Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that once the BJP assumes power in West Bengal, it will prioritise resolving the Gorkha issue in Darjeeling and withdraw all cases registered against community leaders and workers for violent agitations in the past.

Shah, who was unable to reach the upper reaches of Lebong in the Darjeeling hills due to unfavourable weather conditions.

At least four people were killed and 18 others were injured in a powerful explosion here in Sri Sathyasai district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, a police official said.

Though the explosion, which demolished at least two houses, was being attributed to a gas cylinder blast, it may not be limited to a gas cylinder, given the intensity of the blast, the official said.

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted raids at business entities linked to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal in Punjab as part of a FEMA probe, offiicials said.

Mittal, a 61-year-old businessman and educationist who heads the Lovely Group including an university by this name, was recently made the deputy leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Rajya Sabha, replacing Raghav Chadha.

BJP leader Samrat Choudhary was sworn in as the chief minister of Bihar on Wednesday, the first from the saffron party to hold the post. Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) administered the oath of office and secrecy to Choudhry.

Top leaders of the ruling NDA in Bihar, which comprises the BJP, JD(U) and three other parties, attended the ceremony.

Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) on Tuesday said its arm Adani Electricity Mumbai Infrastructure Ltd (AEMIL) has started operation of 1,000 MW transmission link between Kudus and Aarey.

The high-voltage direct current transmission link comprising a 30-kilometre overhead line and a 50-km underground corridor.

As tensions rise in West Asia, the US Central Command said more than 10,000 Sailors, Marines, and Airmen, supported by over a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft, are carrying out a mission to blockade ships entering and leaving Iranian ports.

The statement came after the United States began a naval blockade against Iran following the expiry of a deadline set by US President Donald Trump.

A US-sanctioned tanker linked to China is sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf of Oman, testing President Donald Trump’s naval blockade.

Rich Starry, a medium-range tanker earlier known as Full Star, was blacklisted by Washington in 2023 for helping Tehran evade energy sanctions.

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that "logical discrepancy" under the SIR exercise is not an officially recognised term under the Election Commission framework and was selectively applied in West Bengal, unlike Bihar, to benefit the BJP.

Addressing a public rally at Pingla in Paschim Medinipur district, she said she has not seen a "dirty party" like the BJP.

President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday paid homage to Dr B R Ambedkar on his 135th birth anniversary at Lok Bhavan in Gandhinagar.

"President Droupadi Murmu paid floral tributes to Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary at Lok Bhavan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat," an official release said.

The US and Iran are in discussions about holding another round of face-to-face negotiations for a longer-term ceasefire, people familiar with the matter said, after talks in Islamabad led by Vice President JD Vance failed to produce a breakthrough.

The people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said the goal is to hold fresh talks before a two-week ceasefire announced April 7 expires next week.

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