The Editorial Page: In new world, with US, India has the cards. It must play them confidently 8 WEDNESDaY, MaY 27, 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 DaY aFTeR eXPReSS inVeSTiGaTion ExprEssinvestigation Govt acts on HDFC Bank ‘camouflaged’ Delhi dust: crores as marketing spend to More machine pay higher interest to state firm sweepers In March, HDFC Bank chairman quit citing ethics. What bank didn’t reveal: Its probe found that violating RBI, bank’s norms, Rs 45-cr extra interest was paid to Environment Minister meets CM, Maharashtra State Road Development Corp as sponsorship for road safety drive officials; dust mitigation on agenda Sandeep Singh Mumbai, New Delhi, May 26 WHen aTanU Chakraborty abruptly resigned on March 18 aschairmanofHDFCBank,the country’s largest private bank, citing “certain happenings and practices within the bank” that were not in “congruence” with his personal values and ethics, it didn’t ring many alarm bells across the banking establishment. The bank’s newly appointed interim chairman, Keki Mistry, was quick to step in with a statement. “The bank has very strong ethics,” he said on March 19. “i would never remain on the board if there were any issues with governance.” He said board members had pressedChakrabortyfordetails thepreviousdaybuthe“didnot give any specific explanation.” The reserve Bank of india, too, moved just as swiftly. in a press statement the same day, it declared, “Basis our periodical assessment, there are no material concerns on record as regards its conduct or governance.” Whatwentundisclosedwas that, just six days earlier, on March12,theauditCommittee »conTinUeD on PaGe 10 ExprEss l ₹45-crshadowdeal:How‘camouflage’worked H HdFc Bank H impact M mSRdc M M stEp 1: in 2021, Bank taps mSRdc for deposit; mSRdc promises Rs 25,000 crore from its land acquisition fund express news Service H stEp 2: mSRdc says it’s getting 6% interest from others; bank agrees to 6.01% even as it’s 3.5% for others H stEp 3: Bank clears 2.51% extra interest for mSRdc. But it’s paid by marketing dept through vendors as sponsorship for road safety drive M stEp 4: Starting Feb 2022, mSRdc starts placing deposits with Bank; Bank pays Rs 45 cr in batches between FY24 & FY25 through 4 vendors New Delhi, May 26 Vendorsraise invoicetothebank HdFc released the money over 2 years through vendors Vendors transfer money to mSRdc after deducting agency fee, GST & TdS Why this raises questions on bank’s governance and its code of ethics Sandeep Singh New Delhi, May 26 exPlaining iTS code of ethics for directors and top management, HDFC Bank, on itswebsite,underlineshow“integrity, transparency and accountability are fundamental” to its ethos and how it intends to ensure its management’s commitment to “highest business and ethical standards while conducting the business of the Bank and compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements.” The fact that the bank’s top brass were aware of the rs 45-crore payment, which, according to its vigilance probe,violatesrBirules and bank’s own norms, raises questions about HDFC Bank’s corporate governance and its adherence to its code of ethics. From the Ceo to the CFo and CMo, according to the probe, several key management personnel were fully aware of the “differential interest” being routed through the marketing department as payments for road safety campaigns by MSrDC, a state government agency that E. »conTinUeD on PaGe 10 Energy to rare earth to Fiji NEET leak: Minor son of port: Quad bid to counter arrested coaching founder China rise in Indo-Pacific may be ‘star witness’ Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, May 26 Unveiling regional initiatives for energy security and critical minerals, Foreign MinistersoftheQuadnationsTuesday agreed to launch an indoPacific Maritime Surveillance Corporation, expand maritime domain awareness and enhanceportinfrastructureinFiji. These moves by the Quad, comprising the US, india, Japan and australia, come at a time when China’s ambitions in the indo-Pacific are on the rise, and ongoing conflicts, most recently in West asia, are disrupting supply chains and hurting economies. in a clear message to Beijing, the Quad voiced serious concern about the situation in the east China Sea and the »conTinUeD on PaGe 2 Mahender Singh Manral New Delhi, May 26 DayS aFTer arresting the founder of a coaching institute in latur, the Central Bureau of investigation (CBi) is planning to make his minor son — who also sat for neeT-Ug on May 3 — a “star witness” in the paper leak case, The Indian Express has learnt. “Thestudenthasreportedly admitted during questioning that his father procured the neeT question paper for him —Physics,ChemistryandBiology — about 10 days before the exam,” said a source. “The CBi is also planning to make a latur-based paediatrician, who allegedly purchased theleakedquestionpaperfor his son, a witness,” the source said. “Following these »conTinUeD on PaGe 2 Row over Bakrid goats sparks communal tension at Mira Road housing complex 108 Manish Kumar Pathak Mumbai, May 26 136 168 79 ExprEss interview city a SiMMering dispute over goats brought into a residential complex for eid ul adha sacrifice escalated into communal tension at Mira road on Tuesday, prompting heavy police deployment after right-wing activistsstagedprotestsoutside thehousingsocietyandclashes FUel Costs, PoliCe CraCkDown Hit BakriD goat traDe at Deonar manDi Police personnel outside Poonam Estate Cluster 1. SankHadeep BaneRjee Page 3 broke out between members of the two communities. »conTinUeD on PaGe 2 l Family iN u.s. says NishEsh basavaREddy a FaN oF allu aRjuN Films ‘NCERT ThREw us uNdER ThE bus...’ Michel Danino, academic Page 6 Business as Usual By EP UNNY Behind tennis upset, Indian-origin youth who left Stanford to turn pro pagE 1 anchor nitin Sharma Chandigarh, May 26 TWo yearS ago, nishesh Basavareddy,then19yearsold,left the data science programme at Stanford University to become a tennis professional. That wasn’t a path that children of first-generation indian immigrants in the United States are known to take. Despite his outstanding academicrecordandinterestin Cong for change in Karnataka, wants Siddaramaiah to go Nishesh basavareddy (extreme left), his parents muralikrishna and sai Prasanna, and elder brother Nishanth. Special aRRanGemenT Maths, nishesh thought tennis was his true calling, and his family supported his decision. That call is now paying dividends. »conTinUeD on PaGe 2 a “SigniFiCanT increase” in thenumberofMechanicalroad SweepingMachines(MrSMs)in Delhi to tackle road dust was among a series of measures directed by Union environment Minister Bhupender yadav to tackleairpollution,inameeting with Chief Minister rekha gupta and top officials, according to an official statement. “air pollution control requires collective responsibility and continuous action at everylevel.TheCentreremains committed to working closely with the Delhi government and all stakeholders to ensure cleaner air for the people of Delhi,” yadav said. The Union Minister’s directions came a day after The IndianExpresspublishedthefindingsofitsinvestigationintohow The Indian Express report published on may 25. Delhi is losing its war on dust — one of the main villains in the city’stoxicair,andoneoftheeasiest to fix. The Indian Express investigated the daily movement logs of MrSMs across a year until March,revealingthatthesemachines cover only a fraction of thecity,withafleetthatisvastly underpowered — 80% short of the 505 recommended by the Prime Minister’s office. »conTinUeD on PaGe 2 Karnataka Chief minister siddaramaiah and his deputy d K shivakumar in New delhi, Tuesday. anil SHaRma Manoj c G New Delhi, May 26 aMiD an all-out tussle for leadership in Karnataka, the Congress high command is learnt to have conveyed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Tuesday that it was looking at a transition in the state, and reorienting the party organisation and government while keeping in mind the future challenges. in other words, the leadership wants the Chief Minister to step down and make way for a new leader. »conTinUeD on PaGe 2