The Editorial Page: In new world, with US, India has the cards. It must play them confidently 10 WEDNESDAy, MAy 27, 2026 JournalISm of Courage lucknow, laTe cITY, 18 PaGeS ₹6.00 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 DaY aFter eXpreSS inVeStigation expressinvestigation Govt acts on hdFc Bank ‘camouflaged’ Delhi dust: crores as marketing spend to pay higher interest to state firm More machine 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 9 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 Cong for change in Karnataka, wants Siddaramaiah to go 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. 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 »ContinueD on page 9 SSC exam cancelled at a few centres in UP over ‘technical disruptions’ NEET leak: Minor son of arrested coaching founder may be ‘star witness’ express news Service mahender Singh manral Lucknow, May 26 Amid protests by candidates over alleged “technical disruptions”,thestaffselection Commission (Central region) on tuesday cancelled the Constable (General duty) examination,2026,atseveralcentresin Uttar pradesh. in a series of posts on X, the ssC said that technical dis- Business as Usual By EP UNNy ruptions were reported at one centre each in Kanpur, prayagraj, Lucknow, and muzaffarpur during the forenoon shift on may 25 (monday). “As a result, testsscheduledatthesecentres were cancelled and affected candidates were rescheduled forsubsequentdates,”itadded. According to the ssC, disruptions continued at a part of the itech centre in prayagraj, »ContinueD on page 2 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 At Bengal border post, ‘fear’ drives many seeking to cross over to Bangladesh 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. »ContinueD on page 2 Happening today lSupreme Court is set to deli- ver its verdict on pleas challenging SIR’s constitutional validity. page7 Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com inside Page 3 Use electricity as Per yoUr Needs, says adityaNath express interview ‘ncerT Threw us under The bus...’ miChel Danino, academIc Page 7 at hakimpur border check-post in north 24 Parganas. PaRTHa Paul 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 Lucknow