Five hardcore militants were arrested and a cache of arms and ammunition was seized in Manipur, officials said here on Wednesday.

A police official said that two hardcore cadres of the banned United National Liberation Front (Koireng faction), who were involved in extortion activities in Imphal and Bishnupur districts, were arrested in Imphal East district during the past 24 hours.

The militants were identified as Thongam Ronaldo Singh (26) and Khuraijam Micheal Singh (28).

The police also arrested two active cadres of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (People's War Group) from Thangtek Teramakhong in Bishnupur district.

Indian men’s hockey team stalwart Amit Rohidas has shared his reaction after being honoured with the Pargat Singh Award for Defender of the Year 2024 at the recently held Hockey India 7th Annual Awards and expressed his surprise and gratitude, reflecting on the hard work and teamwork that contributed to this achievement.

Sharing his thoughts when nominated, Rohidas said, “Apart from me, there were three more nominations - Sanjay, Harmanpreet Singh, and Udita, and all of them are top players. I couldn’t predict who would win because everyone has been playing well and contributing to their team. I was just happy to be nominated. When I actually won, I was surprised and overjoyed. It was an incredible feeling.”

Rohidas, who is considered as one of the world's best first-rushers, explained that he hadn’t discussed his nomination with his teammates but acknowledged the excitement and support he received from friends and well-wishers.

AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday accused the Congress, Akali Dal, and BJP of defaming Punjab by labelling it as “Udta Punjab” during their respective tenures.

Kejriwal made the charge at rival parties while emphasizing Punjab government’s ongoing efforts to combat the drug menace and pledge for more aggressive action against drug suppliers in the state.

Taking to the social media platform X, Kejriwal wrote, "Our government in Punjab has launched a strong war against drugs. Now in the next phase, the big drug suppliers will be attacked. Not a single drug dealer or supplier will be spared. During the Congress, Akali Dal and BJP governments, they had defamed Punjab by calling it ‘Udta Punjab’. Now people are coming together to make ‘Badalta Punjab’."

With the United States shifting its economic stance, emerging markets are poised for a significant rally, and India stands to gain the most with robust foreign institutional investors (FII) inflows returning into its markets, a new report said on Wednesday.

There is a paradigm shift in global economic dynamics driven by the US administration’s evolving fiscal and monetary policies.

This transformation will shape investment opportunities, urging investors to navigate the changing landscape with strategic foresight,” said Emkay Global Financial Services in its ‘India Strategy Report’.

As capital moves away from dollar assets, India’s strong economic fundamentals, supportive policy environment, and attractive valuations position it as a prime beneficiary of global capital flows, the report noted.

India’s markets are set to extend their 4.5 per cent rally, fuelled by strong foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows.

India’s overall retail sector is poised to become more than $1.6 trillion opportunity by 2030, offering immense headroom for sustained growth for the organised retail industry, according to a new report on Wednesday.

While essential categories will continue to drive the majority of spending, discretionary spending is expected to lead the next wave of expansion, said the report by Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Offline and online organised retailers are actively solving for inefficiencies in the market through better sourcing strategies, improved application of technology and infrastructure innovations.

"As a result, organised retail is projected to become a $600 billion+ segment by 2030, capturing over 35 per cent of the total retail market," the report noted.

Six-time champion Novak Djokovic jas entered the quarterfinals of the ATP Miami Open with a 6-2, 6-2 win against 15th seed Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday (IST).

The 37-year-old, who is now three victories from his 100th tour-level title, will next gace American Sebastian Korda.

This is Djokovic’s first appearance in Miami since 2019. He had not advanced to the quarter-finals since winning the title at Crandon Park in 2016, according to ATP.

Djokovic fell behind an early break, and was given a time violation warning. That moment proved pivotal, as the 40-time Masters 1000 winner snapped into gear from there. The fourth seed won nine consecutive games to turn a deficit into a landslide, ultimately sealing his place in the last eight after one hour and 23 minutes.

Three people were killed and two others injured when a dumper collided head-on with a car returning from Jodhpur.

The incident occurred late Tuesday night near Chaba village in the Shergarh police station area.

ASI Raghunath Singh Champawat said the deceased were identified as Ganesh Ram (32), a government teacher, his wife Mamta, and Ajay Kumar (35), a Lower Division Clerk.

The injured include Ganesh and Mamta's one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Mansi, and another government teacher, Girdhariram.

Ganesh Ram, who was unwell, had traveled to Jodhpur for medical consultation at Rajmathai. After finishing their visit, the group left Jodhpur at 7 p.m. for their home.

The recent amendments in priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should further help the economy grow faster and fine tune the building blocks of the factors of productions, mainly the MSMEs, agri and allied sectors, housing and exports, etc, a report by SBI Research said on Wednesday.

The RBI this week issued revised guidelines on PSL to facilitate better targeting of bank credit to the priority sectors of the economy. The new guidelines will come into effect from April 1.

According to the report, the revised PSL guidelines cater to enhancement of several loan limits, including housing loans, for enhanced PSL coverage and broadening of the purposes based on which loans may be classified under ‘Renewable Energy’.

The combined operating profit of South Korea's top 500 companies surged 66 per cent from a year earlier in 2024, driven largely by a rebound in the global semiconductor market, a report showed on Wednesday.

According to the report from corporate tracker CEO Score, the total operating profit of the top 500 firms reached 183.7 trillion won ($125.3 billion) in 2024, up from 110.6 trillion won the previous year, reports news agency.

The companies' combined annual sales rose 5.8 percent to 2,523 trillion won from 2,384 trillion won in 2023. Net profit jumped 74.5 percent over the same period.

The sharp rise in operating profit was led mainly by the strong performance from chipmakers SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. amid robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory products.

In a shocking incident, a 15-year-old boy was kidnapped by three minors in Delhi for Rs 10 lakh ransom and was later murdered by them.

The boy identified as Vaibhav Garg was a Class 9 student from Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar. His father was a driver.

On March 24, a PCR call was received at Police Station Wazirabad in Delhi regarding the kidnapping and subsequent murder of a 15-year-old boy who had been missing since March 23, officials said on Wednesday.

The officials said that a case was filed under FIR No. 135/25 U/s 137(2) BNS, and the investigation began immediately.

Investigations revealed that Vaibhav, the son of Vikas Garg, a driver, was last seen with three boys. Two of the boys are aged 17 and one is 16. The boys were seen on a bike near Jharoda Pushta Road.