News highlights: Train services hit after IED blast damages track in Assam's Kokrajhar

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest news developments here

11:50 PM

President Murmu graces valedictory function of platinum jubilee celebrations of St Thomas college at Palai

President Murmu graced valedictory function of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of St. Thomas College at Palai, Kerala on Thursday, an official statement said

9:32 PM

India among top 10 nations with largest forest carbon sinks: FAO report

India ranked among the world's top ten countries with the largest forest carbon sinks, absorbing about 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year between 2021 and 2025, according to a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The report, released on Tuesday, said that globally, forests acted as a net carbon sink during this period, removing about 0.8 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually.

3:22 PM

Ilaiyaraaja moves court over unauthorised use of his songs in Tamil film

Veteran music composer Ilaiyaraaja has informed the Madras High Court that two more of his compositions were used in a recent Tamil film without his consent. His counsel made the submission on Wednesday before a single-judge bench hearing Ilaiyaraaja’s petition against three music companies, including Sony Music Entertainment India Private Limited, for the alleged unauthorised use of his works.

 

According to the submission, two of the composer’s songs were featured in the latest Tamil hit Dude, starring Pradeep Ranganathan, without the required approval from Ilaiyaraaja.

2:47 PM

RJD's promise of providing employment reminds me of its involvement in land-for-jobs scam, says Nadda

RJD stands for 'Rangdari', 'Jungleraj', and  'Dadagiri', says BJP chief JP Nadda at Bihar rally.

2:40 PM

Man-mark potential criminals to make their work difficult, Haryana DGP tells police officers

Haryana DGP O P Singh directed police to assess criminals who may commit a serious crime in the near future and have a dedicated pool of officers to stop them. The idea, he said, is to increase operational difficulties of criminals so that they are caught. A team of four to five personnel should be assigned for man-to-man marking each criminal, the DGP said. Singh on Wednesday night went on night patrolling to inquire about issues faced by the personnel deployed at inter-district checkpoints, emergency response vehicles and police posts.

2:20 PM

Congress parasitic party that finishes off junior alliance partners, says Nadda

RJD giving ticket to gangster-turned-politician late Md Shahabuddin's son shows how concerned they are for Bihar, says Nadda.

1:39 PM

President unveils bust of former President KR Narayanan at Kerala Raj Bhavan

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday unveiled the bust of former President, the late K R Narayanan, on the premises of Kerala Raj Bhavan. The bust, erected to honour the first Indian President from the Dalit community, was unveiled in the presence of former President Ram Nath Kovind, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, an official release said.

1:01 PM

Vatican will return dozens of artifacts to Indigenous groups in Canada as part of reconciliation

The Vatican is expected to soon announce that it will return a few dozen artefacts sought by Indigenous communities in Canada as part of its reckoning with the Catholic Church's troubled role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas, officials said on Wednesday. The items, including an Inuit kayak, are part of the Vatican Museum's ethnographic collection, known as the Anima Mundi museum. The collection has been a source of controversy for the Vatican amid the broader museum debate over the restitution of cultural artefacts taken from Indigenous peoples during colonial periods.

11:48 AM

Portals of Kedarnath shrine close for winter

The doors of the Kedarnath shrine in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand were closed for the winter season on Thursday. For the next six months, Lord Kedarnath will be worshipped at his winter residence, Ukhimath. Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee sources said that after special puja, the doors of Baba Kedar were closed for devotees at 8.30 am.

11:22 AM

Delhi: Four wanted Bihar gangsters killed in police encounter in Rohini

Four wanted criminals allegedly involved in multiple cases of murder in Bihar were killed in a shootout with a joint team of Delhi Police and Bihar Police in Rohini in the early hours of Thursday, police said. The accused, identified as Ranjan Pathak (25), Bimlesh Mahto alias Bimlesh Sahni (25), Manish Pathak (33) and Aman Thakur (21), all residents of Bihar's Sitamarhi district, were part of the 'Sigma Gang', they said.

10:56 AM

Durgapur court denies bail to 6 accused in MBBS student rape case

A Durgapur court on Wednesday rejected the bail petitions of six individuals accused in the alleged rape of an MBBS student. The accused were produced before the court after completing their police remand, which lasted between seven and ten days. They have been remanded to judicial custody until October 27, when they are scheduled to appear in court again.

10:46 AM

Cong claims PM not going for Asean summit to avoid meeting Trump

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi unlikely to travel to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit, the Congress on Thursday claimed that the reason for his not going was that the PM doesn't want to be cornered by US President Donald Trump. Congress General Secretary In-Charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said posting messages in praise of President Trump on social media is one thing, but to be seen hobnobbing physically with the man who has claimed 53 times that he stopped Operation Sindoor and has claimed five times that India has promised to stop buying oil from Russia is far too risky for him.

10:30 AM

Congress MLA IC Balakrishnan, three others chargesheeted in DCC treasurer and son's death

A charge sheet was filed by the police against Congress MLA IC Balakrishnan and three other party leaders in connection with the alleged suicide of District Congress Committee (DCC) treasurer N M Vijayan and his son at Sultan Bathery here, officials said on Thursday. Vijayan (78) and his son Jijesh (38) had allegedly died by consuming poison in December 2024.

10:10 AM

IMF's Georgieva says Gaza ceasefire must be maintained, peace would benefit region

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday urged all parties to continue moving in the direction of a sustained lasting peace following a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it would benefit the entire region. Georgieva, speaking during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, said she was relieved when the recent ceasefire was reached, noting that lowered tensions would be good news for the economies of Egypt and Jordan, where the IMF has programs, and Lebanon and Syria, which have asked for help and support from the global lender.