HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 2100 hours:

NATION

DEL64 LDALL RESERVATION SC order on SC/ST quota creates political uproar; Govt says will take 'appropriate steps'

New Delhi: A huge row broke out both inside and outside parliament on Monday over the Supreme Court ruling on reservation in jobs for the SC/ST with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that it was "in the DNA of the BJP and the RSS" to try and erase the quota system, while the government said "appropriate steps" will be taken in the matter that was being discussed at the "highest level".

DEL66 JK-LONE-LD PSA JK: National Conference MP's son slapped with PSA

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday slapped the Public Safety Act against Hilal Lone for being the "brain child" behind his father National Conference leader Mohammad Akbar Lone's "seditious and anti-national" statements, officials said.

DEL60 RAM TEMPLE-TRUST Ram temple trust meeting on Feb 19; date for start of construction, trustee appointments on agenda

New Delhi: Fixing the date for the beginning of the Ram temple's construction and appointment of two trustees are on the agenda of the 'Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra', a trust formed by the Union government for building the temple in Ayodhya, in its first meeting on February 19.

DEL59 JK-LD ENVOYS Fresh batch of foreign envoys to visit J-K this week

Srinagar: A fresh batch of foreign envoys including many from the European Union will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to get first-hand information about the ground situation after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, officials said on Monday.

DEL57 SC-LDALL SHAHEEN BAGH Shaheen Bagh protests: Public road cannot be blocked indefinitely, says SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said people cannot block public road indefinitely and create inconvenience for others but declined to pass an interim direction on pleas for removal of anti-CAA protesters from Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of demonstrations here for nearly two months.

DEL54 RSQ-AIRCRAFT CARRIER Delay in supply of Russian equipment delayed construction of aircraft carrier: Govt

New Delhi: Delay in getting certain aviation equipment from Russia pushed back the deadline for construction of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, according to the government.

DEL48 DL-2NDLD GARGI-PROTEST Gargi mayhem: Police file FIR, anguished students stage protest

New Delhi: Four days after a group of men broke into the all-women Gargi College and allegedly groped, harassed and molested students, Delhi Police on Monday registered a complaint as hundreds of students protested demanding strict action against the intruders.

DEL46 RAHUL-3RDLD RESERVATION It's in DNA of BJP-RSS to try and erase reservations: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: It is in the DNA of the BJP and the RSS to try to erase reservations and a "big conspiracy" is underway to take away the rights of deprived sections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Monday and asserted that his party will not allow doing away with quota.

BOM19 CG-NAXAL-3RDLD ENCOUNTER 2 CRPF commandos die, 6 hurt in encounter; Naxal also killed

Raipur: Two commandos of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed and six other CRPF personnel,

including an officer, injured in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Monday, officials said.

CAL16 WB-LD BUDGET WB presents populist budget, allocates Rs 5150 cr for social

sectors and backward sections Kolkata: Resorting to populism and giving a fresh impetus to employment generation, the West Bengal government on Monday announced the setting up of 100 MSME parks in the state in the next three years and proposed free electricity to those with quarterly consumption of upto 75 units in its budget for 2020-21.

LEGAL

LGD39 SC-2ND LD ABDULLAH

Omar Abdullah's sister moves SC challenging his detention under PSA New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's sister Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging his detention under the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978 saying the order of detention is "manifestly illegal" and there is no question of him being a "threat to the maintenance of public order".

LGD37 SC-2NDLD SABARIMALA

Sabarimala: SC can refer questions of law to larger bench in review case, says 9-judge bench New Delhi: The Supreme Court held on Monday that its 5-judge bench can refer questions of law to a larger bench while exercising its limited power under review jurisdiction in the Sabarimala temple case.

BUSINESS

DEL51 BIZ-CPSE SURVEY BSNL, Air India, MTNL highest loss-making PSUs in FY19; ONGC most profitable: Survey

New Delhi: ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation and NTPC were the top three profitable PSUs in 2018-19, whereas BSNL, Air India and MTNL incurred highest losses for a third consecutive year, according to a survey tabled in Parliament on Monday.

FOREIGN

FGN33 CHINA-LDALL VIRUS

Chinese President confident about scoring victory over coronavirus outbreak Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping, wearing a mask, on Monday toured Beijing city to oversee the efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak and said though the situation remained "very serious" China can score a full victory over the epidemic, which has emerged as the biggest challenge to his leadership. By K J M Varma

PTI SRY