After remaining shut for a day on account of Ganesh Chaturthi, the domestic benchmark indices opened in the red on Thursday after the US imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.

The BSE Sensex dropped by 624 points, or 0.77 per cent, to touch 80,162 in the early trade. The Nifty 50 declined by 183.85 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 24,528 points.

Broadcap indices were firmly in red as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 1.00 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 100 was down 1.12 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT lost 1.24 per cent, Nifty Pharma was down 0.97 per cent, and Nifty Realty slipped 1.42 per cent. All sectoral indices were in the red.

Thirty-five bodies have been recovered so far in the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine route landslide tragedy as floods wreaked havoc in the Jammu division of J&K.

The Trikuta Hills landslide occurred on Tuesday, and the officials of the Katra Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said that 35 bodies have been recovered so far from the debris near Ardhkuwari.

So far, 22 of these bodies have been identified. Most of them hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The families of many of them have reached Katra, and the bodies after completion of the legal formalities, are being handed over to their relatives, officials said.

Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra was suspended after the tragedy, but was restored through the old route on Wednesday evening.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini highlighted the state government's commitment to ensuring transparency and fairness in property registration and revenue collection by introducing a structured mechanism for the annual revision of collector rates.

Speaking in the Assembly during the discussion on a notice of attention on Wednesday, the Chief Minister stated that the new system, effective from April 1, 2026, mandates an annual review and revision of collector rates. The move aims to address irregularities in property valuation during deed registration, which in the past led to significant revenue leakages for the state exchequer.

"The collector rates are no longer based on arbitrary revisions," Saini said, adding that "They are now linked directly to the actual sale prices of properties registered in the previous year. This ensures that the revision process is objective, transparent, and reflective of ground realities."

Spatial repellents -- called a "spatial emanator" can prevent mosquito bites and offer significant protection against malaria, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of California-San Francisco, US, said that spatial repellents are a relatively new class of insecticide that can be disseminated on something the size of a sheet of paper, offering protection for up to a year against mosquitoes that spread malaria, as well as dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, and Zika.

In a systematic review, appearing in the journal eBioMedicine, the team analysed more than 25 years of data on some 1.7 million mosquitoes.

The findings showed that this “spatial emanator" distributes chemicals through the air and can prevent more than one out of every two mosquito bites.

The analysis comes just as the World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended the use of spatial emanators, the first new vector control product class available in more than 40 years.

India's manufacturing sector experienced strong growth in FY24 as Gross Value Added (GVA) increased by 11.89 per cent, up from 7.3 per cent in the previous year, according to data from the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) released on Wednesday.

The industrial output of the country rose by 5.80 per cent from April 2023 to March 2024, said the report from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Employment in the manufacturing sector rose by 5.92 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY 24, the report said, adding that the manufacturing sector has added over 57 lakh jobs in the last decade. As many as 1,95,89,131 workers were engaged in factory jobs during FY 24.

The top five industries that contributed to GVA growth were basic metals, motor vehicles, chemical products, food products, and pharmaceuticals. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka led in employment rankings, giving the highest number of factory jobs.

The state-level State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology (SWAGAT) programme will be held on Friday in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

The monthly initiative, which provides an online platform for addressing citizens' complaints and grievances, has been a key governance mechanism since its inception in 2003, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Traditionally organised on the fourth Thursday of every month, this month's session will take place on Friday.

Citizens can submit their grievances and representations in person at the Chief Minister's Public Relations Unit at Swarnim Sankul-2 in Gandhinagar between 8.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. on the day of the programme.

Movement of trains between Hyderabad and Kamareddy in Telangana was disrupted on Wednesday as the flood water was overflowing the tracks at a couple of places following heavy rains.

The South Central Railway (SCR) cancelled, partially cancelled or diverted a few trains.

The flood water submerged the tracks on the Bhiknur–Talmadla section and Akanpet–Medak section of the Hyderabad Division.

The Nizamabad-Tirupati Rayalaseema Express (Train Number 12794), scheduled to depart on Wednesday, and Tirupati-Nizamabad Rayalaseema Express (12793), scheduled to leave on Thursday, have been cancelled.

As part of the stepped up drive to push exports amid the US tariff turmoil, India will launch outreach initiatives in 40 countries, with priority markets in Europe such as the UK, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy. These efforts will include trade fairs, buyer-seller meets, and sector-specific promotional campaigns, according to a senior official.

Other nations include the Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Belgium, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

India's merchandise exports are facing pressure amid geopolitical tensions and the 50 per cent punitive hike in US tariffs that kicked in on Wednesday.

The Commerce Ministry is set to hold a series of consultations with exporters this week as part of this renewed push to diversify India's export basket and strengthen its presence in global markets, a senior official confirmed.

India continues to show resilience, securing the second position on the national 'Consumer Sentiment Index', despite a 3.3 percentage point decline in consumer sentiment in August, a report said on Wednesday.

The dip is attributed to the impact of Trump-era tariffs and broader macroeconomic factors, according to the latest LSEG-Ipsos Consumer Sentiment Index.

Other markets that experienced significant declines in consumer sentiment include Indonesia (-3.7 pp), Poland (-2.8 pp), Germany (-2.5 pp), Colombia (-2.5 pp), and France (-2.2 pp), Ipsos said in its report.

According to the report, meanwhile, Malaysia leads the 30 markets tracked on the National Index, with a strong 6.7 percentage point surge in consumer sentiment.

Rajasthan Police has cracked down hard on drug smuggling by busting two major networks in Jhalawar district.

In a series of swift actions, police arrested seven accused, including an Indian Army jawan, and seized large quantities of ganja and synthetic drug MDMA worth lakhs of rupees.

Acting on the directions of Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar, the Dag police intercepted a truck laden with iron rods. On thorough checking, the team discovered 103.600 kg of ganja concealed under the rods.

The truck driver, Zaheer Khan (35), and his aide Vinod Sharma (28), both residents of Jhalawar, were arrested.

Meanwhile, police also intercepted a luxury car that was escorting the consignment. Pirulal Malviya (34), a native of Rajgarh (Madhya Pradesh) currently living in Jhalawar, and Anwar alias Annu (29), a resident of Jhalawar, were caught.