Mumbai has emerged as one of the most competitive leasing markets for data centres in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, a report showed on Thursday.

The Knight Frank report also highlighted Chennai as another emerging data centre destination in India. The city is drawing attention due to its strategic coastal location, which offers robust connectivity and disaster resilience, making it attractive for hyperscalers and enterprise-grade operators looking for diversified infrastructure.

Navi Mumbai’s 90 MW data centre has been developed specifically to support hyperscalers like AWS.

According to Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, the data centre industry in the country is experiencing unprecedented momentum, driven by rapid digitalisation, policy support, and a growing appetite for cloud-based services.

South Korean stocks were trading sharply higher on Thursday as the US administration's temporary pause of reciprocal tariffs on South Korea improved market sentiment. The Korean won was trading sharply higher against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had rallied 126.94 points, or 5.53 percent, to 2,420.64 as of 11:20 a.m., sharply rebounding from the 17-month low the previous day, reports news agency.

With the steep gain, the bourse operator issued a sidecar order at 9:06 a.m., halting program purchasing for five minutes, after the KOSPI 200 futures soared 5 percent for more than one minute.

Overnight, Wall Street posted one of the best days since the global financial crisis in 2008, with the S&P 500 surging 9.5 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring 7.87 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite skyrocketing 12.16 percent.

South Korea and the United States signed a new joint wartime operations plan (OPLAN) last year to counter evolving North Korean military threats, the commander of US Forces Korea (USFK) said.

Gen. Xavier Brunson made the remarks in a written statement to the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, as Seoul and Washington have been deepening security coordination to deal with advancing North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threats. He also leads the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) and UN Command (UNC).

"Last year, we took a significant step forward in our combat readiness when the new combined Operations Plan was signed," Brunson said.

"Over the past several years, alliance planners worked diligently to construct and develop this plan, constantly testing and validating its concepts through execution during our bi-annual FS and UFS exercise events," he added, referring to regular South Korea-US exercises, Freedom Shield and Ulchi Freedom Shield.

India’s goods and services exports have crossed a record $820 billion in financial year 2024-25, which represents a close to 6 per cent increase over the corresponding figure of $778 billion for the previous financial year, despite the economic uncertainties in global markets, according to data compiled by the Commerce Ministry.

The figures were revealed at a meeting held by Commerce and Industry Minister (CIM) Piyush Goyal with the Export Promotion Councils and industry bodies here to discuss the emerging trade scenario.

The minister complimented the exporters for the all-time high achievement in exports in spite of multiple headwinds, including the Red Sea crisis, Israel-Hamas conflict spilling over to the Gulf region, continuation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and slow growth in some developed economies. The Minister lauded the exporters for their resilience and efforts.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has raised concern over the lack of clear directives from the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government regarding the parliamentary election date. The party also claimed that the government was deliberately delaying the elections.

BNP alleged that the interim government's failure to provide a roadmap for the upcoming national elections has also created doubt among the public, as local media reported on Thursday.

While the interim government has announced that the election may be held between December 2025 and June 2026, BNP wants the election to be held by December 2025.

Meanwhile, demanding a swift announcement of the election roadmap, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will lead a delegation to meet with Chief Advisor Yunus on April 16, reports.

Cricket at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games will be played in the T20 format, with six teams competing in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, the Organisers said.

The event programme and athlete quotas for LA 2028 was approved by the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday.

The organisers said that a total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender, allowing every team to name a 15-member squad.

The cricket venues for LA28 are yet to be confirmed.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on Latin America and the Caribbean to act as a "guiding light" for multilateralism in a world increasingly troubled by division and unilateralism.

Petro on Wednesday appealed at the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.

"We must decide whether we help each other or retreat into loneliness," Petro said. "We can either face the world alone, as in One Hundred Years of Solitude, or we can act as a united humanity and support one another."

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has said the introduction of the mixed team event for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games "significantly enhances the Olympic table tennis program."

The decision was made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the men's and women's doubles events are set to replace the men's and women's team events. The number of table tennis events at LA28 will be increased to six - men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, mixed doubles, and mixed team.

"This historic development significantly enhances the Olympic table tennis program," read a statement from the ITTF.

The mixed team event was first launched at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup held in Chengdu, China, in December 2023. For the ITTF, this innovative format brings men's and women's players together in combined teams, highlighting the sport's strong commitment to gender equality, integration, and teamwork.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday conducted a joint inspection of the Pollution Control Center in the Wazirabad area as part of the government's intensified efforts to clean the Yamuna River.

The visit also focused on future plans to transform the area into a scenic riverfront and potential tourist spot.

The inspection began at the Wazirabad Pollution Control Center, a crucial junction where the Wazirabad and Najafgarh drains converge before merging with the Yamuna.

Authorities are working on a comprehensive plan to treat wastewater at this point and further enhance the site with a walking track and recreational facilities.

In a bid to boost transparency and empower mobile subscribers, telecom service providers (TSPs) have published mobile network coverage maps on their websites, as per the mandate given by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The coverage maps offer a variety of user-friendly features for easy accessibility and navigation with standard colour scheme.

It also provides the option to see the coverage of specific technology like 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G offered by respective TSP in their area of interest.

Users can use search options or enable location on their device to navigate to their current location. The toggle switch or technology selection button may be used to select coverage maps of technology of their interest, according to the Ministry of Communications.