In a significant development, six Maoists, including a female cadre, surrendered in Dantewada on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, as part of the on-going "Lon Varratu" (Come Back Home) campaign.

Among them, three carried a combined bounty of Rs 4 lakh on their heads. The surrendered individuals identified as Kadti Deva (34), Ms. Lakkhe Kuhram (30), Mithlesh alias Mudda Oyam (25), Pagnu Veko (37), Masram Ram (27), and Bhimsen Oyam (30), were active members of different area committees of Maoist groups.

Kadti Deva, the Gompad RPC Militia Chief, carried a reward of Rs 2 lakh, while Lakkhe Kuhram, a member of the Bhairamgarh Area Committee Party, and Mithlesh alias Mudda Oyam, a Farsegarh LOS member, had bounties of Rs 1 lakh each.

These individuals were involved in activities such as road digging and disseminating Naxal propaganda through banners and posters.

Six persons, including five students of a medical college, were killed when a car in which the medicos were travelling went out of control in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district on Wednesday.

The accident occurred on the Mumbai National Highway near Potireddypalem in Kovur mandal.

The car flipped many times before crashing into a house as the person at the wheel lost control of the vehicle. A person residing in the house died on the spot. He was identified as Venkata Ramanaiah, 50.

Six medical students travelling in the car were critically injured. They were shifted to a private hospital in Nellore, where five of them succumbed.

The deceased were identified as Jeevan Chandra Reddy (Nellore), Naresh Naik (Anantapur), Abhishek Raj (Anantapur), Abhishashi Purshottam (Tiruati) and Yagnesh (Prakasam). Another student, Navneet Shankar (Kadapa), is undergoing treatment and his condition is stated to be stable.

At least eight people have died in Rajasthan's Alwar district in three days after consuming illicit, toxic liquor.

The first death was reported on April 26, followed by seven more over the next two days.

All victims were residents of Paintpur and Kishanpur villages, aged between 39 and 65 years.

Villagers allege that illicit liquor has been openly sold in the region for a long time, particularly in areas under the Akbarpur police station’s jurisdiction.

Despite repeated complaints, the authorities reportedly failed to take any action, the villagers alleged.

Sixty Pakistani women married to former Kashmiri terrorists were deported to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border, said officials on Wednesday.

Officials said that in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians, including 25 tourists and one local, were killed, 60 Pakistani women, who had married former Kashmiri terrorists, were deported to Pakistan.

These women were picked up from Srinagar, Baramulla, Kupwara, Budgam, and Shopian districts and were escorted in buses to Punjab for handover to Pakistani authorities.

Most of the women had entered Kashmir under the 2010 rehabilitation policy for former terrorists.

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday appointed IPS officer Deven Bharti as the new Police Commissioner of Mumbai.

Bharati, who has been the Special Police Commissioner since 2023, will take over from the incumbent Vivek Phansalkar, who retires from the service on Wednesday.

The names of senior police officers, including Sadanand Date, Sanjay Varma and Archana Tyagi, were also doing the rounds for the Mumbai CP’s post.

Bharti, a 1994 batch IAS officer, has held significant positions in the Mumbai police, including a long tenure as Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order and Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch. He has headed the Maharashtra State Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and was involved in the investigations of major crimes, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and journalist J. Dey's murder.

With a severe heatwave sweeping across western Rajasthan, the Meteorological Department has issued a public advisory, warning of serious health risks associated with the extreme temperatures.

R.S. Sharma, Director of the Jaipur Meteorological Centre, said that vulnerable groups -- including the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing health conditions -- are at greater risk of heat-related illnesses.

“People working long hours outdoors or under direct sunlight are particularly susceptible to heat exhaustion and heatstroke,” he noted.

Sharma also highlighted the broader impact of the heatwave. “Intense heat conditions can cause significant stress to crops and vegetables, potentially affecting agricultural productivity. Domestic animals, birds, and wildlife are also at risk,” he said.

Amid the devastating fire in a six-storey hotel building at Madan Mohan Burman Street in central Kolkata on Wednesday morning that claimed 14 lives, questions have surfaced over the total lack of fire safety arrangements there.

The hotel owner has reportedly gone missing since the fire broke out on Tuesday night, and the hotel staff are also unaware of his whereabouts.

A preliminary investigation revealed three major lapses in ensuring property safety measures on the part of the hotel authorities, namely a lack of adequate internal fire extinguishing arrangements, inadequate ventilation facilities, and a lack of alternative entry and exit options.

“The lack of adequate ventilation facilities is evident from the fact that of the 14 killed in the fire, 13 died not because of getting charred but because of suffocation from the smoke emitted from the fire. The 14th person was first killed as he jumped off in panic,” said a state fire services department official present at the spot.

After resorting to unprovoked ceasefire violation on the Line of Control (LoC) consecutively for the last six days, Pakistani troops on Wednesday initiated unprovoked firing on the International Border (IB) in the Jammu district.

The Defence ministry spokesman said, “Further to the previous update about 29-30 April (Night), unprovoked small arms firing by Pakistan Army was also reported from their posts across the LoC in Baramulla and Kupwara districts, as well as across the International Border in the Pargwal Sector."

“Indian Army troops responded appropriately,” the spokesman said.

The Pakistan Army had already initiated unprovoked firing on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday for the sixth consecutive day as the Indian Army responded swiftly and proportionately.

The Defence Ministry spokesman said earlier today, “During the night of 29-30 April 2025, Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small-arms fire across the LoC opposite the Naushera, Sunderbani and Akhnoor sectors in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir."

The sacred Char Dham Yatra commenced on Wednesday with the ceremonial opening of the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.

The pilgrimage marks the beginning of a spiritually significant journey through the revered Himalayan shrines.

After spending six months in her winter abode in Mukba village, the palanquin of Goddess Ganga was ceremoniously sent off to Gangotri Dham on Tuesday.

The journey paused overnight at Bhairav Temple in Bhairavghati.

A car ran amok in Telangana’s Gadwal town on Tuesday, killing two nursing students and injuring some others.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when students of a nursing college were waiting for a bus at a bus stop to go to their hostel.

According to police, the SUV rammed into the students waiting at the Housing Board Turning Bus Stop in the Gadwal district headquarters.

Two female students died on the spot, while three others were critically injured. They were shifted to the government hospital, where the condition of two of them is stated to be critical.

Two children, who were also waiting at the bus stop, sustained grievous injuries and were also admitted to a hospital.