Hyderabad Police have banned DJ sound systems and firecrackers during the religious processions in the city.

A notification to this effect was issued on Tuesday by Hyderabad Commissioner C.V. Anand.

The move came after concern was voiced by various sections of people over the noise pollution caused by high-decibel sound systems and firecrackers during religious processions.

Last week, Anand held a meeting with representatives of various religious organisations, leaders of political parties, and others to elicit their views on the proposal to ban DJs and firecrackers.

As per the notification, DJ sound systems, DJ sound mixers, sound amplifiers, and other high sound generating equipment, appliances or apparatus or contrivance capable of producing or reproducing the sound are prohibited during religious processions.

Authorities in Hyderabad on Tuesday began demolition of vacated houses that had been built illegally along the Musi River bed for the Musi Riverfront Development Project.

The houses which were marked recently during the survey of encroachments and were already vacated by the residents, were being demolished in Malakpet constituency.

The demolition was taken up in Shankar Nagar Basti in Chaderghat.

The workers were pulling down the illegal structures marked with “RB-X” as officials from the Revenue Department were supervising the demolition amid tight security by the police.

Officials said only those houses were being demolished whose owners voluntarily vacated and agreed to shift to double-bedroom houses constructed by the government.

Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Ltd (MMMOCL) has announced an extension of its Metro train services during the Navratri Festival.

The announcement was made by the Metropolitan Commissioner of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, who emphasised the importance of enhancing transportation services to accommodate increased demand during the festive period.

To support late-night commuters attending Navratri celebrations, additional Metro services will be provided between October 7 and October 11. During these dates, 12 extra trips will be operated daily, with a headway of 15 minutes, to ensure that citizens attending midnight festivities can travel conveniently and economically.

A Village Revenue Assistant (VRA) died after an explosive device placed under his cot exploded in Andhra Pradesh’s YSR Kadapa district.

Police said the incident occurred in the Kottapalle village of Vemula Mandal, late Sunday night.

Narasimha was sleeping in the courtyard of his house when the bomb with a detonator placed underneath his cot went off. He died instantaneously while his wife Subbalakshmamma was injured. She was rushed to Vempalle government hospital and her condition is stated to be critical.

Their children, who were sleeping in another room, escaped unhurt. The explosion sent panic in the village.

The excessive rainfall in Nepal’s catchment areas has caused widespread flooding in several districts of North Bihar, turning many villages into isolated islands.

One of the severely affected areas is West Champaran district, where the water from the Harboda River has flooded over a dozen villages in Madhopur and Guanaha Panchayats. Villagers are struggling to cope with the situation and are desperately demanding government aid, which has not yet reached them.

In Madhopur Panchayat’s ward number 6, flooding has submerged everything under four to five feet of water, making it impossible for villagers to access food for themselves and fodder for their cattle.

Ranu Mishra, the representative of the village body, expressed the community's distress, noting that the lack of boats has left them without any means of transportation.

An encounter between security forces and terrorists broke out in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district on Saturday, police said.

"Based on specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists, a joint search operation was launched by security forces at village Kog in Billawar area of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir," a police official said.

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

The exchange of fire in the Jammu region came hours after an encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in the Kulgam district of the Kashmir Valley. Two terrorists were reportedly killed and five security personnel were injured.

At least 81 persons in the Bettiah and Nawada districts of Bihar fell sick after consuming poisonous food.

“Eleven children, aged 2 to 5, and a woman fell sick after consuming food poisoning at an Anganwadi centre in Mahuli village in Nawada district,” said Dr Ajay Kumar, the Deputy Superintendent of Sadar Hospital Nawada.

He said that the incident occurred during the midday meal at the centre, where Khichuri (a rice and lentil dish) was prepared for the children.

He further explained that after eating the meal, the victims’ health deteriorated, and they were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
“Fortunately, their conditions are currently stable. Upon investigation, it was discovered that a dead lizard was found in the Khichuri, which likely caused the food poisoning,” Kumar said.

In another similar incident, around 70 students fell sick at an engineering college in Bettiah, West Champaran, where a dead lizard was also found in a meal served at the hostel, raising concerns over food safety practices in Bihar's public institutions.

After Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who was set to hold ‘Gau Dhwaj Sthapana Bharat Yatra’ in Shillong on October 2, cancelled his trip here on Saturday after the Meghalaya government requested Airport Authority of India (AAI) to refuse landing facility of his chartered flight, officials said.

Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati had earlier announced to hold the ‘Gau Dhwaj Sthapana Bharat Yatra’ in different northeastern states, demanding to declare the cow as the mother of the nation and to enact a Central law to stop cow slaughter.

An AAI official of Shillong airport said that they have informed the seer about the Meghalaya government’s decision not to allow his chartered flight to land in Shillong airport at Umroi.

“The chartered flight of Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati landed at the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala on Saturday morning and after few hours, it went to Guwahati airport,” 

Now, his chartered flight is stationed at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati.

A day after two people were killed in the wall collapse in Ujjain, family members on Saturday staged a protest placing the victims' bodies on the road and demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation.

They shouted slogans against the district administration and alleged that the tragedy occurred due to the negligence of the authorities.

The protesters said the renovation work of Maharajwada School could have been done before or after the rainy season. The building was already in dilapidated condition for several years.

A video that surfaced on social media showed the family members along with several residents blocking the road by placing the bodies.

Naib Subedar Hokato Sema, who created history by winning Bronze in the Men’s Shot Put F57 Category at the Paris Paralympics, was felicitated by Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar, General Officer Commanding (GOC), at the Rangapahar Military Station in Nagaland on Friday.

An official said that a large number of school students were present at the occasion and interacted with Sema to learn more about his inspirational life.

Hokato Hotozhe Sema was born to a family of farmers in Dimapur on December 24, 1983. His ambition in life had been to become a soldier and he joined the Assam Regiment at the age of 17.

In 2001, he was deployed along the Line of Control (LOC) in J&K. Sema’s dreams of joining the Special Forces were shattered a year later after he lost his left leg below the knee in a landmine blast during a counter-infiltration operation.