The Editorial Page: Silence on West Asia war is not moral surrender, but responsible statecraft 8 THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2026 Journalism of Courage KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 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 Happening today MISSILES FIRED AT ISRAEL, LARIJANI FUNERAL HELD lJAPAN PM SANAE TAKAICHI will visit the White House, the first key US ally set for face-toface talks with President Trump since he urged allies to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Israel strikes Iran gas field, kills intel chief Tehran retaliates by threatening Gulf energy sites TRACK THIS AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.COm Business as Usual By EP UNNY lCrucial natural gas deposit Crucialnaturalgasdeposit IRAQ KUWAIT Parisa Hafezi, Rami Ayyub & Maya Gebeily EGYPT Dubai, Jerusalem, Beirut, March 18 INSIDE pAgE 3 BENgAL: EC trANSfErS 13 dIStrICt ELECtorAL offICErS, 5 dIgs 5 yEArS SINCE NANdIgrAm dEfEAt: mAmAtA’S LEgAL BAttLE drAgS oN 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. BenchmarkBrent crude prices rose around 5% to above $108. Stock markets veered lower. Pars is the Iranian sector of the world’s largest natural gas deposit,whichIranshareswith Qatar across the Gulf. Iran’s Fars news agency reported that gas tanks and parts of a refinery had been hit, workers had been evacuated to a safe location and emergency crews were trying to put out a fire. State media later said the fire was under control. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS, PAGES 5, 7 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 — tell everyone and tell them to inform their families too.” Thetwoofficersshookhands withtheircaptain,said,“Thank you, sir,” and, overwhelmed, stepped forward to hug him. Within minutes, the Chief Engineerjoinedthemonthetop deck. Together, the senior officers of MT Shivalik paused to takeinthemomenttheyhadvisualised repeatedly over the pre- vioustwoweekswhileanchored near Dubai — as the conflict in WestAsiaescalatedrapidlyafter the US and Israel attacked Iran. “For two weeks, we were sitting on board a fully loaded tanker in the midst of the war zone. It was not easy,” Sukhmeet told The Indian Express, recalling those tense days. After the officers dispersed, Singh took out his phone and hit speed dial. His father Gurmeet Singh, mother Sukhwinder and wife Sandeep Kaur had been anxiously waiting for the call in Punjab’s Adampur. None of them had slept that night. When Gurmeet (69) heard his son’s voice and the news, all the pent-up tension dissolved into tears. Sukhwinder and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ED PLEA FOR CBI PROBE UNDER ARTICLE 32 ‘Not a happy situation’: Top court on Mamata ‘barging in’ during ED raids Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, March 18 STATING THAT West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allegedly barging in during raids carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) “is notahappysituation”andisan “unusual happening”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said a Central body cannot be left without a remedy when its functioning is interrupted. A bench of Justices P K Mishra and N V Anjaria wondered if there can be no legal remedy to stop repeat of such situations as Senior Advocates Shyam Divan and Kapil Sibal appearing for the state of West Bengal and Banerjee, respectively,contendedthattheEDhas no power to file a writ petition. The court is hearing the ED’s plea under Article 32 seeking directions to the CBI to probe the alleged obstruction CM Mamata Banerjee allegedly obstructed ED searches at the I-PAC office in Kolkata on Jan 8. by the CM and some top officials of the state, while its personnel were carrying out searches at the office of Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) Consulting Pvt Ltd and theresidenceofitsfounderPratik Jain in Kolkata on January 8, 2026. Justice Mishra said, “If we saythatArticle32petitionisnot maintainable, whether in a situation like this, ED which is not a body corporate according to you, can move (the High Court)underArticle226orcannot move? … Because you see, here is a situation that some Chief Minister unusually bargesin,accordingtothem,to some government office controlled or handled by the Central government, and whether inasituationlikethis,226isnot maintainable, 32 is also not maintainable, then who will decide?…somedaysomeother Chief Minister … enter into some other office. And this is not a happy situation, it is a very unusual happening.” “We decide matters and questionswhenanewsituation iscreated.Because…thedevelopment of law is organic … this has not happened earlier,” the judge added. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “The real question is that the Central agency … exercising our jurisdiction and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SC let off Sandesaras with Rs 5,100-cr deposit, banks say dues Rs 19,000 cr 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, for allegedly defaulting on bank 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 banksseekingdirectionsfordisbursal of their respective share, from the Rs 5,100 crore deposited by the group with the SupremeCourtRegistryincompliance with the November 19 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HDFCBank chairmanquits, citesethical concerns, ‘certain practices’ Atanu Chakraborty 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 parttime 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. InalettertotheChairmanof 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.” »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. Kolkata