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NEW DELHI: The lightning strikes in Bihar killed at least 25 people from seven districts- Nalanda, Siwan, Katihar, Darbhanga, Begusarai, and Jehanabad on Thursday, officials said.
According to the chief minister’s office (CMO), in Nalanda, 18 deaths were reported, followed by two in Siwan, one each in Katihar, Darbhanga, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, and Jehanabad.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar condoled the deaths and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased, it said.
“CM Nitish Kumar is deeply saddened by the death of 18 people in Nalanda, 2 in Siwan, 1 in Katihar, 1 in Darbhanga, 1 in Begusarai, 1 in Bhagalpur and 1 in Jehanabad due to severe storm and lightning… The Chief Minister has declared ex-gratia grants of Rs 4 lakh each to the dependents of the deceased. The Chief Minister has appealed to the people that everyone should be fully alert during bad weather and follow the suggestions issued from time to time by the Disaster Management Department,” CMO said.
The India Meteorological Department has declared an ‘orange alert’ (be prepared) across several districts in Bihar, including Darbhanga, East Champaran, Gopalganj, West Champaran, Kishanganj, Araria, Supaul, Gaya, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Nalanda, Nawada and Patna.
The department predicts substantial rainfall for these districts on Friday and Saturday.
“Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds (40-50 kmph) likely to occur at few places over Madhubani, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Gopalganj, West Champaran, Kishanganj, Araria, Supaul, Gaya, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Nalanda, Nawada, Patna,” states the IMD bulletin.
Following heavy precipitation on Thursday, numerous areas in Patna experienced water-logging. The state capital registered 42.6 mm rainfall until 5.30 pm.

Millionaires are fleeing London – not by handfuls or dozens, but by the thousands. In 2024 alone, more than 11,000 millionaires fled London for greener pastures. Most of them settled either in Asia or America. Though this has been happening for a few years now, what is worrisome is that the frequency and scale of the exits have risen exponentially.

Data collected annually by wealth advisory firms suggest that some of the more prominent reasons behind the exodus are ever-increasing taxes, failure to fully recover from the 2008 financial crisis, and Brexit – Britain’s decision to separate itself from rest of Europe.

‘LONDON IS FALLING’

London was once home to the world’s highest number of dollar millionaires, but since 2014, the city faced a sharp decline. In the last decade alone, London has lost 12 per cent of its wealthiest residents. London has now dropped out of the ‘top 5 wealthiest’ list.

According to the World’s wealthiest Cities Report, which is published by advisory firm Henley and Partners, more than 11,300 millionaires have abandoned London between January and December last year. A data intelligence firm New World Wealth seconds that finding.

But the situation isn’t dire yet for The Square Mile, as the British capital is popularly called. The city still has 215,700 millionaires – though a year ago, that number was 227,000. For the first time in many decades, London couldn’t make it to the ‘Top 5 Wealthiest’ list either. Los Angeles took its place at number five.

In fact, London lost the most number of millionaires (11,300) compared to any other European city. At 10,000, Moscow was second, despite Russia being at war.

REASONS FOR THE EXODUS

Business opportunities, especially in the IT sector, was also one of the reasons London was affected. “The growing dominance” of Asia and America’s lead in tech “caused several tech entrepreneurs and millionaires to reconsider their base,” said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.

Writing to news agency AFP, he claimed that “Brexit has arguably had an exacerbating effect on this”. He also highlighted that taxes in London are among the highest in the world. “Capital Gains tax and estate duty rates in the UK are amongst the highest globally. This, he said, deters high net-worth individuals, wealthy entrepreneurs, and retired people from wanting to live in London, or for that matter, anywhere in the UK.

Another indicator, he said, is the “dwindling importance” of the London Stock Exchange, which now no longer figures in the top 10 stock exchanges in the world in terms of market capitalisation. Financial hubs in Asia, like Dubai, and closer home in Europe, like Frankfurt are much sought after, he said.

ASIA AND AMERICA – A MILLION-DOLLAR CHOICE

Asia and America are surging ahead in terms of millionaire residents. In the last decade, San Francisco Bay area saw a whopping 98 per cent rise in the number of millionaire residents , while Singapore in Asia recording a 62 per cent rise in millionaires. 

Seven out of the top 10 cities with the maximum number of millionaire residents were either in America or in Asia. New York City, The Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Chicago were American cities in the ‘top 10’ list, while Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong were Asia’s three on that list.

Cities like Dubai, Tokyo, Los Angeles all recorded a surge in dollar millionaires. New York City continued to hold the top spot with 384,500 millionaires.
 

File photo of Vinesh Phogat© PTI

Tahawwur Rana with NIA officials (Image Credit: NIA)

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency has released the first photo of Mumbai terror attacks plotter Tahawwur Hussain Rana after he arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
In the first photo, Rana, who arrived in India in a special plane from Los Angeles, US. He was seen with three NIA officials who seem to be taking him somewhere.
With this photo, NIA said that they have formally arrested Rana following his successful extradition from the US and added that he was escorted to New Delhi by teams of NSG and NIA, comprising senior officials.
The NIA investigation team arrested Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin living primarily in Chicago (US), at the airport soon after he emerged from the airplane, after completing all the necessary legal formalities.
“With the coordinated efforts of India’s ministry of external affairs and ministry of home affairs, along with the relevant authorities in the United States, NIA has worked closely with other Indian intelligence agencies through the entire extradition process, which marked a major step in India’s efforts to bring individuals involved in terrorism to justice, irrespective of which part of the world they had fled to,” NIA said in a statement.
The statement further read, “Rana was being held in judicial custody in the US pursuant to proceedings initiated by NIA under the India-US Extradition Treaty. The extradition finally came through after Rana’s various litigations and appeals, including an emergency application before the U.S. Supreme Court, were rejected with the active assistance of U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in New Delhi, and U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser for Law Enforcement.”
Hailing, MEA and MFH, NIA said that their diligent and persistent efforts culminated in securing the surrender warrant for the fugitive, leading to his eventual extradition.
Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley @ Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the devastating terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008. A total of 166 persons were killed and over 238 injured in the deadly attacks.
Both LeT and HUJI have been declared as terrorist organisations by the Government of India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel during the attacks (File Photo)

NEW DELHI: The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has called the successful extradition of Tahawwur Rana to India a “critical step” in justice for the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
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“Rana’s extradition is a critical step toward seeking justice for the six Americans and scores of other victims who were killed in the heinous attacks,” a DOJ spokesperson told news agency PTI in a statement.
“The United States extradited Rana, a Canadian citizen and a native of Pakistan, to stand trial in India on 10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the 2008 terrorist attacks,” the spokesperson added.
A multi-agency team led by officials of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening with Rana, days after the US Supreme Court rejected the Pakistani-Canadian nation’s appeal against his extradition. The Supreme Court appeal was the final legal option available to him to stop or delay the extradition.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s United States visit in February, US President Donald Trump announced his administration would extradite Rana to India.
The 64-year-old had served in Pakistan Army’s medical corps before emigrating to Canada in late 1990s, where he started an immigration consultancy firm. He later moved to America and set up an office in Chicago there.
Also Read | ‘He is Canadian’: Pakistan dissociates itself from 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Rana ahead of India extradition
Before his extradition, Rana was lodged in the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles and had submitted an Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus on February 27 with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
As many as 166 people were killed and 238 injured in the deadly attacks carried out by a group of 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, who were Pakistanis, on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre after they sneaked into India’s financial capital through the Arabian Sea. The attacks, which began in the evening of November 26, 2008, ended on November 29 morning.
Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist to be captured alive, was tried and found guilty. He was hanged in November 2012.

Virat Kohli continues to script new records in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The star Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter added another feather to his illlustrious IPL career. Kohli, who is the leading run-scorer in IPL history and only player to go past the mark of 8000 runs, became the first-ever player to hit 1000 boundaries in the tournament. He got to the landmark during RCB’s IPL 2025 match vs Delhi Capitals at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Thursday.

Talking about the game, DC captain Axar Patel won the toss and elected to bowl against RCB in their IPL 2025 match.

Delhi Capitals are the only unbeaten side left in the tournament as they have won each of their three matches so far, and are placed second on the points table. RCB are placed third with three wins and one defeat.

While RCB retained their playing XI, Delhi Capitals brought back Faf du Plessis in place of Samir Rizvi.

RCB Playing XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.

DC Playing XI: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel (c), Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar.

Meanwhile in IPL, Chennai Super Kings were dealt a severe blow on Thursday as regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the season due to an elbow injury, a development that has brought back Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the leadership role. CSK head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the development.

“We have an uncapped player, MS Dhoni, who will take over as captain for the remainder of the IPL,” Fleming told mediapersons ahead of the match against KKR on Friday.

Dhoni had previously captained CSK from 2008 till 2023 and won five IPL titles. He handed over the captaincy to Gaikwad ahead of the 2024 season.

Gaikwad sustained the blow when he was hit by a short ball from Jofra Archer on March 30, and since then he has played two games.

“He got hit in Guwahati (vs RR). He’s been operating with an amount of pain. We got an X-ray, which was inconclusive, and we had an MRI, which revealed a fracture in his elbow, in the radial neck,” Fleming said.

While Gaikwad played through pain against Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, the CSK medical team could only get his MRI done after the swelling subsided.

“So we’re disappointed and feel for him. We appreciate the efforts that he’s gone to in terms of trying to play, but, he will be out of the tournament.” The head coach also said that Gaikwad wanted to “continue” but the call to replace him had to be made.

(With PTI Inputs)

NEW DELHI: Italian powerhouse Prada announced Thursday it will acquire flamboyant rival Versace from US-based Capri Holdings in a €1.25 billion (over Rs 12,000 crore) deal, a move poised to reshape the balance of power in high fashion.
The deal, set to close in the second half of 2025, creates an Italian luxury giant with revenues exceeding €6 billion — a bold challenge to French behemoths like LVMH and Kering, amid a global slowdown in luxury spending.
“We are delighted to welcome Versace to the Prada Group,” said Patrizio Bertelli, Prada’s executive director and long-time helmsperson of the brand. “We share a strong commitment to creativity, craftsmanship, and heritage.”
A fire sale and a farewellThe acquisition comes at a discount. Capri Holdings, which acquired Versace for €1.83 billion in 2018, had to accept a reduced offer from Prada due to weakened sales and Trump-era tariffs that dented valuations.
Adding to the intrigue, Donatella Versace — who took over the house after the tragic murder of her brother Gianni in 1997 — stepped down as creative director on April 1, paving the way for the deal. Donatella, now 69, will serve as the label’s chief brand ambassador.
Her replacement, Dario Vitale, is the force behind the rise of Prada’s edgy younger sibling, Miu Miu — signaling a potential pivot for Versace from glitz to Gen Z.
Contrasting worlds collideThe merger brings together two distinct worlds: Versace’s opulent, baroque aesthetic and Prada’s cerebral minimalism. Prada insists it won’t erase Versace’s DNA but will instead enhance it with “industrial capabilities and operational expertise.”
Yet analysts warn of a delicate balancing act.
“This is a risky move,” said Luca Solca, luxury analyst at Bernstein. “Prada may become distracted from its core business, as happened with earlier acquisitions like Jil Sander and Helmut Lang.”
Aiming for a renaissanceVersace’s third-quarter revenue in fiscal 2025 fell 15 percent to $193 million, a far cry from Prada’s soaring performance. Under the guidance of creative director Miuccia Prada and CEO Andrea Guerra, Prada posted a 25 percent jump in net profit in 2024, reaching €839 million, with revenue climbing to €5.4 billion.
Guerra acknowledged the task ahead: “The journey will be long and will require disciplined execution. Versace has huge potential — but evolution takes time.”
Turning the tables on FranceThe acquisition is more than a financial move — it’s a statement of intent. In recent years, French conglomerates have scooped up Italy’s brightest stars: Gucci, Fendi, Bottega Veneta. With this deal, Prada flips the script.
“Prada will be able to bring light back into a brand that was dying and infuse it with new life,” said design consultant Antonio Bandini Conti.
Whether the strategy pays off remains to be seen. But in a world where fashion loves a comeback, Prada is betting that Versace’s next chapter — wrapped in minimalist luxury and turbocharged by Milanese precision — could be its boldest yet.

Trump took a U-turn on tariffs, putting a pause for 90 days.

On Wednesday morning, US markets fluctuated until Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, advising it was an optimal time to purchase stocks. Approximately four hours later, he announced a 90-day tariff suspension, resulting in significant market gains.
Criticism poured in after White House aide Margo Martin shared a video where the President referenced substantial financial gains made by executives, specifically mentioning figures of $2.5 billion and $900 million.
A social media user, claiming to be a multi-asset trader on X, criticised what appeared to be market manipulation, highlighting a pattern of presidential tweets followed by policy changes that benefited specific individuals financially.
“Imagine a president tweeting, ‘This is the right time to buy,’ then pausing the tariffs, and later happily saying how his friends made $2.5 billion and $900 million. Real PUMP AND DUMP,” wrote Zubare Khan.
The S&P 500 rose by 9.5%, recovering about $4 trillion in market value. Former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter expressed concerns to AP about potential violations of securities laws regarding insider trading.
Questions arose about the timing of Trump’s decision on the tariff pause. His response about the timing was imprecise, stating it was made that morning after considering it for several days. The White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended the post as presidential responsibility to provide economic reassurance.
The post’s signature “DJT” coincidentally matched Trump Media and Technology Group’s stock ticker. The company’s shares increased by 22.67%, despite its £400 million loss the previous year. Trump’s 53% stake, managed by Donald Trump Jr., gained £415 million in value.
Tesla shares also experienced significant growth, adding £20 billion to Elon Musk’s worth, following recent endorsements from Trump and his commerce secretary.