Night temperatures dropped further throughout Kashmir on Friday as Srinagar recorded its coldest night of this season so far at minus 1.2 degrees Celsius.

The Meteorological (MeT) department officials said that night temperatures continued to drop further across the Valley and Srinagar city recorded its coldest night of the season.

Mercury dropped to minus 2.3 in Pahalgam while Gulmarg recorded minus 0.6 as the minimum temperature on Friday.

Blankets, quilts, warm clothes, jackets, woollen jerseys, etc., are being sold as hotcakes in Srinagar and other cities and towns in the Valley. Pavement sellers are doing brisk business these days as buyers are seen engaged in hectic bargaining with the sellers.

The air quality in Delhi-NCR on Friday morning was reported to be in the ‘very poor’ category with a thin layer of smog engulfing the region.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the average air quality index (AQI) in Delhi till 7.15 a.m. remained at 371.

In other cities of the NCR, the AQI was 263 in Faridabad, 281 in Gurugram, 274 in Ghaziabad, 234 in Greater Noida and 272 in Noida.

In seven areas of Delhi, the AQI level remained above 400 and between 450. It was 410 in Anand Vihar, 411 in Bawana, 426 in Jahangirpuri, 402 in Mundka, 410 in Nehru Nagar, 402 in Shadipur, and 413 in Wazirpur.

The levels were in the 'very poor' category in most of the other parts of Delhi -- 389 in Alipur, 395 in Ashok Vihar, 369 in Aya Nagar, 369 in Burari Crossing, 369 in Chandni Chowk, 333 in Mathura Road, 373 in Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, 357 in IGI Airport, 320 in Dilshad Garden, 344 in ITO and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium had AQI of 342.

A maoist was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces near MV-79 in the Jindalguda area of Malkangiri district in Odisha.

A member of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Odisha Police also sustained serious injuries during the gunfight with the ultras.

"We had received reliable inputs that some ultras from Chhattisgarh might enter Odisha's Malkangiri district. We have been guarding the area for the past several days. On Wednesday night, the exchange of fire took place. A Maoist was neutralised in the exchange of fire while one of our commandos sustained gunshot injuries,” said Y. B. Khurania, DGP Odisha Police on Thursday.

Khurania added that the injured commando had been safely evacuated to the district headquarters hospital.

As the mercury dips in Madhya Pradesh, the air quality in Bhopal and surrounding areas has been worsening continuously for the last ten days as the AQI crossed the 300 mark, putting it in the ‘very poor’ category.

Winter is making its presence felt in Madhya Pradesh with night temperatures in several parts dipping below 10 degree Celsius.

The minimum temperature in the capital city Bhopal was 11 degree Celsius, three degrees below the normal mark on Wednesday.

As always, the state's only hill station, Pachmarhi recorded the lowest temperature at 7.8 degree Celsius on Wednesday.

Temperatures in Shajapur, Shivpuri and Rajgarh were also recorded between 8.7 degree Celsius and 9.6 degree Celsius.

The Delhi-Darbhanga Special Train (number 04068) got derailed at Harinagar railway station in Bihar's West Champaran district in the early hours of Thursday.

The incident occurred as the train was entering track No.4 of the station, resulting in four wheels of coach number 153735/GSLRD coming off the tracks. This led to panic among passengers; however, no casualties were reported.

Following the derailment, the down line was temporarily closed, while the up line remained operational. The derailed coach was removed, and after a delay of approximately four hours, the train resumed its journey to Darbhanga around 4 a.m.

Officials from the Samastipur Railway Division confirmed that four wheels of a coach on the Delhi-Darbhanga Special Train derailed at Harinagar railway station on Thursday. Fortunately, no injuries were reported among the passengers.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday was conducting raids at multiple places in the Jammu division of J&K, said officials here, adding that the action is being taken as part of probe in fresh cases registered by the agency.

Sleuths of the NIA assisted by CRPF and J&K Police started the raids at over a dozen places in Doda, Udhampur, Kishtwar and Reasi districts.

Official sources said these raids are being carried out in connection with new cases registered by NIA pertaining to over-ground workers (OGWs) of terrorist outfits and recent cases of infiltration into the union territory from across the border.

The OGWs are unarmed over-ground workers of terrorist outfits that provide logistic support to the terrorists. These otherwise unarmed civilians work as the eyes and ears of the terrorists. They provide information about the movement of the army, security forces and police to the terrorists.

A layer of smog blanketed Delhi on Thursday morning, as the air quality index (AQI) was at 389 at 7.15 a.m., falling into the "very poor" category. However, some areas continued to have severe air pollution levels.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, in 12 areas of Delhi, the AQI level remained between 400 and 500. It was 408 in Alipur, 405 in Anand Vihar, 414 in Ashok Vihar, 418 in Bawana, 401 in Dwarka Sector 8, 435 in Jahangirpuri, 413 in Mundka, 411 in Nehru Nagar, 407 in Punjabi Bagh, 407 in Rohini, 412 in Shadipur, and Wazirpur remains at 436 level.

Whereas in 26 areas of the national capital, the AQI level remained above 300 and between 400. It was 369 in Aya Nagar, 339 in Chandni Chowk, 343 in Mathura Road, 368 in Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, 360 in DTU, 370 in IGI Airport, 341 in Dilshad Garden, 365 in ITO, 354 in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The air quality in Jaipur on Thursday slipped into the 'very poor' category as the AQI level reached 344 in the Mansarovar area. The air remained in the 'poor' category in other areas of the city where the quality index was over 200.

Besides Jaipur, the air quality index (AQI) stayed 'poor' in other cities of Rajasthan like Jhalawar, Sikar, Sawai Madhopur and Sri Ganganagar.

On Thursday, Jhalawar had 245 AQI, Sikar had 279, Sawai Madhopur had 204, Tonk had 324 and Sri Ganganagar had 242. Kota in Shrinath Puram had an AQI level of 294, said Central Pollution Control Board officials.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI is considered "poor" between '200 and 300', "very poor" at '301 and 400', "severe" at '401-450," and 450 and above is "severe plus".

In a significant haul of drugs in Mizoram, the Assam Rifles and state police jointly seized 28.520 kg of Methamphetamine tablets, 52 grams of Heroin worth Rs 85.95 crore and a foreign Pistol in three separate operations on Wednesday in Champhai district, bordering Myanmar.

Assam Rifles sources said that two Myanmar nationals were apprehended with these drugs.

The sources said that acting on secret information, the Assam Rifles troops and Mizoram police in two separate operations seized the drugs from Zokhawthar, a border two along the India-Myanmar frontier.

The Manipur government on Wednesday extended the suspension of mobile internet and data services for three more days in seven trouble-torn districts, while with some improvement in the law and order situation, like the previous day, curfew was relaxed in four Imphal Valley districts for five hours.

Commissioner, Home, N. Ashok Kumar in his order said that in view of the prevailing law and order situation, the government has decided to extend the suspension of mobile internet and data services for three more days in seven trouble-torn districts with effect from 5.15 p.m. on Wednesday to 5.15 p.m. on Saturday. The seven districts, comprising both the valley and hills, are Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching, Kangpokpi, and Churachandpur.

After the widespread violence and attacks by mobs started in valley districts including Imphal East and Imphal West on November 16 following the recovery of six bodies of missing three children and three women in Jiribam district on November 15 and 16, Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi on November 16 ordered the suspension of mobile internet and data services in these seven districts for two days.