The death toll in the Vadodara bridge collapse mounted to nine, said officials here on Wednesday. Expressing deep sorrow over the loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ex gratia compensation to the families of the victims.

The 43-year-old bridge over the Mahisagar River in Gujarat's Vadodara district collapsed early Wednesday morning, killing at least nine people and injuring several others.

PM Modi, expressing grief over the loss of lives, announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

South Korea on Wednesday repatriated six North Koreans via the maritime border in the East Sea, months after they had drifted into southern waters and were rescued.

A wooden boat carrying them, all fishermen, crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border, at around 8:56 am, according to an official at South Korea's unification ministry.

The boat headed on its own toward two North Korea ships, including a patrol vessel, waiting on the other side of the NLL, and the three ships subsequently moved northward together, the official said.

In May, South Korea rescued four North Koreans aboard a ship that had drifted into the South Korean side of the East Sea, following a similar case in March in which two North Koreans were rescued in the Yellow Sea. All of them expressed a wish to go back to the North.

Manipur Police and other security forces have arrested 12 cadres of different outfits, including six members of the Meitei radical group ‘Arambai Tengol’, during the past 24 hours in different districts, officials said on Wednesday.

A police official said the six ‘Arambai Tengol’ members, residents of Imphal West and Bishnupur districts, were arrested for the physical assault of an officer and personnel of Manipur Police during a shutdown in Bishnupur district on June 9.

The ‘Arambai Tengol’ members, aged between 18 years to 26 years old, will be produced in court on Wednesday.

Security personnel also arrested six cadres of the outlawed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-People’s War Group) militant outfit from Bishnupur and Imphal West district.

Laitonjam Ramakanta Meitei, alias Bothe (34), one of the arrested cadres, is a self-styled area commander of KCP (PWG), and has more than 15 cadres working under him for the outfit, the official said.

Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sparked a fresh political debate by declaring that he deserves a Nobel Prize for governance and administration, despite what he called the persistent "obstacles" placed in his path by the BJP-led Centre.

While addressing a public gathering in Mohali, Punjab, Kejriwal said, "We worked despite not being allowed to work for as long as our government was in power in Delhi. I feel that I should get a Nobel Prize for governance and administration for the amount of work I did in Delhi during my tenure as CM."

Kejriwal has long accused Delhi's Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena of acting on the instructions of the Union government to derail the AAP's efforts in the national Capital.

Mutual fund systemic investment plan (SIP) inflows reached a record high of Rs 27,269 crore in the month of June, rising 2 per cent from Rs 26,688 crore in May, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data showed on Wednesday.

This marks the first time SIP inflows have surpassed the Rs 27,000 crore mark.

The overall net assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry rose to an all-time high of Rs 74.41 lakh crore as against Rs 72.20 lakh crore in May and Rs 69.99 lakh crore in April, according to the AMFI data.

One person died and 17 others were taken ill after consuming adulterated toddy in the Kukatpally area of Hyderabad.

Sita Ram (47) died while undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday. A native of Wanaparthy district, he was residing in Hydernagar

The affected persons, including four women, were admitted to three different hospitals overnight and the condition of one of them is stated to be critical.

Officials said 15 people were shifted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), two to Gandhi Hospital, and one to Prathima Hospital.

These people are believed to have consumed toddy at various shops in Hydernagar in Kukatpally on Sunday and Tuesday. They developed symptoms like low blood sugar, dizziness and diarrhoea. They were initially treated at private hospitals.

The Bihar Bandh called by the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) -- comprising the Congress, RJD, and Left parties -- against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Voter List Revision (SIR) witnessed widespread participation and statewide disruptions on Wednesday.

In Patna, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, and other senior Mahagathbandhan leaders led a protest march from the Income Tax roundabout to the Election Commission office via Veer Chand Patel Path.

The leaders initially marched on foot, but due to the swelling crowd of supporters, they continued the rally in an open vehicle.

Purnea MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, along with Congress workers, blocked trains at the Secretariat Railway Station, disrupting rail services. Yadav alleged that the voter verification exercise was a "conspiracy to remove crores of voters" from the rolls.

For non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in India, education loans have been the fastest-growing asset class, clocking over 50 per cent growth in the assets under management (AUM) over the past few years, a report said on Wednesday. This fiscal (FY26), growth is seen moderating to 25 per cent with AUM reaching Rs 80,000 crore.

The pace is likely to halve this fiscal as disbursements for pursuing educational courses in the US decelerate following a raft of policy changes in that country, according to the report by Crisil Rating.

To mitigate the impact, NBFCs are diversifying into new geographies and product adjacencies. While non-performing assets (NPAs) have remained stable so far, asset quality will be monitorable given the global uncertainties and a large proportion of AUM (85) remaining under contractual principal moratorium, the report mentioned.

The nationwide protest called by 10 central trade unions and their affiliates on Wednesday has affected pockets in West Bengal in the first few hours of the strike, with reports of road and rail blockades surfacing.

Reports also surfaced of scuffles between the police personnel and strikers, as the police resorted to force to move away the strikers trying to block the rail and road. Life in certain areas of the state capital, Kolkata, was also affected following demonstrations.

At Jadavpur in South Kolkata, the strikers burnt tyres on the road. Processions were also brought out in support of the strike in different pockets of the city, like Jadavpur and Ganguly Bagan in South Kolkata and Lake Town in North Kolkata.

Government banks across Rajasthan were closed, and around 11,000 bank employees and officers in the state joined the nationwide strike on Wednesday to press for their demands.

The protest is part of a larger movement by bank employees in support of 17 key demands.

According to Mahesh Mishra, General Secretary of the Rajasthan State Bank Employees Union, major banking associations have supported the strike.

PNB, Bank of India, Indian Bank and Union Bank of India are observing strikes, he said.

"The major issues being raised include opposition to bank privatisation, demand for the reinstatement of the old pension scheme, a ban on outsourcing, implementation of a five-day banking week, and effective measures for the recovery of corporate loans," he said.