New Delhi, Mar 10: The oil ministry has constituted a committee to examine supply issues after a sudden shortage of commercial LPG cylinders alarmed the hospitality sector, with restaurant associations warning that eateries could shut down within days if supplies are not restored. As the widening conflict in the Middle East disrupted fuel lifelines, including India's LPG supplies, the government has prioritised domestic cooking gas supplies to households. This has led to supply crunch for hotels and restaurants which use market priced commercial LPG. "For LPG supply to other non-domestic sectors, a committee of three Executive Directors (EDs) of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have been constituted to review the representations for LPG supply to restaurants/hotels/other industries," the ministry said in a post on X. India consumed some 31.3 million tonnes of LPG annually. As much as 87 per cent of this is in the domestic sector i.e. household kitchens, and the rest in commercial establishments such as hotels and restaurants. Of this total requirement, as much as 62 per cent is met through imports. The US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's retaliation has shut the Strait of Hormuz - the conduit through which India got 85-90 per cent of its LPG imports from countries like Saudi Arabia. As alternate sources are being scouted, the limited supplies available meant the government prioritising supplies to the domestic sector, and in process the commercial establishments have suffered. Industry sources say the disruption has already begun affecting operations in Mumbai and Bengaluru, as hotels and restaurants struggle to secure cooking gas. Vijay Shetty, president of the India Hotels and Restaurant Association, said the shortage is spreading rapidly and could soon paralyse the sector. While maintaining that the country has adequate fuel stocks, the ministry in recent days directed refineries to maximise LPG output by curtailing petrochemical streams and extended the LPG refill booking cycle to 25 days from 21 days. "In light of current geopolitical disruptions to fuel supply and constraints on supply of LPG, the ministry has issued orders to oil refineries for higher LPG production and using such extra production for domestic LPG use," the ministry said in the post on X. "The ministry has prioritised domestic LPG supply to households and introduced a 25 day inter-booking period to avoid hoarding/black marketing." Non domestic supplies from imported LPG are being prioritised to essential non domestic sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions, it said. (PTI)

Jerusalem, Mar 10: New footage shows what an expert investigative group says is likely an American Tomahawk missile hitting a compound in southern Iran, metres from the school where a deadly unclaimed blast killed over 165 people at the start of the war raging in the Mideast. It comes as mounting evidence points to US culpability for the February 28 strike, which hit a school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base in Minab, Iran, in the country's southern Hormozgan Province. Experts interviewed by The Associated Press, citing satellite image analysis, say the school was probably struck amid a quick succession of bombs dropped on the compound. A US official familiar with internal deliberations on the matter has told the AP that the strike was likely American. The official spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to comment publicly on the sensitive matter. The new footage, first analysed by the investigative group Bellingcat, was taken the day the school was struck but circulated on Sunday by Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency. It shows a missile hitting a building, sending a dark plume of smoke into the air. The AP was able to geolocate the video and determine it was taken from a site adjacent to the school, while smoke was already rising from the school vicinity. Satellite imagery of the compound is consistent with visual identifiers found in the video, including a flat-roofed building, power lines and vehicles. Trevor Ball, a Bellingcat researcher, identified the munition as a Tomahawk cruise missile -- which only the US is known to possess in this war. It is the first evidence of a munition used in the strike. US Central Command has acknowledged using Tomahawk missiles in this war and even released a photo of the USS Spruance, part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group located within range of the school, firing a Tomahawk missile on February 28. Bellingcat said the footage "appears to contradict" US President Donald Trump's claim over the weekend that Iran was responsible for the deadly school blast. When asked about the strike at a press conference on Monday, Trump claimed that Iran has access to the Tomahawk cruise missile, which is made by American defence contractor Raytheon. While the company sells the missile to allied countries like Japan and Australia, there is no evidence to suggest that Iran has acquired it. Trump argued that the cruise missile is "sold and used by other countries" and that Iran "also has some Tomahawks". "Whether it is Iran or somebody else ... a Tomahawk is very generic," he said. When asked why he was the only person in his administration making the claim, Trump said, "Because I just do not know enough about it." He added that "whatever the report shows, I am willing to live with that report". On Saturday, Trump also was asked by a reporter whether the US was responsible for the blast. Without providing evidence, he responded, "No, in my opinion, based on what I have seen, that was done by Iran." Trump added that Iran is "very inaccurate" with its munitions. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth quickly chimed in to say the US was investigating. Neither the US military's Central Command nor the Israeli military immediately replied to requests for comment on Monday. Several other factors point to a US strike. One is the launching of an assessment of the incident by the US military. According to the Pentagon's instructions on processes for mitigating civilian harm, an assessment is launched after a group of investigators makes an initial determination that the US military may bear culpability. Another is the location of the school -- next to the Revolutionary Guard base and close to barracks for a naval unit. The US military has focussed on naval targets and acknowledged strikes in the province, including one in the vicinity of the school. Israel, which has denied conducting the strike, has focussed on areas of Iran closer to Israel and has not reported any strikes south of Isfahan, 800 kilometres (500 miles) away. Complicating any assessment of the incident is the lack of images of bomb fragments from the blast. No independent agency has reached the site during the war to investigate. Janina Dill, an expert on international law at Oxford University, wrote on X that even if the strike was a misidentification -- and the attacker believed that the school had been a part of the neighbouring IRGC base -- it would still be "a very serious violation of international law". "Attackers are under an obligation to do everything feasible to verify the status of targeted object," she wrote. The Trump administration, however, strikes a different tone on international humanitarian law. Speaking about the US operation at a press conference on March 2, Hegseth said: "America, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air-power campaign in history." "No stupid rules of engagement," he said. "No politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we do not waste time or lives." (PTI)

Dubai, Mar 10: US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the war against Iran could be short-lived, but he left open the possibility of an escalation in fighting if global oil supplies are disrupted by the Islamic Republic, which chose a new hard-line supreme leader. Oil prices briefly shot to their highest level since 2022 a day after Iran selected Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as Iran's supreme leader. Investors saw it as a signal that Iran was digging in 10 days into the war launched by the United States and Israel. But prices later fell and US stocks rose on hopes that the war with Iran may not last much longer. "We took a little excursion" to the Middle East "to get rid of some evil. And, I think you will see it is going to be a short-term excursion", Trump told Republican lawmakers at his golf club near Miami. Hours later, Trump posted on social media: "If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far." The war has choked off major supplies of oil and gas to world markets and sent fuel prices rising across the US. The fighting has also led foreigners to flee from business hubs and prompted millions to seek shelter as bombs hit military bases, government buildings, oil and water installations, hotels and at least one school. Trump also had a call on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war and other issues. Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Putin "voiced a few ideas regarding a quick political and diplomatic settlement" of the conflict following his conversations with Gulf leaders and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Khamenei, a secretive 56-year-old cleric, is only the third supreme leader in the history of the Islamic Republic. He has close ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989, was killed during the war's opening salvo. Multiple strikes shake Tehran Dozens of explosions were heard in Tehran in what was considered the heaviest air raid on the capital since the war started on February 28. Iranian media did not report on damages and casualties. Israel said on Monday that it was carrying out "a wide-scale wave of strikes" on the Iranian city of Isfahan, as well as Tehran and in southern Iran. The Israeli military said it hit dozens of infrastructure sites, including the drone headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard. Meanwhile, Israel's military alerted the population throughout the day about incoming missiles from Iran. From Lebanon, Iran-backed Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Monday. Trump said the United States was nearing its goal to eliminate Iran's ballistic-missile stockpile and its ability to produce and launch them. The administration has offered shifting rationales and timelines since the start of the conflict. He also talked about "building a new country", a comment that seemed to suggest the US might be engaged in the building of a new Iran. Trump likes idea of another 'internal' candidate to lead Iran Thousands poured into a central square in the capital, Tehran, and other locations in a show of allegiance to the new supreme leader, waving flags and shouting phrases like "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". The younger Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the war started, was long considered a potential successor -- even before the killing of his 86-year-old father. Trump told reporters that he was "disappointed" that Mojtaba Khamenei was picked and that he liked "the idea" of a leader drawn from an "internal" group of candidates, saying that worked well with Venezuela. The younger Khamenei is seen as even less compromising than his late father. As supreme leader, he has the final say on all major policies, including Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. Though Iran's key nuclear sites are in tatters after the US bombed them during the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, it still has highly-enriched uranium that is a technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Khamenei could choose to do what his father never did -- build a nuclear bomb. Trump told reporters the war with Iran started because that country was working on a new site for developing material for nuclear weapons to replace one bombed last year by the US. Israel has already described Khamenei as a potential target. Trump said on Monday it "would be inappropriate" to say whether he would be targeted. US market seesaws over uncertainty of war The US stock market careened through a manic Monday, going from a steep early loss to a solid gain as worries turned into hope that the war with Iran may not last that long. Oil prices whipped from nearly USD 120 per barrel, the highest since 2022, back toward USD 90. Iran's attacks in the Strait of Hormuz have all but stopped tankers from using the shipping lane through which a fifth of the world's oil is carried, and Iranian drones and missiles have targeted oil and gas infrastructure in major producers. Attacks on merchant ships near the strait have killed at least seven mariners, according to the International Maritime Organisation. Kamal Kharazi, foreign policy adviser to the office of the supreme leader, told CNN on Monday that Iran is prepared for a long war. (PTI)

Ahmedabad, Mar 9: New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said his underdog team was outplayed by a great side in the T20 World Cup final after India notched a massive 96-run win to defend the trophy here on Sunday. India became the first team to win three world titles in the shortest format after securing the trophy earlier in 2007 and 2024. "Obviously, tonight, we were outplayed by a great team in front of a great crowd," Santner said in the post-match presentation. Santner won the toss and put India in to bat. The home side raced to a record 255/5 in their 20 overs before bowling out the Black Caps for 159. "It was a pretty good wicket throughout. Had we got a couple of wickets in powerplay and kept India's total to 220, it could have been a good chase," Santner rued. "Losing a series of finals isn't ideal. India is always a challenge. We were underdogs," he added. Santner, who walked in to a rousing applause from the large crowd here, congratulated India for a domineering campaign. "...credit to India to win a title at home, it always comes with a lot of pressure. And I think, SKY (India captain Surykumar Yadav) and the boys should be pretty.. very, very proud of their work," he said.