HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 1300 hours:

NATION:

DEL18 PREZ-NIRBHAYA President rejects mercy plea of Nirbhaya convict Mukesh Singh

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh Singh, one of the four men convicted in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, sources said.

DEL16 PB-CAA-RESOLUTION Resolution against CAA moved in Punjab Assembly

Chandigarh: The ruling Congress moved a resolution in the State Assembly here on Friday demanding scrapping of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

DEL13 RAHUL-DAVINDER-NIA

Rahul hits out at NIA chief, says best way to 'silence' Davinder Singh is to give him case New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that the best way to "silence" Jammu and Kashmir DSP Davinder Singh was to hand the investigations against him to NIA chief Y C Modi, under whose care the case will be "as good as dead".

DEL14 RUSSIA-LD INDIA

Russian envoy says no doubts on India's Kashmir approach, S-400 missiles to be delivered to India by 2025 New Delhi: Russia has no doubts about India's approach on Kashmir, which is a strictly bilateral matter between India and Pakistan, Moscow's envoy to New Delhi Nikolay Kudashev said on Friday. Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin added that all S-400 air defence missile systems will be delivered to India by 2025. The production of S-400 missiles to be delivered to India has started, he said.

MDS6 TL-OWAISI-RAWAT

Owaisi hits out at Bipin Rawat on "de-radicalisation" comments Hyderabad: Hitting out at the Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat who said de-radicalisation camps are operating in the country, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has

questioned who would deradicalise attackers of Muslims and Dalits.

BOM3 GJ-RAIL-TEJAS Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express flagged off

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express was flagged off from here on Friday by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, becoming the second semi high-speed train to be run by Railway subsidiary IRCTC.

MDS5 KA-3RDLD SATELLITE

ISRO's GSAT-30 satellite successfully launched by Ariane rocket Bengaluru: India's "high power" communication satellite GSAT-30, aimed at providing high-quality television, telecommunications and broadcasting services, was successfully launched onboard Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana in the early hours of Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here.

LEGAL:

LGD9 SC-MLA

SC refuses to stay Allahabad HC verdict annulling election of SP MP Azam Khan's son as UP MLA New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Allahabad High Court verdict annulling the election of Samajwadi Party MP Mohammad Azam Khan's son to the UP Assembly on grounds that he was underage and not qualified to fight the 2017 polls.

BUSINESS:

DCM6 BIZ-STOCKS-VODA-IDEA

Vodafone Idea shares nosedive over 39 pc New Delhi: Shares of Vodafone Idea on Friday plunged over 39 per cent after the Supreme Court dismissed review petitions of top telecom firms seeking review of its earlier order asking them to pay Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past statutory dues by January 23.

DEL2 BIZ-STOCKS-OPEN

Sensex, Nifty off to choppy start; RIL up 2 pc ahead of Q2 results Mumbai: Market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty started on a tepid note on Friday ahead of quarterly results of index heavyweights Reliance Industries, TCS and HCL Tech.

FOREIGN:

FGN14 PAK-QURESHI-INDIA

Not ready for peace with India without resolving Kashmir issue in just manner: Pak FM Washington: Pakistan is not prepared to pay any price for peace with India and certainly not without resolving the Kashmir issue in a just manner, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said. By Lalit K Jha

FGN15 CHINA-2NDLD GDP

China's economy slumps to 6.1 per cent in 2019; lowest in 29 years: NBS data Beijing: China's economy grew by 6.1 per cent last year, the lowest annual growth rate in 29 years, National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, as weak domestic demand and the bruising 18-month-long trade war with the US took their toll on the world's second-largest economic giant. By K J M Varma PTI HDA

HDA