The Editorial Page: A journey to the Moon, a mission to understand the dawn of the universe 10 FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 No sign of tribunal on Day 1, Bengal CEO says: ‘Can’t say when’ Violence-hit Malda BDO deserted amid protests, queue of applicants DECISION 2026 W E ST B E N GA L Ravik Bhattacharya & Atri Mitra Sweety Kumari Malda, April 2 Kolkata, April 2 THE COUNTDOWN having begun for the West Bengal electoral rolls to be frozen, all roads for those “rejected” lead to the gatesofastarkgreysteel-and-cement building in Joka, located 16kmfromtheheartofKolkata. On Thursday, the day 19 tribunalswereexpectedtobegin hearings for the lakhs whose Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water & Sanitation in Joka, 16 km from Kolkata, where the tribunals were to hold hearings names remain deleted from the electoral rolls, the gates of the building — the Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AttAck oN jUdIcIAL offIcErS: Ec hANdS ovEr probE to NIA pAGE 4 THEMORNINGaftertheKaliachowk-2BlockDevelopmentOffice(BDO)undertheMothabari Assembly constituency was gheraoed by protesters, angry overthedeletionofnamesfrom electoral rolls, the judicial officershandlingtheadjudication have left. A tea stall owner outside says the protesters, with »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Protesters and police clash during a blockade on NH 12, in West Bengal’s Malda, Thursday. PARTHA PAUL OIL PRICES SURGE, STOCKS SLIDE hEAdING to MooN: foUr AStroNAUtS bLASt off to MAkE hIStory pAGE 12 business as Usual By EP UNNY Hopes of early end to war dim, Trump says will strike Iran hard India joins 60 nations at UK meeting calling for opening Strait of Hormuz Will push it back to Stone Ages: US President; wait for ‘broader’ attacks, warns Tehran Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, April 2 Steve Holland & Enas Alashray Washington, Cairo, April 2 Happening today l MYANMAR’S PARLIAMENT will hold a bicameral vote to elect a President, House Speaker Aung Lin Dwe said Thursday, with the country’s former military chief and junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 coup to oust Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in the running for the position. l AfTER Adefeat in their opening match that sent them down to the bottom of the table, former IPL champions CSK will be looking for a quick recovery at their fortress at Chepauk as they take on last year’s finalists Punjab Kings. Match starts at 7.30 pm. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm NATION pAGE 9 Sc qUEry: cAN boArdEd-oUt INjUrEd cAdEtS bE trEAtEd AS Ex-SErvIcEMEN? DOZENS OF nations sought waystorestartvitalenergyshipmentsthroughtheStraitofHormuzonThursdayafterUSPresident Donald Trump vowed moreaggressivestrikesonIran, pushing oil prices back up with further pain to consumers. Trump said operations would be intensified and gave no timeline for ending hostilities, drawing threats of “more crushing,broaderandmoredestructive” attacks from Tehran, andsendingsharepriceslower. “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong,” Trump said in a Wednesday evening speech. Trump persisted with his threats Thursday, saying on Truth Social, “It is time for Iran to make a deal before it is too late”, and posting footage of what appeared to be strikes on a bridge in Iran. Still defiant despite the deathofaslewofitsleaders,Iran said it was drafting a protocol withOmanonmonitoringships intheStraitwhichcarriesabout a fifth of the world’s oil consumptioninnormaltimesbutis now virtually closed. “We are developing a protocol for Iran and Oman to monitor passage and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz," Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to the official IRNA news agency. "Of course, these requirements will not mean restrictions, but rather to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 US President Donald Trump posted footage of a bridge in Iran being blown up. The bridge, linking Tehran to Karaj, was hit in an airstrike. WITH THE shipping disruption in the Strait of Hormuz impacting energy supplies to India, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri joined a meeting of more than 60 countries, convened Thursday by the UK, on reopeningthecrucialwaterway where he underlined the principles of “freedom of navigation”and“unimpededtransit”. Misri’s remarks found an echointheChair’sstatementfollowing the meeting. The statement issued by the British governmentsaidthepartnerscalled for the “immediate and unconditional reopening” of the Strait »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Between Trump’s lines: will dial up pressure – and wants a way out Hormuz key; US-Iran chasm deep but current positions may be opening bids C Raja Mohan INsIDE AS THE war with Iran enters its second month and a decisive military victory for the United States and Israel appears elusive, the focus has inevitably shifted to diplomacy. It is no surprise that the emerging diplomatic effort is centred on two issues — a ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Itisevenlesssurprising that the main combatantsremainfarapart on both. For India, which sits next door to the Gulf, the stakes are immediate and enormous. A large share of India’s hydrocarbonimportspassesthroughthe Strait of Hormuz. Nearly nine million Indian citizens live and work across the Gulf states. India’s economic, energy and security interdependence with theregionisnowsodeepthatan early ceasefire and the restorationoffreedomofnavigationin MEt chINESE coUNtErpArt, hELd tALkS oN trAdE: GoyAL pAGE 7 New Delhi, April 2 the Strait are matters of the highest importance. But India’s stakes are not merely economic. Delhialsohasaninterest in shaping the geopoliticalorderthatwillemerge in the Gulf once the war ends. That order may look very different from the one that existed before the war began. One of the most consequential political signals came from Washington Wednesday. In his first prime-time address since ordering strikes on Iran on February 28, President Donald TrumptoldtheAmericanpublic on April 1 that the core US strategicobjectivesarenearingrealisationandthatUSforceswould E. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l DIXIT WAS KILLED IN A MISSILE STRIKE ON A MERCHANT vESSEL OFF OMAN, FAMILY WANTS HIS BODY BACK 33 days, no answers: Kin of India’s first West Asia war casualty move High Court PAGE 1 anchor Purnima Sah Mumbai, April 2 MORE THAN amonthafter32year-oldseafarerDixitAmratlal Solanki was killed in a suspected missile strike on a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman, becoming the first Indian casualty of the West Asia war, his family is still waiting to bring him home. Frustratedbythedelay,they movedtheBombayHighCourt Dixit Solanki’s father Amratlal at his Mumbai home. SANKHADEEP BANERJEE Thursday,seekingurgentintervention, alleging lack of clarity from authorities on when they will be able to lay Dixit Solanki torest.Thematterislikelytobe heard next week. The petition by his father AmratlalGokalSolanki(64)and sister,MitaliSolanki(33),sought directionstoexpeditetherepatriationofSolanki’sremainsand thatallinvestigationandforensicrecordsbesharedwiththem. The respondents include theMinistryofExternalAffairs, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping andWaterways,theDirectorate »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata Premises linked to I-PAC executives searched by ED in Bengal coal case Consultancy firm has been working with TMC in poll-bound West Bengal Deeptiman Tiwary New Delhi, April 2 THE ENFORCEMENT Directorate (ED) Thursday carried out fresh searches at multiple locations linked to executives of the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and others. TheI-PAC,whichinthepast has managed electoral campaigns for multiple parties across the country, is currently working with the Mamata Banerjee-ledTrinamool Congress in poll-bound West Bengal. EDsourcessaidthesearches were conducted across Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi in connectionwithaprobeintoan alleged coal smuggling and pilferage case in West Bengal. “The raids are a continuationofthesearchesconducted earlierinthecase,”anEDofficial said. Premises linked to I-PAC co-founder and director Rishi Raj Singh were among those covered as part of the searches. In January this year, the agency had conducted searchesattheI-PACofficeand at the Kolkata residence of its founder, Pratik Gandhi. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2