The Ideas Page: Reading between the exit lines of Nitish — a Bihar story of loose ends 9 MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026 JOURNALISm of COURAGE LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A happening today lTHE FULL BENCH OF the Election Commission of India, led by CEC Gyanesh Kumar, begins visit to West Bengal to review preparedness to conduct the Assembly polls. lTHE NEW SESSION OF Manipur Assembly begins, with the Budget likely to be presented during the proceedings. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.COM Nishantbegins JD(U)journey, saysrespects father’sRajya Sabhamove Nishant Kumar with JD(U) leaders at the party office in Patna on Sunday. EXPRESS Santosh Singh Patna, March 8 LAUNCHING HIS political innings, Nishant Kumar, the son of JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, joined the party fold Sunday, saying he was committed to take the message of his father's work to every citizen and that he would try to win people’s hearts. Days after Nitish filed his nomination for the March 16 Rajya Sabha polls, clearing decks for a new CM — expectedly from ally BJP — Nishant said Bihar as well as the country have been “proud” of the development work done by his father over the last 20 years. Asserting that he would endeavour to strengthen the JD(U) organisation, Nishant, 50, said he respected his father's decision to shift to the Rajya Sabha. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UTTAR PRADESh CompLAINANt IN SEEr poCSo CASE CLAImS AttACk p 3 World Champions, Again! Israel targets Iran oil BAHRAIN DESALINATION PLANT HIT India blow away New Zealand, become first team to defend T20 World Cup title Sandip G Ahmedabad, March 8 THEWINNINGmomentinthe final will remain etched in the minds of a 100,000 spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Tilak Varma completed the catchofJacobDuffyatlong-on, the last New Zealand wicket to fall, and slipped as he tried to fling the ball deep into the rapturous Motera skies. His teammates streamed into him as they lost themselves in a moment of inexpressible joy on a nightwhenvolumeratherthan pictures defined India’s successful T20 World Cup title defence — the first team to achieve the feat. It was also the catharsis the stadium had been waiting for since the 2023 50-over World Cup, when the home team had waltzed to the final in supreme form, only to be outclassed by the Australians on the big day. It was the wound that had waited for more than two years to be healed. The players, in a fleeting sense of disbelief, struggled for words in front of the camera. “Nextcoupleofdayswillbeabig party with the boys,” Varma said. “This is a very good team withalotofmatch-winners,and theresultischerryonthecake,” ArshdeepSinghsaid.“Feelslike a dream,” Sanju Samson, the player of the tournament, said. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS, PAGES 14, 15, 16 After Israeli strikes on Aqdasiyeh oil depot in Tehran. REUTERS Indian players lift the T20 World Cup trophy at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. PTI To Sachin, with love: ‘Reached out to sir... I am very grateful for support’ Sandip G Ahmedabad, March 8 A SHEEPISH grin flashed across Sanju Samson’s face when he was caught at long-on after a thrillingly graceful knock of 89 off 46 balls. He was just 11 runs from a century that would have been the crown ‘Dominant caste men used sexual violence as tool’: After unease, SC reviews handbook Gender handbook published in 2023 under then CJI D Y Chandrachud Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, March 8 THE SUPREME Court moved last month to frame fresh guidelines to promote sensitivity among judges, especially in cases involving sexual offences and other vulnerable victims, following unease within the court over a previous attempt in this regard, The Indian Express has learnt. In an order dated February 10,athree-judgebenchofChief JusticeofIndiaSuryaKant,and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria, urged the Director of the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal, Justice Aniruddha Bose, a former »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 House set to resume on stormy note over Opp attempt to unseat Speaker Manoj C G & Jatin Anand New Delhi, March 8 THESECONDlegoftheBudget session of Parliament is set to begin Monday on a turbulent note, with the Lok Sabha likely to take up an Opposition resolution seeking the removal of SpeakerOmBirla,thefirstsuch attempt against a presiding of- ficeroftheHouseinnearlyfour decades. The move is largely symbolic,giventheclearnumerical advantageenjoyedbytheruling alliance in the Lok Sabha. But politically, it signals a renewed effort by Opposition parties to bring their long-standing allegationsofbiasagainsttheChair on record inside Parliament infra, Tehran hints Khamenei son may be Supreme Leader and to sharpen their attack on the government over the functioning of the House. The resolution — listed against Congress MPs Mohammad Jawed, K Suresh and Mallu Ravi — has been signed by 118 Opposition members and placed in the Lok Sabha’s list of business for Monday. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sanju Samson was named the player of the tournament. PTI jewel in a tournament he has defined.Butitwasprobablythe mode of dismissal that rankled him — mistiming a low full toss. He was in sumptuous touch till then, sweet-spotting every ball and playing to a gallery that was twisting their tongues over “chetta” (elder »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Business as Usual By EP UNNY Will not bow easily in face of bullying, oppression or aggression: Pezeshkian Parisa Hafezi & Maayan Lubell Dubai, Jerusalem, March 8 IRAN ON Sunday indicated it had chosen Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as his successor, after Israel struck fueldepotsinTehranovernight and the conflict widened as Bahrain said an Iranian attack had damaged one of its desalination plants. “The name of Khamenei »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LATEST lINDIAN AMONG TWO KILLED AS SAUDI REPORTS ITS FIRST DEATHS IN WAR l ISRAEL STEPS UP ATTACKS ON LEBANON, NEARLY 400 KILLED SO FAR l UK LOOKING AT SENDING TWO AIRCRAFT CARRIERS TO MIDDLE EAST: TRUMP MORE REPORTS, PAGES 6, 7 Hadimurder: 2Bangladesh nationalsheld inWestBengal Sweety Kumari Kolkata, March 8 TWO BANGLADESHI nationals accused in the murder of prominent Bangladeshi political activist Sharif Osman Bin Hadi have been arrested in West Bengal’s Bongaon area, the state’s Special Task Force (STF) said on Sunday. Hadi was shot dead in Dhaka on December 12 last year. The 32-year-old had emerged as a prominent youth leaderduringthe2024studentled uprising in Bangladesh, which led to the former prime minister,SheikhHasina,losing power. He was the co-founder and spokesperson of Inqilab Moncho, a political platform that emerged following the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘The guardrails will come from the people, they are finding a reason to push back against the AI empire’ KAREN HAO US-BASED TECHNOLOGY jOURNALIST pAgE 12 l STUDY LOOKS AT EFFECT OF PARAMETERS LIKE TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY AND vENTILATION ON SLEEP PATTERNS No shut-eye at IIT? Why IIT Kanpur prof is studying how hostel design affects sleep Pallavi Smart Mumbai, March 8 l70%complainedofpoorsleepquality WHY WERE students at IIT Kanpur feeling sleepy even before their first lecture of the day began? That question led researchers at the premier engineeringschooltoanunusualline of inquiry. How well do hostel rooms on campus support a good night’s sleep? In what is among the first suchstudyinIndia,researchers at the institute are examining how hostel environment, in- STUDY SURVEYED over 500 students using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, questionnaire on hostel room conditions. Nearly 70% reported poor sleep quality. SECOND STUDY, with about 140 participants, tracked real-time environmental conditions like temperature, humidity and ventilation vis-a-vis sleep patterns. This study is under preparation for publication. ADDITIONALLY, A YEAR-LONG STUDY, currently in the stage of data analysis, tracks seasonal impacts on sleep quality. cluding ventilation, temperature and humidity, affects students’ sleep quality and, in turn, their ability to concentrate in classrooms. At the centre of the work is Professor Anubha Goel of the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur, who is approaching sleep from an angle rarely explored in India. Not throughthelensofmedicineor psychology, but through building design and indoor environmental quality. “Ultimately, our aim is to »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow