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seven people trapped inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel here continued for the 19th consecutive day on Wednesday, with intensified efforts. Rescue teams including personnel from NDRF, state-run miner Singareni Collieries, rat miners and other agencies entered the tunnel along with equipment on Wednesday morning in a renewed effort to reach those trapped, official sources said. A team from a Hyderabad-based robotics company, along with a robot equipped with an AI-based camera, had entered the tunnel on Tuesday morning. Additionally, 110 rescue personnel were deployed. To minimise risks to rescuers, the Telangana government has decided to expand the use of robots as water and slush inside the tunnel pose significant challenges. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who visited the tunnel on March 2, had suggested that officials use robots inside the tunnel if necessary to ensure the safety of rescue personnel. As part of efforts to locate the missing individuals, rescue personnel once again deployed Human Remains Detection Dogs (HRDD) at the accident site, an official release said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the first has originated in Iraq and is moving towards the hilly regions of northern India, bringing rainfall to the area. At the same time, a second cyclonic circulation has developed over Bangladesh and will bring rainfall in eastern and north eastern states over the next five days. In contrast, the weather department has issued a heatwave alert for the western state of Gujarat. The state is expected to experience severe heat on Wednesday, with temperatures predicted to range between 37 to 41 degree Celsius in several areas. The IMD forecasts the heatwave till Thursday, which could extend until Friday.

Oil prices edged up early on Wednesday, helped by a weaker dollar, but mounting fears of a U.S. economic slowdown and the impact of tariffs on global economic growth capped gains. Brent futures rose 27 cents, or 0.39%, to $69.83 a barrel at 0110 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 29 cents, or 0.44%, to $66.54 a barrel.

Reacher Season 3 Episode 6 will be available on Prime Video on March 13, 2025. The series follows the adaptation of Lee Child’s novel Persuader. The release time will match previous episodes.

White House meeting, Musk—who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—reportedly sparred with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over aggressive federal workforce cuts. Trump downplayed the disagreements, calling both Musk and his Cabinet “special people” and suggesting occasional arguments were normal in a high-stakes administration.

When Calls the Heart Season 12 continues its run, bringing new developments in Hope Valley. Episode 11 is set to premiere soon.

Steel companies may hold back investments to expand capacity as increasing imports shrink profit margins and eat into their market share, said analysts. India aims to achieve the target of 300 mt crude steel capacity by 2030 under its National Steel Policy. «Steel capacity expansions may slow down in case domestic steel prices are adversely impacted due to increasing imports,» said Amit Bhargava, partner and national head-metals and mining, KPMG in India.

Maha Kumbh, the mobile broadband action on 5G was a lot hotter than on 4G, says network testing and analytics firm Ookla. Overall 5G performance metrics—be it data speeds, video playback or even page load time—stole a march over 4G even during heavy network congestion, it added.

When the House met for the day on Tuesday, Deputy Chairman Harivansh announced that he has received notices under Rule 267 to suspend listed business and discuss the delimitation, multiple EPICs issued to some individuals, and the three-language issue but was not accepting them. The Opposition members protested, shouting slogans asking for Pradhan's resignation. Later, leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, «If you talk about hurting the sentiments of one part of the country, the people of that part, if you call them uncultured and uncivilised» then you take the resignation from the minister.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Tuesday hit back at Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his remarks against the state and continued his attack on the National Education Policy (NEP). He termed Pradhan's remark «rude» and accused the BJP-led Centre of «blackmailing» the state. «Yesterday, Dharmendra Pradhan said that Tamils are uncivilised without controlling his tongue.

Under the chairmanship of power minister Manohar Lal, 30 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from various political parties will be given a presentation this week on aspects of nuclear energy and its role in India's net-zero journey, people aware of the development said. As India builds on its nuclear energy mission, public engagement becomes crucial on a source that raises concerns on safety, especially the perceptions built on high-profile accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel were the only telecom operators to see net subscriber additions in December, while state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and cash-strapped Vodafone Idea (Vi) continued losing subscribers, showed data issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday. Jio added 3.9 million customers in December, while Bharti Airtel reversed its trend of customer loss to add 1.03 million wireless subscribers, the data showed. In the same period, Vi lost 1.7 million users, while BSNL's subscriber base declined by 0.32 million (320,000) after three straight months of subscriber additions till October after tariff hikes by private telcos.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the House in reply to a question of BJP's Bikram Thakur that out of 1,86,434 regular employees and officers, 1,17,521 have opted for the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which is applicable in all government departments. He said that all the public undertakings are independent units and rules and directions of the government do not apply to these units. He said that 12806 employees have retired after opting for the OPS and no dues are pending. The chief minister informed the House that 13 cases of crypto currency frauds were registered during the past two years and 80 accused were arrested. Out of these, 76 accused were from the state, he told the House in a written reply to Kewal Singh Pathania (Congress). Seven cases are under investigation and property cases are pending in courts and moveable and immovable properties worth Rs 37 crore have been confiscated in these cases.

Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday said the Centre has failed to bring peace at gunpoint in Manipur and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the state and listen to the apprehensions and concerns of the people. Initiating a discussion on the supplementary demands for grants, excess grants and the Manipur budget, he asserted that peace cannot be restored in the northeastern state at the barrel of gun and only a political solution was the way out. Gogoi, the Deputy Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said the Manipur budget should have been discussed in the state assembly, but President's Rule has been imposed in the state. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apprise the House about the rationale for imposition of President's Rule in the state. «What is the state of Vidhan Sabha in the state — is it dissolved or in suspended animation,» the Congress leader sought to know. BJP members, including Nishikant Dubey, objected to Gogoi's extensive reference to the situation in Manipur and cited rules to point out that the Congress leader should stick to the demands for grants and the state budget.

Zydus Lifesciences said on Tuesday it will acquire an 85.6% stake in France's Amplitude Surgical for 256.8 million euros (nearly $280 million) as part of its plans to expand further in the global medical devices market. The acquisition, which is a nearly 81% premium to Amplitude's last close, comes as India's pharmaceutical industry is bracing itself for U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to tax pharmaceutical imports. The United States is Zydus Lifesciences's biggest market, accounting for 47% of total revenue, followed by India.

global investors such as SoftBank and Tiger Global remained cautious, ToI reported. Instead of making fresh bets, they largely focused on smaller follow-on investments in their existing portfolio companies, significantly slowing capital deployment. According to a report by Bain & Company and the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), this represents a 33% decline from the $4 billion raised in 2023.

Waaree Renewable Technologies Ltd (WAAREERTL) on Tuesday said a consortium of three firms including the company has secured an order worth Rs 740.06 crore for EPC work of a 125 MWAC solar project. The project is scheduled to be completed within 18 months from the date of signing of contract, a regulatory filing said.

BJP MP lost his cool inside the Lok Sabha with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijuju rushing to him to calm him down as he shouted at his party colleagues. Andaman and Nicobar MP Bishnu Pada Ray lost his temper and his ire appeared to be primarily directed at BJP chief whip Sanjay Jaiswal.

Realty developer Omaxe will invest Rs 600 crore in developing 1.5 million sq ft of retail space in Faridabad, a senior executive said. The development is part of Omaxe World Street, 27 acre of which is already operational and has over 250 brands. Spanning over 120 acres, the project has future development potential as well.

India's cotton imports in 2024/25 are likely to double from a year ago as production is set to fall below consumption because of a decline in acreage planted and adverse weather, a leading trade body said on Tuesday. Higher imports by the world's second-largest producer of the fibre could support global prices, which fell to their lowest in more than four years after top consumer China levied duties on imports from the United States. India could import 3 million bales in the current marketing year ending on September 30, up from 1.52 million bales imported a year ago, the Cotton Association of India (CAI) said in a statement. During the period from October to February, 2.2 million bales of overseas cotton landed at Indian ports, according to CAI estimates. India's cotton production in the current year is likely to fall by 10% from a year ago, to 29.53 million bales, even as demand is estimated to rise marginally to 31.5 million bales, it said.

Sebi has issued a warning to IIFL Capital Services regarding due diligence in debt issues handled by the company's merchant banking division. In a disclosure to stock exchanges, IIFL Capital said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has issued an administrative warning letter dated March 7, 2025. The regulator conducted an inspection with regard to debt issues handled by the merchant banking division of the company for the period April 1, 2022 to April 30, 2024.