kannur l monday l march 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION Pakistan worst hit by terror, India sees fall in attacks: Report Pakistan recorded more than 1,000 terrorism incidents in 2025, which has pushed it to the top place in the latest Global Terrorism Index ranking Pak accounts for 1 in 5 terror deaths India sees 43% decline in attacks Pakistan has seen a sharp resurgence in terrorist activity by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Deaths from terrorism in Pakistan were at their highest since 2013 with the country recording 1,139 terrorism-related deaths in 2025. That accounts for one in five terror related deaths around the world last year ■ ■ India ranked 13th, moving up one place from the previous year’s ranking. However, the number of terrorist attacks fell by 43%. India accounted for 2% of terrorism-related deaths in 2025 Four outfits—Islamic State, Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen, TTP, and al-Shabaab—were responsible for 70% of terrorism deaths 5,582 people killed in 2,944 terrorist attacks globally in 2025 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 Emergency CCS meet reviews West Asia crisis RA J E S H K U M AR THAK U R @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called an emergency meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to take stock of the domestic situation due to the evolving West Asia conflict and chalk out the strategy to mitigate the war’s impact on India. The CCS meeting, chaired by the PM and attended by key ministers, assessed the availability of critical needs of common people, including food, energy and fuel security , . The CCS is the highest decision-making body on security and strategic matters of the country. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are CCS members. According to statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), discussions were held on the expected impact on critical sectors such as agriculture, fertilisers, petroleum, power, MSMEs, shipping, and finance as well as supply chains along with all affected sectors. The PM directed that a group Study: Ekm infra keeping pace with population M S V i d ya n a n d a n @T’Puram When satellites looked down at India’s districts and measured who was truly building for their people, Ernakulam made the top 10. A recent report from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister ranked Kerala’s commercial capital third in India for infrastructure per person, behind New Delhi and Daman. It is the only district in South India to feature in the top 10. The report used satellite imagery data to assess and analyse the district-level built-up volume across the c o u n t r y. I n terms of builtup volume per capita, Ernakulam found a place in the highest quintile of 152 to 17,500 cubic meters per person, meaning that the physical infrastructure has kept pace with population growth. According to the report, built-up volume per capita is an important metric since a district’s target should be to provide enough infrastructural amenities to its people instead of “ever-g rowing built-up volume”. Ernakulam ranking third nationally on this metric suggests its residents are comparatively well-served by physical infrastructure like buildings, roads and utilities on a per-person basis. The report also discussed the rapid urbanisation in Kerala based on the findings in the Economic Survey 2026. When spatially identified settlements are added, Kerala’s urbanisation level is now about 80.8%, far beyond the official statutory figure ● More on P6 of 53.81%, it said.  Assembly elections Cong leadership, Rahul Gandhi working like BJP’s ‘B’ Team: Pinarayi I P4 The conflict in West Asia will have significant short, medium and longterm impact on the global economy; its effect on India were assessed and counter-measures discussed - PMO ‘India Inc faces raw material shortage’ New Delhi: Indian companies are facing disruptions ranging from shipment delays to shortages of key raw materials due to the West Asia conflict, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said in a statement on Sunday. of ministers and secretaries be created to work dedicatedly in a whole-of-gover nment approach to deal with the effects of the conflict. The prime minister also suggested that sectoral groups be set up and work in consultation with all stakeholders. The PMO statement further said that the war between USIsrael and Iran will have a significant impact on the global economy “The ongoing conflict . in West Asia will have significant short, medium and longterm impact on the global economy and its effect on India were assessed and counter-measures, both immediate and longterm, were discussed.” The meeting also discussed measures to ensure continued availability of essential needs and assesssed the impact on farmers and their requirements for fertilizer for the Kharf season. According to the statement, the PM described the conflict as an evolving situation in which the entire world is affected in some form. “In such a situation, all efforts must be made to safeguard the citizens from the impact of this conflict,” the PM asserted. The US would hit and obliterate Iranian power plants starting with the biggest one first if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, or 23:44 GMT on Monday — US President Donald Trump Trump gives 48 hrs to Iran Tehran responds by threatening to blow up all US infrastructure in the Gulf a g e n c i e s @ Tel Aviv / Tehran IRAN on Sunday threatened to “irreversibly destroy” key infrastructure across West Asia if US President Donald Trump follows through on his vow to “obliterate” the Islamic republic’s major power plants unless “the Strait of Hormuz is reopened in 48 hours.” The tit-for-tat threats came as the war entered its fourth week and continued to reverberate across day the Gulf re gion, with global alarm mounting over strikes around nuclear sites. Trump, under pressure over rising fuel prices, wrote on Truth Social that US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants “starting with the biggest one first” if Tehran did not fully reopen the strait within 48 hours, or 23:44 GMT on Monday . Iran said it would respond to any such attacks by targeting US energy IT, and desalination , infrastructure across the re- 23 EXPRESS READ Grief grips Thrithala as Oman floods claim two lives Police purge 223 URLs with objectionable poll content Palakkad: The death of two persons in a flash flood in Oman on Saturday has cast a pall of gloom over their native villages in Thrithala. The deceased are Thacharathodiyil Yusuf, 36, and Maliyekkal Shamla, 32, Yusuf’s mother, Ramla, 59, who was travelling with them, remains missing | P6 T’Puram: The state police have removed a total of 223 social media URLs for posting “objectionable content” that violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the assembly polls. The content was purged in coordination with social media platforms since March 16 – the day when the MCC came into force | P6 gion. Iran’s defiance came a day after its missiles evaded Israel’s much-vaunted air defences and struck two southern towns, including Dimona which houses a nuclear facility injuring dozens. , Iran said the strike on Dimona was in response to an earlier attack on its nuclear site at Natanz. The impact from the war continued to be felt across the region. Early Sunday morning, AFP reported that blasts and air raid sirens were heard in Jerusalem as Iran launched a fresh barrage of missiles at Israel. Israel launched a wave of strikes on the Iranian capital Tehran in response. Iran also kept up retaliatory attacks on Gulf nations it accuses of serving as a launchpad for US strikes. Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it detected three ballistic missiles around the capital Riyadh. One was intercepted and two fell in uninhabited areas, Israeli rescue teams at a site struck by an Iranian missile in Arad, southern Israel, on Sunday | AP war in risky phase WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said the war is at a ‘perilous stage’ following strikes on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility and in the city of Dimona near an Israeli nuclear research centre the defence ministry said. The UAE said it responded to new missile and drone attacks from Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was noncommittal when asked about Trump’s threats to strike Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t opened, and whether Israel would join. “President Trump knows exactly what he’s doing. And whatever we do we do together and as far as possible in confidence.” Air ticket fares likely to surge from today S l a l i t h a @ New Delhi BRACE for higher airfares from Monday as the temporary price cap imposed by the government in December, in the wake of the Indigo crisis, is set to expire. This comes at a time when airlines have seen a rise in operational expenses on account of the circuitous routes taken by international flights due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia between US-Israel and Iran. Airlines had recently introduced a fuel surcharge to offset the higher operational expenses due to the rise in price of Aviation Turbine Fuel. Referring to the Indigo crisis in December, the order said, “The prevailing situation has since stabilised, with restoration of capacity and normalisation of operations across the sector.” While removing the fare cap, the government has directed airlines to exercise pricing discipline and warned that “excessive or unjustified surge in fares during periods of peak demand or disruptions” could force the government to reintroduce fare caps or make other interventions in the public interest.