LPG refill booking gap cut to 25 days The Centre has directed oil marketing companies to revise inter-refill booking interval for all domestic LPG consumers move follows dip in refill HYDERABAD l tuesday l september 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Ok to Defence purchases worth `1.1 L cr Forces to get advanced choppers, radars; Su-30MKI fighters to get major upgrade J A V A R I A R A N A @ New Delhi THE defence ministry on Monday cleared military hardware purchases worth `1.1 lakh crore for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Approximately 98% of the procurement by value will come from Indian industry . The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), or in-principle administrative approvals, for the defence acquisitions. For the Air Force, the DAC cleared “various proposals to enhance the war-fighting capability of fighters, transports and helicopters”. Sources said these include the overhaul of 40 Su-30MKIs by Hindustan Aeronautics, twice the number the PSU had earlier proposed. The IAF operates around 260 Su-30MKIs, its mainstay fighter fleet. The DAC had earlier CBRN recce vehicles The Army is set to get Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear recce vehicles, high mobility vehicles, self-propelled mechanical mine layers, advanced light helicopters, and trawl tanks cleared the overhaul of Su-30 aero-engine aggregates. The approval seeks to address a gap in the IAF’s longrange beyond-visual-range cap ab i l i t y, w i t h O p e r at i o n Sindoor underscoring the requirement. The overhaul covers modifications to allow the Sukhois to fire the RVV-BD, the export version of Russia’s R-37M missile. Weighing 510 kg and carrying a 60-kg warhead, the missile has a range of 200 km and is designed to engage AWACS aircraft, aerial refuellers and other high-value airborne assets. For the Navy the DAC cleared , the design, development and subsequent procurement of a marine gas turbine in the 24-28 MW class, with the ministry saying the propulsion system “will reduce dependency on foreign vendors”. India currently imports turbines for several frontline destroyers and frigates. The Navy will also get Arudhra radars, which “will replace the existing Air Route Surveillance Radars at various Naval Air Stations”. Developed by the DRDO, Arudhra is a four-dimensional active phased-array radar with an instrumented range of 400 km, which is able to detect a two-square-metre target at up to 300 km. The Army stands to get more HAL-built advanced light helicopters, or Dhruv, to “execute complex missions across all ter rains and operational situations”. A `8,073 crore deal for 34 ALH Mk-III was signed with HAL in March 2024. DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity to various acquisition proposals at an estimated cost of `1,10,000 cr Defence ministry Acceptance of Necessity AoN is the first step in defence acquisition. The process involves tech evaluation, trials as well as negotiations. Big acquisitions will require more govt approvals Screengrabs of BRS legislators jostlng with at the Assembly gate; Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar wiping away his tears when Minister Seethakka brings up the objectionable remarks; BRS MLA Sunitha Laxma Reddy tearing up while alleging that police pulled her by her saree; and BRS MLC Tata Madhu during his outburst MLC remark on Speaker turns BRS protest at Assembly ugly Anguished at MLC’s slur, says Gaddam Minister A Revanth Reddy demanded an apology from BRS chief K Chan- E x p re s s N e w s Servi c e The Monsoon Session of the state Legis- drasekhar Rao and sought Madhu’s per- @ Hyderabad lature began with chaos outside the As- manent expulsion from the Council. sembly premises and emotional scenes “I felt very sad and wanted a debate on Assembly Speaker Gaddam inside the House after a protest by the the language being used in the House. Prasad Kumar said on Monday BRS at the main gate. The protest led to a But, surprisingly, the BRS MLC used that the derogatory remarks alconfrontation with the police, alabusive language against the legedly made by BRS MLC Tata leged use of derogatory language Speaker and even cast asper- Madhu had hurt him deeply . by BRS MLC Tata Madhusudhan sions on his mother,” he said. Speaking to the media at his against Speaker Gaddam Prasad The chief minister told the chamber, Gaddam Prasad KuKumar and BRS MLA Sunitha House that Madhu’s remarks mar said he was particularly It’s a dark day Laxma Reddy alleging that police for democracy. I had hurt Telangana society and distressed by the remarks in have never personnel pulled her saree. described the incident as a “dark view of his personal bond with heard such The incident occurred when day for democracy”. Responding Minister Dansari Anasuya comments BRS MLAs and MLCs, wearing to concerns raised by Legislative (Seethakka). against a black T-shirts on which slogans Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu Recalling the proceedings in Speaker in any against the government were and Transport Minister Ponnam the House, he said he was state since printed, were stopped by the police Independence Prabhakar, he said upholding moved when Seethakka broke from entering the Assembly the dignity of the House was down while speaking about the premises. The police said the objec- A Revanth Reddy, everyone’s responsibility. He issue. chief minister tionable slogans printed on the Tsaid the issue was not limited to “When Seethakka was shedshirts were the reason for preventGaddam Prasad but concerned ding tears in the Assembly, I ing the legislators from entering. the entire Telangana society . could not control my anguish,” The move led to a scuffle between the “I have never heard such comments he said. BRS legislators and police. During the jos- against a Speaker in any state since Indetling, Madhu was pulled back by the po- pendence,” Revanth said. He recalled that Monsoon lice, following which he reportedly used the Congress had made a Dalit the AssemSession abusive language against the Speaker. bly Speaker while the previous BRS relikely till Sunitha Laxma Reddy meanwhile, al- gime had removed a Dalit leader from the , Saturday | p4 leged that police personnel pulled her post of deputy CM.  continued on P4 saree, while P Sabitha Indra Reddy was allegedly pulled by her hair. The BRS Police can’t stop MLAs from entering Assembly, says Telangana HC later alleged that several of its legislaTG Naidu @ Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has directed the DGP not to prevent BRS tors, including working president KT MLAs from entering the state Legislative Assembly, observing that any violation of House Rama Rao, G Jagadish Reddy and MLC rules should be dealt with by the Speaker, not the police. Justice T Madhavi Devi issued Yadava Reddy were injured in the melee , the direction while hearing a lunch motion writ petition filed by BRS Deputy Floor Leader and were treated by doctors at Telangana Talasani Srinivas Yadav, alleging that police personnel obstructed party legislators from Bhavan, the BRS headquarters. entering the Assembly premises. The judge issued notices to the Principal Secretary, Home, The developments outside the AssemDGP, Hyderabad Police Commissioner, Khairatabad DCP and Assembly Secretary, directing bly soon spilled into the House, where them to respond within two weeks. The matter was adjourned to September 21. Senior Congress members condemned Madhu’s Counsel Gandra Mohan Rao, appearing for the petitioner, alleged that police personnel alleged remarks against the Speaker and manhandled BRS MLAs, including Sabitha Indra Reddy and Sunitha Laxma Reddy. demanded action against him. Chief E x p re s s N e w s Servi c e @ Hyderabad SC judge shoots off 4th letter to CJI S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE internal war in the higher judiciary has intensified with Supreme Court’s Justice Sandeep Mehta writing his fourth consecutive letter to Chief Justice Surya Kant against Rajasthan High Court’s acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, levelling fresh charges of interfering in an internal judicial enquiry and misconduct. Quoting CJI Surya Kant’s earlier remark that judges should not try to “hit sixes” before retirement, Justice Mehta in his fourth letter on August 30 wrote in a reference, “Jus- Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma Justice Sandeep Mehta tice Sharma seems to be possessed of a licence to hit sixes ever since he took over as Acting Chief Justice.” According to sources in the Supreme Court registry, the said internal judicial enquiry relates to allegations that a High Court judicial officer displayed indecent photographs of a lady judicial officer on his phone. A committee was formed, but Justice Sharma allegedly interfered and leaked confidential proceedings. “Justice Sharma has made direct intervention in the enquiry proceedings, hampering the independence of the committee...” Justice Mehta wrote. He alleged that the committee, comprising three female judges of the Rajasthan High Court, recorded the minutes and refused to proceed with the enquiry Justice Mehta had earli. er also written similar letters on August 2, 10 and 17 accusing Justice Sharma of misconduct and “maladministration”. sir deadline for Telangana extended by three weeks. Accordingly, the final electoral rolls will be published on November 9 page 3 The earlier interval for refill booking for rural consumers was 45 days. Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said on Monday that the decision follows an improvement in LPG supply situation and a reduction in refill backlog Recently, India significantly diversified its LPG imports, with the United States emerging as the country’s largest supplier Gulf war effect on LPG supply Owing to the West Asia crisis, LPG was the worst-hit fuel as India imports 60% of its domestic requirement, with 90% of those from the Gulf 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 ■ ■