Mumbai: Stock market benchmarks ended with losses for the third straight session Wednesday as heightened geopolitical tensions, weak global peers and persistent foreign fund outflows unnerved investors. Besides, selling in financial, bank and consumption stocks amid ongoing weakness in the rupee also added to the pressure in the markets. Recovering most of its sharp intra-day losses, the...

Bhubaneswar: Odisha State Election Commission (SEC) has started preparations to hold elections in the 24 newly formed urban local bodies (ULBs) in June, a senior official said. State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi Wednesday said in accordance with legal provisions, the ULBs should have elected councils within six months of their formation. On December 31, 2025, the state...

New Delhi: Astronaut Sunita Williams said space travel has changed her perspective towards life in general, and the idea of humans arguing or having differences over issues seems so "silly" when you look at Earth as "one planet" from outer space. Williams, 60, who recently retired from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is currently visiting...

Bhubaneswar: Odisha minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra Wednesday directed officers to expedite works for early implementation of the Mahanadi riverfront development project in Cuttack. The project, with an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore, will be developed over an area of 426 acres along the Mahanadi riverfront, officials said. It is a flagship urban rejuvenation initiative aimed at...

Tokyo: A Japanese court sentenced a man who admitted to assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to life imprisonment Wednesday. The case has revealed decades of cosy ties between Japan's governing party and a controversial South Korean church. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, was earlier admitted to killing Abe in July 2022 during his election campaign speech in...

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati and Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Wednesday greeted the people of Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur on the occasion of their 54th statehood day. Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura became individual states following the enactment of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. In a post on X, the Odisha Governor said: "On Statehood...

A shocking case of road rage has emerged from Pune, Maharashtra. A minor dispute between a female driver and a male driver on the road escalated to the point where the woman dragged the young man for nearly two kilometres on the bonnet of her car, leaving him seriously injured. A video of this horrific incident is...

Dhaka: As Bangladesh heads towards February 12 elections, several workers and supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the radical Islamist Party Jamaat-e-Islami engaged in escalating clashes over election campaigning, local media reported. Amid rising political tensions, the workers of the BNP and Jamaat clashed in Dhaka's Mirpur area Tuesday, leaving several people injured. Citing witnesses,...

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday approved equity support of Rs 5,000 crore to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). "The equity capital of Rs 5,000 crore shall be infused into SIDBI by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in three tranches of Rs 3,000 crore in financial year 2025-26...

Dubai: Indian superstar Virat Kohli was displaced from the top spot by New Zealand swashbuckler Daryl Mitchell in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batters following the latter's stupendous run of form in the just-concluded series. New Zealand won the series 1-2, their first on Indian soil in the ODI format, to end a 37-year wait. Mitchell...