Billionaire Elon Musk had joined the phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump to dicuss the West Asia conflict, New York Times reported on Friday.. PM Modi held a phone call with Trump earlier this week. (AFP). PM Modi held a phone call with Trump earlier this week, wherein the Prime Minister asserted India’s backing for restoration of peace in West Asia at the earliest and ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open and secure for the global community.. The US President dialled PM Modi to discuss the situation in the Gulf region amid growing concerns about food and fuel security, the Prime Minister stated.. According to the NYT report, Musk’s participation in the phone call between the two leaders on Tuesday (March 24), which is unusual for a private citizen during a crisis, could also signal a thaw in relations between the entrepreneur and US President Trump.. Musk, who was a part of the Trump administration earlier, had a falling out with the US President which led to him leaving the US government role. Neither India nor US mentioned the inclusion of Musk during the phone call. HT could not independently verified the information.. The conversation between Trump and Modi was the first between the two leaders since Israel and the US’s military strikes on Iran on February 28 triggered a conflict that has entered its fourth week. India had reached out to Iran, Israel, all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the US, to find ways to end the hostilities following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.. “India supports de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest. Ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, secure and accessible is essential for the whole world,” PM Modi said on X after his call with the US President.. Musk has mostly been silent on the conflict in West Asia on X, the social media platform he owns. He responded to a post that questioned why so many countries relied on the Strait of Hormuz as part of their global supply chains, saying “We got lazy.” 

 The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday suspended the Inspector-in-Charge (IC) of Basanti police station in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas, a day after clashes between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) left several people injured.. Basanti police inspector-in-charge suspended by Election Commission following TMC-BJP clash that injured workers and police ahead of West Bengal assembly elections. (Representative photo/IStock). The poll panel directed the state chief secretary to suspend Paul and initiate departmental proceedings against him. “It has been observed that inspector Avijit Paul, IC of Basanti police station, failed to make adequate police arrangements in spite of having prior information regarding public programs of two political parties. Further, the CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) has been made available for the last few days. Despite this, he didn’t requisition CAPF for maintenance of law and order. This reflects serious negligence and dereliction of duty on his part,” the EC said in its letter to the state’s chief secretary.. Prabir Ghosh, an inspector of the state police’s enforcement branch, was posted in Paul’s place.. According to police, at least a dozen TMC and BJP workers and seven policemen were injured on Thursday, after supporters of both parties attacked each other with sticks and brickbats around 1 pm in the Basanti Bazar area, where BJP candidate Bikash Sardar was campaigning with his followers.. The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), a Left Front partner, won the Basanti constituency in all previous elections from 1977 to 2011, when TMC came to power. TMC wrested the seat in 2016 and won again in 2021.. The ECI also announced the schedule for the two-phase polls for West Bengal’s 294 seats in April. 

 The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday announced a hybrid assessment method for Class 12 students in West Asia.. Class 12 students in West Asia to get results via CBSE’s hybrid method after exams are cancelled amid regional disruptions.. This comes after the students sat for select papers between February 17 and 28, following which the CBSE on March 15 cancelled the remaining Class 12 board examinations, including papers earlier postponed in several West Asian countries amid the ongoing Iran–US–Israel conflict.. Schools have been directed to upload the marks on the CBSE portal between April 6 and April 13. “Once uploaded, the same will not be changed,” CBSE exam controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said in a notification, adding that this is to ensure timely declaration of results along with other Class 12 students.. The board will declare results of nearly 23,000 Class 12 students in over 200 CBSE-affiliated schools across seven West Asian countries using a formula-based evaluation that combines actual exam performance with school-based assessment.. Explaining the methodology for board exam results, CBSE in a notification dated March 27 said that “in subjects where examinations have been conducted, actual performance in the examination may be taken into account for declaration of results.” For the remaining subjects, marks will be derived from school assessments, including the “best of the three marks obtained in quarterly, half-yearly and pre-board examinations.”. For subjects with theory components of 80 or 70 marks, the board said schools will upload the “best of three” scores from periodic tests, while for subjects with 60, 50 or 30 marks, “performance in the final pre-board examination” will be considered.. It added that internal assessment and practical components, described as “a yearlong exercise,” will remain unchanged, as the marks have already been submitted by schools.. For subjects with lower theory weightage—60, 50 or 30 marks—the board said the final pre-board examination scores will be used. In cases where a student was absent, earlier pre-board scores may be considered.. The board clarified that internal assessment and practical components, described as “a yearlong exercise,” will remain unchanged, as “performance of the students have already been uploaded by the schools.”. Students who were able to appear in all their registered subjects will have their results declared based entirely on their written examination performance, CBSE said. Those who shifted centres to other countries, including India, will also be assessed on the basis of their actual exam scores.. The CBSE said the approach has been designed to ensure “valid, reliable, fair, and unbiased results” in view of the prevailing situation that led to the disruption of exams across the region and that the “decision of the Competent Authority of the Board shall be final and bounding,” indicating that no changes wi 

 Citing an ongoing fuel crisis due the US-Iran war in West Asia, the government-run Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) in Delhi, popularly known as Pusa Institute, has asked students of undergraduate batches, master’s degree first year, and PhD first year, to leave the campus for their homes, and their classes will be conducted online from April 6, 2026. In all, nearly 2,200 students would be affected.. Protests are being held by Opposition parties and trade unions over the reported shortage of LPG. The government has assured there’s enough supply and backup. (Saikat Paul/ANI Photo). Follow: Live updates on West Asia war impact on India. The IARI is one of India’s premier national institutions; it is financed and administered by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).. The official notice dated March 25, by Suresh Kumar, senior registrar, cited “the current energy crisis being faced by the country and its impact being felt by the institute” in running hostel messes. He said the decision was taken “based on inhouse due diligence in consultation with students’ representatives”.. As per the notice, classes for all undergraduate batches, master’s first year and PhD first year batches (academic year 2025-26) will be conducted online.. “Students of these batches shall leave the campus for their respective homes till further communication from The Graduate School. Students should note that it will not be optional,” it read.. “Second year onwards batches of Masters/MTech and PhD programs being run at IARI New Delhi and its sister institutes shall continue to attend offline classes and pursue their research as before,” it added.. “Professors shall submit to the Joint Director Education, plan to conduct practicals of the courses taught online, upon students’ joining back. This order is being issued in compliance to the directive of the competent authority, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi,” it further read. 

 The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India) has raised urgent safety concerns over the continued operation of commercial flights into regions affected by the West Asia conflict, warning that such decisions could endanger lives and require immediate government intervention.. ALPA India has criticized individual airlines’ risk assessments and called for clarity on war-risk insurance for pilots. (Reuters). In a letter addressed to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the pilots’ body said operating flights “into, or in close proximity to, an active war zone” poses a serious and unacceptable risk to passengers, crew and aircraft, and described such decisions as “wilful endangerment of human life”.. ALPA India said it had earlier flagged the issue on March 18, following which the DGCA issued a safety advisory on March 19 asking airlines to carry out their own risk assessments.. However, the association criticised this approach, arguing that conflict-zone risk assessment should be led by governments and not left to individual airlines.. ALSO READ | Big relief for Indian flyers, govt mandates free allocation of 60% flight seats. Referring to global aviation norms, the pilots’ body noted that while the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) allows operators to conduct their own assessments, active conflict zones require “centralised, authoritative oversight” and timely communication by state authorities.. It added that airlines lack the intelligence and surveillance capabilities needed to evaluate threats in war-like situations.. The association also flagged concerns over lack of clarity on war-risk insurance coverage for pilots operating on such routes. It said crew members have sought confirmation on whether insurance remains valid in conflict zones, but no formal assurance or documentation has been provided so far, raising questions about liability and protection in case of an incident.. ALSO READ | Rohit Pawar claims factual errors in plane crash report, suspects cover-up. ALPA India further pointed to past incidents where civilian aircraft were shot down during conflicts, including Iran Air Flight 655, Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114, and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, to underline the risks involved in operating near war zones.. In its letter, the pilots’ body has urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA to take immediate steps, including:. Suspending flights to high-risk conflict zones until a comprehensive risk assessment is conducted. Issuing clear and binding operational guidelines aligned with international best practices. Launching an inquiry into Air India’s decision-making process, including operational and crew scheduling roles. ALSO READ | PM Modi’s aircraft en route to Israel becomes world’s most tracked flight. Ensuring full disclosure and verification of insurance coverage, especially war-risk clauses. The association has sought an urgent response from the regula