HIGHLIGHTS AT 9 PM

These are the top stories at 9 pm: NATION DEL100 2ND LDALL-SECURITY BREACH Security breach: Modi meets President, minister says MHA will take 'tough decisions' New Delhi/Chandigarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday briefed President Ram Nath Kovind on the security breach that stalled his Punjab visit and the government indicated that some ''big and tough decisions'' will be taken after the Union Home Ministry gathers information.

DEL105 MEA-SINOINDIA-LD-BRIDGE Bridge over Pangong lake in Ladakh being built by China is in area under its ''illegal occupation'': MEA, says India taking steps to ensure country's security interests ''fully protected'' New Delhi: India on Thursday asserted that a bridge being built by China across Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh is in an area that has been under that country's ''illegal occupation'' for around 60 years, and said it was taking all steps to ensure that the country's security interests are ''fully protected''.

DEL88 AVI-AMRITSAR-LD VIRUS 125 passengers on charter flight from Italy test positive for Covid on arrival in Amritsar New Delhi/Amritsar: A total of 125 passengers on a Milan-Amritsar charter flight were found to be Covid-positive when tested on arrival, government officials said on Thursday.

BOM19 MH-VIRUS-CASES Maha reports 36,265 COVID-19 cases, active case tally reaches 1.14 lakh Mumbai: Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 36,265 new coronavirus infections including 79 cases of the Omicron variant, the state health department said.

DEL104 DELHI-LD VIRUS Delhi witnesses massive coronavirus surge: 15097 new cases, 15.34% positivity rate; 6 deaths New Delhi: In a massive surge, Delhi Thursday recorded 15,097 fresh Covid cases, the highest single-day rise since May 8, and six deaths while the positivity rate mounted to 15.34 per cent, even as Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the situation does not warrant a lockdown yet.

LEGAL LGD16 SC-NEET-EWS-ORDER SC to pronounce order Friday on pleas regarding EWS, OBC quota in NEET-PG admissions New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Friday its order on pleas related to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and OBC quota in postgraduate medical admissions through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

LGD8 DL-HC-LD AIR INDIA Delhi HC dismisses Swamy's plea seeking to set aside Air India disinvestment process New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking to set aside the Air India disinvestment process on the allegation that the methodology adopted by the government in the valuation of the national carrier was ''arbitrary, illegal and against public interest''.

LGD14 SC-VIRUS-HEARING SC to hear matters in virtual mode from Friday amid rise in COVID-19 cases New Delhi: Amid the sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday decided to hear all matters in virtual mode from Friday.

FOREIGN FGN46 VIRUS-UK-OMICRON-GUPTA PTI EXCLUSIVE: Omicron's mildness a 'mistake', COVID itself not getting milder, warns UK expert London: The reduced severity of the Omicron variant is good news for now, but it is the result of an ''evolutionary mistake'' and does not indicate that the virus which causes COVID-19 is becoming less virulent, a leading Indian-origin scientist from the University of Cambridge warned on Thursday. By Aditi Khanna FGN45 NEPAL-DEUBA-INDIA-LD VISIT Nepal PM Deuba's India visit cancelled after postponement of Vibrant Gujarat Summit Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's scheduled visit to India next week has been cancelled following the Gujarat government's decision to postpone the Vibrant Gujarat Summit due to a spike in the number of COVID cases in the state. By Shirish B Pradhan.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)