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 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 Bengal CraCkdown on immigrantS expressinvestigation hdfc Bank ‘camouflaged’ At border crores as marketing spend to post, ‘fear’ pay higher interest to state firm drives many 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 Maharashtra State Road Development Corp as sponsorship for road safety drive 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 6 to other side l ₹45-crshadowdeal:How‘camouflage’worked H hdFc Bank H TMC unravels rapidly as over 100 councillors in 7 civic bodies resign m mSRdc m m step 1: In 2021, Bank taps mSRdc for deposit; mSRdc promises Rs 25,000 crore from its land acquisition fund H 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 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 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. at hakimpur border check-post in north 24 Parganas. PaRtha Paul People started arriving as BJP govt said it will set up detention centres ravik Bhattacharya Hakimpur (North 24 Parganas), May 26 sTANDiNgwiThherhusband Musharraf Biswas and four children, khukumoni Bibi (39) saysitis“fear”whichiscausing them to try and leave for Bangladesh — fear of police, of detentioncentres,ofdemolitions. she is among a crowd of about 300men,womenandchildren, with their belongings bundled in small bags, squatting on a small field under the sun, beside the BsF check-post at hakimpur. it is about 90 km from kolkata, and right next to the border with Bangladesh. The people have been trooping here since sunday, hearing that crossover into Bangladeshispossiblefromthe hakimpur border outpost. »Continued on page 2 »Continued on page 6 daY aFter eXpreSS inVeStigation NEET leak: Minor son of Govt acts on Delhi dust: arrested coaching founder More machine sweepers may be ‘star witness’ mahender Singh manral express impact 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 express news Service New Delhi, May 26 A “sigNiFiCANT increase” in thenumberofMechanicalroad sweepingMachines(MrsMs)in Delhi to tackle road dust was »Continued on page 2 Business as usual By EP UNNy 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 Cong for change in Karnataka, wants Siddaramaiah to make way for new CM manoj C g New Delhi, May 26 AMiD AN all-out tussle for leadership in karnataka, the Congress high command is learnttohaveconveyedtoChief Minister siddaramaiah Tuesday that it was looking at a transition in the state, and reorienting the party organisation and Happening today lSupreme Court is set to deliver its verdict on pleas challenging SIR’s constitutional validity. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com inside Page 3 NIa arrest 15 more IN ‘gherao’ of JudIcIal offIcers express interview ‘ncerT Threw us under The Bus...’ miChel danino, academIc Page 6 »Continued on page 2 karnataka chief minister siddaramaiah and his deputy d k shivakumar in new delhi, Tuesday. anIl ShaRma l Family in u.s. says nishesh Basavareddy a Fan oF allu arjun Films 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 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 Kolkata atri mitra Kolkata, May 26 Three weeks since losing power in west Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) appearstobeteeteringontheedge of an organisational collapse. Daysafterfailingtofieldpollingandcountingagentsduring the Falta repoll, the TMC has been hit by a series of resignations, even as leaders continue toquestionthestateofaffairsin thepartyanditstrajectory.Over thepastfewdays,partycouncillorshaveresignedinmunicipalities across its former south Bengal strongholds of North andsouth24Parganasdistricts. One estimate puts the number Tmc chief mamata Banerjee of councillors who have resigned at over 100 from seven municipalities. This comes months before the urban civic bodyelectionsaresettobeheld in the state. Among the civic bodies affected is the Diamond harbour Municipality, which is part of »Continued on page 2