Hours after talks between the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and farm unions under the umbrella of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) failed, raids were being conducted on Tuesday at residences of farmer leaders, including Joginder Singh Ugrahan.

Some have been detained ahead of a weeklong protest by the farmers, starting in Chandigarh on March 5.

After the meeting, the SKM leaders announced they would go ahead with their call for a massive sit-in protest in Chandigarh.

South Korea's financial watchdog has imposed over 60 billion won ($41 million) in fines on global and local investors over illegal short selling over the past two years, data showed on Tuesday, with the country set to lift its temporary ban on the stock trading practice at the end of this month.

According to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and submitted to Rep. Lee Kang-il of the main opposition Democratic Party, the watchdog imposed a combined 63.5 billion won in fines in 58 illegal short selling cases from March 2023 to last month.

The figure may further rise as details of measures currently under review were not disclosed, reports news agency.

The FSS has been investigating 14 global investors and is planning to complete its probe before March 31, when the short selling is scheduled to resume.

The country imposed a temporary ban on the practice in November 2023 after a series of naked short selling violations involving several global investment banks were discovered.

Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz could play five-time tournament winner Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Open as the draw for ATP 1000 event was made on Tuesday (IST).

The two superstars last met in a blockbuster quarter-final at the Australian Open, which was won by Djokovic in four sets. Both men will have to be ready to roll early in the event with tricky draws.

Alcaraz will begin his title defence against Frenchman Quentin Halys or a qualifier. The Spaniard has never played Halys. The first seeded opponent the 21-year-old could battle is in-form 27th seed Denis Shapovalov, who claimed his maiden ATP 500 crown in Dallas.

Djokovic could take on Nick Kyrgios in the second round. The Australian, who played Djokovic in the 2022 Wimbledon final, will open against a qualifier.

A most comprehensive global analysis to date, including India, has estimated that overweight and obesity rates in adults (aged 25 or older) and children and adolescents (aged 5-24 years) more than doubled over the past three decades (1990-2021), affecting 2.11 billion adults and 493 million young people worldwide in 2021, according to a study published in The Lancet.

Weight gain varies widely across the globe with more than half of the world’s adults with overweight or obesity in 2021 living in just eight countries — China (402 million), India (180 million), the US (172 million), Brazil (88 million), Russia (71 million), Mexico (58 million), Indonesia (52 million), and Egypt (41 million).

Without urgent policy reform and action, around 60 per cent of adults (3.8 billion) and a third (31 per cent) of all children and adolescents (746 million) are forecast to be living with either overweight or obesity by 2050, according to the major analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study BMI Collaborators, published in The Lancet.

Former skipper Ricky Ponting backed youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk to replace injured Matt Short at the top of Australia’s batting order for their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final clash against India on Tuesday.

Short was ruled out due to an injury to his left quadriceps which he sustained during Australia's washed out Group B game against Afghanistan. His absence promotes travelling reserve Cooper Connolly into the squad.

Connolly is a powerful hitter and also a capable off-spin bowler, proving to be a like-for-like replacement but Ponting is putting his faith in Fraser-McGurk, who has so far made seven appearances for Australia in ODIs, hitting at a strike-rate of 132l, averaging just 14 runs with a top score of 41.

Song Ho-sung, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kia, on Tuesday expressed confidence in turning increasing global trade and business uncertainties for the South Korean automaker into opportunities for further growth.

In a letter to shareholders published on Kia's website, Song assessed that the globalisation trend of the past half-century was "shifting toward regionalism and nationalism," while also reshaping international trade dynamics.

Song also noted that increasing regulatory challenges, such as emissions and fuel efficiency requirements, continue to accelerate the industry's transition to eco-friendly vehicles, reports news agency.

A team of US researchers has made discoveries about brown fat that may open a new path to helping people stay physically fit as they age.

The team from Rutgers University’s New Jersey Medical School found that mice lacking a specific gene developed an unusually potent form of brown fat tissue that expanded lifespan and increased exercise capacity by roughly 30 per cent.

The team is working on a drug that could mimic these effects in humans.

“Exercise capacity diminishes as you get older, and to have a technique that could enhance exercise performance would be very beneficial for healthful aging,” said Stephen Vatner, university professor and senior author of the study published in Aging Cell.

“This mouse model performs exercise better than their normal littermates,” he added.

The Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Tuesday amid weak global cues, as selling was seen in the auto and IT sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.30 am, Sensex was trading 363.22 points or 0.50 per cent down at 72,722.72 while the Nifty declined 125.80 points or 0.57 per cent at 21,993.50.

Uncertainty unleashed by US President Donald Trump is aggravating in global trade, according to experts.

“The 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico and the 20 per cent tariff on China (with the additional 10 per cent imposed now) kicking in the threats are turning into action. The retaliation to these Donald Trump tariffs is yet to be known. Certainly there will be responses," they added.

In response to Trump administration tariff hike, Canada will impose 25 per cent tariffs on US imports worth 30 billion Canadian dollars from Tuesday. It will impose tariffs on additional US imports worth 125 billion Canadian dollars in coming 21 days.

In an unsettling and tragic incident, an innocent passenger was killed, and a few others were injured when unidentified miscreants suddenly began pelting stones at a moving bus in the Chorhata police station area of the Rewa town.

The incident happened on Monday evening. According to the police, the victim, a physiotherapist by profession, became a casualty of the relentless competition between private bus operators.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Urban), Anil Sonkar told over the phone that three unidentified bike riders appeared out of nowhere and pelted two stones with the intent to damage the windscreen of the bus, thereby causing financial loss to the bus operator.

In a boost to the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government has initiated five pilot projects for using hydrogen in buses and trucks.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had issued guidelines for implementing oilot projects in the transport sector under this Mission.

After detailed scrutiny, the Ministry has sanctioned five pilot projects consisting total of 37 vehicles (buses and trucks), and 9 hydrogen refuelling stations.

The vehicles that will be deployed for the trial include 15 hydrogen fuel cell-based vehicles and 22 hydrogen internal combustion engine-based vehicles.