Highlights at 1700 hours

     New Delhi, Apr 26 (PTI) Following are the top PTI stories at 1700 hours:
    
     NATION
     ELN20 MODI-2ND NOMINATION
     Accompanied by top NDA leaders, Modi files nomination for Varanasi LS seat
     Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination papers for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on Friday, accompanied by a galaxy of top BJP and NDA leaders in a massive show of strength for the country's ruling alliance.
         
     DEL15 RAHUL-3RDLD FLIGHT
     Rahul Gandhi's flight to Patna experiences technical snag, returns to Delhi
     New Delhi: A chartered flight carrying Congress president Rahul Gandhi to Patna was forced to return to Delhi on Friday due to a technical snag, prompting aviation regulator DGCA to launch a probe into the incident.
    
     ELN32 RAJNATH-LD INTERVIEW
     Curbing insurgency in Northeast my biggest achievement as home minister: Rajnath
     Mumbai: Curbing insurgency in the Northeast has been his biggest achievement as home minister, according to Rajnath Singh who says Naxal violence in the country is also on the wane. By Anand P Mishra

     ELN10 UP-AKHILESH-INTERVIEW
     Cong more keen on forming UP govt in 2022, rather than halting BJP: Akhilesh
     Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Friday said the Congress game plan was not to stop the BJP from forming the government at the Centre, but to come to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2022. By Abhinav Pandey    
     ELN17 UP-MODI-LD WORKERS
     First time pro-incumbency wave in country: PM
     Varanasi: A pro-incumbency wave is being witnessed for the first time in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told BJP booth level workers Friday before filing his nomination papers here.
    
     ELN36 BH-LD RAHUL
     NYAY scheme is sound economics, will not be a strain on middle class pocket: Rahul
     Samastipur (Bihar): Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday called the NYAY scheme a surgical strike on poverty and asserted that the proposed minimum income guarantee programme was not populist but based on sound economics.
    
     ELN38 MP-LD MODI
     Law equal for all, raid my house if I do anything wrong: Modi
     Sidhi (MP): Dispelling the impression that recent searches by Income-Tax department were politically motivated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the law is equal for all and his residence should also be searched if he has done anything wrong.

     ELX25 CHANDRABABU-LD EC
     TDP chief asks ECI to direct AP CEO not to exceed his jurisdiction
     New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Friday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to direct the state chief electoral officer (CEO) not to "exceed his jurisdiction" and interrupt functioning of the state government.

     DEL19 DEF-CARRIER-FIRE
     Naval officer killed in fire fighting efforts on board aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya
     New Delhi: A naval officer was killed in fire fighting efforts on board aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya on Friday.
    
     ELN33 UP-MAYAWATI
     Choose 'Jai Bhim' followers over those chanting 'NaMo' this election: Mayawati
     Jalaun (UP): BSP president Mayawati Friday said people are going to bid goodbye to those chanting 'NaMo, NaMo' and choose the ones who follow 'Jai Bhim' in this Lok Sabha election.
    
     LEGAL
     LGD23 SC-LD CJI
     Allegations against CJI: Ex-employee appears before in-house inquiry panel    
     New Delhi: A former apex court employee, who levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, appeared on Friday before the in-house inquiry panel which is dealing with her complaint.
    
     LGD11 SC-LD BIOPIC
     SC refuses to interfere with EC's order banning release of biopic on PM Narendra Modi until May 19
    New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday refused to interfere with the Election Commission's order banning release of the biopic on PM Narendra Modi until May 19.
    
     BUSINESS
     LGD10 SC-LD RBI
     SC directs RBI to disclose information on bank inspection report under RTI
     New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to disclose information pertaining to its annual inspection report of banks under the Right to Information (RTI) Act unless they are exempted under law.
    
     FOREIGN
     FGN15 LANKA-BLASTS-LD HASHIM
     Lanka Easter attack leader Zahran Hashim died in hotel bombing: Sirisena
    Colombo: Sri Lankan Islamist extremist Zahran Hashim, said to be the top leader of an IS linked local militant group that carried out the Easter Sunday bombings, died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel, President Maithripala Sirisena said Friday.
    
     SPORTS
     SPF13 SPO-BOX-2NDLD ASIAN
     Amit Panghal continues golden run; Pooja on top among women at Asian C'ships
     Bangkok: Amit Panghal (52kg) picked up his second successive gold medal of the year, while Pooja Rani (81kg) finished on top among the women to bring a fine end to India's phenomenal campaign in the Asian Boxing Championships here Friday. PTI
HMB