HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION DEL163 ELECTIONS-LDALL CONG MANIFESTO ****Cong promises to raise 50 pc cap on quotas, right to apprenticeship, make MSP legal in manifesto New Delhi: Right to apprenticeship, a legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.**** MDS19 ELECTION-KA-BJP-LD PM ****Important to come to power to continue public service: PM Modi to BJP workers Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told BJP workers that to continue doing public service, it is important for the party to come back to power with the blessings of the people.**** DEL161 DL-BHARADWAJ-INTERVIEW-LD SUNITA ****Sunita Kejriwal best person to keep AAP together in current situation: Saurabh Bharadwaj New Delhi: AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj has said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita is the best person to keep the party together in the prevailing circumstances and asserted that her presence has had a ''positive effect'' on the cadre.**** DEL143 ELECTIONS-BJP-CONG-LD MANIFESTO ****Cong manifesto 'bundle of lies', prepared to create confusion, mislead voters: BJP New Delhi: The BJP on Friday dubbed the Congress' Lok Sabha poll manifesto a ''bundle of lies'' and alleged that the party, which ruled the country for several decades, did not fulfil any of the promises made in its earlier manifestos for the assembly and parliamentary elections.**** DEL139 ELECTIONS-UP-MODI ****PM Modi to address election rally in UP's Saharanpur on Saturday Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election rally in Saharanpur and take part in a road show in Ghaziabad on Saturday in support of BJP candidates, a senior BJP leader said.**** DEL150 ELECTIONS-UP-LD SHIVPAL YADAV 'Matter will be settled later': Video of Shivpal Yadav on LS polls goes viral Budaun (UP): A video featuring SP candidate from Budaun Shivpal Yadav has gone viral on social media in which he can be heard saying ''we will seek everyone's vote. If you vote for us, it is all right, otherwise, the matter will be settled later''.**** BOM12 ELECTIONS-MP-2NDLD SP-KHAJURAHO ****Nomination of SP's Khajuraho candidate rejected; Akhilesh calls it murder of democracy Panna (MP): In a jolt to the opposition's INDIA bloc in Madhya Pradesh, nomination of the Samajwadi Party's (SP) candidate from Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency, Meera Yadav, was on Friday rejected by the returning officer.**** CAL14 ELECTIONS-BH-SAHNI ****RJD welcomes back Mukesh Sahni, promises 3 LS seats from its quota to his party Patna: Former Bihar minister Mukesh Sahni on Friday joined RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in the state, less than three years after he had quit the alliance to join the NDA.**** BUSINESS DEL158 BIZ-2ND LD-RBI ****RBI holds repo rate at 6.5 pc for 7th consecutive time; home, auto EMIs to remain unchanged Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday kept the benchmark interest rates unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the seventh time in a row and flagged concerns over food inflation in view of IMD's prediction of above normal maximum temperatures during April to June.**** DEL164 BIZ-LD RUPEE ****Rupee rises 8 paise against US dollar post RBI policy decision Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 8 paise to close at 83.31 against the US dollar as the Reserve Bank of India on Friday kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the seventh time in a row.**** LEGAL LGD43 DL-COURT-LD KAVITHA ****Delhi excise case: Court allows CBI to interrogate BRS leader K Kavitha in Tihar jail New Delhi: A court here on Friday allowed the CBI to interrogate BRS leader K Kavitha, arrested in the Delhi excise policy-related money laundering case, in Tihar jail, raising the likelihood of her arrest in the scheduled offence of corruption.**** LGD37 DL-COURT-KEJRIWAL-LAWYER ****Merely because Kejriwal wants to run govt from jail, he can't be given spl privileges: ED to court New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday opposed the plea moved by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before a city court for more time with his lawyer, saying special privileges cannot be extended to him merely because he wants to run the government from inside the jail.

FOREIGN FGN55 US-NY-QUAKE-UN MEET ****UN Security Council meeting briefly interrupted due to rare earthquake in New York New York: A meeting of the UN Security Council was briefly interrupted as a rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit the New York area Friday morning. By Yoshita Singh**** FGN49 CHINA-VIETNAM-SCS ****China & Vietnam navigate through South China Sea differences amid heightened Beijing-Manila conflict Beijing: China and Vietnam on Friday tried to navigate through their bitter differences over the South China Sea as their foreign ministers held talks here amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Manila over the maritime dispute. By KJM Varma**** MNK MNK