A global dust storm that enshrouded Mars -- halting operations for NASA's Opportunity rover -- continues to abate, raising scientists' hopes to hear back from the 15-year-old, solar-powered probe. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the US believe that the rover will soon receive enough sunlight to automatically initiate recovery procedures, if it is not damaged.

Dust storms have taken a toll on the normal life in many parts of western Rajasthan. Strong dusty winds, with a speed of more than 40 kilometre per hour, have affected road and rail communication in the border areas. The railways are putting all possible effort to avoid interruption in the rail network but road connectivity in many parts have been disrupted.

Delhi and surrounding areas remained shrouded in dust on Friday and air pollution remained at alarming-levels despite being a shade better than on Thursday. Dust is expected to clear out a bit more on Saturday helped by brief spells of rainfall in northern India, weather forecasters said. Smaller and even more harmful dust particles PM 2.5 were measured at 169-micrograms/cubic meter on Friday.