At least 17 school children sustained injuries after a pickup van transporting them plunged into a pond in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

According to local sources, the van was returning to the children’s village after school when the accident occurred near Khutra village in the Ichak police station area.

The vehicle, reportedly speeding, lost control while negotiating a sharp turn and veered off the narrow road, falling into a pond approximately 15 feet deep.

Upon hearing the crash, area residents rushed to the scene and began rescue efforts.

In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police’s Anti Gangster Task Force (AGTF) in a joint operation with Faridkot Police have arrested two associates of foreign-based gangster Arsh Dala, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Wednesday.

Those arrested have been identified as Vishal Singh, a resident of Sri Muktsar Sahib, and Onkar Singh, a resident of village Gamewala in Ferozepur.

Police teams have also recovered two .30 bore pistols along with six cartridges from their possession.

Defence stocks continued their strong upward momentum on Tuesday, with several leading companies clocking gains of up to 5 per cent during intra-day trading session.

Companies like Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Solar Industries, Bharat Dynamics, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) witnessed sharp rallies amid robust investor sentiment.

BEL led the charge, closing 5.26 per cent higher at Rs 382.26 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after touching a fresh all-time high of Rs 383.90 during the trading session.

The stock has surged nearly 28 per cent over the past month -- reflecting strong institutional interest.

Solar Industries, a major private-sector defence player, also rose 5.26 per cent to end at Rs 14,198.

The Odisha Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested two more accused -- Dwipika Bhanjo and Tandra Bhanjo -- from Kolkata in connection with a multi-crore ponzi scam, the agency said in a statement.

The duo was produced before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Barasat, in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas on Tuesday and brought to Bhubaneswar on a three-day transit remand.

The case was registered based on a complaint by Bhubaneswar resident Manmohan Dora, who alleged that Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd, Transvision Dream Multi Trade Pvt. Ltd., and its Director Tushar Bhanjo duped him and thousands of others by promising high returns on investments.

Maoist commander Gautam Yadav, who was injured in a recent police encounter in Jharkhand and had been on the run since then, was arrested from a hospital in Varanasi, officials said on Wednesday.

According to Palamu Superintendent of Police Rishma Rameshan, Gautam Yadav had checked into the hospital under a false identity, registering himself as Mithilesh Yadav to avoid detection.

He was undergoing treatment for a gunshot wound to the abdomen sustained during an encounter with security forces in Palamu district on May 15.

Yadav, a zonal commander of the banned Maoist outfit Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), was injured during a fierce gun battle between TSPC cadres and police in the forests of Baskatiya under the Manatu police station limits.

Multiple rounds were exchanged in the encounter, following which Yadav fled in an injured condition, reportedly aided by a relative.

The Maoists had gathered in the area to plan a major operation, according to police.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to transfer a bumper dividend to the Central government -- in the range of Rs 2.5-3 lakh crore – which has led to a rally in short-term bonds, analysts said on Wednesday.

The RBI dividend would represent a sharp jump from last year’s dividend transfer which was at Rs 2.1 lakh crore.

“The dividend is also likely to be higher than the FY26 budgeted amount of Rs 2.6 lakh crore (Rs 2.6 trillion) expected from the RBI, nationalised banks and financial institutions collectively. The key determinant likely for such a huge dividend could be the upbeat gains from dollar sales,” said Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, CareEdge Ratings.

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport, Guwahati, achieved 7.67 per cent growth in 2024-25 fiscal over the previous financial year (2023-24), officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson of the LGBI airport, Guwahati said that the airport, has witnessed significant growth with the airport successfully managed 6.57 million passengers, with 3.26 million domestic arrivals and 3.30 million domestic departures, and 91,594 international passengers, a record high for international passengers since the starting of the commercial operation on October 8, 2021.

On December 12, 2024, the airport achieved a single-day record, serving 21,444 passengers, including transit travellers. She said that LGBI airport has expanded its international route network, introducing direct flights to Paro, Malaysia and Singapore, contributing to increased international passenger traffic and Aircraft Traffic Movements (ATMs).

Govt of Punjab has appointed Sanjeev Kumar Sood as new Director/Technical of PSTCL .A seasoned professional in the power sector, Sood brings with him over 34 years of rich experience in key areas of electricity transmission and distribution in Punjab.

Sood began his professional journey with the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, where he served for two years before transitioning to the state power sector. Since then, he has steadily risen through the ranks, holding a variety of crucial technical and leadership positions at both Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and PSTCL.

In 2022, he was promoted to Chief Engineer (CE), a position he held for nearly three years. During this tenure, he spearheaded the commissioning of 400 kV substations at Dhanasu and Ropar, and was instrumental in reviving critical 220 kV projects at Sherpur (GIS) and Budhladha (AIS).

Age-related decline in the immune system can have a measurable impact on CAR-T cell therapy -- one of the most advanced forms of cancer immunotherapy, according to a study.

CAR-T therapy works by engineering a patient's T cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells.

The study led by Swiss researchers found that CAR-T cells from aged mice had poor mitochondrial function, lower "stemness," and reduced antitumour activity.

It was due to a drop in levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) -- a molecule essential for cellular energy and metabolism of mitochondria, said the team from the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

The number of passengers flown by India’s domestic airlines during April this year crossed the 1.43 crore mark, which represents an 8.45 per cent increase compared to the same month of the previous year, despite bad weather impacting operations during the month, figures released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Wednesday showed.

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-April this year went up to 575.13 lakh, which represents a 9.87 per cent increase over the corresponding figure of 523.46 lakh during the same period of the previous year.

Bad weather was a significant factor in flight disruptions during April, accounting for 38.8 per cent of all cancellations in air tickets by passengers. This directly impacted 20,840 passengers, as a result of which airlines had to shell out Rs 41.69 lakh in compensation and facilities, marking a 117 per cent increase month-on-month.