HIGHLIGHTS

These are the top stories at 5.40 pm: Nation DEL432NDLD PM Parliament must send unanimous message to soldiers that country standing behind them: PM New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed confidence that Parliament will send out a unanimous and strong message that the country is unitedly standing behind its brave soldiers guarding India's borders, asserting that doing so is the legislature's "crucial responsibility". DEL17 VIRUS-LD CASES COVID-19 tally in India breaches 48-lakh mark; death toll climbs 79,722 New Delhi: India's COVID-19 case tally crossed 48 lakh with 92,071 new infections being reported in a day, while over 37.8 lakh people have recuperated taking the national recovery rate to 78 per cent on Monday, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

DEL31 VIRUS-RECOVERIES-JOHN HOPKINS India overtakes Brazil to record highest number of COVID-19 recoveries in world: Johns Hopkins data New Delhi: India on Monday overtook Brazil to register the highest number of COVID-19 recoveries in the world at 37,80,107, according to Johns Hopkins University data. PAR8 LS-LD SCENE For the first time, LS members sit in RS chamber as House meets amid COVID New Delhi: In a first, some Lok Sabha members attended the House proceedings on Monday while seated in the Rajya Sabha chamber as Parliament met for the Monsoon session amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

DEL28 RAHUL-LD PM 'Busy with peacocks', says Rahul in dig at PM over rise in COVID cases New Delhi: Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rise in COVID-19 cases, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the government had asked people to become "aatmanirbhar" which means they should save their lives themselves as the prime minister was "busy with peacocks". DEL47 CONG-CHINESE FIRM-REPORT Report on Chinese surveillance: Cong calls on govt to step up efforts on cyber security New Delhi: The Congress on Monday urged the government to step up its efforts on cyber security for confronting China's intentions in the cyber space after a media report claimed that a Shenzen-based firm with links to the Chinese government is monitoring over 10,000 Indian individuals and organisations in its global database of "foreign targets".

CAL17 BH-RAGHUVANSH-LETTERS RJD questions letters written by Raghuvansh to Nitish, draws NDA's ire Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday cast doubts over letters written by its founding member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, from his hospital bed, barely a couple of days before breathing his last, drawing angry reactions from the ruling NDA in Bihar. Legal LGD1 JUDGE-SEDITION Govt using sedition law to curb free speech, says former SC judge Lokur New Delhi: The government is using the sedition law with an iron hand to curb free speech in an overreaction to people's opinion, former Supreme Court judge Justice M B Lokur said on Monday.

LGD2 BHUSHAN-CONTEMPT Payment of fine does not mean I have accepted SC verdict: Bhushan on contempt case New Delhi: Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan said on Monday that paying of the token fine of Re 1 imposed on him by the Supreme Court in a contempt case does not mean that he has accepted the verdict and would file a review petition against the judgement. Business PAR17 LS-2ND LD GRANTS FM presents first batch of supplementary demands; seeks additional Rs 2.35 lakh cr New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday sought the Parliament nod for additional spending of Rs 2.35 lakh crore, which include cash outgo of Rs 1.66 lakh crore, primarily to meet expenses for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

DEL42 BIZ-LD INFLATION WPI inflation at 5-month high of 0.16 pc in Aug on costlier manufactured items New Delhi: The wholesale price-based inflation in India rose the most in five months, climbing 0.16 per cent in August as manufactured products turned costlier. Foreign FGN1 US-TRUMP-MODI Trump claims Modi told him he has done a great job in COVID-19 testing Washington: US President Donald Trump has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him for doing a great job in coronavirus testing, as he continued to slam his Democratic opponent Joe Biden for being a complete disaster in handling the swine flu during the previous administration. By Lalit K Jha FGN8 US-2NDLD TIKTOK Microsoft's proposal to partner TikTok in US rejected, Oracle wins bid New York: Satya Nadella-led Microsoft lost a bid to acquire TikTok in the US after the Chinese owner of the video-sharing platform chose Oracle to be its technology partner for its American operations, ahead of the September 20 deadline set by President Donald Trump that the popular app will be banned in the US if it isn’t sold to an American company. By Yoshita Singh Sports SPF1 SPO-OPEN-THIEM Thiem 1st since 1949 to win US Open after ceding 1st 2 sets New York: A U.S. Open unlike any other finished unlike any other - with an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker as Dominic Thiem became the first man in 71 years to win the final after dropping the opening two sets.