The NIA has filed charges in a special court in Tamil Nadu against two accused in a terror conspiracy case involving the Hizb ut Tahrir (HuT) terrorist organisation.

In its chargesheet before the NIA Special Court, Poonamallee, Chennai, Abdul Rehman alias Abdul Rahman and Mujibur Rehman alias Mujibur Rahman Altham Sahib have been accused of conspiring and preparing to undertake terrorist acts to promote the HuT ideology in Tamil Nadu and other places.

The NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had conspired with "self-styled office bearers" of HuT to propagate the outfit's ideology, aimed at establishing the Islamic Caliphate in India and enforcing the Sharia-based draft constitution written by HuT founder Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani.

The death toll in the LPG tanker blast in Jaipur has risen to 15, with two more persons succumbing to their injuries at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital on Tuesday.

Dr Rakesh Jain, a plastic surgeon at SMS Hospital, said the death toll now stands at 15. The two deceased were identified as Naresh Babu from Etah (Uttar Pradesh) and Yusuf from Nuh (Haryana).

Four patients, who are critically injured, are on ventilators, while 20 individuals are still under treatment. Additionally, five patients have been discharged from the hospital, with three discharged on Monday and two on Tuesday, Dr Jain said.

The tragic accident occurred on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway at around 5.45 a.m. on December 20 near Bhankrota, close to Delhi Public School on Ajmer Road, in Jaipur.

The desert state of Rajasthan shivered under a cold wave as intermittent rain swept across various regions, dipping temperatures. The unseasonal showers have intensified the winter chill, particularly in eastern and western parts of the state.

According to meteorological officials, light rainfall was recorded in several areas. Bhadra in Hanumangarh district witnessed the highest rainfall, measuring 9 mm.

In addition to the rain, several parts of the state reported dense fog, further adding to the chill.

The cold wave was particularly pronounced in western Rajasthan, with several areas experiencing "cold to very cold" days, while parts of eastern Rajasthan recorded "cold days."

The father of Atul Subhash, who committed suicide in his Bengaluru home after blaming his wife and in-laws, has filed an FIR at the Vaini police station in Bihar's Samastipur seeking recovery and custody of his grandson.

Following the complaint by Pawan Modi, the district police lodged zero FIR at Vaini police station.

Anand Shankar Gaurav, the in-charge of the Vaini police station, said the case pertains to the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh and, hence the application and FIR have been forwarded to Jaunpur police for further investigation and action.

“The Jaunpur police will handle the case as it falls under their jurisdiction,” Gaurav said.

Kashmir Valley froze on Tuesday as the minimum temperature fell to minus 6.6 while the maximum temperature was 2.8 a day earlier.

The Meteorological (MeT) department officials said that the maximum temperature of 2.8 recorded on Monday in Srinagar is the lowest maximum recorded so far this season.

The narrowing of the gap between the maximum and the minimum temperature is actually the reason for the extreme bone-chilling cold that the Valley has been undergoing during the last four days.

The 40-day period of harsh winter cold called locally the ‘Chillai Kalan’ started on December 21. This is regarded as the most miserable period of winter cold in Kashmir.

The Himachal Pradesh capital and its nearby tourist resorts on Monday experienced mild spells of snow, bringing cheers among members of the hospitality industry with the sublime promise of a White Christmas, which has been elusive since 2016 when heavy snowfall occurred on Christmas Eve.

“Shimla and its nearby areas have been experiencing light snowfall and this was the season’s second snowfall in Shimla town,” an official of the Meteorological Department here told.

Places near Shimla like Kufri and Narkanda have also been experiencing snowfall, turning the tourist destinations more picturesque.

Though the snowfall was light, it has warmed up the Yuletide spirit of the hospitality industry. There is the expectation of more spells before the New Year dawns as the MeT Office forecasts scattered rain or snow in the state till Tuesday.

Due to nightlong cloud cover, minimum temperature improved across Jammu and Kashmir on Monday with Srinagar city recording minus 3.6 as the minimum temperature.

The Meteorological (MeT) department said the improvement in minimum temperature will continue for another two days after which another spell of extreme cold is likely to occur in Kashmir.

Despite improvement in night temperature, life remained adversely affected due to frozen water taps, slippery roads, shortages of electric power, etc., in the Valley.

Accepting the gravity of the situation, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has cancelled all his engagements outside and decided to remain stationed in Kashmir to address the problems of the people.

In a horrific incident, two toddlers and a man were crushed to death when a speeding dumper mowed nine pavement dwellers here on Monday.

The police said the incident happened around 1 a.m. at Wagholi near the Kesnand Phata when a dumper of a private company from Pune veered onto the footpath and ran over the people, all labourers sleeping in shanties there.

At least three persons, including two minors and another man, were killed instantly while six others were seriously injured in the mishap.

According to preliminary information, the dumper driver was allegedly in an inebriated state and lost control of the heavy vehicle, said to be owned by Buildwell Enterprises, while going from Pune to Wagholi.

The national capital continues to grapple with toxic air quality. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded was 403 at 7:30 a.m. on Monday which falls in the 'severe' category.

A thin layer of fog blanketed the city, reducing visibility, while the minimum temperature dropped to 9.2 degrees Celsius at 5:30 a.m., according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). A cloudy sky with light rain is expected later in the day, offering a ray of hope for some relief from the pollution.

Several areas in Delhi reported alarming AQI levels, including Wazirpur (464), Ashok Vihar (460), Mundka (446), Burari Crossing (445), and Anand Vihar (443). Notably, air quality in Dwarka-Sector 8 (393) and Najafgarh (372) hovered just below the ‘severe’ threshold.

On Sunday, PM2.5 levels (Particulate Matter), a major pollutant, remained dangerously high, with 37 out of 39 monitoring stations recording ‘severe plus’ air quality.

J&K Cyber Police said on Saturday that it has recovered over Rs 11 lakh taken in online frauds in the UT's Kulgam district.

A police statement said that cyber police recovered Rs 11,09,565 taken from common people in online financial frauds in Kulgam.

"During the current year, multiple applications and reports were received from the general public in Kulgam about missing/stolen mobile phones by the Cyber Cell of J&K Police. Acting upon these applications and reports, a special and dedicated team of Cyber Cell Kulgam under the supervision of DySP Hqrs Kulgam recovered 30 smartphones so far from different places which were either lost or stolen. All 30 smartphones were handed over to their legal owners after completing legal formalities," a police statement said.