Two more India-flagged LPG carriers, BW Tyr and BW Elm, started transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, a person aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.. Iran has maintained that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed for vessels linked to the United States and Israel,. The ships are not disclosing their destination ports through transponders for security reasons, and more details can’t be immediately revealed, the person said. Both ships loaded their cargo in the Persian Gulf more than a fortnight ago and were looking for safe passage by Iran, the person added.. If this latest pair transits the strait, six LPG carriers will have been permitted safe passage by Iran. No other details were immediately available.. Track live updates of Iran-US war here. So far, four India-flagged LPG carriers have reached the country after being cleared by Iranian authorities to transit the Hormuz waterway, a vital sea conduit through which a fifth of the world’s crude passes, along with gas and precious commodities.. Iran has attacked several vessels in the strait, effectively shutting the channel critical for global maritime trade, in retaliation for the US and Israel’s strikes.. Also read: Iran’s message to Gulf neighbours it is bombing: ‘If you want security…’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian twice since the hostilities began, calling for de-escalation and dialogue. On Tuesday, he called for the crucial strait to “remain open for the world” for the passage of essential commodities and energy.. India imports nearly 60% of the cooking gas, most of it from the Persian Gulf countries. It has ramped up production of liquefied petroleum gas by nearly 50% to tide over energy shortages due to the West Asian war, a petroleum ministry official said, briefing reporters this week. 

 The government on Friday introduced in the Lok Sabha the second edition of the Jan Vishwas bill seeking to amend certain provisions to decriminalise a host of minor offences to promote ease of doing business.. The government introduced the second edition of the Jan Vishwas bill seeking to amend certain provisions to decriminalise a host of minor offences to promote ease of doing business. (ANI). The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, which was introduced by minister of state for commerce and industry Jitin Prasada, proposes to amend 79 central acts administered by 23 ministries.. A total of 784 provisions are being proposed to be amended, out of which 717 provisions are being decriminalised to foster ease of doing business, and 67 provisions are proposed to be changed to facilitate ease of living.. Also Read: ₹1,000 fine for dog owner if pet found without leash on street under proposed DMC Act revision. The bill proposes to remove imprisonment in 57 provisions and fines in 158 provisions. Also, imprisonment is proposed to be reduced in 17 provisions, and imprisonment and fine are proposed to be converted to a penalty in 113 provisions.. 1. The government has proposed amending the Motor Vehicles Act to introduce a 30-day grace period after a driving licence expires, during which it will still be considered valid.. 2. Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the proposed amendment reduces the maximum jail term for tampering with seized items (such as food or vehicles) from six months to three months.. 3. The 153-year-old Cattle Trespass Act is set for a major overhaul, with key offences being decriminalised, jail terms replaced by monetary penalties, and collected fines directed towards animal welfare.. 4. Amendments to the Electricity Act propose removing imprisonment for non-compliance with official orders, while increasing penalties up to ₹10 lakh. The bill also removes provisions related to penalties for extinguishing public lamps and simplifies existing penal clauses.. 5. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Act, 1994, will see a restructuring of property tax into two components—building tax and vacant land tax, replacing the existing framework under Section 61.. 6. Under the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956, offences will attract fines of up to ₹10,000 per instance instead of imprisonment. Continued violations will incur an additional 1,000 per day, capped at ₹1 lakh.. 7. In relief to homebuyers, the amendment removes the provision of up to one-year imprisonment for allottees failing to comply with Real Estate Appellate Tribunal orders. Instead, a penalty of up to 10% of the property cost may be imposed.. 8. For unauthorised occupation of government premises, penalties will be significantly increased. Offenders may have to pay up to 40 times the licence fee in the first month, with a 10% monthly increase thereafter. Illegal occupation of public non-residential land may also attract up to six mo 

 The Delhi high court has protected the personality rights of Gautam Gambhir, head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, restraining entities from using his persona without his consent.. Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. (X). A bench of Justice Jyoti Singh in a March 25 order, released on Saturday, observed that Gambhir is among India’s most decorated cricketers, and that unauthorised content and merchandise deriving commercial value from his considerable goodwill and reputation amounts to a violation of his personality and publicity rights.. The court directed the entities to take down the infringing content within 36 hours. “…[Gambhir] has represented India in 242 international matches across Tests, ODIs, and T20Is and is most remembered for his match-winning innings in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 Final and 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup Final…”. Justice Singh said after retirement, Gambhir transitioned into a different role of mentorship and coaching and was appointed head coach in July 2024. “…under his stewardship, India won the ICC Champions Trophy, 2025, Asia Cup, 2025, and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2026,” the court said.. Gambhir sought protection of personality rights, citing a coordinated campaign involving digital impersonation, AI-generated deepfakes, and unauthorised commercial exploitation of his persona. He said there has been a sharp rise in fabricated digital content relating to him across platforms such as Instagram, X, YouTube, and Facebook since 2025.. Gambhir said multiple accounts used AI tools, including face-swapping and voice-cloning technologies, to create realistic videos falsely portraying him as making statements he never made. He referred to a fabricated “resignation announcement” that reportedly garnered over 2.9 million views. Gambhir said e-commerce platforms were facilitating the sale of posters and merchandise bearing his name and likeness without authorisation. 

 The telephone conversation on March 24 of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump was between them only, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday, dismissing reports that billionaire Elon Musk joined the phone call.. L: PM Modi and US President Donald Trump | R: Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Bloomberg and Reuters). Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined the phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump that took place on Tuesday, The New York Times reported on Friday. Track latest in US-Iran war here. According to the NYT, Musk’s involvement in the call marks an unusual instance of a private citizen participating in a conversation between two heads of state amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.. Giving a clarification on the report, a spokesperson of the MEA said, “We have seen the story. The telephone conversation on 24 March was between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump only,” news agency ANI reported.. “As has been stated earlier, it provided the opportunity for exchange of views on the situation in West Asia,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.. Amid intensifying global efforts to secure vital energy corridors, PM Modi held a telephonic conversation with US President Trump on Tuesday to discuss the prevailing conflict in West Asia.. PM Modi said he discussed the importance of the opening of key waterway Strait of Hormuz.. “Received a call from President Trump and had a useful exchange of views on the situation in West Asia. 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. We agreed to stay in touch regarding efforts towards peace and stability,” PM Modi stated in his post.. According to the NYT, it remains unclear why Elon Musk participated in the call or whether he actively spoke.. Meanwhile, the US embassy in India shared a surprise praise message by Donald Trump on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I are two people that get things done, the message by US President Donald Trump stated, adding that this is something that “cannot be said for most”.. “Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people that get things done, something that cannot be said for most,” the US Embassy in India shared on X a message by President Donald Trump.. The shoutout for India-US relations came amid the Middle East conflict that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. 

 Ahead of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly elections, former Congress leader AV Subramanian on Friday resigned from all Congress party positions.. File photo of Congress leader AV Subramanian (ANI). In a letter addressed to V Vaithilingam, President of the Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Subramanian cited “private reasons and unavoidable circumstances” as reasons for the decision.. His decision comes after Puducherry Congress president V Vaithilingam released the party’s list of 16 candidates for the upcoming elections earlier in the day.. According to the list, DPR Selvam will contest from Mannadipattu, while P Karthikeyan has been fielded from Oosudu. Other prominent candidates include N Raja Kumar from Indiranagar, V Vaithilingam from Thattanchavady, PK Devadas from Kamarajnagar, and M Vaidyanathan from Lawspet. G Rajendran will contest from Muthialpet, J Vijayalakshmi from Ariyankuppam, and RKR Anandaraman from Manavely.. The party has also fielded M Kandasamy from Embalam, G Anparasan from Nettapakkam, Dinesh Kumar from Nedungadu, R Kamalakannan from Thirunallar, and AM Ranjith from Karaikal North. In Mahe, Ramesh Parampath has been named as the candidate, while Kollapalli Srinivas Ashok will contest from Yanam.. The announcement follows a seat-sharing agreement finalised earlier this week between the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), under which Congress will contest 16 of the 30 seats, while the DMK will contest the remaining 14 constituencies.. “We will share seats among the alliance parties in the 14 seats allotted to DMK,” the party’s Puducherry election in-charge Jagadrakshagan said.. Congress and DMK are also alliance partners in Tamil Nadu, where the Chief Minister MK Stalin-led party allotted the Congress 28 of 234 seats for the 2026 Assembly elections.. The Union Territory of Puducherry is all set to hold the 2026 Assembly Election on April 9 in a single phase, with counting of votes scheduled to take place on May 4, the ECI announced.