarh/Jaunpur (UP): Stepping up her attack on Narendra Modi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said she had never seen "a more coward and weak" prime minister than him.

ELN48 MP-2NDLD RAHUL PM only harps on past, time to say goodbye to him, BJP: Rahul

Bina (MP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has nothing to say on his government's performance in the last five years and hence keeps talking about what happened in the past, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said Thursday.

ELN44 DL-2NDLD ATISHI-PAMPHLET

Atishi says BJP distributed obscene pamphlets about her, saffron party denies New Delhi: East Delhi AAP candidate Atishi Thursday broke down while reading a pamphlet containing "obscene and derogatory" remarks against her that she alleged has been distributed in the constituency by her BJP rival Gautam Gambhir, a charge denied by the cricketer-turned-politician.

MDS1 KA-PRAGYA-LANKESH

Gauri Lankesh killing: SIT denies reports linking Sadhvi Pragya Bengaluru: The special investigation team probing the journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh murder case denied a media report about BJP MP candidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's involvement in the crime.

LEGAL

LGD30 SC-2ND LD AYODHYA

Ayodhya land dispute: 3-member mediation committee submits report in SC, matter to be heard Friday New Delhi: The Supreme Court constituted three-member mediation committee, tasked with exploring the possibility of an amicable settlement in the decades-old, politically sensitive, Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, has submitted its interim report in a sealed cover.

LGD28 SC-2ND LD RAHUL GANDHI

SC dismisses plea seeking to debar Rahul Gandhi from contesting LS polls New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed a plea seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission to debar Congress President Rahul Gandhi from contesting the Lok Sabha elections till the issue of his alleged British citizenship is decided.

LGD25 SC-LD RAJIV

SC disposes of plea of victims' kin against TN's move to release convicts in Rajiv Gandhi case New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of a plea of the kin of those killed along with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, challenging the Tamil Nadu government's 2014 decision to release seven convicts in the assassination case.

FOREIGN

FGN21 UK-NIRAV MODI Nirav Modi fails to convince UK judge that he's not a flight risk

London: A UK judge who denied bail to Nirav Modi for a third time remained unconvinced that his community ties to Britain were strong enough to not make him a flight risk even though the fugitive diamond merchant was willing to double his security to 2 million pounds and live on a strict 24-hour curfew at his posh apartment in London. By Aditi Khanna

FGN19 NKOREA-2NDLD PROJECTILES North Korea fires missiles as US envoy visits Seoul

Seoul: North Korea welcomed a US envoy's visit to Seoul by firing two missiles Thursday, the South's military said, in Pyongyang's second launch in less than a week as it seeks to up the ante in deadlocked nuclear negotiations with Washington. (AFP)

FGN32 INDOPAK-SCO-MINISTERS Qureshi, Swaraj likely to interact during SCO meeting in Kyrgyzstan

Islamabad: Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and her Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj are likely to interact during the upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kyrgyzstan later this month, a top Pakistani official said Thursday. By Sajjad Hussain

FGN16 PRIVACY-GOOGLE-PICHAI Google will never sell any personal info to 3rd parties: CEO Pichai

New York: Google will never sell any personal information of its users to third parties, CEO Sundar Pichai has said, amidst growing global concern over the misuse of personal data by some social media giants.