WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM The Hitmaker As Dhurandhar: The Revenge hits theatres this week, a look at how Aditya Dhar emerged as one of Hindi cinema’s most successful storytellers KOLKATA, MARCH 15, 2026 DOWN IN jUNGLELAND BY RANjIT LAL On emergence, a butterfly crawls onto a twig from which it hangs down its wings to dry LATE CITY 12+4 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹12 IN NORTHEAST STATES,₹20 IN ANDAMAN) D A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , STRAIT OF HORMUz CLOSURE; TANKERS CARRYING 92,700 TONNES OF LPG HEADED FOR GUjARAT M U M B A I , N A G P U R , P A T N A , P U N E , V A D O D A R A ATTACKS TMC OVER ‘UNCHECKED INFILTRATION’ 2 India-flagged LPG tankers cross, efforts on for 22 more ships: Govt Countdown has begun for those running maha jungle raj in Bengal: PM in Kolkata Navy is learnt to have deployed warships in Persian Gulf for safe passage of Indian vessels Message directed at the TMC govt which the PM termed as ‘nirmam sarkar’ Adequatestock offertilisersfor kharifseason, saysVaishnaw Express News Service New Delhi, March 14 Sukalp Sharma & Amrita Nayak Dutta New Delhi, March 14 TWOINDIAN-FLAGGEDliquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankersheadedtoportsinGujarat transited the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz safely between Friday nightandSaturday,thegovernment announced on Saturday. Itsaiddiplomaticeffortsare on to facilitate safe passage for theremaining22Indianvessels — many of which are carrying hydrocarbons — that are stuck in the Persian Gulf, which is to the west of the war-hit Strait. According to sources, the Indian Navy has deployed multiple warships to the Gulf region to escort merchant vessels carrying fuel to India amidheightenedmaritimetension in the region. At least two warships were known to have been on operational standby since Iran started the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 US embassy personnel inspect the damage caused by a bombing in Baghdad, Saturday. AP lIran’s‘crownjewel’ KHARG Anil Sasi KUWAIT IRAN BAHRAIN SAuDI ARAbIA US hits key Iran island; oil prices may mount QATAR UAE NATION page 6 difficult to forge brics consensus: mea on conflict New Delhi, March 14 IN WHAT marks a new escalatory phase, the US Friday bombed Iran’s Kharg Island, a small 8-km-long rocky outcrop in the Persian Gulf around 50 km offtheIranianmainland, throughwhichalmostall of the country’s oil exports flow. Despite some 5,000 places targetedinIransincethestartofthe US-Israel military operation, Kharghadbeensparedsofar. InapostonTruthSocial,US President Trump said military targets on Kharg Island had been “totally obliterated”in“oneofthemost powerfulbombingraids in the History of the MiddleEast.”Hesaidhe hadchosennottotarget oil infrastructure on the island for now. E. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ANTICIPATING geopolitical uncertainty, the Central government Saturday said it had started preparing itself for the kharif season by procuring and advancing orders for fertiliser stocks from different geographies mid-February itself. This has ensured that “adequate” stocks of urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) fertilisers are availabledespitethesupplydisruption caused by the ongoing US and Israel war with Iran. Demandforfertiliserspeaks in the middle of May, with farmers sowing seeds over the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LATEST l IRAN STRIKES UAE’S FUJAIRAH PORT; U.S. SENDS 2,500 MARINES TO REGION l TRUMP CALLS ON ALLIES TO SEND WARSHIPS MORE REPORTS, PAGE 8 Atri Mitra Kolkata, March 14 “THE COUNTDOWN has begun,” declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the stage at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata during his first visit to West Bengal after the publication of the post-SIR electoral rolls on February 28. The message was directed at the Trinamool Congress government which the Prime Minister termed as “nirmam sarkar (heartless government)”. The stage was modelled on the iconic Dakshineswar temple, a spiritual landmark near Kolkata. Seeing the massive gathering, Modi said, “Friends,theintellectualpeople of Bengal have now resolved to standagainstthisanarchicgovernment.Theseaofpeopleyou see here today reflects Bengal’s awakenedconsciousness.From the hills to the Sundarbans, there is only one discussion— ‘we want change’.” »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 related reports, page 5 Happening NATIONAL SECURITY ACT Activist Sonam Wangchuk freed as today Centre revokes detention after 6 months lUS TREASURY SECRETARY Scott Bessent will be in France to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng as the two sides prepare for President Donald Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this month. lTHE BAHUjAN SAMAj PARTY will organise programmes in parts of the country, particularly Uttar Pradesh, to mark the birth anniversary of its founder, Kanshi Ram. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INDIANExPRESS.COm Decision comes days before hearing in SC Mahender Singh Manral New Delhi, March 14 NEARLY SIX months after activist Sonam Wangchuk was detained under the National SecurityAct(NSA)forallegedly instigating the violent protests in Ladakh on September 24 Sonam Wangchuk was detained for allegedly instigating violent protests in Ladakh last year which led to four deaths in police firing, the Centre on Satur- Kerala Govt shifts stand on entry of women into Sabarimala temple Had backed 2018 SC decision to lift ban, now calls for consultation with religious scholars, social reformers Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, March 14 IN A significant climbdown on the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) gov- ernment in Kerala has called for “wide consultations with and... soliciting views of eminent religious scholars and reputed social reformers of that religion” before any changes are made to the “religious prac- tice followed for so many years”. Earlier, the state government had supported the decision of a five-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court on September 28, 2018, to allow the entry of all women, irrespective of their age, to the temple. In a 4-1 verdict, the Bench had held that prohibiting women between the ages of 10 and 50 years from entering the hill »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 day said it has revoked his detention with immediate effect. Following the Centre’s decision, Wangchuk was released from Jodhpur central jail in the afternoon. A PTI report quoted RatanadaPoliceStationSHODinesh Lakhawat as saying: “He was released from jail at about 1.30pmtodayfollowinganorder from the central government”. In a statement, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said: “The government »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE pages 4, 7 minister says ‘house attacked’ as bjp and tmc workers clash shah promises anti-conversion law in punjab l WEEKS AFTER ROW OVER TITLE OF MOVIE Ghooskhor Pandat Who is an opportunist? UP Police exam lists ‘Pandit’ as option, draws scrutiny Bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, March 14 WHAT IS the one word for this phraseinHindi:“Avsarkeanusarbadaljaanewaala(onewho converts oneself as per the opportunity)?” Four options are presented to examinees: A) Sadachari, B) Pandit, C) Avsarvadi and D) Nishkapat. The question was part of an examheldbytheUttarPradesh Police Recruitment & Promotion Board on Saturday for aspirants for the post of sub-inspector in the state police. The question, according to Outside an exam centre in Lucknow on Saturday. VISHAL SRIVASTAV highly placed sources, has caught the attention of authorities. Laterintheevening,Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, in a post in HindionX,said,“Thequestion that appeared in the Uttar Pradesh Police recruitment examinationandtheoptionsgivenin ithaveraisedseriousobjections from us. The government has takenthematterveryseriously. Ifanyquestionhurtsthedignity of any society or community, it is absolutely unacceptable.” He said instructions have been given to investigate the matter and that “strict action will be taken against those responsible”. “I want to state clearly that there should be no place for derogatory words against any caste, community, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata PM Narendra Modi addresses a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Saturday. PARTHA PAUL A tale of PM’s two Brigade speeches: From ‘asol poriborton’ in 2021 to ‘chun chun ke sabka hisab’ this year Ravik Bhattacharya Kolkata, March 14 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi'sspeechatKolkata'sBrigade Parade ground on Saturday, ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, marked a significant shift in tone and tenor as compared to hispre-polladdressatthesame venue five years ago. On March 7, 2021, Modi, addressing a rally wearing a mask amid the Covid-19 pandemic, hadpromisedthathisparty,the BJP, will usher in ‘asolporiborton’ (real change) and make Bengal ‘Sonar Bangla’ (golden Bengal),allegingthattheruling Trinamool Congress had failed to bring in the change it had promised after uprooting the Left Front But this time, his speech was more pointed, emphasising on accountability and taking the TMC to task. Speaking from the dais modeled on »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2