The Income Tax Department on Wednesday carried out extensive raids at the corporate offices and premises of the County Group and its associated construction company in Noida over allegations of tax evasion and financial irregularities.

Officials said around 30 teams from the department’s Noida unit conducted simultaneous search operations at multiple locations across western Uttar Pradesh, including Noida, Ghaziabad, and Meerut.

The action was reportedly prompted by suspicions of unaccounted cash transactions and fund diversions through shell companies.

According to sources, the investigation into the County Group had been going on for some time, and authorities decided to act after obtaining what they described as “strong evidence” of financial misconduct.

Adani Portfolio stocks saw a sharp rally on Wednesday as the stock market rebounded, with shares across its businesses, from ports to energy, witnessing significant gains.

The surge was led by Adani Green Energy, which jumped up 10.59 per cent, or Rs 81.40, to close at Rs 849.95. During the intra-day session, the stock touched a high of Rs 857.90 and a low of Rs 769.

Adani Energy Solutions also registered strong gains by climbing 9.33 per cent, or Rs 60.35, to end at Rs 707. The stock traded between Rs 731.50 and Rs 646 during the day.

Adani Total Gas rose 6.41 per cent, gaining Rs 35.05 to close at Rs 582.20, after reaching an intra-day high of Rs 600 and a low of Rs 544.35.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the construction of two ropeway projects at a cost of Rs 6,811 crore to provide last mile connectivity to pilgrims visiting the holy temple at Kedarnath and the Gurudwara at Hemkund Sahib, both in Uttarakhand.

The 12.9 km ropeway project from Sonprayag to Kedarnath will be developed on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) mode at a total capital cost of Rs. 4,081.28 crore, according to the official statement issued after the CCEA meeting.

The ropeway is planned to be developed in Public-Private Partnership and will be based on the most advanced Tri-cable Detachable Gondola (3S) technology with a design capacity of 1,800 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD) carrying 18,000 passengers per day.

Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Punjab government has launched a large-scale campaign, “Yudh Nashian Virudh,” to make the state drug-free. As part of this initiative, today, under the supervision of Fatehgarh Sahib District Police Chief Shubham Agarwal, a house belonging to a drug trafficker in Master Colony, Mandi Gobindgarh, was demolished. 

Two consecutive earthquakes, including one of 5.7 magnitude, jolted several Manipur districts and adjoining northeastern states, officials said.

According to the Disaster Management officials, there has been no immediate report of loss of life or damage to property due to the two earthquakes. The moderate tremor of 5.7 magnitudes struck eastern Manipur's mountainous Kamjong district, which abuts the Ukhrul, Tengnoupal, Imphal East, and Imphal West districts and shares a border with Myanmar.

The tremor, which struck at a depth of 110 km from the surface, was also felt in neighbouring Assam, Meghalaya and other parts of the northeastern region, the officials said.

Another mild quake, measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale, shook the same Kamjong district on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. As per the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) data, the tremor struck at a depth of 66 km from the surface.

In a major blow to trans-border smuggling amid the ongoing ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh (war against drugs)’ campaign, Amritsar Rural Police recovered a 23 kg heroin consignment from Devi Daspura village in Jandiala.

Divulging details, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Wednesday said a preliminary investigation has revealed that the consignment is linked to a smuggling network operated by US-based smuggler Jasmit Singh, alias Lucky.

The accused Sahilpreet Singh, alias Karan, of Devi Daspura village, who retrieved the consignment, is absconding and multiple police teams are actively working to arrest him.

The DGP said that further investigations are underway to trace both backward and forward linkages in the smuggling network.

The Indian stock market made a strong recovery on Wednesday, with both the Sensex and Nifty closing over 1 per cent higher, as US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted at possible relief on some tariffs for Mexico and Canada.

This raised hopes that other tariffs might also be reconsidered, which helped cool off investors' sentiment.

The 30-share Sensex surged 740.30 points, or 1.01 per cent, to settle at 73,730.23, after touching the day’s high of 73,933.80 in the intra-day trading session.

The Nifty also ended the day on a strong note at 22,337.30, up 254.65 points or 1.15 per cent, breaking its 10-day losing streak.

Earlier, Nifty had traded between 22,394.90 and 22,067.80 during the session. The index had previously lost 877 points or 3.8 per cent over the last ten trading sessions.

As of January 31, a total of 144 fishermen from Gujarat remain in Pakistani jails, the state government informed the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

In the one year from February 1, 2023, to January 21, 2024, Pakistan released 432 Gujarat fishermen. However, no fishermen have been released since then.

The number of arrests of Gujarat fishermen by Pakistan has drastically decreased, the government said. Between February 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024, only nine Gujarat fishermen were detained by Pakistani authorities. In the following year, 13 fishermen were arrested, marking a slight increase.

Desh Bhagat Global School, Mandi Gobindgarh organised MERAKI. Around 95 kids from adjoining areas took part in the event. The assessment of the kids was done keeping in mind the rubrics decided by judges.The kids were evaluated under different categories. The kids presented different performances like dance, song and poem recitation. Modelling on ramp was also organised in the event. 

The number of India’s high net-worth individuals (HNWIs), with assets exceeding $10 million, is expected to increase by 9.4 per cent from an estimated 85,698 in 2024 to 93,753 by 2028, reflecting the country’s expanding wealth landscape, according to Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report 2025 released on Wednesday.

In 2024, the number of Indian HNWIs increased by 6 per cent year-on-year to 85,698 from 80,686 in 2023. India is home to 3.7 per cent of the wealthy individuals globally and currently stands in the 4th position after the US (905,413 HNWIs), China (471,634 HNWIs), and Japan (122,119 HNWIs).