The Editorial Page: Silence on West Asia war is not moral surrender, but responsible statecraft 10 THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2026 Journalism of Courage MUMbAI, lATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹5.00 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 REG.NO. MCs/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 MISSILES FIRED AT ISRAEL, LARIJANI FUNERAL HELD Israel strikes Iran gas field, kills intel chief 142 170 213 Tehran retaliates by threatening Gulf energy sites 63 Business as Usual lCrucialnaturalgasdeposit Crucial natural gas deposit IRAQ KUWAIT Parisa Hafezi, Rami Ayyub & Maya Gebeily By EP UNNY EGYPT Dubai, Jerusalem, Beirut, March 18 IRAN’S HUGE Pars gas field was hit Wednesday, a major escalation in the US-Israeli war, prompting Tehran to announce it would respond with attacks on oil and gas targets throughout the Gulf. Oil prices shot up after the attack in a conflict that has already halted shipping from the world’smostimportantenergyproducing region and could now bring lasting damage to its infrastructure. Benchmark »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 mAhARAShTRA MORE REPORTS, PAGE 13 QATAR SAUDI ARAbIA IRAN South Pars UAE OMAN ‘We could see the missiles coming’: A captain’s call that ended 2 weeks of fear Sunanda Mehta Pune, March 18 IT WAS close to 2 am on March 14whenMTShivaliksailedpast the final stretch of the conflicthit Strait of Hormuz and enteredthesaferwatersoftheGulf of Oman. Captain Sukhmeet Singh (39) looked at the Chief Officer and Second Officer on thenavigationbridge,andsaid, “We are out of danger now — telleveryoneandtellthemtoinform their families too.” Thetwoofficersshookhands with their captain, said, “Thank you, sir,” and, overwhelmed, stepped forward to hug him. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CBSE exams in West Asia: Clarity on Class 10 but Class 12 students still wait Abhinaya Harigovind New Delhi, March 18 A prEvENtABLE BrEAch LEAdS to 50 SSc pApErS StoLEN pAgE 4 CHRISTINA SUSAN Arun, a Class 12 student at Sharjah Indian School, is anxious. “I had three more papers left. I hope theCBSEtakesadecisionthat’s favourableforallofus,sincewe need to apply to universities with these marks. It’s a crucial year, but I hope everything will turnoutforthebetter,”shesaid. Christina is among the 23,000 students across the UAE, Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia who registered for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 examinations. Following the Board’s decision to cancel Class 10 and 12 exams inthesesevenWestAsiancountriesduetotheescalatingUS-Israel-Iran conflict, students are grapplingwithdisappointment »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HDFC Bank chairman quits, cites ethical concerns, ‘certain practices’ Keki Mistry named interim chairman George Mathew Mumbai, March 18 HDFC BANK part-time ChairmanandIndependentDirector Atanu Chakraborty has resigned with immediate effect, saying“certainhappeningsand practices within the bank are notincongruencewithmypersonal values and ethics”. The Reserve Bank of India has okayed the appointment of Keki Mistry as the interim part- Atanu Chakraborty time Chairman of HDFC Bank with effect from March 19 for a period of three months. Mistry was Vice-Chairman of HDFC Ltd before its merger with HDFC Bank. In a letter to the Chairman of Governance, Nomination, Remuneration Committee of the bank, Chakraborty said, “Certain happenings and practices within the bank, that Ihaveobservedoverthelasttwo years, are not in congruence with my personal values and ethics. This is the basis of my aforementioned decision.” “I confirm that there are no other material reasons for my »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Nagpur riots, one yr on: 13 FIRs, chargesheets filed for all but one Ankita Deshkar Nagpur, March 18 A YEAR after communal violence in Nagpur’s Mahal area, leaving one dead and 55 injured, including police personnel, chargesheets have been filed in 12 of the 13 FIRs filed regarding the day’s incidents. TheFIRthatisawaitingchargesheet was filed against VHP and Bajrang Dal office-bearers under Sections that need government sanction, The Indian Express has learned. The violence on March 17, 2025, followed protests by Hindu right-wing groups demanding the removal of MughalEmperorAurangzeb'stomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, during which a cloth allegedly bearing Quranic inscriptions The violence erupted in Mahal area of Nagpur. EXPRESS was set afire. OnthemorningofMarch17, 2025, the VHP and Bajrang Dal staged a protest in Nagpur as partofastatewideagitationdemanding the removal of Au- rangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. During the protest, an effigy of Aurangzeb and a representation of his tomb were set on fire. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SCletoff Sandesaras withRs5,100-cr deposit,banks sayduesare Rs19,000cr Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, March 18 ON NOVEMBER 19 last year, the Supreme Court allowed dropping of criminal proceedings against the promoters of Sterling Biotech Ltd, including Nitin and Chetan Sandesara, forallegedlydefaultingonbank loan repayments, subject to them depositing Rs 5,100 crore towards “full and final payment” of the dues. The sum of Rs 5,100 crore wasarrivedatfollowingconsultations between the probe agencies and the lender banks and was accepted by the group. An application filed by the securedlenderbanksbeforethe top court pursuant to this order has,meanwhile,revealedtheextent of losses suffered by the banks.Itpegsthetotalduesoutstandingtothemfromthegroup companies at Rs 19,283.77 crore. The application was jointly filed by the secured lender banks seeking directions for disbursal of their respective share, from the Rs 5,100 crore depositedbythegroupwiththe Supreme Court Registry in compliance with the November 19 order. The application said the banks had devised a formula to apportion the dues. It said the “process and methodology of distribution and the respective share of each Secured Lender Bank has been arrived at with »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TUNE YOUR EQUITY-DEBT MIX TO MARKET CONDITIONS BALANCED ADVANTAGE FUNDS Zindagi ke liye SIP Benefits of Balanced Advantage Funds Investment across equity and debt instruments Dynamic Asset Allocation based on market conditions Aims to manage volatility over time SCAN TO LEARN MORE For more information contact MFD/RIA | Learn about SIPs: hdfcfund.com/sip Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. Mumbai