HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 5.20 pm: NATION DEL138 LD BUDGET **** Pre-election Budget: 11 pc increase in infra spend, measures for agri sector; shuns populism New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 11.11 lakh crore spending on infrastructure and vowed to continue reforms as she resisted resorting to populist measures in Modi government's last Budget before general elections, instead choosing to stay on the path of cutting deficit while bolstering measures for focus groups. **** DEL107 BUD-LD PM **** Budget guarantee of strengthening foundation of developed India: PM Modi New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the interim Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman offers the ''guarantee'' of strengthening the foundation of a developed India and carries the ''confidence of continuity''.**** CAL36 JH-SOREN LD-ED **** Spl court reserves order in Hemant Soren case; ex-CM to be in one-day judicial custody Ranchi: The special PMLA court here sent former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to judicial custody for a day, lawyers said.**** CAL32 LD JHARKHAND **** Jharkhand Guv invites JMM-led alliance at 5.30 pm for mtg; JMM leader Champai Soren says 'confusion' in state Ranchi: Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan invited the JMM-led alliance leaders for a meeting at 5.30 pm on Thursday, amid concerns among the ruling coalition over the delay in the appointment of JMM legislative party leader Champai Soren as the next chief minister.**** DEL119 BUD-CAPEX **** Govt makes modest hike of 11 pc in capex to Rs 11.11 lakh crore New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday made a modest increase of 11 per cent in capital expenditure (capex) to Rs 11.11 lakh crore for the next financial year as private investment picks up.**** DEL141 BUD-THAROOR-INTERVIEW **** 'Picture abhi baki hai': Shashi Tharoor rejects BJP's claims on 2024 polls New Delhi: ''Picture abhi baki hai,'' senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor asserted on Thursday as he rejected the BJP's claims that the 2024 poll results are a foregone conclusion and said the interim Union budget sounded like the Modi government's final. By Asim Kamal **** DEL142 BUD-REAX-CPIM **** Budget reveals grim situation, poor becoming poorer: CPI(M) New Delhi: The interim budget reveals the ''grim'' economic situation confronting India's working people and the government's idea of development is making the rich richer and the poor poorer, the CPI(M) alleged on Thursday. **** CAL33 WB-TMC-CONG-SEAT SHARING **** Cong hopeful of clinching seat-sharing deal with TMC in Bengal: Ramesh Jangipur (WB): The Congress on Thursday remained optimistic about clinching a mutually an acceptable seat-sharing arrangement with the TMC in West Bengal, despite TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's reluctance to concede seats to the grand-old party in the state.**** DEL78 INDOUS-IPEF-LD-AGREEMENT **** Landmark Indo-Pacific supply chain pact to come into force on Feb 24 New Delhi: The US on Thursday announced that a landmark agreement on supply chain resilience under the Indo-Pacific economic framework involving 14 partner nations, including India, Japan and Australia, will come into force on February 24.**** DEL18 UP-GYANVAPI-PRAYERS ****UP: Hours after court orders, prayers performed inside cellar of Gyanvapi mosque Varanasi: Prayers were performed inside a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque here on Wednesday night following court orders, president of the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust Nagendra Pandey said.**** BOM12 MH-ED-ROHIT PAWAR **** Money laundering probe: NCP MLA Rohit Pawar appears before ED Mumbai: NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, the grand nephew of party supremo Sharad Pawar, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in connection with a money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, an official said. **** BOM10 GJ-EARTHQUAKE **** Earthquake of 4 magnitude hits Kutch in Gujarat; no casualty Ahmedabad: An earthquake of 4 magnitude hit Gujarat's Kutch district on Thursday morning but there was no report of any casualty or property damage, officials said.**** LEGAL LGD10 SC-GYANVAPI **** SC asks Gyanvapi Masjid panel to approach Allahabad HC against order to allow puja New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Gyanvapi Masjid committee to approach the Allahabad High Court against a Varanasi district court's order that a Hindu priest can perform prayers before idols in a cellar of the mosque.**** LGD9 SC-LD SOREN **** SC to hear on Friday plea of JMM leader Hemant Soren against arrest in money laundering case New Delhi: The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday a plea of former Jharkhand chief minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. **** LGD16 DL-HC-LOC-ASHNEER **** BharatPe fraud: Ashneer Grover, wife move Delhi HC challenging Look Out Circular New Delhi: Payment app BharatPe's former MD Ashneer Grover and his wife on Thursday approached the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them in connection with the investigation in a cheating and forgery case.**** FOREIGN FGN8 US-VISA-FEE-HIKE **** US hikes visa fees for various categories of non-immigrant visas like H-1B, EB-5 among others Washington: The US has announced a steep increase in fees for various categories of non-immigrant visas like the H-1B, L-1 and EB-5, the most popular among Indians. **** FGN20 EU-UKRAINE-AID **** European Union agrees on a new 50 billion-euro aid package for Ukraine Brussels: European Council President Charles Michel says the 27 EU countries have sealed a deal on aid to Ukraine just over an hour into a summit of the bloc's leaders and despite threats from Hungary to veto the move. AP****