Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) -- the nation's top oil firm -- will invest over Rs 21,000 crore to expand the Barauni refinery in Bihar as well as in setting up a city gas distribution network across the state, a senior executive said on Thursday.

IOC is expanding its Barauni refinery to 9 million tonnes per annum from current 6 million tonnes together with a petrochemical plant at a cost of about Rs 16,000 crore and invest another Rs 5,600 crore in setting up network to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households and industries in 27 cities of Bihar, company Executive Director Suman Kumar said while speaking at the Bihar Business Connect 2024 investor summit here.

The air quality in Delhi continues to remain at alarming levels, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded 434 at 8 am on Friday, slightly lower than Thursday’s 448 but still classified as ‘severe’, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Despite the enforcement of Stage-IV measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), pollution levels show little respite.

The Centre, in collaboration with states, has proposed to classify unregulated lending as a cognizable and non-bailable offence, with penalties including imprisonment of up to 10 years. The finance ministry has invited feedback by February 13 from stakeholders on the draft Bill, titled BULA (Banning of Unregulated Lending Activities), which aims to address both traditional and digital lending.

Ahead of the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is actively shaping its strategy, focusing on social welfare, economic growth, and infrastructure development. To strengthen its appeal and address diverse voter concerns, the party has launched several key initiatives.

Congress MPs including KC Venugopal, K Suresh and Manickam Tagore wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and alleged that the INDIA Bloc MPs were physically obstructed from entering and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was physically manhandled by three MPs from the ruling party.

The Indian rupee fell past 85 to the US dollar for the first time on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve indicated a more measured pace of rate cuts, triggering uncertainty across financial markets.

The US cut interest rates by 25 basis points to bring down the Fed Funds rate to 4.25-4.50 per cent. The rupee was trading at 85.06 per dollar a little after 11am. The yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond rose by 4 basis points and was trading at 6.79 per cent.

Amid the controversy surrounding Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on BR Ambedkar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav criticised Shah, calling him “mad” and urging him to step down from politics.

Yadav’s remarks came in response to Shah’s comments during the Constitution debate in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, where the Home Minister claimed that it had become a ‘fashion’ for the Congress to invoke Ambedkar’s name.

Retaliating against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's claim of having recovered assets worth Rs 14,131.6 crore, fugitive liquor baron and former member of parliament (MP), Vijay Mallya said on Wednesday that he is entitled to relief and that the agencies should legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt he owed.

“The Debt Recovery Tribunal adjudged the Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) debt at Rs 6,203 crores including Rs 1,200 crores of interest.

The Federal Reserve adjusted a key part of its rate control toolkit on Wednesday, lowering the rate it offers on its reverse repo facility by more than it cut the federal funds rate.

The Fed said that the reverse repo rate will now stand at 4.25% from its prior level of 4.55%, marking a 30 basis point easing, while it lowered the federal funds target rate range by a quarter percentage point to between 4.25% and 4.5%.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi favoured detailed discussion at every level on the 'one nation, one election' bill and wanted it to be referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.

Shah made the remarks in Lok Sabha when the House was hearing objections to the introduction of the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill that seeks to usher in simultaneous polls to the Lower House and state assemblies.

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