The disaster management teams in Odisha are on high alert due to a brewing cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal, which is forecast to bring heavy rainfall to the state from October 27.

While the cyclone is not expected to make a direct landfall in Odisha, it is still likely to cause widespread downpours and gusty winds.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressed a public meeting in Danapur on Friday and promised to provide 10 million job opportunities to the state's youth over the next 5 years.

Speaking at the election rally, he said, "One million people have already been granted government jobs, and 4 million have received job opportunities. 10 million people will be given job opportunities over the next 5 years."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended greetings on the occasion of Chhath, a four-day festival to worship the Sun god celebrated across the country, especially in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP.

"With the sacred ritual of 'Nahay-Khay', the four-day grand festival of Chhath begins today. I extend my heartfelt wishes to devotees across Bihar and the entire nation. My respect and salute to all those observing the fast," the prime minister said in a post on X.

Banks will be able to give loans to Indian companies for acquiring the entire equity stake or a controlling part of it in domestic or foreign firms as strategic investment that creates long-term value rather than for short-term financial restructuring if the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) draft circular, issued on Friday, comes to fruition.

However, the circular’s condition is that acquiring companies are listed entities with satisfactory net worth and have been profitable for the previous three years.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has restricted mutual funds (MFs) from participating in pre-IPO placements of equity shares. It clarified that MFs can invest in unlisted shares only as anchor investors ahead of an IPO.

An anchor allotment takes place a day before an IPO opens to the public, while pre-IPO placements are made in the months leading up to the listing.

Reliance Industries on Friday said it will adapt its refinery operations to comply with the latest sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union on the import of Russian oil.

In response to the restrictions, RIL said it "remains fully committed to maintaining its longstanding and impeccable record of adherence to applicable sanctions and regulatory frameworks and will be adapting the refinery operations to meet the compliance requirements".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited Bihar's Samastipur district, where he kick-started his election campaign for the upcoming high-stakes Assembly elections next month, asserting that under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will break all electoral records in Bihar.

The Telangana government on Friday announced an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh to the kin of those from the state who died in a bus fire accident in Kurnool district of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

As per the directives of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, those injured in the accident would be provided with a financial assistance of ₹2 lakh, state Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said that cloud seeding is essential for the national capital as it could play a key role in controlling rising pollution levels during the winter season.

Speaking about a successful test run of the experiment carried out on Thursday, Gupta said, Cloud seeding is something that has never happened before. We want to carry out this trial over the city as it could help reduce air pollution.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the BJP-led NDA government was working to empower the youth and even the country's foreign policy was being shaped keeping the interest of the youngsters in mind.

In a recorded message at the 17th Rozgar Mela, he said India was the youngest nation in the world and the strength of its youth is one of the greatest assets.

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