HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 12:30 pm: DEL10 PROTEST-LD PARL Cong, AAP, TMC MPs hold separate protests against govt over Delhi riots New Delhi: Congress, Trinamool and AAP MPs staged separate dharnas on Monday near the Gandhi statue in Parliament, demanding answers from the government on the Delhi riots on the first day of the second half of the Budget Session CAL2 WB-SLOGAN-ARREST Kolkata Police arrests 3 'BJP supporters' for 'goli maro...' slogan Kolkata: Kolkata Police on Monday claimed to have arrested three BJP supporters for allegedly raising the incendiary "desh ke gaddaro ko, goli maro ... " (shoot the traitors) slogan while they were on their way to attend Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally in the city.

DEL11 PM-LG Delhi LG Anil Baijal meets PM New Delhi: Delhi LG Anil Baijal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday for almost an hour and they are likely to have discussed the violence in the national capital PAR5 RS-ADJOURN RS adjourned till 2 pm after oppn protests over Delhi violence New Delhi: Rajya Sabha proceedings were on Monday adjourned till 2 pm after the entire opposition vociferously protested over the issue of communal violence in the national capital, with members alleging that the government slept while Delhi burnt.

DEL8 AVI-WIFI-AIRLINES Govt allows airlines to provide in-flight Wi-Fi services New Delhi: The central government on Monday permitted airlines operating in India to provide in-flight Wi-Fi services to passengers, according to an official notification DEL9 PM-NEPAL-SURGERY PM wishes successful surgery, speedy recovery to his Nepalese counterpart New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday wished a successful surgery and speedy recovery to his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli, who would undergo his second kidney transplantation procedure later in the week.

PAR3 LS-ADJOURN Lok Sabha proceedings adjourned till 2 pm New Delhi: Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned on Monday till 2 pm as a mark of respect for a sitting member, who passed away last month MDS1 KL-RIFLES-VIJAYAN Kerala CM rejects CBI probe over CAG report on missing cartridges, rifles Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday rejected the Opposition demand for a CBI probe into the recent findings of the CAG that rifles and live cartridges were missing from the Special Armed Police Battalion (SAPB) here.

BOM2 MH-ACCIDENT Five killed as truck overturns on them on Mumbai-Pune E-way Pune: Five people standing on a roadside were killed after a truck overturned on them on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra's Raigad district late Sunday night, police said DES2 UP-LD MLA  UP: BJP MLA Virendra Sirohi passes away, CM says irreparable loss New Delhi/Bulandshahr: Uttar Pradesh MLA from Bulandshahr Virendra Singh Sirohi passed away early on Monday at a hospital in Delhi after a prolonged illness.

LEGAL LGD10 SC-LD NIRBHAYA Nirbhaya case: SC dismisses curative petition of death row convict Pawan Gupta New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the curative petition filed by Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case LGD9 SC-LD VIOLENCE Delhi violence: SC agrees to hear on Mar 4 plea seeking lodging of FIRs New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on March 4 a plea seeking lodging of FIRs against politicians and others for their purported hate speeches which allegedly led to recent violence in Delhi.

LGD2 SC-ARTICLE 370 No reasons to refer Article 370 matter to larger seven-judge bench: SC New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said there are no reasons to refer a batch of pleas, challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 on August 5 last year, to a larger seven-judge bench LGD11 DL-HC-DELHI VIOLENCE Delhi violence: HC asks police to file report on rehabilitation measures for victims New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the police to file a status report on measures taken by it for medical treatment and rehabilitation of violence-affected people in northeast Delhi.

BUSINESS DEL5 BIZ-RUPEE-OPEN Rupee rises 20 paise to 74.04 against US dollar in early trade Mumbai: The Indian rupee appreciated by 20 paise to 72.04 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday tracking positive opening in domestic equities and weakening of the American dollar in the overseas market DEL2 BIZ-STOCKS-OPEN Sensex rebounds over 750 pts; Nifty tops 11,300 Mumbai: Market benchmark Sensex rebounded over 750 points in opening session on Monday led by strong gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC as global investors began bottom-fishing after last week's selloff.

FOREIGN FGN8 CHINA-VIRUS-2NDLD TOLL Death toll in coronavirus crosses 2,900 in China, global toll surges past 3,000 Beijing: China has reported 42 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus outbreak, taking the death toll in the country to 2,912, Chinese health officials said on Monday, as the rapid spread of the epidemic wreaks havoc globally causing over 3,000 deaths and infecting more than 88,000 people. By K J M Varma FGN2 UK-JOHNSON-PATEL British PM Johnson backs 'fantastic' Patel amid bullying row London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Priti Patel is a "fantastic" home secretary as he backed his senior cabinet minister amid a row over the resignation of her top civil servant. By Aditi Khanna.