Cold winds from North India have caused a significant drop in temperatures across Rajasthan, with several cities of the desert state recording a decrease of up to 7 degrees Celsius.

On Friday, the maximum daytime temperature in Ganganagar and Sikar dropped below 30 degrees Celsius.

Cities such as Barmer, Jaisalmer, and Jodhpur also experienced a temperature drop of 2 to 6 degrees Celsius, bringing their maximum temperatures below 35 degrees Celsius.

Weather experts have predicted that temperatures may decline further over the next two days.

From April 1-2, wind direction in the state will shift from north to west, leading to a subsequent rise in temperatures.

Security forces eliminated 16 Maoists in an intense encounter in the Kerlapal area of Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Saturday.

The gunfight erupted as part of a joint anti-Maoist operation launched by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) based on specific Intelligence regarding Maoist presence in the region.

Officials confirmed that the joint team moved into the area on March 28, and intermittent firing between security forces and the insurgents continued into early Saturday morning.

Following the successful operation, search teams have been deployed to comb through the encounter site and the surrounding forested terrain. Authorities stated that a detailed report will be released once the operation concludes.

Hundreds of people took to the streets on Friday in Ranchi to protest against the brutal murder of a shopkeeper in the Pandra area.

Demonstrators in Pandra, Ratu, and other areas of the city have shut shops and blocked roads, burning tyres and raising slogans against the police and the administration, demanding immediate action against the perpetrators.

The protests erupted after Bhupal Sahu, a shoe shop owner near ‘Ravi Steel’ in the Pandra OP area, was killed in a horrifying attack on Thursday evening.

According to eyewitnesses, the assailants posed as customers before overpowering Sahu and slitting his throat with a sharp weapon.

The attack took place despite the presence of a large gathering at a nearby satsang program, raising concerns about the audacity of criminals operating in the city.

The number of terrorists killed in an anti-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district has risen to five after two more bodies were recovered on Friday in the forest area where they had been hiding.

Official sources said that five terrorists had been killed. At the same time, three jawans of the special operations group (SOG) of J&K Police died in the operation in Ghati Heights of Sufiyan Jakhole village of Kathua district.

Seven security personnel, including Deputy SP border, Dheeraj Katoch and a para commando of the Army, were injured in this operation.

The injured have been shifted to a hospital in Jammu city, while the Dy SP is being treated at the government medical college (GMC) hospital in Kathua.

Three workers lost their lives, and six others sustained injuries after a boiler explosion in a textile factory in Dateri village, under the Bhojpur police station area of Ghaziabad, on Friday.

The tragic accident, which occurred around 5 am, has raised serious concerns about factory safety measures.

Upon receiving the information, police reached the site and initiated an investigation to determine the cause of the explosion. The bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem, while the injured were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The victims have been identified as Yogendra from Modinagar, Anuj from Bhojpur, and Awadhesh from Jewar. Following the explosion, panic spread in the factory, and authorities have launched a probe into the incident.

The body of a second worker was retrieved from the debris of a collapsed building in Telangana’s Bhadrachalam town in the early hours of Friday.

Rescue teams retrieved the body of Padishala Upender Rao around 2.30 a.m., nearly 24 hours after the body of Kameshwar Rao was found under the rubble.

The body of Upender was shifted to the local Government Area Hospital for autopsy. With this, the rescue teams concluded their operation.

The under-construction ground-plus-five-story building in the town in Bhadradri Kothagudem district collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, trapping two construction workers.

Personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), fire services department and police participated in the rescue operation.

Two local policemen, including an officer, were injured on Thursday in the ongoing gunfight between holed up terrorists and the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district.

Officials said that two policemen, including an officer and a jawan of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police, were injured in initial firing exchanges between the hiding terrorists and the security forces in the Juthana area of Kathua district.

The officials said both policemen have been shifted to the hospital and their condition has been described as stable.

There are reports of one terrorist killed in this gunfight, but there is still no official confirmation of this.

After massive searches during the last four days, firing exchanges had started again on Thursday morning between the joint forces and the terrorists in Kathua district.

After massive searches during the last four days, firing exchanges started again on Thursday between the joint forces and the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

Officials said, “Contact has been re-established with militants in the forest area of Sufain under Police Station Rajbagh in Kathua. Security forces launched a search operation in the area during the early hours. According to initial reports, firing is still ongoing.”

Massive searches, initially started in the Sanyal village of Hiranagar Tehsil, were spread to other adjoining areas as the terrorists had not responded to any speculative firing by the security forces after the initial exchange of gunfire on Sunday.

A local woman informed the police on Tuesday that two men in Army uniform asked her for water while they were having food in the area.

Two persons feared killed and some others trapped when a six-storey under-construction building collapsed in Telangana's Bhadrachalam town on Wednesday.

Police rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation along with other departments.

The incident occurred in the Super Bazar centre area of the temple town in Bhadradri Kothagudem district in the afternoon.

It was immediately not clear as to how many people might be trapped under the rubble. Area residents believe that about six people may be trapped inside.

Police, fire services, revenue and panchayat raj departments were participating in the rescue operation. Officials were mobilising cranes and other heavy machinery to remove the debris.

The search operation to trace terrorists hiding in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district entered its fourth day on Wednesday, with the villagers also joining hands with the security forces.

A local woman informed the police on Tuesday that two men in army uniform asked her for water while they were having food in the area. This prompted the area to be cordoned off.

Security has been tightened along the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway in the Samba-Kathua section, with increased vigilance on border roads, officials said.

The search operation is underway in multiple areas from Sanyal to Ding Amb and beyond, covering several kilometers.

The operation involving the Army, NSG, BSF, police, Special Operation Group, and CRPF armed with technical and surveillance equipment, is supported by helicopter, UAVs, drones, bulletproof vehicles, and sniffer dogs.