Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab's Senior Spokesperson Neel Garg has urged Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa to stop politicizing the drug issue and instead support Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s ongoing war against drugs. Garg criticized Bajwa’s recent remarks targeting Punjab Police and called on him to contribute constructively to the fight to save Punjab’s youth.

Neel Garg questioned Bajwa’s silence on the latest incident where the Punjab Police arrested a senior officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Amritsar with heroin in his possession. He asked, “Should the ED now also be dismantled because of this arrest? Good and bad elements exist everywhere. This isn’t about politics — it’s about our youth’s future.

Bajaj Finance Limited's shares fell on Wednesday, reflecting weak investor sentiment despite no major negative triggers.

The stock dropped by Rs 77.25, or 0.88 per cent, to close at Rs 8,745 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) during an intra-day session. Over the past five days, the scrip has slipped by Rs 5, or 0.06 per cent.

The firm reported a rise in asset quality stress in the third quarter of the fiscal year (Q3 FY25). Its gross non-performing assets (GNPA) increased to 1.12 per cent from 0.95 per cent in the year-ago period, while net non-performing assets (NNPA) rose to 0.48 per cent from 0.37 per cent.

Actress Adah Sharma is all set to take on a powerful role as Devi in her upcoming film with National Award-winning director BM Giriraj.

She shared her approach to the character, emphasizing her commitment to making the portrayal as realistic and authentic as possible. Adah shared, “I am very fortunate to be getting the opportunity to play such amazing roles and work with such talented filmmakers. Stories like ‘The Kerala Story’ or fictional ones like Reeta Sanyal, I will do my best to make it as realistic as possible. I'm very lucky that creative filmmakers are offering me such varied roles.”

For the first time, Sharma will be seen portraying Devi, a goddess, on the silver screen. The forthcoming, yet-to-be-titled film will be trilingual in Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil.

The war against drugs under ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to eradicate the drug menace from the state entered the 40th day on Wednesday.

Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested 111 drug smugglers and recovered 3.7 kg heroin, 253 kg poppy husk, and Rs 98,800 drug money from their possession.

An official said that the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached 5,535 in just 40 days, adding that the operation was conducted on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav simultaneously in all 28 police districts.

A faulty radio system was one of a host of factors that contributed to a fatal mid-air collision between two helicopters in northern Australia in 2023, an official investigation showed on Wednesday.

Four people were killed and nine more injured when two scenic flight helicopters collided in mid-air on Australia's Gold Coast in the state of Queensland on January 2, 2023.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) on Wednesday released its final 200-page report on the incident following a two-year investigation, highlighting a series of safety issues that contributed to the crash.

The incident occurred when one helicopter piloted by Ash Jenkinson was taking off while the other piloted by Michael James was coming in to land. Both helicopters were Eurocopter EC130s operated by the Gold Coast's Sea World theme park.

Rajasthan Royals will be without the services of leg-spin all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga as captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl first against Gujarat Titans in Match 23 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Wednesday.

Gujarat Titans (GT) are in second place in the points table, while Rajasthan Royals (RR) are in seventh position. A win for RR in Ahmedabad will take them to join a large six-point bandwagon. After winning the toss, Samson said Hasaranga was out due to personal reasons, with left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi replacing him in the playing eleven.

The death toll from overnight US airstrikes on Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah has risen to eight, including a pregnant woman, with 16 others injured, local health authorities said in a statement early on Wednesday.

The majority of the victims were women and children, according to the statement.

The tragedy occurred when US military warplanes struck homes in the Amin Muqbil residential neighborhood late Tuesday night, according to health authorities and local residents, who also shared video footage on social media following the airstrikes.

In the wake of scorching heat in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal, the district administration has changed timings of all private and government-run schools for students up to Class 8 on Wednesday.

A notification issued by the Education Department said that all schools up to class 8 will operate between 7 am and 12 pm.

“Due to the continuous increase in temperature in Bhopal, all schools up to class 8 will operate til 12 pm only. The decision has been taken considering the health of students. This order will come into effect from Thursday onward,” reads the notification, which was issued by Bhopal District Education Officer, N. K. Ahirwar.

However, there were no changes in timing for classes beyond Class 8, and they will operate as per their scheduled time.

With the RBI’s 50 basis points cumulative reduction in policy rates since February this year, transmission of the rate cut by banks is expected in the coming quarters, according to an SBI report.

The report points out that following the RBI’s 25 basis point cut in repo rate in February, public sector banks reduced deposit rates by 6 basis points, and foreign banks reduced 15 basis points, while private banks increased the rate by 2 basis points.. The analysis of the weighted average lending rate (WALR) on fresh loans versus the repo rate reveals that WALR for public sector banks and scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) closely follow the adjustments in the policy rate, implying an effective and timely transmission mechanism.

In light of the rising temperatures and ongoing heatwave in Rajasthan, special arrangements are being made at Sawai Mansingh (SMS) Stadium in Jaipur ahead of the first IPL 2025 match, scheduled for April 13.

To ensure the well-being of spectators and players, ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) counters and drinking water cans will be set up throughout the stadium.

He added that water will also be provided free of cost at various locations inside the venue.