HIGHLIGHTS

FGN28 UK-BREXIT Pressure mounts on Boris Johnson to extend Brexit transition period London As scores of countries, including India, suspended flights from and to the UK on Monday in an effort to try and contain the spread of a new variant of coronavirus, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to extend the Brexit transition period beyond the December 31 deadline to prevent further chaos on the borders.

Following are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION DEL29 PM-LD INDOJAPAN Discussions on global growth cannot happen among few, table must be bigger:PM New Delhi: Asserting that growth patterns must follow a human-centric approach, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said discussions on global growth cannot happen only among a few as the ''table must be bigger'' and the agenda broader. DEL72 SHAH-BOSE ANNIVERSARY Shah to head committee for planning year-long commemoration of Netaji's 125th birth anniversary New Delhi: The government has decided to constitute a high-level committee, headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, to decide on activities for a year-long commemoration of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary starting next year.

DEL60 AVI-2NDLD UK-FLIGHTS New coronavirus strain: India suspends all UK flights from Wednesday to Dec 31 New Delhi: All flights connecting the UK and India will remain suspended from Wednesday till December 31, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Monday in view of the emergence of a mutated variant of the coronavirus there. DEL71 VIRUS-RUSSIA-INDIA SPUTNIK V Russia will jointly produce Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 with India: Russian envoy New Delhi: Russian envoy to India Nikolay Kudashev on Monday said Moscow will jointly produce the Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 along with New Delhi and it will be manufactured by Indian pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories.

CAL13 WB-LD MAMATA 'Garbage of lies': Mamata hits out at Amit Shah over Bengal's development Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused Home Minister Amit Shah of speaking untruth on the development of the state, describing the figures given by him on the position of the state on various parameters as ''garbage of lies''. DEL61 RUSSIA-PAK India should not be worried about our ties with Pakistan: Russia New Delhi: Russia on Monday said India should not be worried about its relationship with Pakistan but noted that Moscow is committed to develop ties with Islamabad as it is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

DEL68 3RDLD VORA Cong leader Motilal Vora passes away at 92 New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Motilal Vora, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist who had a political career spanning almost five decades, died at a hospital here on Monday following post-COVID-19 complications, his family said. He was 92. DEL64 PB-PAK-DRONE-LD GRENADES Punjab Police recovers 11 grenades dropped by drone from Pakistan Chandigarh: Eleven hand grenades dropped by a drone flying in from Pakistan were recovered from a field near the International Border in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, police said on Monday. DEL57 LEOPARD-POPULATION From 8000 in 2014, India's leopard population increased to over 12,000 in 2018: Javadekar New Delhi: India's leopard population increased to over 12,000 in 2018 from around 8,000 in 2014, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said Monday, asserting the rise in their numbers coming on the heels of similar reports on tigers, lions, shows the country is protecting its ecology and biodiversity well.

LEGAL LGD13 DL-HC-3RLD FUTURE-AMAZON HC declines to injunct Amazon from writing to regulators on Future-Reliance deal New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday allowed Amazon to oppose before regulators a Rs 24,713 crore deal by Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail Ltd to sell assets to Reliance Retail but said that the US e-commerce giant's attempt to control Future Retail is violative of FEMA and FDI rules. LGD11 DL-COURT-MURDER Delhi court acquits 12 people in 2015 case of rioting, murder New Delhi: A Delhi court Monday acquitted 12 people, arrested in a case related to the death of a woman due to gunshot injuries during rioting in 2015, saying manipulation of evidence by the police cannot be ruled out in the matter.

LGD9 DL-COURT-LD TERROR Court orders framing of charges against Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi, others New Delhi: A Delhi court Monday ordered framing of charges against Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi and her two associates for allegedly waging war against India, sedition and conspiracy to commit acts of terror in the country. FOREIGN FGN23 NEPAL-LD OLI Nepal PM Oli defends move to dissolve Parliament, blames own party leaders for his decision Kathmandu: Nepal's embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Monday defended his move to abruptly dissolve Parliament, saying he was forced to seek a fresh mandate through elections as the rift within the ruling Nepal Communist Party severely affected his government's functioning.

FGN19 VIRUS-UK-LD FLIGHTS India, France join several countries sealing off UK amid new coronavirus variant surge London: India and France have joined a growing list of countries suspending flights to and from the UK amid concerns of an ''out of control'' new variant of coronavirus spreading COVID-19 at a much faster pace in parts of England. FGN28 UK-BREXIT Pressure mounts on Boris Johnson to extend Brexit transition period London: As scores of countries, including India, suspended flights from and to the UK on Monday in an effort to try and contain the spread of a new variant of coronavirus, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to extend the Brexit transition period beyond the December 31 deadline to prevent further chaos on the borders. By Aditi Khanna.