Over the past week, at least three India-flagged ships and tankers have returned to their home ports as the ongoing West Asia conflict keeps the Strait of Hormuz closed. An Indian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, Shivalik, arrives at Mundra Port through the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. (REUTERS/Representational). Out of the three India-flagged ships that departed the war zone, two—Shivalik and Nanda Devi—passed through the Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz, while one fled the UAE’s Fujairah port following an attack. Follow LIVE updates on the US-Iran conflict here. With all crew members on the Indian-flagged ships safely aboard and accounted for, a video from a sailor on one of the vessels captured the ordeal as it transited the Strait of Hormuz. In a social media video, Ajit, who was aboard an Indian ship, recounted his anxiety-ridden days amid the escalating US-Israel-Iran conflict. As he describes the voyage, the man notes that the crew learned of the war between the US, Israel, and Iran while the ship was loading cargo in Qatar. He mentions that as soon as they learned of the conflict, the ship started rationing its food supplies. View this post on Instagram. Upon arriving in the UAE, Ajit explained that the ship had to anchor in the middle of the sea. As nearby ships were targeted, an atmosphere of fear and anxiety gripped the crew. Continuing their journey, Ajit noted that the ship anchored in the UAE for 10 days. “After anchoring in Dubai for 10 days, we received a call from our company at 4 a.m. on March 13, informing us that two ships had been granted permission to cross the Strait of Hormuz,” he says in the video, adding that the ship entered the strait that same night. Also Read | Diplomacy, dark mode: How India-bound ships made safe passage via Strait of Hormuz. Ajit is heard saying in the video, “We kept faith in God and chanted ‘Har Har Mahadev’ before setting sail,” adding that the crew had raised the Indian flag and placed safety hoses on deck in case of fire or attack. He then noted that although Indian ships had permission to cross the strait, they were still navigating high-risk waters. 

 Bhubaneswar, The first phase of the Census House Listing Operations will begin across all 30 districts of Odisha from April 16 and continue till May 15, a top official said on Wednesday.. Odisha to begin phase-1 of Census House Listing from April 16. Addressing a press conference here, Director of Census Operations in Odisha, Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, said over 1 lakh trained enumerators and 17,282 supervisors will visit households and collect data during the period.. They will ask 33 questions prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the head of each household, including residential, non-residential, jails, malls, etc, he said.. “Persons residing in any place in Odisha, whether from the state or other states, will be enumerated. Not a single household will be left out during the Census,” Kalyan added.. He said the operation will be conducted through field visits using a mobile application.. Prior to this, a self-enumeration provision will be available online from April 1 to midnight of April 15, allowing citizens to submit their information themselves, he said.. Renowned sand artist and Padma Shri awardee Sudarshan Pattnaik has given his consent to be the brand ambassador for the promotion and outreach of this Census programme, he informed.. The district collectors and municipal commissioners will serve as principal Census officers, while additional district magistrates will be the district Census officers.. Additionally, under the supervision of the district collectors, the executive officers of each urban local body and tahsildars of tehsils have been nominated as charge officers, he informed.. The Revenue and Disaster Management Department is the nodal department for the programme. Primary school teachers will be appointed as enumerators and high school teachers as supervisors.. This will be India’s first digital Census, with self-enumeration available for the first time. Data submitted online will be verified by enumerators during field visits, Kalyan said.. The second phase, or the primary population enumeration phase, will be carried out from February 9 to 28, 2027, the Census Director informed.. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. 

 Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former minister Rampada Jamatia was elected as the Tripura assembly speaker on Wednesday.. BJP lawmaker Rampada Jamatia takes over as Tripura assembly speaker (Facebook/drmaniksaha). A two-time MLA from the Bagma (ST) constituency, Jamatia is the second indigenous leader to hold the speaker’s post in Tripura after Left Front veteran Sudhanya Debbarma in 1978.. The ruling BJP-led NDA proposed Jamatia’s name on March 13, the first day of the session. With no other nominations filed, acting speaker Ramprasad Paul officially declared him elected unopposed.. Congratulating the new speaker, chief minister Manik Saha said, “I am confident that his extensive political experience, wisdom, and integrity will uphold the dignity of the House and strengthen its proceedings.”. Jamatia was first elected from Bagma constituency in 2018 when he defeated Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former forest minister Naresh Jamatia. He served as tribal welfare and industries and commerce minister in chief minister Manik Saha’s cabinet from 2022 till 2023.. In 2023, he was re-elected from Bagma.. Saha congratulated Jamatia after he took over as speaker. “Heartiest congratulations to Shri Rampada Jamatia ji on his unanimous election as ‘Speaker’ of Tripura Legislative Assembly. Wishing him success in upholding the House’s dignity with wisdom, fairness & integrity,” Saha said in a post on X.. The speaker’s post fell vacant in December following the death of Biswabandhu Sen at Bengaluru after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Sen, a four-time MLA , joined BJP ahead of 2018 Assembly polls from Congress. He was elected as speaker in 2023. 

 The ministry of road transport and highways has built 7,211km of national highways till February, well short of its 10,000km target for the current financial year, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.. Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari speaks in the Rajya Sabha. (PTI). The average pace has dropped to 21.5km per day, down from 29.21km per day in 2024-25 and 33.83km per day in 2023-24. The highest expansion — 13,327km — was recorded in 2020-21, also at an average of 33.83km per day.. Gadkari presented the data while replying to a question by BRS MP Vaddiraju Ravichandra. In the same response, Gadkari said 660 under-construction National Highway projects have overshot their original completion timelines. This excludes projects currently under consideration for termination or foreclosure. The highest number of delayed projects is in Maharashtra (62), followed by Andhra Pradesh (50) and Uttar Pradesh (48).. Responding to a separate question from AAP MP Ashok Kumar Mittal, Gadkari said the average time taken by a vehicle to cross a toll plaza under electronic toll operations is around 40 seconds, compared to 12.23 minutes under the earlier manual system. This marks a substantial improvement in traffic flow and reduced congestion, based on an impact assessment of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) Programme for 2024–25. 

 An Iftar party on the Ganga River has sparked a row in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. According to the police, 14 men were arrested on allegations of eating chicken biryani and discarding its remains in the river.. As per Jaiswal, the men discarded chicken biryani and chicken bones into the river during their iftar. His complaint adds that the act was done “deliberately” to hurt Hindu sentiments. (AP/Representational). A viral video on X showed 14 men marking their iftar on boats on the Ganges River. The men were arrested on a complaint from Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Varanasi city unit president, Rajat Jaiswal, who accused them of discarding the remnants of chicken biryani in the river.. “A video went viral on Monday, purportedly showing a group of people holding an Iftar party on a boat on the Ganga and consuming biryani during the gathering,” Vijay Pratap Singh, additional commissioner of police (ACP), said on Tuesday.. As reported by HT earlier, a case has been registered under sections 298 (defiling a place of worship), 299 (malicious act with intent to outrage religious feelings), 196(1)(B) (promoting enmity), 270 (public nuisance), 279 (fouling water of a public spring or water reservoir), and 223(B) (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).. What are the allegations?. As per Jaiswal, the men discarded chicken biryani and chicken bones into the river during their iftar. His complaint adds that the act was done “deliberately” to hurt Hindu sentiments.. “The Ganga holds deep and unshakeable faith for followers of Sanatan Dharma. Thousands of devotees from across the country and the world visit Kashi every day to perform rituals and offer prayers using Ganga water,” said Jaiswal.. “This act has hurt religious sentiments,” he added.. While the viral video shows the men eating the meal aboard a boat on the Ganga river, the video does not show them discarding bones and leftovers into the river.. The police has also said that the allegations against the men are being investigated.. Meanwhile, another video has been going viral on social media which shows another group of men holding iftar aboard a boat on the Ganga. However, this appears to be a different video and not related to the arrest of the 14 other men.. Gyanvapi Mosque managing committee condemns act. Amid the row, SM Yaseen, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee has criticised the youths.. “It came to light that certain ignorant individuals were hosting a roza iftar on a boat. Iftar is a purely religious observance; it is neither a social outing nor a picnic. It is mandatory to offer the Maghrib prayers immediately after Iftar. Therefore, hosting roza iftar on board a boat is against the religion. There is no place for such an act.”. The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee (AIMC) is the Muslim management body responsible for overseeing the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi.