Sanju Samson thanks the heavens after helping India win on Sunday | Debadatta Mallick chennai l monday l march 02, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION surya & CO seal semifinal berth, face England in Mumbai on mar 5 The defending champions defeat West Indies in Kolkata in the virtual quarterfinal of the T20 World Cup on Sunday. A look... clinical India cruise past west indies samson seizes the moment at big stage It was an evening where a lot of things fell in place for India. First, they won the toss and opted to field. Then, Jasprit Bumrah put brakes on WI with a two-wicket over as they finished with 195/4 thanks to Jason Holder (34 n.o) & Rovman Powell (37 n.o). When India lost Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma early, Sanju Samson stood tall to see through the chase. ■ ■ Brought in to support Abhishek’s poor run in Chennai, Samson saved his best for the must-win clash against West Indies Samson set the tone up front, and continued to pile on while wickets fell around him. The Kerala batter smashed an unbeaten 97 from just 50 balls to make a statement when India needed him the most | P7 97 n.o Sanju Samson sealed the sF spot with a 97 n.o from 50 balls CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI War escalates after US-Israeli airstrikes kill Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei; Tehran goes on the offensive, hits US allies in Gulf; leaders urge restraint As crisis deepens, India braces for economic impact DIPA K M O NDAL @ New Delhi This videograb combo shows the sequence of large-scale strikes on “the headquarters of the Iranian terror regime” in Tehran on March 1 | PTI Dangerous escalation a g e n c i e s @ Tehran/Tel Aviv IRANIAN Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated by Israel and the United States in a major attack on Iran, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into doubt and raising the risk of protracted regional instability . News agency IRNA announced the 86-year-old’s death on Sunday after a joint US- Israeli aerial bombardment targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. US President Donald Trump threatened that the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week. The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Major General M o h a m m a d Pa kpour, was also declared dead in airstrikes. Also killed was Ali Shamkhani, long a figurehead within Iran’s security establishment, IRNA said. Among the other top officials who died in the strikes were Iran police intelligence chief Gholamreza Rezaian and Smoke billows in Dubai after an Iranian strike. Hundreds of drones and missiles targeted UAE and other Gulf allies of the US after Khamenei’s death | AFP the chief of armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi. The Israeli army announced “large-scale” strikes targeting the “heart of Tehran” for the second day running. Iran formed an interim leadership council to take over. Ayatollah Alireza Arafi was part of it, alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Mohseni-Eje’i. The body will rule until a new leader is selected. In retaliation, Iran fired missiles across the Middle East and Israel, while Israel conducted fresh strikes on Tehran. In Israel, at least nine people were killed as Iranian missiles hit a syna go gue in Beit Shemesh. In the UAE, the defence ministry said three people had died and 58 wounded since Iran’s strikes began on Saturday . In Kuwait, one person was killed and 32 were reportedly wounded. The US military said three service members were killed in the Iran operation. DMK corrupt, stalling maha tragedy Blast at explosives key TN projects: Modi plant kills at least 17 M S T h a n a r a j @ Madurai S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a flurry of attacks on the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, accusing the party of corruption, administrative failure and stalling key infrastructure projects. Addressing a massive gathering of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Madurai, Modi alleged that the DMK has done nothing since coming to power in 2021 but loot the public. “DMK ministers are competing with each other for involvement in scams, such as `365 crore in transfer bribery, `4,700 crore in sand mining, and `40,000 crore in Tasmac irregularities,” he alleged. He cited Congress veteran K Kamaraj as an example At least 17 people were killed and 18 others critically injured in a major explosion at an ammunition manufacturing company near Nagpur on Sunday morning. A powerful blast occurred at 7.00 am, triggering massive flames in the Nonal crimping plant area, which spread to adjoining sections of the facility located in Raulgaon village, approximately 25 km from Nagpur city . Sources said 35 workers and two supervisors were present at the time of the incident. A new shift had begun at 6 am. The bodies were charred beyond recognition. Samples of the family members were being taken for DNA testing, the police said. The factory belonged to a major manufacturer of industrial explosives, including materials used for mining and infrastructure projects, such as detonators and explosive cartridges. The incident comes a day after a blast at a cracker unit in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada district claimed 21 lives. PM Modi with AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday | k k sundar of honesty in politics. Taking a swipe at the Congress, he said that Tamil Nadu was the first state to liberate itself from the national party’s rule. “Out of vengeance, the Congress gave away Katchatheevu, and the DMK in the state did nothing to stop it,” he claimed.  P5 Self-reliance in focus at ThinkEdu 2026 ance in the nation’s most important pillar of growth. Presented by Rajalakshmi The ThinkEdu Conclave re- Engineering College and Tata turns to Chennai for Consultancy Services its 14th edition with (TCS), the conclave ove r 4 5 s p e a ke r s will be inaugurated drawn from diverse by Tamil Nadu Goverfields set to explore nor R N Ravi, setting t h e d eve l o p m e n t s the tone for discusshaping India’s educasions that span detion system. With the fence strategy emerg, theme of ‘Education ing technologies and THINKEDU for Atmanirbhar the evolving role of CONCLAVE Bharat 2047’, the twoyo u t h i n n a t i o n day event beginning building. Monday aims to spark converFormer Air Chief Marshal sations on AI, policy, culture, Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauleadership and trends signal- ria, former Director General of ling a churn towards self-reli- the Assam Rifles Lieutenant Express News Service @ Chennai Presents General (Retd) Shokin Chauhan and former Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Luxembourg, Belgium and European Union Manjeev Singh Puri, in their sessions will examine India’s place in a tumultuous world order. While West Bengal Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose, senior BJP leader K Annamalai and former civil servant Dr Irai Anbu will discuss the realm of public service in their sessions, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Shuddhidananda, president of Advaita Ashrama, will address the need for spirituality in our public and inner lives.  P5 So far 500 speakers With over 500 speakers and 280 sessions over 14 editions, the ThinkEdu Conclave promises to bring policymakers, educators, technologists, and students under one roof to redefine education’s role in a rapidly changing world Modi chairs CCS meet to review situation R a j e s h K u m a r T h a k u r @ New Delhi AS the war between Iran and US-Israel escalates, India is bracing for a range of macroeconomic adversity Crude oil prices, which had already been firm. ing up amid rising tension, shot up from around $65 per barrel to $72-73 per barrel over the past few days. Going forward, the volatility in oil, currency and eq, uity markets is expected to remain high. At the heart of the economic concern is the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20% of global petroleum liquids and a fifth of global LNG shipments transit. India, which conFor every $1/barrel sumes 5.5 million barrels of crude rise in Brent price, oil per day and imports more than there would be an impact of `0.52/ 80% of its requirement, is particlitre on diesel and ularly exposed. Around 1.5-2 mil`0.55/litre on lion barrels per day of India’s petrol retail prices crude imports pass through this narrow corridor. In FY25, nearly Madhavi Arora, 50% of India’s crude oil imports Economist, and 54% of LNG imports were Emkay Global routed via Hormuz. Any disruption — or even the perception of risk — can inject a geopolitical premium into oil prices. India gets a large part of its crude from West Asia. While refiners can diversify supplies to the US, Africa or South America, global oil benchmarks determine pricing. Elevated crude prices would still translate into a higher import bill. Experts warn higher crude prices raise fuel and transportation costs, feeding into broader inflation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Sunday night to review the rapidly escalating situation in West Asia following the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel and the killing of Iranian Sup r e m e L e a d e r Ay a t o l l a h A l i Khamenei. Modi landed in the national capital around 9.30 pm after wrapping up a two-day tour of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. The CCS, headed by the Prime Minister, includes Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as other members. Senior government officials also took part in the meeting. Sources said the discussions focused on the safety of Indian nationals in the region. Nearly 10,000 Indians are in Iran, over 40,000 in Israel, and about nine million across West Asia and the Gulf. With flight services disrupted due to the military escalation in West Asia, hundreds of Indians are stranded in Dubai and other key hub airport .