Top news of the day: Premium petrol prices hiked by ₹2-3/litre; fire at Kuwait refinery as Gulf states come under drone, missile attacks

LPG situation might be worrisome, says Petroleum Ministry

In a briefing, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), on Friday (March 20, 2026) said that petrol prices increase restricted to premium variant of fuel. It was increased by ₹2-3/litre, and not the regular version which remains unaffected. Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary said “common public will not be affected.” Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNB) Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma said “40% increase in average daily domestic production of LPG.” She added “LPG situation might be worrisome, but not at the stage where we cannot provide to domestic consumers. We are also procuring cargoes from wherever we can.”

Fire at Kuwait refinery as Gulf states come under drone, missile attacks

Drone attacks caused fire at Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery on Friday (March 20, 2026), state media reported, as authorities in several Gulf states said they were responding to attacks from Iran. Iran has stepped up attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure in recent days, hitting refineries and the world’s biggest gas hub in Qatar, as Tehran retaliated over Israeli strikes on its South Pars gas field.

Fight against hate speech must be on behalf of all, and not just limited to one’s own community: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India on Friday (March 20, 2026) said the fight against hate speech must be on behalf of all, and not just limited to one’s own community. “Why should a particular community come up and say ‘protect my community against hate speech’? Rather, we should say ‘no one should indulge in hate speech’,” Justice B.V. Nagarathna, heading a Bench, observed orally.

CJI to shift challenge to 2023 CEC appointment law to another Bench

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Friday (March 20, 2026) expressed reluctance to continue hearing a series of petitions challenging a law that replaced the Chief Justice of India with a Union Minister in the selection panel for appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

Uttam Nagar violence: Mehbooba Mufti seeks PM Modi’s intervention ahead of Id

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday (March 20, 2026) called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention over the simmering communal tension in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar. “Right wing fanatics and lumpen elements in Uttam Nagar, New Delhi, are openly baying for the blood of Muslims and how rivers of blood will flow tomorrow on Eid. Understandably, this has caused considerable panic and anxiety amongst many Muslims families who have fled to escape the impending violence,” Ms. Mufti said in a post on X.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan slams CPI(M) defectors, cites rise of ‘parliamentary ambitions’

Breaking his silence after three CPI(M) leaders decided to contest as Independents backed by Congress, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the tendency of growing “parliamentary ambitions” had emerged among some cadres.

“It is true that an unusual trend is emerging among some leaders. Such tendencies were not common in our party earlier. It may be due to changes over time,” Mr. Vijayan said, referring to leaders such as G. Sudhakaran, V. Kunhikrishnan and T.K. Govindan, who are contesting the Assembly election as Independents from Ambalappuzha, Payyanur and Taliparamba, respectively.

Indian killed in Riyadh due to ‘recent events of March 18’, says Embassy

An Indian national was killed in Saudi Arabia due to the “recent events of March 18”, the Indian Embassy announced on Friday (March 20, 2026). In a social media post, the Indian mission expressed its “deepest condolences on the tragic demise of an Indian national in Riyadh due to recent events on March 18th”. The circumstances regarding the Indian national’s death are not clear.

China welcomes Vikram Doraiswami’s appointment as India’s new Envoy

China on Friday (March 20, 2026) welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Vikram Doraiswami as the new Indian Ambassador, expressing hope that he will make a positive contribution to the sustained improvement of Sino-India ties. Mr. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The 56-year-old diplomat was on Thursday (March 19, 2026) appointed as India’s new envoy to China. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat.

Government blocks 300 “illegal” gambling and betting platforms

The Centre has blocked about 300 websites and applications for allegedly running illegal gambling and betting operations, taking the total number of prohibited websites so far to nearly 8,400, according to government sources. The banned entities include sports betting portals, casino platforms offering slots and roulette, live dealer tables, betting exchanges functioning like peer-to-peer betting marketplaces, “satta/matka” gambling networks, and “real-money” cards and casino game applications.

Rupee crashes 82 paise to settle at 93.71 against U.S. dollar

The rupee crashed 82 paise, or nearly 1%, to settle at an all-time low of 93.71 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Friday (March 20, 2026), weighed down by persistent foreign fund outflows and a steep rise in crude oil prices amid mounting geopolitical tensions.

Forex traders said the Indian rupee is under tremendous pressure as surging crude oil prices and a shift toward risk-aversion dented investor sentiments.

Published – March 20, 2026 05:55 pm IST