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 BHUBANESWAR l Tuesday l september 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Defence ministry clears purchases worth `1.1 lakh cr Forces to get advanced choppers, radars; Su-30MKI fighter jets to get major upgrade CM Mohan Charan Majhi chairing the cabinet meeting Ease of biz push Cabinet approves Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 E x press N e w s S ervi c e @ Bhubaneswar 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 inprinciple 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. IAF operates around 260 Su-30MKIs, its mainstay fighter fleet. The DAC had earlier cleared the overhaul of Su-30 aero-engine aggregates. The approval seeks to address a gap in the IAF’s long-range beyond-visual-range capability with Operation 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 whichis 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 terrains 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 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 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 The state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday approved the Odisha Jan Vishwas Bill-2026, the second phase of the state’s regulatory reform for reducing compliance burden on businesses and citizens. The proposed legislation seeks to go beyond the decriminalisation measures introduced under the Odisha Jan Vishwas Act, 2025, by simplifying licensing and permission requirements, eliminating overlapping approvals and extending the validity of several industrial licences and registrations, said chief secretary Anu Garg in her post-cabinet briefing at Lok Seva Bhawan. The Bill of the Industries department proposes amendments to 62 provisions across 16 state Acts administered by 11 departments. The reforms have been divided into two schedules. Schedule I proposes 35 amendments across 11 Acts dealing with decriminalisation and rationalisation of minor, technical and procedural offences. These include replacing imprisonment or disproportionate fines with monetary penalties, updating outdated penalties and introducing s i m p l e r a d m i n i s t r a t ive o r a p p e l l a t e mechanisms. Schedule II contains 27 amendments across five Acts aimed at rationalising nine regulatory approvals. The measures include extending validity periods, reducing or eliminating renewal requirements and introducing intimation-based registration or no objection certificate mechanisms wherever considered appropriate. The reforms also seek to address duplication in licensing. For certain activities, businesses will not have to obtain separate licences from other state departments if they already possess the requisite municipal trade licence. The Bill also proposes simplification of several other business-related permissions, including longer validity of agricultural market licences, rationalised gram panchayat licensing requirements and easier permissions for name boards, public-street works and specified temporary commercial activities. Garg said, “The measures are intended to reduce regulatory friction, litigation and procedural delays while improving certainty for businesses and investors. The reforms will enhance administrative efficiency and strengthen citizen and investor confidence by moving towards a more trust-based regulatory framework.” Odisha DGP case: Amicus Ramachandran seeks consideration of original eligibility list rity certificate was considered and the sudden promotion of officers who With the Odisha DGP appointment were subsequently added to the case under scrutiny in the Supreme shortlist. Court, Amicus Curiae Raju RamachThe Amicus Curiae report, excluandran on Monday recommended that sively accessed by TNIE, expressed only the original eligibility list should serious concern over the Odisha govbe considered by the Empanelment ernment’s creation of temporary exCommittee to prevent manipulation cadre DGP posts just before the apand ensure fairness in pointment process, the process. which allowed two adThe Amicus Ramditional DGPs to bepress achandran along with clusive come eligible for DGP Dr Charu Mathur, in selection. their submissions in “This was done after the top court, focussed on procedural the original eligibility list (dated integrity transparency and adherence 14.05.2026) had already been submitted , to established guidelines, referencing to the UPSC. The Amicus notes that the Prakash Singh judgments and re- the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) cent actions by the Odisha govern- had earlier denied such posts, and the ment and UPSC. sudden reversal lacked clear justificaRamachandran questioned the em- tion,” the report pointed out. panelment procedure, specifically the “There is an apparent inconsistency exclusion of senior IPS officer Sush- in the years of service attributed to ant Kumar Nath, whether his integ- promoted officers, particularly Shri S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi express read SC judge shoots off fourth letter to CJI New Delhi: The internal war in 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 misconducts | P7 pg-owner arrested in rajasthan day after tragedy Hariram Gupta, the 81-year-old retired Indian Air Force Sergeant, was apprehended by Delhi Police from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan on Monday Sanjeeb Panda,” it stated and the suggested the state should be directed to explain why its letter claims Panda completed 32 years of service, while the eligibility list shows less than 31 years as of the relevant date. This clarification is necessary to maintain transparency and accuracy in the selection process, it emphasised. The Amicus further added that the state government should be directed to file an affidavit specifying reasons why it seeks to withhold the Integrity Certificate of one of the eligible DGPlevel officers given the prevailing position in law and the officer’s continuation in his post as DGP. “While it is correct that the State Govt. (government) can withhold a certificate, the question of whether such action has been taken for cogent reasons and based on application of mind to relevant material can be examined by this Court,” the submission Continued on P7 said.  US market open for Indian space startups, says Sergio Gor PA D M I N I D H R U V A R A J & B O S K Y K H A N N A @ Bengaluru US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Monday said that the American market is open for Indian space startups as the two countries move towards ‘co-creation’ from ‘cooperation’ and data-sharing. Stressing that NASA and ISRO will work together on the Moon Base Programme, he said: “Make no mistake: we are going back to the Moon, and we want India by our side.” Gor said the US-India space relationship is moving towards joint technology development, investment in startups and future space missions. “We are no longer just sharing data; we are co-design- ing instruments, co-funding startups, and co-authoring the future of human discovery,” he said, referring to discussions between the two countries on expanding their civil space partnership. He said India’s space sector reforms have ignited a commercial awakening. Innovators like Pixxel and GalaxEye are redefining Earth observation. Digantara is leading the way in space situational awareness. Bellatrix is propelling space forward. He said the US wants to build a direct commercial corridor between American industry and Indian innovators. “The US and India are working together on multiple sectors and at unthinkable working levels.” 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 ■ ■