The New Indian Express wishes its readers a Ugadi Our offices and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the newspaper on Friday hyderabad l Thursday l march 19, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Govt approves `33,660-cr scheme to develop 100 industrial parks The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna (BHAVYA) to develop 100 plug-and-play industrial parks across the country Plug-and-play model for faster growth `2,585 cr to boost small hydro projects Under the scheme, industrial parks ranging from 100 to 1,000 acres will be taken up for development with financial support of up to `1 crore per acre. BHAVYA’s plug-and-play model with pre-approved land, ready infrastructure, and integrated services, will significantly reduce entry barriers for investors, the government said in a press release | P12 ■ ■ Other decisions include a new `2,585 crore scheme to support the development of small hydro projects with capacities between 1 and 25 megawatts, by providing 30% of the project cost or `3.6 cr per MW The Cabinet also approved more than `1,718 crore to help the Cotton Corporation of India provide direct price support to cotton farmers `6,969 cr to build 4-lane access-controlled Highway in Uttar Pradesh 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 Th The Union government has extended the tenure of Chief SecIsrael retary K Ramakrishna Rao by three months. The Department of Personnel and Training communicated the decision to the state government. This is the second extension granted to Ramakrishna Rao. He assumed charge as CS on April 30, 2025 and was originally due to retire on August 30, 2025. At the request of the chief minister, the Centre extended his tenure by seven months from September 1, 2025. With that term ending on March 31, the state government again sought an extension on administrative grounds. The Union government approved it by relaxing Rule 16(1) of the All India Services (DCRB) Rules, 1958, invoking Rule 3 of the AIS (CS-RM) Rules, 1960. With the latest extension, Ramakrishna Rao will continue as CS until the end of June 2026. A 1991-batch IAS officer, he earlier served as principal secretary, Finance department. He was the longest-serving finance secretary in Telangana. Meanwhile, the state government is expected to pick 1991batch IPS officer CV Anand, who is currently Home Secretary, as the next DGP. Recently, the UPSC empanelment committee shor t-listed three names. The state government will pick one of three names, most likely, Anand, according to sources. ed eR S ea express read Nine of family killed in blaze in Delhi’s Palam New Delhi: Nine members of a family, including a 70-year-old woman and three young girls were killed after a massive fire tore through a four-storey residential building in southwest Delhi’s Palam area on Wednesday morning. The incident triggered a large-scale rescue operation, with eyewitnesses alleging delays due to faulty firefighting equipment. Three others were injured in the incident, including a two-year-old who slipped from her father’s hands while he was trying to lower her from the third floor to the second, where there was a ladder. Israeli strike prompts Tehran to warn UAE, Saudi, Qatar Ag e n c i e s World’s largest natural gas deposit @Tehran /Tel Aviv/Dubai/ Washington in a major escalation in the ongoing war in West Asia, Israel on Wednesday bombed Iran’s huge South Pars natural gas field, prompting an angry Tehran to threaten to retaliate by striking the energy assets in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar “in the coming hours”. The strike on South Pars has the potential to set off a chain reaction that could stifle the entire Gulf region’s economic lifeline amid disruption in oil production and movement. A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson ter med the strike—carried out by Israel with the concurrence of the US—a “dangerous and irresponsible” escalation that put global energy security at risk. Iran’s Tasnim news agency, quoting Iranian officials, said Tehran would strike Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail petrochemical complex, UAE’s Al Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Ras Laffan refinery and Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company . South Pars, located off the coast of southern Iran’s Bushehr province, is the world’s largest natural gas deposit which Iran shares with Qatar. Targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure is seen as a major escalation as the US and Israel have till now held back on any move that could invite an Iranian retaliation against other producers in the region, which could set oil prices on fire. On Wednesday, Brent prices hovered over $108 per barrel— up from $70 just weeks ago. Israel on Wednesday said it also eliminated Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib in overnight strikes. On Tuesday, Iran’s national security chief Ali Larijani was killed in a targeted Israeli strike. In a first, Israel publicly stated that all senior Iranian officials would be its military’s targets from now on. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the Israel Defense Forces to target any senior Iranian official for IRAN South Pars gas field Strait of Hormuz qatar day 19 Gulf of Oman UAE Oman Saudi Arabia Yemen Gulf of Aden Smoke rises from a building following an Israeli strike in central Beirut, Lebanon on Wednesday | AP whom an intelligence and operational opportunity arises, without the need for additional approval,” Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said. Meanwhile, in a body blow to US President Donald Trump’s justification for starting the war with Iran, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that Iran was not trying to rebuild its nuclear enrichment capacities that were destroyed in a June 2025 US-Israeli attack, under Operation Midnight Hammer. “As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme was obliterated. There have been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,” Gabbard said in a written testimony to the Senate intelligence committee.  P11 Day’s developments l Iran confirms assassination of top intelligence official Esmail Khatib in an Israeli strike l India to prioritise domestic fuel demand amid requests from neighbours lIndian vessel ‘Jag Laadki’ carrying over 80,000 MT crude oil reaches Gujarat’s Mundra Port Smelling good just got that bit more expensive Hyderabad’s Ramzan perfume markets, usually among the busiest bazaars in the city especially ahead of Eid, are witnessing a slowdown this year as disruptions linked to tensions in West Asia push up prices and delay shipments. Traders say the impact is being felt across the trade, with higher freight costs, supply delays and cautious consumer spending affecting sales during what is typically the peak business season. Toufeeq Ahmed, who runs the family store Perfume Valley and has been in the trade for pic | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN over two decades, says prices have already risen sharply this season. “Prices have increased by around 18–20%. The raw materials we source usually come from China, West Asia and European countries. Because some sea routes have been Describing Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a “tsunami” that could lead to large-scale unemployment, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy told the Telangana Assembly on Wednesday that his government has brought the Vision–2047 policy which he said would help face the challenge. “An AI tsunami will come. Because of that, lakhs of jobs are likely to be lost, leading to a huge unemployment problem. In this context, we need to prepare to face this challenge. To address it, we have brought the Telangana Vision–2047 policy document,” he said. Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s address, Revanth outlined his vision of transforming Telangana into a $1 trillion economy by 2035 and a $3 trillion economy by 2047. Arabian Sea war impact Ta m r e e n S u lta n a @ Hyderabad M a n d a R a v i n d e r R e d d y @ Hyderabad Afghanistan @ Hyderabad Vision-’47 will counter job loss No extra fee for due to AI ‘tsunami’: Revanth 60% of seats on Pakistan Gulf oil sites on edge as Iran’s gas field hit Centre extends Turkey CS tenure by 3 more months Syria Express News Service Turkmenistan Caspian Sea closed, shipments are being delayed and we are facing a shortage of products,” he says. He notes that Ramzan normally accounts for a significant portion of annual sales. “Nearly 40–45% of our yearly business happens during this period. But this year the entire perfume industry is affected. Customers who can still afford it are buying, while others are switching to cheaper brands.” Ahmed says the slowdown is visible in shop footfall and bulk orders. “Usually the shop is very busy during Ramzan, but the crowd is much less this year. At least 35% of the business has been affected.” Continued on P2 A large part of my perfume stock is currently stuck in Dubai despite payments being made, which has directly affected sales during Ramzan and before Eid, when demand is usually high Saad, proprietor, Aboud Perfume To curb pollution in the CURE region, the chief minister announced that the government had decided to shift red and orange category industries. He said 2,850 diesel TGSRTC buses operating in Hyderabad would be replaced with 3,000 electric buses by December 9, 2026. Diesel and petrol autos would be converted into EVs, he said. The chief minister added that the CURE region should be developed into a service-sector economy . Stating that failure to protect the city and its water bodies would draw the ire of future generations, he said: “HYDRAA is rejuvenating lakes in Hyderabad by removing encroachments. Keeping climate change in mind, we have decided to rejuvenate the Musi. But Opposition parties are opposing it. Their stomachs are filled with more venom than the pollution in the Musi.”  continued on P4 domestic routes S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi Amid complaints about airlines levying high additional charges for allocating seats on flights, the civil aviation ministry has directed that a minimum of 60% of seats on all domestic flights be allocated free of charge. The ministry also asked airlines to ensure that passengers travelling on the same PNR (Passenger Name Record) are seated together. “Passengers travelling on the same PNR are to be seated together, preferably in adjacent seats,” a release said. The airlines were also directed to bring out clear, transparent policies for carrying pets on board. Besides, they must ensure that carriage of sports equipment and musical instruments on board are facilitated without compromising on safety and operational regulations.