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A blast and the resulting fire at a chemical factory near Hyderabad has left 12 dead and 35 injured. The explosion took place in a drying unit at Sigachi Industries Private Limited, located in the Pashamylaram industrial area in the Sangareddy district.

The fire caused part of the building to collapse, trapping workers under the debris.

Emergency teams, including 11 fire department vehicles, were deployed and efforts were underway to locate any persons who have ben traipped.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that an ex gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh will be paid from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the next of kin of those who died. Those who suffered injuries will be given Rs 50,000 each, he said. More on Scroll.

Unidentified gunmen in Manipur’s Churachandpur have shot dead at least four persons, including a 60-year-old woman. The firing reportedly occurred near Mongjang village in the district around 2 pm as the victims were travelling in a car.

Initial reports suggested that they were shot at point-blank range, the police said.

Manipur has been mired in ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities that have killed at least 260 persons and displaced more than 59,000 persons since May 2023. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024. More on Scroll.

Telangana MLA T Raja Singh has quit the Bharatiya Janata Party, expressing shock at reports saying that former Member of Legislative Council N Ramachander Rao was set to be the next state party chief. Singh, the MLA from Goshamahal in Hyderabad, said that the decision disappointed party workers, leaders and voters.

The MLA, however, said he remained committed to the ideology of Hindutva, and that he would “continue to raise my voice and stand with the Hindu community with even greater strength”.

Singh has frequently made inflammatory remarks targeting Muslims and has been booked in several criminal cases.

In August 2022, he was briefly arrested for allegedly making disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad. The BJP had suspended him for the remarks, but reinstated him in October 2023. Even when he was suspended from the party, Singh had engaged in hate speech against Muslims several times.

Singh went on to contest the 2023 Telangana election, winning his third term from Goshamahal. More on Scroll.

The Supreme Court has declined to entertain a petition seeking directions to hand over the control and management of Bihar’s Mahabodhi Mahavira temple in Bodh Gaya to Buddhists. The bench, however, said that the petitioner could approach the Patna High Court instead.

The petition was filed by former Maharashtra minister Sulekha Kumbhare, who sought amendments to the Bodh Gaya Temple Act 1949. The Act states that a committee constituted by the Bihar government will look after the “management and control” of the Mahabodhi temple and its property.

The law says that the committee should include eight members nominated by the state government and four of them should be Hindus. The district magistrate will double as the chairman of the committee, provided the official is a Hindu.

From Bodh Gaya to Mumbai, protests to ‘free’ Buddhist temple gather steam

In February, several Buddhist monks began an indefinite hunger strike in Bodh Gaya, demanding full control of the Mahabodhi temple.

This was followed by rallies organised in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, culminating in a massive rally in Bodh Gaya on March 18 and 19. Read more.

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