HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 1700 hours:

NATION:

DEL36 PM-LD TRUMP Trumps will get memorable welcome, robust India-US friendship augurs well for world: PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed his "extreme delight" that US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump will be in India later this month and said they will be accorded a "memorable welcome".

DEL24 DEF-RAWAT Indian armed forces are at cusp of transformation: Gen Rawat

New Delhi: India's armed forces are at the cusp of transformation, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday, noting that proxy war and cross border terrorism remained the key security challenges facing India.

DEL22 CEC-EVM EVMs cannot be tampered with, no question of going back to ballot paper: CEC

New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Wednesday asserted that the electronic voting machines cannot be tampered with and that there was no question of going back to the ballot paper.

DEL43 DL-LD KEJRIWAL Kejriwal to take oath as Delhi CM in public ceremony at Ramlila Maidan on Feb 16: Sisodia

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi chief minister on February 16 at Ramlila Maidan in a grand ceremony that will be open to public, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday.

DEL40 JK-ENVOYS Second batch of foreign envoys arrive in J-K

Srinagar: The second batch of foreign envoys arrived here on Wednesday for a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir for a first-hand assessment of the situation in the Union territory six months after the nullification of Article 370.

DEL47 CONG-DL-CHACKO P C Chacko resigns as AICC Delhi in-charge

New Delhi: AICC Delhi in-charge P C Chacko resigned from his post on Wednesday after the party's poll debacle in the assembly elections.

DEL48 CONG-2NDLD INFIGHTING Blame game in Cong after party's rout in Delhi Assembly polls

New Delhi: A day after the party's rout in Delhi elections, the knives are out in the Congress with leaders blaming each other and raising questions on whether the party has outsourced the task of defeating the BJP to others.

BOM2 GJ-TRUMP-VISIT President Trump to attend roadshow, 'Howdy Modi'-like event in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: US President Donald Trump, during his India visit, would participate in a grand roadshow in Ahmedabad and also tour the Sabarmati Ashram and inaugurate a newly-built cricket stadium here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said on Wednesday.

BOM5 MH-TOP COP-LD GOVT CONTRACT Mumbai CP's family-run firm got govt contract under BJP rule

Mumbai: Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Barve on Wednesday acknowledged that a firm owned by his family was awarded a contract of digitisation of the city police's official records by the previous BJP government in Maharashtra.

MDS5 PD-CITIZENSHIP-LD RESOLUTION Pondy Assembly adopts resolution against CAA, NPR and NRC

Puducherry: The Congress-ruled Puducherry on Wednesday adopted an Assembly resolution against the controversial amended Citizenship Act, becoming the first union territory in the country to say no to the law.

LEGAL:

LGD18 DL-COURT-LD NIRBHAYA Nirbhaya case: Delhi court says death row convict entitled to legal aide, offers him lawyer

New Delhi: A Delhi court Wednesday offered a counsel to Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, saying a condemned convict is entitled to legal aide till his last breath.

LGD21 DL-COURT-NIRBHAYA-MOTHER Nirbhaya's mother protests outside court over delay in hanging of convicts

New Delhi: Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi Wednesday protested outside a trial court premises here over the delay in hanging of the four convicts in the gang rape and murder case of her daughter.

BUSINESS:

DEL31 BIZ-LPG-PRICE HIKE LPG price hiked by Rs 144.5 per cylinder

New Delhi: Cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was hiked by a steep Rs 144.5 per cylinder due to spurt in benchmark global rates of the fuel.

DEL51 BIZ-WIPRO-NRC Assam NRC data: Wipro says IT services contract not renewed after October 2019

New Delhi: With Assam's NRC data going offline, IT major Wipro on Wednesday said authorities concerned did not renew the services contract for the project after it expired in October 2019.

FOREIGN:

FGN25 PAK-SAEED-LD SENTENCE Pak court sentences Hafiz Saeed to 11 years in jail in terror financing cases

Lahore: Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed was on Wednesday sentenced to 11 years in jail by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan in two terror financing cases.

FGN21 NEPAL-INDIANS-LD RESORT Nepal shuts resort where 8 Indian tourists died

Kathmandu: Nepal has suspended the licence of a mountain resort for three months after a probe found security lapses at the hotel for the incident that led to the death of eight Indians, including four minors, due to possible asphyxiation, a senior official said on Wednesday.

SPORTS:

SPF20 SPO-CRI-ODI-RANKINGS Bumrah loses top spot, Jadeja jumps to 7th in latest ICC ODI rankings

Dubai: India speedster Jasprit Bumrah lost the top spot but all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja climbed three rungs to grab the seventh position in the latest ICC ODI rankings released on Wednesday.