HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 12.40 pm: TOP STORIES DEL13 VIRUS-LD CASES India's COVID-19 tally goes past 39 lakh; no. of recoveries crosses 30-lakh mark New Delhi: India's COVID-19 tally went past 39 lakh on Friday with 83,341 fresh cases reported in a span of 24 hours, while the number of recoveries crossed the 30-lakh mark, pushing the recovery rate of coronavirus patients in the country to 77.15 per cent, according to the Union health ministry. NATION DEL18 RAJNATH-SINOINDIA-MEET Rajnath Singh likely to meet Chinese Defence Minister in Moscow this evening New Delhi: In the midst of heightened tensions in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Friday evening in Moscow on the sidelines of a ministerial meet of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), government sources said.

MDS7 TL-MODI-POLICE 'Humane' side of police came to fore during COVID-19 pandemic: Modi Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged women police personnel to engage women in Jammu and Kashmir to prevent youth from taking to terrorism at an early stage itself. DEL15 SUSHANT-LD NCB Sushant: NCB raids Showik, Miranda; summons them for questioning Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday conducted searches at the premises of Showik Chakraborty, brother of main accused Rhea Chakraborty, and Samuel Miranda in connection with the drugs probe linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials said.

BOM3 CG-NAXALS-MURDER Naxals brand two men as police informers, kill them in C'garh Dantewada: Naxals killed two men after accusing them of being police informers and also assaulted a group of people accompanying the duo in Chhattisgarhs Bijapur district, an official said on Friday. CAL5 OD-HATE MESSAGE-ARREST Man arrested in Odisha for posting hate messages against PM Modi on social media Bhubaneswar: Police have arrested a 42-year-old man from Odisha's Cuttack district for allegedly posting hate messages against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media.

DEL2 JK-LD ENCOUNTER Army officer injured in encounter in J&K's Baramulla Srinagar: An army officer was injured in an encounter with militants in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, police said. BOM2 MH-VIRUS-MINISTER Maharashtra minister tests COVID-19 positive, hospitalised Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Sunil Kedar, a Congress leader, has tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted to a private hospital here, his party said on Friday.

MDS1 KA-DRUGS-ACTRESS CCB conducts searches at Kannada film actress Ragini Dwivedi's residence in Bengaluru Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru, which is probing the drug menace in the Kannada film industry, carried out searches at actress Ragini Dwivedi's residence here on Friday morning, police said. LEGAL LGD3 DL-HC-DRAFT EIA Centre moves HC for review of its direction to publish draft EIA in 22 languages New Delhi: The Centre has moved a plea in the Delhi High Court seeking review of its direction to publish the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) in all the 22 languages in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution.

BUSINESS DCM4 BIZ-SIAM-MARUTI Indian auto industry facing one of the toughest times in history, needs govt support: Kenichi Ayukawa New Delhi: The Indian auto industry is facing one of the toughest times in history and needs government support through reduction of GST and incentive-based scrappage policy, Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said on Friday. FOREIGN FGN1 US-AIR INDIA US to allow Air India to conduct ground handling at airports: Official Washington: The United States has announced that it plans to restore Air India's ability to self-conduct its ground-handling operations at American airports. By Lalit K Jha FGN11 LANKA-TANKER-FIRE Sri Lankan Navy, Indian ships battling fire on board oil tanker, one crew dead Colombo: The Sri Lankan Navy with assistance from Indian ships was battling for a second day on Friday to douse a major fire raging on an oil tanker carrying crude from Kuwait to India that left one of its 23 crew members dead.

SPORTS SPF3 SPO-OPEN-LD NAGAL Gutsy Nagal loses to birthday boy Thiem, exits US Open New York: Sumit Nagal's trademark fighting spirit was on display throughout but it was not enough to get past world number three Dominic Thiem, who notched up a straight-set victory over the Indian in the US Open men's singles second round here..