The flood situation in West Bengal has started improving from Saturday with the water-level receding in different parts of the state, though several pockets in three districts continue to remain inundated.

These three districts where the plight of the local people because of accumulated flood water is continuing include Howrah, Hooghly and West Midnapore.

The administration expects the situation in these three districts to start improving significantly during the next two days unless there are fresh spells of heavy showers during that period.

The administration is depending on boats to ferry relief materials to these pockets in the three districts or to take patients from these pockets to the hospitals.

A day after the Manipur government informed about the ingression of tribal militant outfits from Myanmar, the Indian Army in coordination with the state police recovered two caches of weapons and warlike stores during raids in Churachandpur, Thoubal and Imphal East.

The Army's Eastern Command, based in Kolkata, highlighted the efforts by troops to restore peace in the region, with the demilitarisation of the local population as a primary objective.

"In the first operation, a search operation was carried out a search in the heavily forested upper reaches of Thangjing Ridge in Churachandpur district. The operation led to the recovery of two 9 mm pistols along with two pistol magazines, a single-barrel rifle, two locally fabricated rockets measuring 5.5 feet and 3 feet respectively, a modified long-range mortar, two modified medium-range mortars, four mortar bombs, nine rounds of 9 mm ammunition, 6.2 kilograms of Grade Two explosives, and warlike stores," it was stated by the Army.

Nine members of the Soni family from the Kevdavadi area of Rajkot attempted mass suicide by consuming poison on Saturday. The family members have been rushed to Civil Hospital for emergency treatment.

Reports said that the Soni family - jewellers by profession - took the extreme step after traders from Mumbai withheld Rs 2.75 crore for 22-carat gold jewellery they had supplied.

Despite repeated follow-ups over the last 11 months, the payment was not made. It is alleged that the traders not only failed to clear the dues but also issued threats to the family.

Police have launched an investigation into the case. They are examining the circumstances surrounding the family’s financial difficulties and recording statements from various individuals involved.

Assam experienced a brief respite from the scorching heat on Saturday with light rain lashing the state.

Assam has been facing extreme heat conditions this week with the mercury soaring to as high as 39 degrees Celsius in different places.

The situation has changed the school timing in several districts with classes starting from 7.30 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. Moreover, the District Commissioners have issued notice for not continuing classes after 12.30 p.m.

It was also advised that the morning assembly should not be conducted in the open space, rather it must be arranged within the classroom.

Yet another attempt to derail a train was reported, this time in Gujarat's Surat district as the fishplates and keys of the railway tracks were found removed on Saturday, raising concerns over nefarious plans of anti-national elements to cause a derailment.

The incident took place early on Saturday near the Kim Junction railway station when a trackman inspecting the tracks around 5 A.M. noticed the tampering.

The Station Master and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) were immediately informed, and repairs were swiftly carried out to prevent any disruption to train services, officials confirmed.

This incident follows a series of similar attempts to sabotage train operations in recent times.

On September 10, miscreants attempted to derail a train in Rajasthan's Ajmer by placing two cement blocks, each weighing around 100 kg, on the railway tracks between Saradhana and Bangadh. One of the blocks was hit by a goods train but fortunately, no major damage was sustained.

An encounter has started between security forces and terrorists at the Shikari area in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Friday.

"Based on specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists, a joint search operation was launched by security forces at the Shikari area of Reasi," police said.

Contact has been established and a few rounds have been fired from both sides. Area cordoned off."

The operation started after a joint team of police and security forces got input about the presence of terrorists in that area.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the National Board of Examinations (NBE) on a petition, challenging the lack of transparency in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance (NEET)-PG 2024 examination.

The NEET-PG exam was conducted by the NBE on August 11 and the results were announced on August 23.

A bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud sought the response of the NBE and the Union government and posted the matter for hearing on September 27.

Senior advocate Vibha Makhija, assisted by advocate Parul Shukla, representing the petitioner, NEET-PG aspirants, said that the introduction of two shifts, normalisation method, and change in tie-breaker criterion just three days before the examination affected the students adversely.

Gondal Division Police in Gujarat destroyed over 19,365 foreign liquor bottles valued at Rs 61.70 lakh at an open space on Vora Kotda Road in Gondal city on Friday.

The liquor bottles were crushed by a bulldozer. The raids and subsequent destruction were part of a broader crackdown, where police conducted operations across 67 different locations over a span of nine months.

Earlier, Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, in response to questions raised by Congress MLAs during the Assembly's Question Hour said that in March, said that narcotics and liquor worth Rs 6,413 crore had been seized across the state over the past two years.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would provide financial assistance of Rs 530 crore to the Tripura government to upgrade the drinking water supply in the state’s 12 cities benefiting around four lakh people, officials said here on Friday.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday laid the foundation of the ‘Mukhyamantri Nagar Unnayan Prakalp’ (Chief Minister’s urban development scheme) at a function in southern Tripura’s Gomati district headquarters Udaipur.

The Chief Minister said that after the completion of the ambitious plan within three years, a major drinking water problem of over 75,000 families in 12 cities in the state would be resolved.

He said that 12 cities, where the ADB-funded ambitious scheme would be implemented include, Udaipur, Amarpur, Belonia, Melaghar, Bishramganj, Khowai, Ranir Bazar, Mohanpur, Dharmanagar, Kailashhar, Kumarghat and Ambassa.

A soldier was killed and five others injured in a road accident in J&K’s Kathua district on Friday, officials said.

"The vehicle carrying army personnel went out of the driver’s control and skidded off the road after which it dropped into a gorge at Sukrala Mata Ashram road. One soldier died in this accident while 5 others were injured," an official said.

The injured personnel were shifted to Billawar sub-district hospital, where doctors referred them to the army hospital in Pathankot town of neighbouring Punjab. They were airlifted to Pathankot in a helicopter.

"The soldier killed in this accident has been identified as Sepoy Ram Kishore while the injured soldiers were identified as Sepoys Bhupinder Singh, Mahipal Singh, Anil Singh, Sunder Pandya and Lokinder Singh.

Police has taken cognisance of the incident, officials said.