News updates: Select Committee of Lok Sabha to examine the Income-Tax Bill 2025 on March 6 and 7

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9:22 PM

PB Fintech appoints Santosh Agarwal as CEO of Paisabazaar

Neeraj Tripathi has been appointed as the CFO of Paisabazaar, while Vivek Audichya is the new CFO of Policybazaar.

9:21 PM

Select Committee of Lok Sabha to examine the Income-Tax Bill 2025 on March 6 and 7

9:18 PM

Delhi records warmest February night in 74 years, minimum temp reaches 19.5 degrees C

Delhi recorded its warmest February night in 74 years, with the minimum temperature at Safdarjung reaching 19.5 degrees celsius on Thursday -- the highest for the month in the period between 1951to 2025, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

 

"Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 19.5 degrees celsius today, February 27, 2025. This is the highest minimum temperature ever recorded for February at Safdarjung between 1951 and 2025, the IMD said, adding that data prior to 1951 was unavailable.

 

Meanwhile, according to past records, the previous highest minimum temperature for February was 19 degrees celsius on February 25, 2015, making it the second highest on record.

 

This was followed by 18.6 degrees celsius in 1973, 18.5 degrees celsius on February 20, 2015, 18.2 degrees celsius in 1992 and 18.0 degrees celsius in 1988, which ranked as the fifth highest.

 

With a cloudy sky, the maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 25 degrees celsius on Thursday, 1.1 degrees below the normal average, the IMD said.

 

This comes a day after the city recorded its highest maximum temperature of the season at 32.4 degrees celsius on Wednesday.

 

Mahesh Palawat, Vice President of Skymet Weather, said that due to a cloudy sky and light drizzling in the capital, the minimum temperature is expected to drop again from today and remain stable until March 3 or 4.

5:56 PM

Delhi Fire Services to inspect Khan Market shops for NOCs after blaze at restaurant

5:55 PM

Goa tourism department issues show-cause notices to 99 beach shacks for violating rules

The Goa tourism department has issued show-causes notices to 99 beach shacks for allegedly violating the state's policy concerning such joints, an official said on Thursday.

 

The tourism department has been allotting shacks to the locals on beaches under the Goa Shack Policy.

 

During a surprise inspection, 80 shacks in North Goa and 19 in South Goa were found to have violated the policy, the department said in a release.

 

The inspection revealed multiple violations of the Goa Shack Policy, including instances of subletting. As a result, show-cause notices have been issued to the violators, a spokesperson of the department said.

 

The spokesman said the shack operators will be allowed to present their side. The spokesman said that regular inspections will continue, and action will be taken if any violations are detected in future.

4:35 PM

Congress threatens to stage protest, if power tariff hiked in Odisha

The Congress on Thursday threatened to stage protests across Odisha if power tariff is hiked in the state from the upcoming financial year 2025-26. Senior Congress leader and former minister Panchanan Kanungo said the company engaged in bulk supply of electricity and power distribution companies have been demanding a hike in power tariff in the state. The Congress threatened to stage protests across Odisha if power tariff is hiked in the state from the upcoming financial year 2025-26.

4:28 PM

French industry minister reaffirms that Europe needs firm response to Trump's latest tariffs

Europe needs to respond firmly but proportionately to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariffs threats, French industry Minister Marc Ferracci said on Thursday, adding that these threats were "worrying but not surprising". Ferracci was speaking at a news conference on the future of the European steel industry in Paris.

3:59 PM

More than 1,000 Syrians died in airport prison under Assad, says report

More than 1,000 Syrians died in detention at a military airport on the outskirts of Damascus, killed by execution, torture or maltreatment at a site that was widely feared, according to a report to be published Thursday tracing the deaths to seven suspected grave sites.

3:32 PM

Hit by speeding train while crossing tracks, two women die in Bengal

Two women were killed when they were hit by an express train while crossing the tracks at Sodepur railway station in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, an official said on Thursday. The body of one of the two women fell beside the tracks, while the other got entangled in the cowcatcher of the engine of Hatey Bazare Express and was retrieved at Naihati station, which was its first scheduled stop after departing the terminal Sealdah station, a Government Railway Police (GRP) official said.

3:20 PM

Hamas calls for talks on next phase of ceasefire after hostage-prisoner exchange

Hamas said Thursday it was ready to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after a swap in which it handed over what it said were the remains of four hostages in exchange for the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It was the final such exchange the two sides agreed to as part of a truce that's set to end this weekend. 

2:51 PM

Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa found dead in Santa Fe Home

The Oscar-winning star of The French Connection, The Conversation, and Superman has been found at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was the recipient of two Academy Awards, two Baftas, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award in a career that spanned more than six decades.

2:34 PM

Bodies of 4 Israeli hostages have been identified after return from Gaza, hostages' group says

An Israeli group representing families of hostages held by Hamas said the remains of all four hostages returned early Thursday have been identified. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that the bodies of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsachi Idan have been returned to Israel.

1:58 PM

Ikea looking for next phase of investment in India, aims growth, says CEO

Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, which is starting online sales in Delhi-NCR and nine other markets this week, is looking for next round of investments in India and will move to profitability after expansion, said its India CEO Susanne Pulverer. Ikea is planning to have 2 full-size stores in Delhi-NCR -- at Gurugram in 2026 and Noida in 2028. It also plans to open physical stores in Chennai and Pune in the next phase after having operational stores in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

1:33 PM

We will identify fake electors, who have been enrolled with help of BJP, claims Mamata Banerjee

In Delhi and Maharashtra, BJP bagged victory in the elections by enrolling fake voters from Haryana, Gujarat, alleges Mamata Banerjee at TMC meeting.

1:07 PM

Persons can seek anticipatory bail in cases related to GST, Customs even in absence of FIR:SC

In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that the provision of anticipatory bail is applicable to the Goods and Services Act and customs law and persons can move courts for pre-arrest bail even if an FIR is not in place. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi had reserved the verdict on May 16, last year on a batch of pleas challenging the penal provisions in the Customs Act, the GST Act as being non compatible with the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC and the Constitution.

12:00 PM

Bhopal gas tragedy: SC refuses to interfere with HC order on waste disposal

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the Madhya Pradesh High Court order on shifting toxic waste from the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy and disposing it in Pithampur area of Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and A G Masih also refused to stay Thursday's trial run of disposal of the waste from the Union Carbide India Ltd plant. It noted that experts from NEERI, NGRI and CPCB have given their views on the issues, which were considered by the high court as well as the expert panel.

11:32 AM

News update: Pune police announces reward for info on Swargate rape case

Pune Police has announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information about the accused in a case related to rape inside state transport bus at Swargate.

11:16 AM

Wrestler shot dead in Haryana village

A wrestler was shot dead by unidentified assailants in a village in Haryana's Sonipat district, police said on Thursday. The 40-year-old wrestler identified as Rakesh had come to watch a wrestling competition in Kundal village when the incident took place on Wednesday evening, SHO of Kharkhoda police station, Bir Singh said over the phone.

11:06 AM

'Appropriate Gandhi, glorify Godse': Cong slams Modi govt over NIT professor's appointment as Dean

Slamming the Modi government over the appointment of an NIT-Calicut professor who is accused of praising Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a Dean, the Congress said this was part of its mindset to "appropriate Gandhi, glorify Godse". In an order issued by the Director of the National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NIT), Dr Shaija A has been appointed as the Dean of the Planning and Development Department, with effect from March 7.

10:22 AM

Assam hit by 5 magnitude earthquake; no casualty reported

An earthquake of 5 magnitude jolted the central part of Assam on Thursday morning, an official bulletin said. There is no immediate report of any injury to anyone or damage to any property, officials said. A National Center for Seismology report said the quake was recorded at 2:25 am in Morigaon district on the southern bank of Brahmaputra, at a depth of 16 km.

9:39 AM

Cabinet approves Waqf (Amendment) Bill based on JPC report

The Cabinet has given its nod to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on the basis of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report which was tabled in Parliament on February 13, media outlets reported citing sources.

9:33 AM

SpaceX launches third Moon landing mission of 2025 with Athena lander atop Falcon 9

SpaceX on Thursday successfully launched the IM-2 mission, the third Moon landing mission of 2025, carrying the ‘Athena’ Nova-C class lunar lander.

9:06 AM

Polling underway for MLC election in Telangana

Polling was underway on Thursday for the keenly-contested election to Telangana Legislative Council from three constituencies. The three seats are Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Teachers' constituency.