CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ SAMBALPUR z FRIDAY z MARCH 27, 2026 z `9.00 z PAGES 12 z CITY EDITION India domestically producing over 60% of the daily LPG requirement, says petroleum ministry Israel says it killed Iran’s navy chief An LPG vessel from Qatar, carrying 17,600 MT cargo, at the Mangalore port on Thursday | PTI A G E N C I E S @ Dubai Modi’s meet with CMs today A day after Iran dismissed the US’s 15-point de-escalation proposal as “excessive and one-sided”, Israel said it has killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy chief Alireza Tangsiri and naval intelligence chief Behnam Rezaei. “Last night, we eliminated IRGC Navy commander. This individual was responsible for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said Tangsiri oversaw the Strait of Hormuz blockade, while Rezai supported the naval operations with maritime intelligence. Iran did not immediately confir m the killings. The conflict appeared to escalate further on ThursAlireza Tangsiri day with both Washington and Tehran hardening their stance. US President Donald Trump doubled down on his threat saying Iran must “get serious” on negotiating with the US before it’s too late, or be prepared to face its “worst nightmare”. Iran continued to pummel Israel and Gulf nations on Thursday. An Indian national was among two killed in Abu Dhabi after debris from intercepted missiles fell on a street. P9 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday chair a meeting with chief ministers of all states, except those heading into elections, to discuss the West Asia situation. He is expected to engage separately with chief secretaries of poll-bound states | P7 Hormuz safe passage for ‘friendly’ India, says Iran RAKESH KUMAR AND USHA PERI @ New Delhi/Visakhapatnam IN a major relief for energy supply, Iran on Thursday said the Strait of Hormuz will remain open for India and four other countries amid the conflict in West Asia. Speaking to Iranian state TV , Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi clarified that the strait, contrary to Western media claims, is not completely closed. “For some countries that we consider friendly, or in cases where we decided to do so for other reasons, our armed forces have provided safe passage,” said Araghchi. The other nations on the safe passage list are Russia, China, Iraq and Pakistan. Before the DAY 27 conflict began, 20% of the world’s crude oil supply passed through the strait. Meanwhile, the petroleum ministry said India is producing much more LPG than it needs to import. India is now producing 50 TMT (50,000 metric tonnes) of LPG a day as against a total daily requirement of around 80 TMT. Besides, 800 TMT of assured inbound LPG cargoes have already been secured and are en route from the US, Russia, Australia and elsewhere. Two Indiaflagged LPG tankers — Pine Gas and Jag Vasant — crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and are on their way to India. The Visakhapatnam Port is set to receive 72 TMT of LPG in three separate shipments beginning Friday. LPG carrier BW Birch is expected on March 27 with 24 TMT of cargo, transshipped from within India. Two additional vessels, Hellas Gladiator and Gas Jupiter, are scheduled to arrive on March 30, each carrying 24 TMT. While Hellas Gladiator loaded its cargo from the Netherlands, Gas Jupiter is transporting LPG sourced from the US. Substantial volumes of crude oil are also expected at Vizag. About 99,898 MT of blended crude oil will be brought in by MT Desh Gaurav, which is scheduled to arrive on April 5. Flames billow from a private bus after it collided with a truck, in Rayavaram, Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday | PTI 14 KILLED IN A.P. BUS-TRUCK COLLISION E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Ongole FOURTEEN people were killed after a private bus collided with a gravel-laden truck in Andhra Pradesh’s Markapuram district on Thursday morning, and caught fire. In all, 42 passengers were travelling in the ill-fated sleeper coach bus when the mishap occurred. The other 28 passengers escaped with injuries. According to sources, the driver lost control when the bus reached Rayavaram slate quarry area, and the bus collided head-on with the truck. The diesel tank of the bus burst due to the impact, engulfing the vehicle in flames. The drivers and cleaners of the bus and truck escaped with injuries. Fire tenders rushed to the spot and extinguished the flames. The injured were shifted to Markapuram government hospital. Later, three were shifted to Ongole RIMS. Home minister Vangalapudi Anitha said the bus belonged to Harikrishna Travels of Kanigiri and it had licence up to the end of 2026. “As per the preliminary inquiry it is clear that it is an accident. However, we have ordered a comprehensive probe into the mishap. Strict action will be taken based on the findings of the probe to avert recurrence of such mishaps in the future,” the minister said. TRANSGENDER WOMEN ATHLETES BANNED FROM OLYMPIC EVENTS The IOC aligned itself with US President Donald Trump’s policy on transgenders, saying such athletes will be excluded from women’s events at the 2028 LA Olympics Liquor bill to go up as govt raises duty on IMFL, CL A S I S H M E H TA @ Bhubaneswar BOOZE is going to get costlier in the state with the Odisha gover nment hiking excise duty on Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) as well as country liquor (CL) from next month. The state government on Thursday notified the new excise policy which will come into effect from April 1 and remain in force for three years till March 31, 2029. As per the new policy excise , duty in shape of ad valorem tax on Indian made whisky, gin, rum, brandy, vodka and other liqueurs has been increased from 55 per cent to 65 pc. Not just IMFL, the duty has been increased from 55 pc to 65 pc on whisky gin, rum, bran, dy, vodka and other liqueurs imported in bulk and bottled in India. However, the excise duty on beer, another major category of consumption, has been left untouched. Similarly tax of 25 , pc on whisky gin, rum, bran, dy, vodka and other liqueurs imported from other countries remains unchanged. Apart from the country liquor manufactured and supplied by Aska Cooperative Sugar Industries Limited (ACSIL), tax has been increased from 40 pc to 50 pc on country liquor from other suppliers. The Odisha government has also introduced a 0.5 pc de-addiction cess on excise duty for the first time. CONTINUED ON P5