England all-rounder Ben Stokes mistakenly applied saliva on the ball in front of the umpire after the 12th over of India's innings in the third Test in Ahmedabad. The umpire issued a warning to Stokes and sanitised the ball before the play continued. As per the rules, England could be slapped with a five-run penalty if the mistake is repeated.

As many as 13 wickets fell on the Day 1 of the Day-Night Test between India and England in Ahmedabad as India ended the day at 99/3 in their first innings. Earlier in the day, Axar Patel took six wickets to help India dismiss England for 112. It was Axar Patel's second successive five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

The Karnataka Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday tweeted a picture of the scoreboard from a test match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat and wrote, "Narendra Modi Stadium with Reliance and Adani End." "Cameraman area should be called Shah Zone," the party wrote. The stadium was inaugurated on Wednesday by President Ram Nath Kovind.

After Gujarat's Motera stadium was named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, "I'm certain PM will object to his name being used to write-over India's Iron Man." The government has clarified that the name of the sports complex remains to be Sardar Patel Sports Enclave and only the stadium inside is renamed.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the "electors in the country are wise" and "we must respect their wisdom regardless of wherever they're located". His remarks come after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said it was "refreshing" to see people in Kerala are interested in issues unlike in north India. "He (Rahul) can explain in what context he said that," Sibal added.

India on Wednesday rejected Pakistan's criticism of the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Council. Describing it as a country with "one of the world's worst human rights records", Indian representative Seema Pujani said Pakistan "would do well to put its own house in order, before venturing to point a finger at India".

A 25-year-old woman was arrested in Kerala after she accidentally killed her five-year-old son and 19-year-old sister with rat poison-laced ice cream. She had added some poison to ice cream and consumed it to end her own life, however, she left some of the poisoned ice cream outside. Her son and sister died after accidentally consuming the poisoned ice cream.

US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American lawyer Kiran Ahuja to head the Office of Personnel Management. The 49-year-old served as Chief of Staff to Director of US Office of Personnel Management from 2015 to 2017. She has more than two decades of public service experience. Ahuja currently serves as nonprofit CEO of Philanthropy Northwest, a network of philanthropic institutions.

Pratik Gandhi and Yami Gautam will reportedly star in Ronnie Screwvala and Aditya Dhar's upcoming film. "It's a script developed by Aditya, however, he's going to be...busy with...'The Immortal Ashwatthama' and hence, he decided to creatively produce [it] with Ronnie, instead of directing it," reports stated. The film will reportedly go on floors in the second half of 2021.

Rapper Travis Scott, while responding to a question on how his daughter Stormi has influenced his music, said, "Fatherhood influences my job. It has a huge impact. It's a major inspiration." He told i-D magazine that Stormi has made him realise the importance of his profession. "She's (Stormi) always interested, she catches on...and adapts to things so fast," Scott said.

Actress Sanya Malhotra talked about her four-year journey in the Hindi film industry and said that it's been a "surreal" experience. She added that she can't believe she's living her dream and spoke on the kind of work she has been getting and the "gratitude" she feels for it. Sanya also praised scriptwriters for writing "good stories and content".

Adil Hussain, who worked with Sridevi in 'English Vinglish', spoke about the actress on her third death anniversary and said, "I miss her absolutely." "I miss her presence on...Indian screen after she came back with 'English Vinglish', which definitely cannot be fulfilled by anybody else at all," Adil said, adding, "It's...feeling of a void, but I've accepted...she's not there anymore."

Maharashtra has recorded 8,807 new COVID-19 cases and 80 deaths in the last 24 hours. The state government on Wednesday instructed all district collectors and municipal commissioners to increase testing. Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said that on an average, over 60,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the state over the last two weeks.

Over 150 business leaders, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, have backed US President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, CNN reported. The executives have called for lawmakers to approve the package swiftly in a letter that'll be sent to Congress on Wednesday. "More must be done to put US on a trajectory for strong, durable recovery," the letter said.

Facebook India Vice President Ajit Mohan on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the "right to silence is a virtue in present noisy times". The court was hearing a petition filed by Mohan challenging Delhi assembly's issuance of summons against him in connection with the North-east Delhi riots. The court reserved its verdict after hearing both the sides.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday reacted to the naming of two pavilion ends in the Narendra Modi Stadium as the 'Reliance End' and the 'Adani End'. "Beautiful how the truth reveals itself. Narendra Modi stadium- Adani end, Reliance end," Rahul tweeted with the 'Hum do humare do' hashtag. Ahmedabad's Motera cricket stadium has been renamed the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Asset management company Ark Invest funds added $171 million worth of Tesla shares on Tuesday, when the Elon Musk-led company's stock closed below $700 for the first time this year. Three of Ark's exchange traded funds (ETF) together bought about 2,40,548 Tesla shares. Electric car maker Tesla's shares accounts for about 10% of the ARK Innovation fund.

The Indore Police Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly smuggling drugs posing as a journalist and seized 100 grams of MDMA drugs worth around ₹10 lakh from his possession, police said. "Even during the lockdown, the accused continued to supply drugs posing as a journalist," the police added. He has been taken into a seven-day remand.

Pune Municipal Corporation on Wednesday directed officials to scrutinise progress on development works undertaken amid the pandemic last year before clearing bills of contractors. Maharashtra had asked civic bodies to spend only 40% of budgetary allocation on priority works in 2020. "Officials have been instructed to check before and after pictures and then pay to contractors," an official said.

Five people, including three mine owners, have been arrested in connection with Tuesday's quarry blast in Karnataka's Chikkaballapur in which at least six people were killed and one was injured, police said. Two police officers have also been suspended for allegedly failing to act against the mine owners. The victims were trying to dispose of gelatin sticks that accidentally exploded.

Three Rajasthan-based men have been arrested for allegedly committing theft of two-wheelers from different parts of Pune, police said. Eight two-wheelers worth ₹2.62 lakh were recovered from their possession, the police added. The accused, aged between 19 and 23 years, were moving suspiciously on a motorcycle when the police intercepted them in Wadgaon Sheri.

West Bengal BJP leader Rakesh Singh, who was arrested after being named in a drugs case by the party's youth wing leader Pamela Goswami, was sent to police custody till March 1 by a Kolkata court on Wednesday. The court granted interim bail to Rakesh's two sons who were arrested on Tuesday for obstructing police work.

Germany and Belgium have seized over 23 tonnes of cocaine, describing it as the biggest seizure of the drug in Europe, German customs said. "The enormous amount of cocaine would have brought in several billion euros in street sales," it added. Of the total quantity, over 16 tonnes was seized in Germany and over seven tonnes was seized in Belgium.

A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced an executive of a Turkish jet company and two pilots to four years and two months in jail for helping former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn escape to Lebanon from Japan. Two other pilots were acquitted of the same charge. The court ordered the three to each pay a fine of about ₹3.15 lakh.

A Thai court on Wednesday sentenced three cabinet ministers to jail after finding them guilty of sedition for leading protests that led to a 2014 military coup. The ministers were removed from office after the verdict, Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam said. Twenty-three others were also sentenced to jail for their role in the protests, a lawyer representing the group said.