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India. Byrnihat, a small but heavily industrialised town in Meghalaya, tops the list, according to the World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air technology firm IQAir. Delhi, already infamous for its hazardous air, retains its place as the most polluted capital city on the planet. India, while improving slightly, is still among the worst-hit nations. Ranking as the world’s fifth most polluted country in 2024—down from third place in 2023—the nation recorded an average PM2.5 concentration of 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, still ten times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) safety limits.

EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories will see moderate advancements for India, while EB-4 will remain unavailable for all countries until the end of fiscal year 2025, as the annual limit has been reached. Meanwhile, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the Visa Bulletin's Final Action Dates chart in April 2025. This allows applicants to file if their priority date is earlier than the listed cutoff date for their category and country.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Washington and Beijing have begun discussions about a potential “birthday summit" in June in the U.S. between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to people familiar with the matter.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Guidelines to make unsolicited calls and spam SMSes illegal have been kept in abeyance for now by the country’s top consumer watchdog.

Aveo Pharmaceuticals said the company has been issued stop-production notice for non-compliance with manufacturing standards and not for export of opioid-based drugs to West African nations. Arvind Sharma, its managing director, also told ET's Teena Thacker and Vikas Dandekar that the company has valid product permissions from the state food and drug administrator for Tafradol, a combination of Tapentadol and Carisoprodol. Edited excerpts: What is the status of allegations of exports of opioids to West African nations? The allegations that our products are narcotics opioids are false. All our products are legitimate, licensed pharmaceuticals sold under valid prescriptions in numerous countries.

Elon Musk’s latest claim—that billionaire Reid Hoffman secretly funded protests against Tesla—has ignited a high-stakes war of words in Silicon Valley. But in a swift rebuttal, the LinkedIn co-founder has dismissed Musk’s allegations as pure fiction, calling them yet another in a long list of «false claims.» The drama unfolded on X (formerly Twitter), where Musk accused Hoffman of financially backing groups organizing anti-Tesla demonstrations. Hoffman wasted no time in setting the record straight. «Just one more of Elon's false claims about me: I never funded anyone for Tesla protests. I don’t condone violence. But it's clear Americans are angry at him—it’s easier to explain away their anger than to accept that actions have consequences,» Hoffman wrote in response to Musk’s tweet.

Vodafone Idea has not submitted a bank guarantee (BG) worth ₹6,090.7 crore or made a cash payment of ₹5,493.2 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for shortfall of the 2015 spectrum auction by the deadline, a development that may lead to some sort of action by the government. The financially struggling company was scheduled to submit the BG or cash payment by March 10, 2025, but the company failed to do either at the end of office hours. «We will see what action can be taken in the coming couple of days,» an official privy to the details told ET. The DoT has so far not granted any extension, the official added. The amount must be paid by Vodafone Idea for the shortfall in payments for spectrum use on a pro-rata basis as per the terms and conditions of the BG waiver announced by the DoT in December last year.

Fitch Ratings has removed energy infrastructure company Adani Energy Solutions (AESL) from its 'Ratings Watch Negative' list and assigned a Negative Outlook, it said in a statement on Monday. The agency cited concerns over ongoing US investigations that could reveal governance weaknesses and affect financial stability. The agency warned that the outcome of the probe could impact the company's credit profile. It had affirmed the long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings at 'BBB-'. «The risks associated with the group's liquidity and funding requirements have moderated,» Fitch said in a statement, adding that the proceedings and outcome of the US investigations could reveal that the group's corporate governance practices are weaker than it expected, potentially leading to negative rating action in the near to medium term.

West Bengal assembly on Monday after the Speaker suspended BJP MLA Dipak Barman and ordered marshals to escort other two BJP MLAs -Shankar Ghosh and Manoj Oraon — out of the assembly. A motion was brought against the BJP MLAs for misconduct and disruption of the House on the first day of the second phase of the budget session of the legislative assembly which began on Monday, after a vacation. Chaos broke out inside the House when BJP MLA Hiran Chatterjee, while delivering his speech, was stopped and his microphone was silenced by the Speaker. Then BJP MLAs, led by chief whip Shankar Ghosh, started protesting after which the marshals were asked to escort Ghosh and Oraon out. Later, the BJP-led Opposition staged a walkout in protest against the Speaker's action.

The LG administration has ordered an inquiry into the incident, but locals have demanded action against the police officials and setting up of Village Defence Guards (VDG) in the area. The VDG, formerly known as Village Defence Committee, is a civilian militia first established in the mid-1990s in Chenab Valley of Jammu division to counter the militancy in remote hilly villages along the Line of Control. The districts of Kathua, Samba, Doda and Kishtwar in Jammu, which were peaceful for two decades, have reported several militant incidents over the past two years. During the ongoing budget session of J&K assembly, the legislators protested against the deaths and demanded swift action. Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident and it cannot be debated further in the assembly. «I spoke with home minister sahib for the past three days and he is continuously monitoring the situation. He told me that Union home secretary and Director Intelligence Bureau was sent to assess the situation on ground,» leader of the BJP in J&K assembly Sunil Sharma informed the House. J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah informed the House that it was interesting to note that police allowed BJP leaders to visit the spot but did not allow the deputy CM from the ruling National Conference to visit Billawar citing the «sensitive situation» at the spot.

Indian equities have become one of the worst performers as the world resets its trading rules. For the first time since 2009, Sensex's P/E is trading below that of the Dow. Despite once-rich valuations among emerging markets (EM), foreign investors keep selling even after a sharp correction from last year's peak.

Shares of Strategy (MSTR) and other companies tied to cryptocurrencies sank along with the price of digital coins on concerns about President Donald Trump's federal bitcoin strategic reserve plan and worries about the U.S. economy. 

For years, American financial companies have fought the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the chief U.S. consumer finance watchdog — in the courts and media, portraying the agency as illegitimate and as unfairly targeting industry players.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers to take action against the promotion of alcohol and tobacco through advertisements and endorsements. The letter, dated March 5, was addressed to IPL Chairman Arun Singh Dhumal and BCCI officials, urging them to prohibit all forms of tobacco and alcohol advertisements, including surrogate ads, across IPL stadiums, related events, and television broadcasts, ET reported on Monday. The letter further emphasised that sportspersons, including commentators, should refrain from directly or indirectly endorsing these harmful products.

Mhow, Madhya Pradesh on Sunday during the victory celebration of Team India's ICC Champions Trophy win, an official said. Several vehicles were torched and vandalised, prompting authorities to heighten security in the area. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG, Rural) Nimish Agarwal told media that a preliminary investigation is going on into the incident.

Meera Jain, founder of Times Evoke, urged business leaders to consider distributing their resources to projects and endeavours that safeguard the planet. Delivering her special address at ET Awards for Corporate Excellence, she underlined the importance of mitigating the loss of many species that are vanishing due to human action. «Our success depends on how we gather and disseminate information,» she said. «Ironically, in the age of science and truth, we are veering towards an information avalanche of untruth, glorifying trivialities and stepping over the salient.» The moving address, which followed an expansive dance performance, began with Jain highlighting the urgency of the situation that humanity is facing.

Rahul Gandhi launching an unprecedented attack on his own party men in Gujarat on Saturday, many party workers expect a major structural overhaul in the party that has for long been dealing with fratricidal feuds. According to a large section of party members, Congress's plight in Gujarat has been a result of series of blunders which looked 'deliberate'. «Rahul Gandhi in fact said things on Saturday that the people of Gujarat had known for decades,» said a senior party member. As a matter of fact, former legislator Manhar Patel had sent a letter to the Congress high command just before Gandhi's visit pointing out that as many as 75 senior Congress leaders have left the party over the past two decades, with many of them holding the state leadership responsible. Patel had sought a «high-level inquiry» into the exodus and penal action on the leaders responsible for the development. While several Congress workers admit that upcoming workers and leaders of the party are often courted by the ruling disposition, Congress's experiment with the young turks like Alpesh Thakore and Hardik Patel has remained a question mark for many.

COP30), is doubling down on accelerating the implementation of climate action. To this end, it has suggested setting up «additional governance structures» under the UN, «complimentary» to the existing process under UNFCCC, to follow up on commitments that have been made on climate action. Explaining the rationale for complementary governance structures under the UN, Brazil's environment minister, Marina Silva, said, «Take the NDCs (nationally determined contributions or climate plans), these are meant to be reviewed every five years. Maybe this is not enough. We may need additional pieces to make global efforts more effective». Silva said the rule book for the Paris Agreement has now been completely finalised. «We have a structured regime on which we can rely,» the minister said. «We have no choice to implement or else we will experience the unthinkable.»

Digvijaya Singh on Sunday said he was asked not to speak against the RSS while campaigning in Gujarat for fear of «angering Hindus» and hailed Rahul Gandhi's tough talk in that state a day earlier on those in the party helping the ruling BJP. Addressing Congress workers in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Gandhi had said the party's first job was to separate two groups of Congress workers and leaders — ones who carry the party ideology in their hearts and stand with the public and the others who were cut off from the public, «half of whom are with the BJP». He had underlined the need to filter out such leaders and workers and had warned of strict action, even removals. In a post on social media platform X on Sunday, Singh congratulated Gandhi for his statement and said, «I remember when I went to Gujarat to campaign as the Chief Minister of MP, I was instructed not to speak against the RSS. Hindus will get angry.»

The action is a response to orders from President Donald Trump, who has directed agency managers to move ahead with the staffing cuts. Reports have it that almost 1,000 more NOAA staff will be fired, on top of the 1,300 already terminated.

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