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 ■ ■ BHUBANESWAR l tuesday l may 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION 320 stranded mid-air for hrs in Gulmarg cable car F aya z w ani @ Srinagar About 320 tourists were stranded mid-air for several hours after a technical glitch halted the gondola cable car system at the ski resort of Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday afternoon. The panic-stricken tourists were rescued after an eighthour-long operation involving personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the Army and the local police. , Their work was hampered by heavy rains in the area. Rescue personnel reached people trapped inside 63 cabins of the Trapped g o n d o l a 500 ft above w i t h t h e Officials said since help of ladmany cabins were ders. They hanging 500 ft w e r e above ground, brought to rescue work took the ground considerable safely usamount of time ing ropes. Many cabins were hanging at a height of about 500 ft. Director General of Police (DGP), Nalin Bhagat, said the operation was completed in the evening, and all the tourists were rescued. There were no reports of any injury Offi. cials said an investigation will be launched to determine what caused the technical snag. The Gulmarg Gondola, one of the world’s highest cable car projects, operates in two phases. Phase 1 at Kongdori stands at 10,006 ft, and Phase 2 at Affarwat is 12,959 ft above sea level. The base station at CBI probe SC asks media not to record statements in Twisha case S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Madhya Pradesh government to ensure that the alleged dowry death case of former Miss Pune winner, Twisha Sharma, is handed over to the CBI. Hours later, the CBI formally took over the probe. The court also urged the media not to record the statements of witnesses or any potential accused, saying it could prejudice the probe. During the hearing, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the court was pained by the narrative that the judiciary was shielding the accused. The remark came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the CBI will take over the probe. Mehta said, “For parents, it is better to have a divorced daughter than to have a dead one.” The court asked the victim’s family and potential witnesses to record statements before the probe agency, not through media bytes. Later in the day, the MP High Court adjourned to May 27 the hearing on pleas challenging the anticipatory bail granted to ex-judge Giribala Singh, booked for alleged dowry harassment of h e r d a u g h t e r- i n - l aw Twisha. Debashish resigns from BJD, Rajya Sabha; to join BJP In a big jolt to the BJD, senior leader and a long time loyalist of former chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Debashish Samantaray resigned from the party | P3 Trump now ties deal with Iran to Abraham Accords Gulmarg is located at an altitude of 8,694 ft. Operations for both phases were immediately suspended. Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the rescue forces. “The nation salutes the forces for their valour and skill,” Shah said in a post on X. US President Donald Trump tied the future of any Iran agreement to a dramatic expansion of the Abraham Accords, signalling a broader geopolitical push to reshape alliances across West Asia. The move came alongside Trump sharply recalibrating expectations around ongoing negotiations with Tehran, warning that any agreement with Iran would either be “meaningful” or there would be “no deal at all.” “The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal,” Trump said. Earlier in Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei acknowledged progress in negotiations but cautioned against expectations of an imminent breakthrough. In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said he was “mandatorily requesting that all countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords” ­ a diplomatic — framework introduced during his first term to normalise ties between Israel and Arab states. The countries he referenced included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan besides the UAE and Bahrain, both already signatories to the accords. The statement marked a shift in tone after Trump had earlier suggested that an agreement to end the nearly three-month conflict with Iran was “largely negotiated”. Besides, the inclusion of Pakistan in Trump’s list adds another layer of complexity Islamabad has historically refused to rec. ognise Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to temper speculation surrounding a breakthrough during his visit to India. He added that the US would either secure a “strong agreement” with Iran or confront the country “another way,” while insisting diplomacy would still be given “every chance to succeed.” Majhi meets Modi, invites him to govt’s second anniv event Petrol, diesel prices increased yet again E XP R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi Rescue operation underway; (inset) a tourist being rescued | PTI Supreme Court on Monday pulled up NTA over NEET leak saying it had not learnt lessons from earlier incidents. The court sought response from Centre on pleas to replace NTA with an autonomous body | P7 `100 mark A litre of petrol now costs more than `100 across India We thought we might have some news (peace agreement) last night, maybe today... I wouldn’t read too much into it Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State Cumulative hike Petrol Diesel `7.35 `7.53 per litre per litre 4 Hikes in 11 days Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi presenting a replica of Boita, a silver sailboat, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi CHENNAI E x p ress N e w s S er v ice @ Bhubaneswar Petrol: `107.77 per litre Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him on key issues relating to Odisha’s development agenda and the progress made by the state government in infrastructure, investment promotion and public welfare. Majhi, who is on a three-day visit to New Delhi, apprised the prime minister about the progress of infrastructure projects, enhancement of investment and implementation of major schemes of both the Centre and the state. He also invited Modi to attend the second anniversary celebrations of the BJP government in Odisha, scheduled around June 12. In a post on X after the meeting, Majhi said he had a detailed discussion with the prime minister on Odisha’s growth priorities and thanked him for his continued support and guidance. “Called on Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji in New Delhi today Discussed the strategic accelera. tion of Odisha’s infrastructure development, enhancement of investment opportunities and implementation of key public welfare initiatives,” the chief minister said. “Also extended a cordial invitation to him for the celebration marking two years of our government’s dedicated service to the people of Odisha,” he Continued on P5 added.  Diesel: `99.55 per litre Iranian team in Qatar for talks R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, and central bank chief Abdolnaser Hemmati reached Qatar on Monday to discuss “the most sensitive unresolved issues” in reaching a potential deal with the US to end the three-monthold war. Reports said the delegation held talks with Qatar’s prime minister. Meanwhile, Trump said negotiations with Iran are “proceeding nicely” Government-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Monday increased petrol and diesel prices for the fourth time in 11 days by `2.61 and `2.71 per litre, respectively, taking the cumulative increase to `7.35 per litre for petrol and `7.53 for diesel. With the latest hike, petrol prices have crossed the `100-per-litre mark across the country with Delhi recording `102.12. The prices vary in states due to local taxation. In Telangana, a litre of petrol will now cost `118.30 while the figure is `114.90 in Kerala. Petrol in Mumbai was priced at `111.21 and diesel `97.83, while Kolkata prices rose to `113.51 and `99.82, respectively . Diesel prices also crossed the `100 mark in Telangana (`106.7) and Kerala (`104.1). Monday’s increase came even as global oil prices fell sharply amid hopes for a deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran. Brent crude fell more than 5% on Monday . According to the government, however, OMCs still lose around `600 crore per day .