sabalenka completes ‘Sunshine Double’ Aryna Sabalenka made history as she beat Coco Gauff in the Miami Open women’s singles final 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Saturday. The World No. 1 overpowered Gauff in the first and third sets with sizzling groundstroke winners and became the fifth woman and the first since Iga Swiatek in 2022 to accomplish the “Sunshine Double” — winning Indian Wells followed by Miami in the same season. ”It means a lot,” says Sabalenka tadepalligudem l monday l march 30, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION 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 Uttarakhand starts minority status audit N ARE N D RA S E T H I @ Dehradun In a move that has sparked political tensions, Uttarakhand’s BJP-led gover nment has constituted a high-level committee to audit the status of minorities in the state, ahead of next year’s Assembly elections and the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The seven-member high-level committee will do a comprehensive study of the socioeconomic, educational, and cultural shifts within the minority communities in the state over the last 25 years–essentially since the inception of Uttarakhand. T he committee will be chaired by retired judge Akhilesh Chand Sharma. Other members include retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh, Doon University Vice-Chancellor Surekha Dangwal, subject expert Manu Gaur, State Minority Commission Vice-Chairperson Farzana Begum, social worker Rajpal Singh, and the Director of the Minority Welfare Department as the member secretary. Senior committee member and retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh said, “The committee’s work is in progress, and it has already held four meetings.” While the government has called it a purely administrative exercise, the Opposition has raised a red flag. Minority welfare minister Khajan Das said the data will allow the gover nment to take infor med decisions. West Asia situation is sensitive and warrants restraint in public discourse, says Modi; Don keeps option for ground ops open in Iran, sends more troops Cong remarks could endanger Indian lives: pm Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves nelkathir (rice sheaf) during an election rally in Palakkad, Kerala on Sunday | PTI S h ya m P V @ Palakkad PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said his government is doing everything in its power to ensure the safety of Indians working and living in Gulf countries but the Congress is trying to politicise the ongoing Iran war by making “dangerous and irresponsible” remarks. Speaking at an election rally in Palakkad in Kerala, from where lakhs of people work in Gulf countries, Modi said the situation remains sensitive and warrants restraint in day public discourse. However, he alleged, Congress leaders are issuing reckless statements amid an evolving international situation that could endanger the lives of Indians. “It appears as though the Congress is willing to risk the lives of nearly one crore Indians living in the Gulf, merely to gain political advantage,” Modi said. The PM’s comments come days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the Centre’s handling of the West Asia crisis, terming India’s foreign policy ‘compromised’ and ‘a joke’. “The PM will do what US and Israel say He will not work in the interest of . India,” Gandhi had said last week. 30 AP’s fiscal health slips to decade-low, ranks 17th State 12th in expenditure index Iranian strikes at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base damaged a US E-3 AWACS aircraft along with a few refuelling aircraft | AP Iran taunts Trump, says waiting for US boots on ground A G E N C I E S @ Tehran, Tel Aviv, Dubai A top Iranian official warned the US against a ground invasion, saying its troops would be set “on fire,” as regional diplomats met on Sunday in Pakistan in hopes of opening direct US-Iran talks and ending the month-long war. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to Iranian state media. Iran warned of escalation after Israeli airstrikes hit several universities, including ones that Israel claimed were used for nuclear research and development. The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that Iran would consider Israeli universities and branches of US universities in the region “legitimate targets” unless offered safety assurances for Iranian universities, state media reported. The Israeli military said an impact at an industrial zone may have been caused by missile shrapnel, shortly after it detected a new barrage fired from Iran. Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey started talks on the war, with Islamabad acting as a go-between between the United States and Iran. AP fared better in the Quality of Expenditure Index, where it ranked 12th with a score of 43.1, earning “Front Runner” tag. This suggests that despite fiscal stress, AP is making better use of available resources by directing spending towards social and economic sectors AP appears to be moving in the right direction in terms of the quality of expenditure, which is particularly significant in the post-bifurcation context Pullarao, economist BSN Malleswara Rao @ Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh’s fiscal health has slipped to its lowest point in a decade, with the state scoring 23.1 in the Fiscal Health Index (FHI) 2026 and ranking 17th among the 18 major states in the country. The score reflects a state struggling to balance ambitious welfare and infrastructure commitments with weak revenue generation and rising debt. The decline marks a sharp fall from Andhra Pradesh’s best performance in 2014-15, when it ranked 3rd nationally. Its average ranking slipped to 11th during 2014-17, with a score of 37.9 and further to 15th during 2017-20, with a score of 26.5. According to the recently released NITI Aayog FHI 2026 report for the financial year 202324, the pace of debt accumulation in Andhra Pradesh is raising serious concerns over the state’s long-term fiscal sustainability. Based on the FHI report, Andhra Pradesh has been classified as an ‘ spiA rational’ state, indicating sig- nificant fiscal stress and structural weaknesses. Although the state has shown some improvement in the quality of expenditure, it continues to remain near the bottom of the national rankings due to high debt and widening deficits. The state’s total liabilities rose sharply between 2019-20 and 2023-24, underlining mounting financial pressure. Over the five-year period, liabilities grew by over 50%, with a compound annual growth rate of around 12.7%. Andhra Pradesh’s debt stock-to-GSDP ratio stood at 33% in 2023-24, significantly higher than the average of 28.3% recorded across 18 major states. Its debt burden is also reflected in debt servicing indicators. Interest payments accounted for 16.2% of revenue receipts, exceeding the all-state average of 13.4%. The report also points out that a substantial share of borrowings is being used to finance revenue expenditure rather than capital creation, raising concerns over the longterm productivity of debt.  P4 E x p r e s s Re a d DCIL to induct new dredger Visakhapatnam: DCIL is set to commission its high-capacity trailing suction hopper dredger, DCI Dredge Godavari. “Godavari will commence its trials around July and is likely to be commissioned in September,” said DCIL MD and CEO S Divakar | P3 TDP cadre-centric roadmap Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday declared that only committed workers will be elevated as public representatives as he outlined a cadre-centric roadmap at 44th Foundation Day celebrations of the TDP | P4