Morning Digest: Fire near U.S. consulate in Dubai after drone attack; Congress and DMK fail to seal T.N. seat-sharing pact, and more
The Hindu
Morning Digest: Key updates on Dubai drone attack, India's oil reserves, election timelines, and recent social media restrictions in J&K.
A drone attack caused a fire near the U.S. consulate in Dubai on Tuesday (March 3, 2026), a government statement said, after the U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by an Iranian strike. Nearby residents told AFP they heard a loud bang, and one person said she then saw a fire at the consulate.
The government has created an Inter-Ministerial Group to “facilitate effective coordination, monitoring and follow-up” of the events unfolding in Iran and the region, and their impact on India’s exports and imports, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday (March 3, 2026).
Despite senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram stepping in and holding an hour-long meeting with DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, on Tuesday to break the ice over seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, the gap between the Congress’s expectations and the DMK’s offer persisted, preventing the two parties from finalising a pact. Sources said the DMK raised its offer from 25 to 27 Assembly seats and one Rajya Sabha seat, while the Congress leadership is demanding 30 Assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha seat.
“Special arrangements are being made to facilitate the movement of stranded passengers, with airlines deploying additional capacity where required and coordinating closely with foreign aviation authorities and Indian missions abroad to ensure safe and orderly passenger movement. A total of 24 flights are being operated by Indian carriers today. In addition, Emirates and Etihad have operated 9 flights from the Gulf in the last 24 hours,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.
India has sufficient stocks of crude oil and energy products (petrol and diesel) for the next 25 days each, cumulatively accounting for 50 days of sufficiency, sources in the government said on Tuesday (March 3, 2026). “We are in a reasonably comfortable position as far as crude oil is concerned,” a source said, adding, “We have crude oil in reserve for 25 days, alongside energy products for 25 days as well.”
The safety of nearly one crore Indian citizens in the West Asian region is of “utmost priority” to India, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday (March 3, 2026), expressing “grave anxiety” about the unfolding conflict between Israel-U.S. and Iran.Given its “critical stakes” in the region, India cannot remain “impervious” if Indian nationals in the region are “negatively” affected, the MEA said in a statement, also warning of the impact on trade and energy supply chains.
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