HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9 PM NATION: DEL102 LDALL KARNATAKA After four-day impasse, Congress names Siddaramaiah as Karnataka's next CM; contender Shivakumar his only deputy New Delhi/Bengaluru: The Congress on Thursday named Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister of Karnataka and state PCC chief D K Shivakumar, a strong contender for the top post, as his only deputy, ending the tense deadlock after prolonged parleys involving its central leadership.

DEL91 LAW-2NDLD MEGHWAL Arjun Ram Meghwal assumes charge as Law Minister; asserts no confrontation with judiciary New Delhi: Bureaucrat-turned-politician Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday assumed charge as the Minister of Law and Justice after Kiren Rijiju was removed from the high-profile ministry in a surprise development, and made it clear that there was no confrontation with the judiciary.

MDS15 LD-JALLIKATTU (R) SC upholds validity of amendment law allowing 'Jallikattu'; TN parties welcome ruling, animal rights groups see red New Delhi/Chennai: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the validity of the amended act of Tamil Nadu allowing the bull-taming sport Jallikattu, with state political parties welcoming the verdict while animal rights activists expressed disappointment and insisted they will look for legal remedies. DEL85 LDALL RIJIJU Kiren Rijiju removed as Union law minister; replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal New Delhi: In a sudden development, Kiren Rijiju was removed as Union law minister on Thursday after less than a two-year stint that was marked by frequent run-ins with the judiciary. He was replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal.

DEL95 PM-VISIT PM Modi to have over 40 engagements during 3-nation visit: Officials New Delhi: India on Thursday said it is expecting several deliverables to come out of the Quad summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima that will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden and their counterparts from Japan and Australia.

DEL89 ED-2NDLD RABRI DEVI ED questions Rabri Devi for 5 hrs in land-for-jobs linked money laundering case New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi for about five hours and recorded her statement here on Thursday in a money laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam, official sources said.

CAL19 MN-LD TRUCK MOVEMENT-RESUME Manipur: Army recovers explosives in Imphal Valley, continues patrolling in affected areas Imphal: Security personnel have recovered explosives and a “Remote Initiation Mechanism” for improvised explosive devices (IED) in Manipur where soldiers continue patrolling areas affected by ethnic clashes, the army said on Thursday.

DEL86 MANIPUR-MEITEI Manipur clashes: Meitei groups draw parallel with Kashmiri Pandits; say at risk of 'ethnic cleansing' New Delhi: As tension continues to simmer in Manipur, members of the majority Meitei group on Thursday said they are at the risk of ''ethnic cleansing'' in their own state while comparing their precarious situation with that of Kashmiri Pandits. DEL76 CONG-LD ADANI-LIC Only JPC probe will reveal 'full truth' of Modani scam: Cong New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said only a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani issue will reveal the ''full truth of the Modani scam'', with Rahul Gandhi alleging that the government is not bothered about the public money getting ''looted''. DEL99 CONG-LD KARNATAKA-SWEARING IN-INVITES Several CMs, opposition leaders to attend Siddaramaiah's swearing in on May 20 New Delhi: Leaders of several like-minded opposition parties are likely to attend the swearing in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday in Bengaluru.

DEL97 CONGRESS-MODI-LD WRESTLERS PROTEST PM trying to save his party MP, must break silence: Congress on wrestlers' protest New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his ''silence'' on sexual harassment allegations against BJP MP and WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and accused him of trying to save his party's leader DEL40 RIJIJU-LAW-MINISTRY-OPPN 'Failed law minister': Opposition hits out after Rijiju moved out of law ministry New Delhi: Opposition parties, including the Congress, took a swipe at Kiren Rijiju who was on Thursday moved from the law ministry to the relatively lower profile Ministry of Earth Sciences, calling him a ''failed law minister''.

CAL20 WB-KERALA STORY-CONG Congress welcomes SC stay on WB govt's ban on 'Kerala Story' Kolkata: The Congress in West Bengal Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's stay on the state government's order banning the screening of the film 'The Kerala Story'.

CAL24 AS-POLICEWOMAN Video, audio clips claim Assam cop tortured by colleagues before death, car stationary during 'accident' Nagaon (Assam): Two days after a woman sub-inspector of Assam Police, who was embroiled in several controversies, was killed in a ''road accident'', an audio clip of a purported constable went viral on social media claiming that she was tortured by her colleagues before death.

CAL12 RAIL-LD PM PM flags off Odisha's first Vande Bharat, launches railway projects worth Rs 8,200 crore Puri/ Howrah: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched railway projects worth Rs 8,200 crore in Odisha on Thursday and flagged off the state's first Vande Bharat Express that will connect Puri to West Bengal's Howrah.

MDS14 ISRO-CHANDRAYAAN-3 ISRO getting ready for Chandrayaan-3 mission in July 2nd week: Senior official Bengaluru: If things go as planned, the Indian Space Research Organisation would launch its ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission aimed at demonstrating critical technologies to land the spacecraft on the south pole of the moon in less than two months.

DEL52 HR-2NDLD KATARIA BJP's Ambala MP Rattan Lal Kataria dies, Haryana announces one-day state mourning Chandigarh: Former Union minister and the BJP's Ambala MP Rattan Lal Kataria passed away on Thursday after a brief illness here. He was 71.

LEGAL: LGD45 SC-CHEETAH SC concerned over death of cheetahs at KNP, ask Centre to consider shifting them to Rajasthan New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed serious concern over the death of three cheetahs translocated from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park (KNP) of Madhya Pradesh in less than two months and asked the Centre to rise above politics and consider shifting them to Rajasthan. By Manohar Lal LGD40 SC-2NDLD THE KERALA STORY SC directs Bengal to allow screening of 'The Kerala Story', asks producer to put disclaimer it's fiction New Delhi: Controversial film ''The Kerala Story'' will be now be screened in theatres of West Bengal as the Supreme Court Thursday stayed its ban in the state while asking its producer to put a disclaimer that the movie was a ''fictionalised version'' and there was no authentic data to the claim that 32,000 Hindu and Christian girls converted to Islam.

LGD32 SC-NAGALAND-URBAN POLLS Nagaland urban local body polls: Law of land must be followed, says SC New Delhi: The law of the land must be followed, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while expressing displeasure over the Nagaland assembly passing a resolution to repeal the municipal act and resolving not to hold elections to the urban local bodies.