BHUBANESWAR l tuesday l march 31, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION India’s First fully-digital census to kick off on April 1 The process starts with self-enumeration in Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands from Apr 1 Second phase from February 2027 No decision taken on NPR updation The Census 2027 will be done in two phases—house listing or house census and population enumeration. After a 15-day self-enumeration period, the 30-day house-listing phase will begin on April 16. Across the country, the first phase will be wrapped by October. The population enumeration phase will then be conducted in February 2027 | p7 ■ ■ The self-enumeration process will begin on April 16 in Andhra Pradesh, April 26 in Telangana, June 16 in Kerala, and July 17 in Tamil Nadu. The date for West Bengal is yet to be decided Registrar General Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan (pic-R) said no decision has been taken on National Population Register’s updation 31 lakh Enumerators to participate in the World’s largest census 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 Trump threatens obliteration Open Hormuz or face destruction of power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island, Don tells Iran Rupee breaches 95/$ level, recovers Spain closes its airspace for US military Crude hits $117 per barrel The rupee breached the 95/USD-mark in intra-day trade on Monday before settling at 94.70. The BSE Sensex tumbled 1,635.67 points, or 2.22 per cent, to settle at 71,947.55. This month alone, the benchmark has crashed 11.48 per cent, ever since the West Asia conflict began Spain closed its airspace to US planes involved in the attacks on Iran in addition to denying its military bases for the war. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s March 3 stance to oppose the war had infuriated the US, with Trump threatening to cut trade ties Oil prices rose as the West Asia crisis escalated on Monday. Brent North Sea crude, the international benchmark, jumped to almost $117 per barrel in Asian trading. Crude oil prices in India rose by `159 to `9,554 per barrel in futures trade on Monday Indian from TN killed in strike on Kuwait plant a g e n c i e s @ Washington, Tel Aviv US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that Iran faces mass destruction of its energy resources unless a deal to end the war is reached “shortly”. Trump ranted on social media that “great progress is being made” in talks with Iran, adding if a deal is not reached and if the strategic Hormuz Strait is not immediately reopened, the US would broaden its offensive by “completely obliterating all of their electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).” Destroying civilian infrastructure such as power and water facilities would be illegal under international humanitarian law and could constitute a war crime, exday perts say A scrubby island . in the Gulf that is roughly one third the size of Manhattan, Kharg Island is the nerve centre of the Iranian oil industry Later, Trump revealed he was nego. tiating with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as per The Times of Israel. In a significant development, the Israeli military indicated it has been ordered by the political leadership to shift to hitting economic targets in Iran, The Times of Israel revealed. Israel’s defence establishment added that it had entered the “completion phase” of the war. It meant that it has largely achieved the objectives of degrading Iran’s military capabilities and creating conditions for the regime to fall. Iran has previously threatened to retaliate by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants in its Arab 31 Rtd Brigadier hit by stray bullet during road rage, dies N a r e n d r a S e t h i @ Dehradun A retired Army Brigadier on a morning walk died after being caught in the crossfire of a violent road rage incident in Dehradun on Monday morning. The road rage incident began around 6.50 am on Mussoorie Road, when a Delhi-registered Toyota Fortuner overtook a Mahindra Scorpio N. Angered by the manoeuvre, the driver of the Scorpio N began chasing the Fortuner. In an attempt to force it to stop, the occupants of Scorpio N opened fire, targeting the Toyota SUV’s wheels. Those in the Fortuner were also armed and retaliated. Brigadier (Retd) Mukesh Joshi, 74, was on his routine morning walk in the area at the time, and was hit by a stray bullet. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died during treatment. During the incident, the driver of the Fortuner lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a tree. The occupants of the Scorpio N then assaulted the two passengers inside the Fortuner and vandalised the vehicle before fleeing. “We have launched a massive manhunt to trace the assailants. Police teams are scouring CCTV footage and have set up barricades across the district to catch the suspects. We will ensure they are arrested soon,” Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Parmendra Dobhal said. The officer’s death sparked public outrage with demands being made for swift justice and stricter enforcement of traffic laws. Exp r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Ramanathapuram/ New Delhi A blaze at the site of a missile strike at the Haifa oil refinery in Israel after it was hit by debris from the interception of a projectile on Monday | X neighbours in the Gulf who host US military bases. Market experts warned that any US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since the July 2008 commodity boom, when the cost of world benchmark crude Brent hit close to $150 per barrel. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appealed directly to Trump on Monday to find an off-ramp. “Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it,” Sisi said in Cairo. On the ground on Monday, there was no let-up in hostilities. Israel said its air defence batteries responded to “missiles launched from Iran” after earlier announcing it was striking “terror regime military infrastructure across Tehran”. Israel’s fire and rescue services also reported a blaze at an oil refinery in the northern port city of Haifa. Israel’s military said it had struck the Imam Hossein University in Tehran run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Iran confirmed Revolutionary Guards commander Alireza P9 Tangsiri had been killed.  A day after Santhana Selvam, a Tamil working in a Kuwait firm, was killed in Iranian attack on a power and water desalination facility in the Gulf country his family on Monday , sought the state government’s help to bring the body back to India. With the death of the 36year-old from Ramanathapuram, the total number of Indian fatalities in the West Asia conflict has gone up to eight since the hostilities began on February 28. According to a petition submitted by Selvam’s family members to Ramanathapuram Collector, Santhana Selvam had been working in Kuwait for more than a decade at Al Dhow Engineering General Trading & Contracting Company. The man from Anikurunthan village at Mudukulathur block was the sole breadwinner of his family and is survived by his wife and two children. Biju remark: Dubey India is now Naxal-free: Shah needs mental health support, says Naveen APEX body dismantled P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday announced that the country has become free from Naxalites with their top body and central structure almost completely dismantled. Replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha on ‘Efforts to free the country from Leftwing extremism (LWE)’, Shah accused the Congress of not taking any action to end the long spell of violence by the Naxals. The assertion came a day before the deadline he set for the elimination of Naxal violence. Last year, Shah had Home minister Amit Shah announced that the replying to the debate on LWE would end in Naxalite violence the country by March 31, 2026, and a major operation had been organised against the Naxals. In his 90-minute speech, Shah targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying he was seen multiple times in public with sympathisers of Naxals and even posted videos “sympathetic” to the Maoists from his social media handle. Continued on P5 Outstanding speech by the Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah Ji, filled with important facts, historical context and the efforts of our Government in the last decade — Narendra Modi, PM B i j o y P r a d h a n @ Bhubaneswar BJD president and for mer chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday slammed BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his controversial remarks alleging links between Biju Patnaik and the CIA. In a strong reaction to Dubey’s insinuation, Naveen said the BJP MP needed mental health treatment for making such outrageous and historically unfounded statement. Recalling historical context, Naveen emphasised his father’s crucial role during the SinoIndian War of 1962. He noted that then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had entrusted Biju Patnaik with key responsibilities during the war, even setting up an office for him close to the PMO to assist in critical operations. “I was just 13 years old at that time, and I clearly remember the circumstances. Such statements are completely baseless,” he said. Dubey, known for making controversial statements inside the Parliament and outside, had recently said that Biju Patnaik acted as a link between the US government, the CIA, and Naveen Patnaik Nehru during the 1962 war. His allegations have sparked widespread outrage across Odisha with not only politicians but the common people slamming the MP . While the BJD has termed it an insult to the legacy of a revered freedom fighter and statesman, Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra resigned from a parliamentary committee chaired by Dubey, stating he could not continue under someone who had made disrespectf u l r e m a rk s a b o u t B i j u Patnaik. Marking a strong protest in Rajya Sabha on Monday Patra , condemned the comments as an insult to Odisha’s pride and i d e n t i t y, a s s e r t i n g t h a t d i s re s p e c t i n g B i j u B abu amounts to insulting the entire Continued on P5 state.