kochi l tuesday l march 24, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 26 l late city EDITION A damaged Air Canada jet seen on the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Monday after colliding with a firefighting vehicle. Both pilots were killed | AP 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 2 indian lpg tankers cross Strait Panic buying of petrol in Guj Two more Indian-flagged tankers, Jag Vasant and Pine Gas, carrying 92,612.59 MT of LPG transited through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, said the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways. The vessels have 33 and 27 Indian seafarers onboard, respectively, and are set to reach Indian ports between March 26-28, said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Several petrol pumps in Gujarat on Monday witnessed long queues of motorists after rumours about fuel shortage spread through WhatsApp and other messaging platforms, forcing the state government to step in to clarify that there is no shortage. Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi said sufficient quantity of fuel is available in the state and appealed to citizens not to panic | P10 Situation worrisome, says PM W Asia crisis to have long-term impact on global economy; India prepared to face challenges US turnaround as Trump says talks on with Iran to end war J AYAN T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday described the escalating crisis in West Asia as “worrisome”, warning of long-term global repercussions while assuring Parliament that India is prepared to safeguard critical sectors such as energy , fertilizers, and power supply . Addressing the Lok Sabha, Modi said the conflict has already begun to weigh heavily on the global economy and hit people’s livelihoods. “The current situation in West Asia is worrisome. This crisis has been going on for more than three weeks, having a very adverse impact on the global economy and on people’s lives.” The PM highlighted the strategic imday portance of the region for India and said it meets a significant share of the country’s crude oil and gas requirements and is home to one crore Indians. He added that he is in constant touch with regional leaders. “I have spoken with most of the heads of state in West Asia, and they have all assured the safety of Indians.” On the ongoing disruption in key maritime routes, Modi said the “closure of Hormuz is un- 24 A g e n c i e s @ Dubai acceptable”. Despite challenges in cargo movement, he said the government is working to ensure minimal disruption to fuel and gas availability . “In the last decade, India has prioritised storage of crude oil for times of crisis. Today India , has a strategic petroleum reserve of more than 53 lakh metric tonnes, and work is underway to create reserves of 65 lakh metric tonnes,” he said, noting that long-term policy decisions are paying dividends now. “In the last 10-11 years, unprecedented work has been done on ethanol production and blending... Today, we are close to achieving 20% ethanol blending in petrol,” he said, adding this has helped India cut crude imports by 4.5 crore barrels annually . Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Lok Sabha on Monday | Sansad TV via PTI UK sends defence systems Britain is sending shortrange air defence systems to the Gulf to counter Iranian missile attacks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday. “We’re deploying short range air defence systems to Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.” US President Donald Trump on Monday said the US was in talks with a “respected” Iranian leader and claimed the Islamic Republic was eager for a deal to end the war, while extending the 48-hour deadline to five days for Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants. To justify his climbdown, Trump said there were “major points of agreement” in the USIran talks which he said must result in Tehran giving up its nuclear ambitions. However, Iran flatly denied holding any such negotiations with the US. Iran’s foreign ministry said Trump had backed down “following Iran’s firm warning”. Trump’s turnaround, which held out the possibility of resolving the war now in its fourth week, served to cool oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude fell 9.7% to $101.26 on Monday down from nearly $120 at one point last , week, following the news of US-Iran talks. Amid the disruptions in the Strait, Saudi Aramco, a major oil exporter, has reportedly cut crude oil supplies to Asian buyers for a second consecutive month in April. Meanwhile, Israel on Monday said it had “begun a wide-scale wave of strikes” on infrastruc| P15 ture targets in Tehran.  1,252 candidates file nominations as deadline ends; scrutiny today E x pr e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram As the deadline for filing nominations ended on Monday a total of 1,252 candidates , from across the state have filed papers to contest the assembly elections slated for April 9. According to the office of the Chief Electoral OfficerKerala, poll officials have received a total of 2,117 nomination papers across 140 constituencies, of which 1,510 were filed on Monday alone. However, the final picture of candidates in the fray will be clear only after the scrutiny of the nominations on Tuesday and the deadline for withdrawal of candidature on Wednesday . With 229 nominations, Kozhikode district received the largest number of papers, followed by Ernakulam (221) Assembly elections Rebel makes payyanur unsure battle for LDF I P4 Cong alleges ‘CPM-BJP deal’ in key seats I P5 T’gana seeks pay cut for staff neglecting parents M a n da Rav i n d e r R e d dy @ Hyderabad The Telangana Cabinet on Monday cleared a Bill that proposes to deduct up to 15% of the salary of both public and private sector employees who fail to take care of their elderly parents. Under the proposed Parents Support Bill, if any public representative, government or private employee is found not taking care of their elderly parents, 15% of their salary or `10,000 (whichever is lower) will be deducted and given to their parents as financial support. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had earlier indicated that the government was considering deducting salaries of government employees for parental neglect. But the inclusion of private employees in the Bill comes as a surprise. The Cabinet also cleared the “Telangana Hate Speech and Hate Crime Prevention Bill, 2026”, on the lines of a law enacted by the Karnataka government. The Bill seeks to curb social media posts, speeches, and actions that disturb communal harmony or incite violence, riots, and conflicts in the state. and Malappuram (216), according to latest figures available. Among the districts with the most number of candidates, too, Kozhikode is on top with 146 people in the fray fol, lowed by T hir uvananthapuram (138) and Malappuram (137). Constituency-wise, Kalpetta tops the list with 25 nomination papers from 14 candidates. This is followed by Varkala, Perambra, Peravoor and Koduvally with 22 nominations each, and Manalur, Elanthur and Ko zhikode North constituencies with 21 P5 each.  E x p r ess Re a d 4 Keralites die in bus crash in Karnataka Kozhikode: Four Keralites died after a private bus travelling from Kozhikode to Bengaluru jumped the median and crashed into an iron barricade at Sankalagere near Channapatna, on the BengaluruMysuru access-controlled highway in the early hours of Monday. P6 4 dead in Prayagraj cold storage collapse The incident, in which 12 were injured, triggered panic as ammonia gas began leaking from the facility 26 pages, including 4 pages of kochi Express