Menstrual Leave: SC cautions about women’s career prospects, seeks govt policy push

Supreme Court of India declined a plea seeking mandatory menstrual leave nationwide, saying the issue should be decided by government policy.
LPG crisis: Kerosene back as cooking fuel? Govt allocates 40000 kl to states amid energy crunch

As the nation faces the LPG shortage triggered by the West Asia crisis, the government has allocated an additional 40,000 kilolitres of kerosene on top of the regular 1 lakh kl quota, for household cooking fuel.
US-Israel-Iran War: Popular pizza chain cuts timings in Delhi, Gurgaon outlets due to LPG shortage

The US-Israel-Iran war in West Asia has dealt a big blow to the bustling food business of India’s most popular restaurants as Iranian strikes on oil and energy establishments in the Middle East have disrupted the supply.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta flags off advanced amphibious excavators to clean Najafgarh, Pankha drains, prevent waterlogging

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday flagged off advanced amphibious excavator machines at Badusarai Bridge for the cleaning of Najafgarh Drain and Pankha Road Drain, marking a major step towards strengthening Delhi’s drainage system. The deployment of modern long-and-short boom machines will accelerate desilting and the removal of garbage and water hyacinth, and improve the water-carrying capacity of drains, thereby reducing waterlogging during the monsoon while contributing to the larger goal of cleaning the Yamuna.
Coffee Table Book on Prahlad Singh Patel’s Padyatras Launched on Dandi March Day

The book captures several padyatras led by Patel, including the five-day padyatra he undertook along the historic Dandi March route in 2021 with his associates. The journey was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta says ‘Summer Action Plan-2026’ to ensure adequate water supply

The Delhi government is surveying city wide to collect colony-wise water supply details to prepare better for the approaching summer, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Thursday. Gupta’s statement came during a review of the Summer Action Plan-2026.
US-Israel-Iran war: IndiGo flights to cost more as it imposes fuel surcharge amid energy crisis

The announcement comes as the war launched by the US and Israel in Iran has caused a major global oil shock. The crisis has sent energy prices soaring, with Iran virtually blocking the Strait of Hormuz by attacking ships and boats passing through the narrow passage.
In the Rio Grande Valley, soaring Democratic turnout fuels party’s hope of turning the Trump tide

Democratic enthusiasm in the Valley’s four counties could foreshadow a November reversal of Trump’s historic 2024 sweep there — and signal that Latino voters have become swing voters.
New Iranian supreme leader ‘likely disfigured,’ Hegseth says

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Friday morning press briefing that the U.S. “is decimating the radical Iranian regime’s military” and that the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader was injured and “likely disfigured.” “Desperate and hiding, they’ve gone underground, cowering,” Hegseth said of Iranian leadership. “That’s what rats do. We know the new so-called not-so-Supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured,” he said. TRUMP SAYS US ‘TOTALLY DESTROYING’ IRAN AND TO ‘WATCH WHAT HAPPENS’ FRIDAY Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the beginning of the war, issued a statement on Thursday that Hegseth described as “weak.” “It was a written statement,” Hegseth said. “Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father, dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy. It’s a mess for them. Who’s in charge? Iran may not even know.” PENTAGON ESTIMATES IRAN WAR COST $11.3B IN THE FIRST SIX DAYS IN CLOSED-DOOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARING: REPORT “We’re on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before,” Hegseth said. “Soon, and very soon, all of Iran’s defense companies will be destroyed,” he noted. TRUMP WARNS OF IRANIAN ‘SLEEPER CELLS’ AS CANADA IS ACCUSED OF HARBORING REGIME OPERATIVES “I serve God, the troops, the country, the Constitution, and the president of the United States and answer only to those, all in service of victory on the battlefield and the military objectives that we’ve laid out from day one: Defeat the missiles, missile launchers and defense industrial base, which I laid out today. Defeat the Navy and deny Iran the ability to have a nuclear weapon. Clear, decisive, achievable.”
Iran conflict could be push GOP needs for 2nd ‘big, beautiful bill’

Top House Republicans are eyeing a surge in military funding as the U.S. continues its joint operation with Israel against Iran, and some are arguing that a second “big, beautiful bill” is the vehicle to get it done. Republicans are discussing the possibility of supplemental funding to aid the U.S. effort as Iran continues to retaliate against allies in the region. Senior House GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that the resulting heightened national security environment means that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the armed forces are prepared for whatever threats may arise. At the same time, they’re skeptical that Democrats will provide the votes necessary to pass such a funding bill through traditional means. “They are certainly not going to spend an additional dime on the military, on security, on any of the things that we care about,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital of the opposing party. “The threats around the world have never been higher. They’ve never been greater. And we have to recapitalize after four just disastrous years of President Biden completely decimating our military.” OPERATION EPIC FURY SURVIVES SENATE CHALLENGE AS REPUBLICANS CLOSE RANKS BEHIND TRUMP “So this conflict right now, and the future of our country and our Western values, have to be secured by additional defense spending, which can only happen in a reconciliation bill.” Republicans passed a sweeping tax and policy bill last summer dubbed President Donald Trump’s landmark One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. It was done via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to change broad swaths of fiscal law while sidelining the minority party — in this case, Democrats. It makes that possible by lowering the threshold for advancing legislation in the Senate from 60 votes to a simple majority, lining it up with the House. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP TARGETS AFFORDABILITY WITH RECONCILIATION 2.0 PLAN AHEAD OF MIDTERMS House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said he believed an additional funding package for Iran was inevitable but added, “The politics are such that there’s no guarantee that the supplemental will pass.” “On top of that, the president has been talking about a big capital investment to modernize the military,” Arrington told Fox News Digital. “If we can’t get Democrats to support either of those endeavors — I think we’ve got a better chance of getting support on an emergency supplemental than we do on a one-time capital investment — but I think that reconciliation may be the only train leaving the station that could address those important things.” Pfluger also signaled a broader path: “Is it specific to Iran or is it more general and more broad to just increasing defense spending and making sure that our military has what they need to deter Iran and others? I think that’s probably the more likely path.” However, he noted that reconciliation meant that spending would likely have to be offset by cuts elsewhere, something that could appease fiscal hawks wary of bloated spending levels. “So where do we find the savings? I’ve got some ideas on that. I think it’s related to fraud. I think there’s a lot of money to be saved when we look at fraud, like what happened in Minnesota with the daycares and the billions of dollars that went out the window there,” Pfluger said. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO CONGRESS’ OPTIONS ON HAMSTRINGING TRUMP’S WAR POWERS IN IRAN The idea of a second reconciliation bill has already been met with skepticism by a significant number of Republicans, many of whom have cited the GOP’s razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate. But a senior House Republican who also spoke with Fox News Digital argued that the situation in Iran could bring the unity Republicans need. “That would be the biggest motivating factor in another reconciliation bill,” the lawmaker said. And Pfluger pointed out that there was precedent — Democrats passed two reconciliation bills themselves when they last controlled Congress at the beginning of former President Joe Biden’s term. “We should remind ourselves that they stuck together, and they were able to do that. So should we,” he said. But Arrington warned that lawmakers would have to move fast for something to be attainable. “The window is closing, and I don’t see us being able to do a reconciliation bill if we get past the spring, because we’ll be too close to the election,” Arrington said.