VIJAYAWADA  MONDAY  MARCH 23, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE 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 RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ 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. Its members include Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Exter nal Af fairs Minister S Jaishankar. According to statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after the CCS meeting, discussions were held on the expected impact on critical sectors such as agriculture, fertilisers, petroleum, power, MSMEs, shipping, and finance. The PM directed that a group 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 they work in consultation with all stakeholders. The PMO statement further said that the war between USIsrael and Iran will have a big impact on the global economy . “The ongoing conflict in West Asia will have significant short, CM Chandrababu Naidu being welcomed at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad | EXPRESS Future belongs to knowledge economy: CM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Vijayawada MENTIONING about earlier reforms in IT and power sectors, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said the growth vision laid out three decades ago is now yielding results. Addressing the ‘EO South Asia Learning Summit 2026 - Transforming AI’ at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad on Sunday, Naidu emphasised that the future belongs to the knowledge economy He said . the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh adopted economic reforms with the goal of transforming from an agriculture-based economy into an industrial hub. The proactive IT policies led global companies like Microsoft to choose Hyderabad over other cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai for setting up their centres, he said, highlighting the establishment of key institutions and hubs like ISB and Genome Valley Naidu noted that past . policy decisions helped both the Telugu States emerge as leaders in the pharmaceutiP4 cal sector. 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 Key ministers attend meet Ministers holding key portfolios including home, external affairs, defence, finance, and petroleum attended the meeting medium and long-term impact on the global economy and its effect on India were assessed and counter-measures, both immediate and long-term, were discussed,” it added. The meeting discussed measures to ensure continued availability of essential needs and assesssed the conflict’s indirect impact on farmers and their requirement for fertilizer for the Kharif season. The PM described the conflict as an evolving situation in which the entire world is affected in some form or the other. “In such a situation, all efforts must be made to safeguard the citizens from the impact of this conflict,” the prime minister asserted. The prime minister instructed that all arms of governments should work together during the crisis period to ensure least inconvenience to the citizens. He also asked for close coordination with state government to ensure there is no black-marketing or hoarding of important commodities. ‘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 ongoing West Asia conflict, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Sunday. In a statement, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said the conflict has disrupted key maritime routes and supply chains. “Indian companies are experiencing downstream effects, from shipment delays to constraints in key energy inputs, as well as emerging shortages in essential raw materials across several sectors that rely heavily on timely cross-border flows,” he said 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 and “completely close” the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, if the US follows up on President Donald Trump’s threat to attack its power plants unless the key waterway is reopened in 48 hours. T h e t i t - f o r- t a t threats came as the DAY w a r e n t e re d i t s fourth week and continued to reverberate across the Gulf, 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 23 LONGEST SERVING HEAD OF ELECTED GOVT PM Narendra Modi has completed 8,931 days in public life, surpassing exSikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling’s record | P7 US energy IT, and desalination , infrastructure across the region. 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 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 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 two fell in uninhabited areas, the defence ministry said. The UAE said it responded to new 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.