Washington, Sep 28: Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on the sixth day of a proposed seven-day plan and resume nuclear negotiations with the United States on the seventh, but Washington rejected the proposal because it demanded sanctions relief and access to frozen assets at the outset.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would open the vital shipping passage if the United States ended the conflict, removed its blockade, released Iranian assets and allowed the country to sell oil.

“Our proposal is very clear. We are ready to open the Strait if certain things are done by the US,” Araghchi told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

“We want our moneys, our assets, which are illegally frozen, to be released. We want, you know, to be able to sell our oil,” he said.

Araghchi said the steps sought by Iran could be completed within four or five days.

“If they want — if they are serious that they want a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, now there is the possibility,” he said. “We have offered this seven-day plan.”

The strait would reopen on day six, with negotiations on a broader agreement beginning the next day, he said.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he was rejecting the Iranian offer.

“They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump said. “But we’re winning tremendously. We have total control of the Hormuz Strait.”

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said the proposal required Washington to make extensive concessions before substantive negotiations began.

“They were asking for everything up front,” Waltz told CNN’s “State of the Union”.

Waltz said Iran wanted relief from US and UN sanctions and access to billions of dollars in frozen assets.

“The bottom line is, they were asking for everything up front with a promise that they would then talk,” he said.

Waltz accused Iran of violating an earlier memorandum of understanding by attacking international shipping. Tehran disputes the US account and says Washington violated previous agreements.

“The president’s just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith and that we will truly negotiate the end of their nuclear programme,” Waltz said.

Araghchi said Iran was still waiting for an official response delivered through mediators despite Trump’s public rejection.

“At the same time, we are ready for diplomacy,” he said. “But, and now there is a very reasonable plan on the table. If they reject it with no reason, this is their fault.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian separately told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Tehran was prepared to proceed in stages under a framework based on the earlier memorandum.

“Obviously, we will abide by whatever we commit to,” Pezeshkian said.

He also indicated that Iran could negotiate limits and inspections for its nuclear programme but blamed the United States and Israel for attacking Iranian nuclear sites.

“Within the framework of the NPT and the other existing frameworks, all of these issues are matters that can be agreed upon,” Pezeshkian said.

Araghchi said Iran remained prepared for renewed military action while keeping diplomacy available.

“We are fully prepared for the war to be resumed,” he said. “But at the same time, we are ready, we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose.”

Mumbai, Sep 28: The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Monday launched massive demonstrations across all district collectorates, demanding the dismissal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

The party accused him of undermining democratic institutions and manipulating voter rolls to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Congress leaders described Gyanesh Kumar as a “stain on democracy” and submitted memorandums outlining grievances to district collectors. The protests featured creative forms of dissent: in Amravati, protesters paraded an effigy of the CEC on a donkey before destroying it; in Thane, demonstrators forced an effigy to do sit-ups (uthak-baithak) as punishment.

Large rallies were also held in Pune, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nashik, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Chandrapur, Nanded, Latur, Beed, and across the Konkan and North Maharashtra regions.

Senior Congress leaders led protests in several districts: Satej Patil in Kolhapur, Praniti Shinde in Solapur, Yashomati Thakur and Balwant Wankhede in Amravati, Kalyan Kale in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pratibha Dhanorkar in Chandrapur, Ravindra Chavan in Nanded, Shivaji Kalge in Latur, and Kumar Ketkar in Thane.

Addressing gatherings, the Congress reiterated allegations earlier raised by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, about “vote theft.” The party claimed that over 13 crore voters nationwide, including more than 3 crore in Maharashtra, were arbitrarily removed from electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

It further alleged that 47 lakh untraceable voters were added to Maharashtra’s rolls ahead of the 2024 assembly polls.

Congress spokespersons highlighted reported written dissent from two Election Commissioners over procedural deviations by the CEC, saying it validated their charges of bias. Leaders warned that the agitation would escalate into a national movement unless action were taken against Gyanesh Kumar.

New Delhi, Sep 28: India’s industrial production surged to 8 per cent in August this year, compared to the same month of the previous year, driven by a robust performance in the manufacturing sector, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Monday.

The manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than three-fourths of the index of industrial production (IIP), posted an impressive 9 per cent growth during August compared to the same month of the previous year.

“In a record performance, the manufacturing sector has recorded growth of 8 per cent or more in the last three consecutive months,” according to the official statement.

This augurs well for the economy as the sector plays a key role in providing quality jobs to the young graduates passing out from the country’s engineering institutes and universities.

Within the Manufacturing sector, 18 out of 23 industry groups have recorded a positive growth in August over the same month last year. The top three positive contributors for the month in this segment are the manufacturing of motor vehicles which recorded a 25.2 per cent growth, along with the manufacturing of electrical equipment (30.9 per cent) and the manufacturing of machinery and equipment (25.3 per cent).

The electricity and gas supply sector recorded a strong growth of 12.3 per cent during August while Water Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management posted a 6.3 per cent growth.

However, the mining sector posted a negative growth of (-) 5.6 per cent during the month.

The figures on use-based classification show that the production of capital goods, which comprise machines used in factories, jumped by a robust 16.9 per cent in August this year. This segment reflects the real investment taking place in the economy, which has a multiplier effect on the creation of jobs and incomes going ahead.

There was also a double-digit increase of 11.1 per cent in the production of consumer durables such as electronic goods, refrigerators, and TVs during August reflecting the higher consumer demand for these items amid rising incomes. Consumer non-durables such as soaps and cosmetics posted a growth of 2.1 per cent growth during the month.

The infrastructure and construction goods sector also recorded a growth of 6.4 per cent during the month driven by the Government’s big ticket investments in highways, ports and railway projects which create large-scale employment and drive up the overall economic growth rate.

The Ministry of Statistics has decided to adopt output PPI as a deflator in place of WPI for item groups for which output is collected in value terms. This affects 234 out of the 463 item groups in the IIP basket, representing 36.02 per cent of the total index weight, the official statement said.

The ministry has now revised and released the entire IIP 2022-23 series with Output PPI and it supersedes the earlier WPI based IIP 2022–23 series released on 1st June 2026, the statement explained.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the new series of the All India Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base year 2022–23 on 1st June 2026, using the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as the deflator.