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International

Three bus explosions in Tel Aviv; Netanyahu orders military response

Three empty buses exploded in Bat Yam, on the southern edge of Tel Aviv, in what Israeli police have called a "suspected terror attack." The blasts occurred in parking lots on Thursday night, with no reported casualties. Police also discovered devices on two other buses that failed to detonate. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the military to launch "an intensive operation against centres of terrorism" in the occupied West Bank.

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Kash Patel confirmed by US Senate as Trump’s FBI director

New FBI director Kash Patel has vowed to "rebuild" trust in the bureau as he becomes the first Indian-American to lead the country’s premier law enforcement agency after being confirmed by the US Senate.

The Republican-led Senate narrowly voted to confirm 44-year-old Patel on Thursday. 

The Senate voted 51 to 49 to confirm Patel. Two Republicans, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted against his confirmation. The nomination faced intense scrutiny from Democrats on Capitol Hill who have warned that Patel is poised to use the position to seek retribution against Donald Trump’s perceived political enemies.

In his confirmation hearings, Patel also denied keeping a list of "deep state" enemies, while playing down controversial past remarks he had made such as referring to law enforcement officials who investigated Trump as "criminal gangsters".

Patel takes the helm of an FBI in flux after the justice department forced out some of its top officials and demanded the names of agents who investigated the 2021 riot by Trump supporters at the US Capitol.

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Markets

Stock markets fall for 4th day on FII outflows, Sensex sheds 425 pts

Falling for the fourth straight day, benchmark Sensex declined by nearly 425 points on Friday due to selling in auto, pharma and banking shares and relentless foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dropped 424.90 points or 0.56 per cent to settle at 75,311.06. During the day, it tanked 623.55 points or 0.82 per cent to 75,112.41. The NSE Nifty declined 117.25 points or 0.51 per cent to 22,795.90.

In four trading days, the BSE barometer tumbled 685.8 points or 0.90 per cent while the Nifty declined 163.6 points or 0.71 per cent.

From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra tanked over 6 per cent. Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Zomato, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and UltraTech Cement were also among the laggards.

Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank and NTPC were among the gainers.

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National

Triveni Sangam water unfit for bathing due to high BOD levels: Report

The Central Pollution Control Board has declared the water at Triveni Sangam unfit for bathing due to high biological oxygen demand (BOD) levels.

The warning comes as lakhs of devotees gather in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj for the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela. BOD measures the oxygen required by microorganisms to break down organic matter, with higher levels indicating increased contamination.

The United States Geological Survey explains, “Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) represents the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria and other microorganisms while they decompose organic matter under aerobic (oxygen is present) conditions at a specified temperature.”

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State

Rekha Gupta sworn in as Delhi chief minister

BJP's debutant legislator Rekha Gupta was sworn in as Delhi chief minister on Thursday in a grand show of strength that marks the party's return to power in the city after more than 26 years.

Along with Gupta, Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra and Pankaj Singh were administered the oath of office by Lt Governor V K Saxena. The ceremony at the historic Ramlila Ground was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the top BJP brass and NDA chief ministers. Gupta is Delhi’s fourth woman chief minister. The 50-year-old MLA from Shalimar Bagh is also the only woman in the NDA team of chief ministers.

The new chief minister and her ministers will head to the Delhi Secretariat to take charge of their offices after the oath ceremony.

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Bodies of all nine miners trapped in coal quarry in Assam found

The decomposed bodies of three more miners, trapped in a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district, have been recovered, 44 days after they went missing in the quarry, an official said on Thursday.

With this recovery, all the nine miners who had been trapped there on January 6 were found. The bodies are yet to be identified and the process to do so has been initiated, the official said.

Nine workers were trapped inside the mine on January 6 and the body of one was recovered two days later while those of three others were found on January 11.

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Rekha Gupta to take oath as Delhi CM at Ramlila Maidan

Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta will be sworn in this afternoon, marking the BJP's return to power in Delhi after 26 years.

Gupta, 50, was chosen as Leader of the House in the newly constituted 8th Delhi Assembly, in a meeting of the BJP legislature party on Wednesday.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena invited Gupta to form the new government after she staked claim for it late Wednesday evening at Raj Niwas. She will become the 9th Chief Minister of Delhi after the administration of the oath by the LG.

Six cabinet ministers will also be sworn in, including Parvesh Verma who defeated Arvind Kejriwal in the elections. Others are Ashish Sood, Pankaj Singh, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra, and Ravinder Indraj.

The new Council of Ministers headed by Gupta is likely to hold its first meeting at the Delhi Secretariat around 3 pm.

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❖ - Syndicated news, primarily from PTI

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