Morning Digest: Domestic LPG cylinder price hiked by ₹60 amid West Asia conflict; RSP heads for clean sweep in Nepal polls, and more

Start your day with key updates: Iran's naval ship docks in Kochi, RSP's election success in Nepal, and more news.

The price of domestic cooking gas LPG on Saturday (March 7, 2026) was hiked by a steep ₹60 per cylinder as oil companies factored in increased energy prices in view of the West Asia conflict. Non-subsidised LPG, the one that common household users other than the poor Ujjwala beneficiaries use in their kitchens, will now cost ₹913 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi, according to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) website.

Days before the sinking of IRIS Dena by a U.S. submarine, Iran had approached India to let an Iranian ship dock in Kochi, sources in the government said. Iran had requested to “take in IRIS Lavan which was in India’s territorial waters for the International Fleet Review in Vishakhapatnam”, the source said.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), born just four years ago, has altered the syntax of Nepali politics as it heads towards an electoral landslide, with early trends putting it far ahead of Nepal’s established parties that have ruled the country for decades. With the RSP’s impending victory, rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, is set to become the Himalayan nation’s new Prime Minister, and its youngest ever, at just 35 years. He is leading in the vote count against K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist).

India must ask the United States why it is targeting Iranian ships in the Indian Ocean, said Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh on Friday (March 6, 2026). He said Iran is a “responsible power” and has not closed the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Khatibzadeh, who spoke at the External Affairs Ministry’s marquee event ‘Raisina Dialogue’, said diplomacy will be the “only option” that will resolve the war. 

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday asked the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to suspend publication of Television Rating Points (TRPs) for TV news channels for four weeks or until further direction. The order has been issued in view of the “unwarranted sensationalism” in reporting the ongoing war in West Asia involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran.

In the wake of reports that the United States has “allowed” India to import Russian oil for a period of 30 days to help mitigate the spike in the price of oil, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday (March 6, 2026) asked why India should need another country’s approval to meet its own energy needs.