As part of the National Road Safety Month 2025, authorities in Gujarat have taken strict action against unauthorised parking, collecting over Rs 2 crore in fines from more than 44,000 violators.

This initiative is part of a larger effort to improve road safety and reduce accidents across the state, officials shared. To enhance public awareness of traffic regulations and prevent road accidents, the National Road Safety Authority conducted a month-long campaign from January 1 to January 31, 2025.

The campaign focused on educating citizens, enforcing traffic rules, and addressing key causes of accidents, such as overspeeding, lack of vehicle reflectors, and illegal parking.

A survey conducted by traffic authorities found that a significant number of accidents occur due to vehicles being rear-ended, malfunctioning tail or brake lights, overspeeding, wrong-side driving, and a lack of reflective stickers on vehicles. Additionally, illegal roadside parking was identified as a major contributor to accidents, prompting strict enforcement and fines. To reduce accidents, a special road safety drive was launched across Gujarat.

Alert troops detected terrorist movement along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Khari Karmara area of J&K’s Poonch district on Thursday after which a firing exchange broke out between the soldiers and the terrorists and is still on, the Army said.

"Terrorist movement detected in Poonch sector along the Line of control. Alert troops opened fire leading to a heavy exchange of fire. Operations are underway," the Nagrota-headquartered White Knight Corps said on its official X post handle.

Defence sources said two terrorists have been killed in this encounter so far, but official confirmation is still awaited.

Security forces have been maintaining high vigil in the hinterland while the army is maintaining 24X7 vigil on the LoC to ensure that the terrorists do not sneak into the Indian side of the LoC to disturb peace and tranquillity in J&K.

On Wednesday, security forces carried out massive searches in 25 locations in the Rajouri district in an anti-terrorist operation to trace over ground workers (OGWs) of terrorists. Searches were also started by joint forces in the Doda district today after locals reported the movement of some suspicious persons in those areas.

A bus-truck collision on National Highway 31 in Bihar’s Purnea district left two passengers dead and around a dozen passengers injured on Thursday.

The accident occurred between Hijla and Dighi bridge under Baisi police station limits when a bus travelling from Patna to Kishanganj collided head-on with a truck loaded with bamboo coming from the opposite direction at a high speed.

The impact of the crash severely damaged both vehicles. Emergency responders rushed to the scene, and all injured passengers were immediately shifted to Baisi Health Centre for first aid. Later, they were referred to Purnea’s Government Medical College and Hospital for advanced medical treatment.

The death toll in the JK cement factory incident in Madhya Pradesh's Panna reached four on Thursday while more than 30 labourers have been critically injured, police said.

The incident occurred when labourers were building a ceiling slab of the under-construction building, which is the part of JK Cement plant.

While the workers were busy with the construction work, the entire slab structure fell suddenly and many workers were trapped.

Superintendent of Police, Sai Krishna S. Thota, said that the incident took place at the factory located near Amaanganj town.

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan allegedly shot his wife dead before killing himself in his rented flat in Bhopal's Misrod area, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday-Thursday intervening night at Green Park colony.

The CRPF jawan was identified as Ravikant Verma. The officials said that he dialled the police control room and informed them that he had shot his wife, Renu Verma around 1.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Upon receiving information, a team from Misrod police station rushed to the spot and found the CRPF jawan and his wife lying in a pool of blood in their house.

While lakhs of pilgrims flock to Prayagraj for the ‘Mauni Amavasya snan', the holy city of Ayodhya also witnessed an overwhelming surge of devotees on the auspicious occasion.

In the early morning, devotees took a holy dip in the Saryu River in silence and proceeded to the grand Ram Temple to pay obeisance to Lord Ram. The Ayodhya Dham reverberated with chants of "Shri Ram".

The temple town remained packed with worshippers throughout the day, with long queues outside Ram Mandir and Hanumangarhi.

The stampede at the Sangam during the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj has led to significant disruptions in train services, particularly affecting pilgrims travelling from Bihar.

Many trains from Patna Junction to Prayagraj, including Superfast trains like Bhagalpur Anand Vihar Vikramshila Express, Brahmaputra Mail, Danapur Bengaluru Express, Raxaul Mumbai Express, Danapur Sogaria Garib Rath Express, Muzaffarpur Pune AC Express, Baba Baidyanathdham Deoghar SuperFast Express, Patna Anand Vihar Special Express and Muzaffarpur Secunderabad Special Express trains have been cancelled.

Additionally, two Kumbh special trains originating from the Patna Junction have also been cancelled.

Two workers were killed while three others fell ill following an accident at a gas excavation plant of a private entity at the industrial township of Durgapur in West Bengal’s West Burdwan district on Tuesday.

The accident happened while one of the two deceased workers fell in the waste pit of the plant which was filled with water. Another worker while attempting to rescue his colleague also fell into the waste-pit soon.

The two deceased workers have been identified as Akash Badyakar (25) and Anup Sarkar (26). They were somehow taken out of the waste-pit and shifted to a local hospital first under critical conditions. However, as their medical conditions deteriorated they were shifted to another private super-speciality hospital but both died soon.

Three other workers, while attempting to rescue the duo, fell sick because of the poisonous gas being emitted from the waste pit. They are also under treatment now.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha raised concerns over the steep hike in airfare to Prayagraj during the ongoing Maha Kumbh, calling it an exploitation of faith by airlines. Highlighting how ticket prices have surged from Rs. 5,000 to as high as Rs. 60,000, he urged the government to intervene and either cap flight prices or ensure affordable travel options for devotees attending this sacred event.

A major wildfire broke out near the Tawang Chu river in Arunachal Pradesh's Lungla Sub-Division on Friday threatening villages but was largely contained so far due to a swift response by local authorities and Army personnel, an official said, adding there were no reports of injuries or casualties.

A Forest Department official said that despite successful containment near the residential areas, the blaze continued in dense jungle due to steep terrain.

According to the official, a massive wildfire erupted in the river belt of Tawang Chu River near Sagkyur village, under Pamakhar Circle of Lungla Sub-Division in Arunachal Pradesh, earlier in the day.

The fire quickly spread, posing a significant threat to Sagkyur and adjoining villages.