HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 1300 HRS:

PAR7 LS-PM-LD AYODHYA PM announces trust for construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced in Lok Sabha the formation of a trust to construct a Ram Temple in Ayodhya as directed by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case in November last year.

DEL20 UP-AYODHYA-LAND UP govt allots five acres of land to Sunni Waqf Board near Ayodhya

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday allotted five acres of land in Ayodhya district to the Sunni Central Waqf Board as directed by the Supreme Court

DEL1 INDO-US-TRUMP Indo-US trade deal likely during Trump's India visit

New Delhi: India and the US are set to seal a trade deal during President Donald Trump's planned visit to India in the last week of this month, multiple sources said. Trade officials of India and the US are giving final touches to the deal expected to cover specific sectors, they said.

DEL2 DEFENCE-EXPO

DefExpo to focus on showcasing India's potential to become manufacturing hub Lucknow: With the aim of showcasing India's potential as a global defence manufacturing hub, the biennial DefExpo will kickstart in Lucknow on Wednesday. The 11th edition of DefExpo promises to bring new technologies and solutions on a single platform for defence manufacturing firms from India and abroad.

DEL19 DL-POLLS-BJP-KEJRIWAL

Nadda asks Kejriwal if he would 'burn down' Delhi to defeat Modi-Shah New Delhi: Sustaining attack on AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal over the police claim that the Shaheen Bagh shooter was an AAP worker, BJP chief JP Nadda on Wednesday questioned him if he would "burn down" Delhi to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

BOM1 MH-LAWYERS-ARREST

Protest at Gateway: Two prominent Mumbai lawyers arrested Mumbai: Two prominent lawyers from Mumbai have been arrested in connection with unlawful assembly at the Gateway of India here last month to protest against the JNU violence, police said on Wednesday.

MDS1 KL-CORONAVIRUS-WUHAN-CONNECT

Novel coronavirus turns spotlight on Wuhan, Kerala connect Kochi: The spotlight has now turned on the connect between Wuhan and Kerala as India's all three positive novel coronavirus cases so far are students of a university in the historic Chinese city, the epicentre of the epidemic.

MDS7 TN-CITIZENSHIP-RAJINIKANTH

Rajini throws weight behind CAA, says no threat to Muslims Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth on Wednesday threw his weight behind the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and asserted that the legislation did not pose any threat to Muslims.

LEGAL

LGD4 DL-HC-BUNGALOWS

HC blasts Centre for illegally occupied govt bungalows, orders their forthwith vacation New Delhi: Rebuking the Housing Ministry for permitting over 550 government accommodation units to be illegally occupied by retired officials, the Delhi High Court Wednesday directed the Centre to get them vacated within two weeks.

BUSINESS

DEL10 BIZ-FITCH-BUDGET

Fitch says Budget light on new structural reforms New Delhi: ‎Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget for 2020-21 was light on new structural reforms, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday, adding ‎it has not materially altered its forecasts for India's economic growth to rise to 5.6 per cent in the next fiscal from 4.6 per cent in 2019-20.

DEL8 CBDT-STARTUPS

Last irritant of startups gone in Budget; perfect ecosystem for them in India: CBDT New Delhi: With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposing to ease the taxation burden on ESOPs for startups, the "so-called" last irritant for budding entrepreneurs have been removed and it is now a perfect ecosystem for them in the country, the CBDT chief has said.

FOREIGN

FGN24 UK-ECONOMY-INDIANS

New report quantifies Indian diaspora's contribution to UK economy London: Indian diaspora-owned companies with a combined revenue of 36.84 billion pounds employ over 174,000 people and pay over 1 billion pounds in Corporation Tax, according to a first-of-its-kind research. By Aditi Khanna

FGN17 TRUMP-SPEECH-ECONOMY

The American Dream is back, says Trump as he underlines 'blazing bright' future of US Washington: Setting the stage for his re-election bid, President Donald Trump in a self-congratulatory State of the Union speech on Wednesday underlined the economic gains of the US under his leadership, asserting that "the American Dream is back" and is "stronger than ever before". By Lalit K Jha PTI RDM

RDM