Breaking news: Nine, including revenue official, killed, nine injured in two accidents in Chhattisgarh

A train slammed into a minibus that was crossing the tracks in an unauthorized location in norther Egypt on Thursday, killing at least eight people and leaving 12 injured, the government said.

The deadly crash took place in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, the health ministry said. More than a dozen ambulances were sent to the scene.

The Kuki-Zo Council in Manipur on Thursday lifted the indefinite shutdown in the hill areas imposed since March 9 midnight, but remains firm in opposing the free movement announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the council said in a statement.

"While the shutdown has been lifted from Thursday evening, it is imperative to clarify that the free movement, as announced by the Home Ministry, shall be vehemently opposed by the Kuki-Zo people, as it undermines and dilutes the justice process," the statement read.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday announced a new 4.7 billion euro ($5.10 billion) investment package for South Africa on a visit to the country.

Von der Leyen said the Global Gateway investment package was to support a just energy transition, vaccine manufacturing, and digital and physical connectivity.

Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus on Thursday extended the magistracy power of the military forces for 60 more days for the third time amid a nationwide law and order situation.

“Commissioned officers holding the rank of captain and above in the Bangladesh Armed Forces have been granted special executive magistrate powers across the country,” a Public Administration Ministry statement said.

The BJP government will soon reduce water connection charges and install GPS in all the tankers of the Delhi Jal Board besides monitoring outflows from Underground Water Reservoirs (UGRs) to improve supply in the national capital, Water Minister Parvesh Verma said on Thursday.

In an interview with PTI, Verma, who holds PWD and flood and irrigation portfolios, said a new and easy-to-remember four-digit helpline number will be issued soon for the public to lodge their complaints with the public works department (PWD).

Seventeen Naxalites, nine of them collectively carrying cash rewards of Rs 24 lakh on their heads, surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Thursday, a senior police official said, PTI reported.

The cadres, including a couple, turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials, he said.

The Naxalites cited disappointment with the “hollow” and “inhuman” Maoist ideology, exploitation of innocent tribals by senior cadres and increasing influence of security forces, Bijapur Senior Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav said

With Holi coinciding with Friday namaz, civil and police authorities in Uttar Pradesh have put in place additional security measures to ensure the festival passes off peacefully on March 14, especially in light of certain controversial remarks made by some politicians and a police officer.

With heightened concerns about possible incidents in mixed population localities, police said they have laid out a comprehensive security plan including enhanced patrolling, deployment of surveillance drones and maintaining tight vigil.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday extended support to the DMK-led opposition against the proposed delimitation of Parliamentary constituencies and requested his Deputy, DK Shivakumar, to attend the meeting in Chennai to discuss the issue.

In a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Siddaramaiah stated that he would be unable to attend the meeting due to prior commitments.

"I have received your letter dated March 7, which raises crucial issues regarding the autonomy of states, with serious implications for the principles governing our polity. In particular, the issue of delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies based on new population benchmarks needs to be discussed at length by like-minded states. Although I would like to participate in the meeting, due to my prior commitments, I am unable to do so," he wrote in the letter dated March 13.

A statue of Dr B R Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution, went missing from a village in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district just two days after being installed, following which police have registered a case of theft, officials said, as per PTI.

The one-and-a-half feet tall statue was installed on a pedestal in an open space in Bari village in the district on Tuesday, they said.

Russia said on Thursday there was no doubt that its troops would soon complete the task of clearing out Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region where they have held a pocket of territory for more than seven months.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces were pounding remaining Ukrainian positions after capturing three more settlements, including the town of Sudzha, which is located near the border with Ukraine and lies on a road that Kyiv had used to resupply its forces.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia was ready to talk to the United States about a peace initiative discussed between the U.S. and Ukraine, and contacts could take place on Thursday.

After talks with top U.S. diplomats in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Ukraine said it was ready to accept a 30-day ceasefire and the United States said it was putting the proposal to Moscow.

Russia's military says it was taken over Sudzha, the biggest town in the Kursk region controlled by Kyiv, reports AP.

Police personnel in Maharashtra's Beed district will now put up their name plates without surnames, in an attempt to eliminate caste-based discrimination, an official said on Thursday.

Nearly 100 such name plates have been distributed across police stations and other offices of the department in the central Maharashtra district, the official said.

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided multiple locations in Bengaluru and some other places as part of a money laundering probe linked to probe "larger conspiracy" into an alleged gold smuggling racket in which an actor was recently arrested by the DRI in Karnataka, PTI reported.

In view of the Holi festival tomorrow and Jumma, Delhi Police has heightened security and monitoring. It also held a flag march from the Hauz Qazi area.

Ammonia gas has leaked from a factory in a residential area under police station Maqsudan of Jalandhar.

SDM Pollution Board Manvinder Singh Hundal said, "We had received reports about air and water pollution emanating from this factory earlier, too. We have learned that a gas leak occurred while testing was being done here. The power supply to the factory has been cut off."

Deputy Director-Factories, Labour Department says, "There has been an Ammonia gas leak here. The power supply to the factory has been cut off. The situation will be controlled in 2-3 hours."

Police personnel in large numbers conduct a flag march in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal ahead of Holi festival.

A massive fire broke out today at a rubber warehouse in Jaipur's Harmada. Fire tenders have managed to subdue the fire.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar visits and takes stock of the construction of the new building of Patna airport. After the inspection, he said, "...It will be completed soon and will be expanded further..."

India News Live: Holi celebrations held at Jaisalmer's Shri Lakshminath Ji temple

• Holi celebrations held at Jaisalmer's Shri Lakshminath Ji temple on the day of Holika Dahan.
• Chaitanya Raj Singh of the erstwhile kingdom of Jaisalmer took part in the celebrations.

A large number of tourists have thronged to Jammu and Kashmir’s Guldanda meadow in Bhaderwah to enjoy snow after the restoration of the Bhaderwah-Basholi-Pathankot National Highway.

Security tightened ahead of Holi celebrations. Police, along with RAF, conducted a flag march in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.

With less than an hour to go before liftoff, SpaceX postponed the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, US that was carrying a crew of four astronauts who would have replaced the stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.

According to NASA and SpaceX, they have scrubbed today's launch attempt of the agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station due to a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.