coimbatore l monday l march 02, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION Sanju Samson thanks the heavens after helping India beat West Indies with an unbeaten 97. India will face England in semifinal on March 5 | Debadatta Mallick 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 Self-reliance in focus at ThinkEdu ’26 E x pr e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai The ThinkEdu Conclave returns to Chennai for its 14th edition with over 45 speakers drawn from diverse fields set to explore the developments shaping India’s education system. With the theme of ‘Education for Atmanirbhar Bharat 2047’, the two-day event beginning Monday aims to spark conversations on AI, policy, culture, leadership and trends signalling a churn towards self-reliance in the nation’s most important pillar of growth. Presented by Sastra University, Rajalakshmi Engineering College and TCS, the conTHINKEDU clave will be inCONCLAVE augurated by Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, setting the tone for discussions that span defence strategy emerg, ing technologies and the evolving role of youth in nation-building. Former Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, former Director General of the Assam Rifles Lieutenant General (Retd) Shokin Chauhan and former Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Luxembourg, Belgium and European Union Manjeev Singh Puri will examine India’s place in a tumultuous world order.  P5 Presents War escalates after US-Israeli airstrikes kill Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei; Tehran goes on the offensive, hits US allies in Gulf 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. The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Major General Mohammad Pakpour, 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 the chief of armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi. Iran formed an interim leadership council to take over. Ayatollah Alire za 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. Modi chairs CCS meet to review situation Rajesh Kumar Thakur @ New Delhi 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 Amid crisis, India braces for economic impact D I PAK M O N D AL @ 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 firming 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 equity markets is expected to remain high. E x p r e s s Re a d DMK corrupt, stalling key TN projects: Modi Chennai: PM 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. He alleged that the DMK has done nothing since coming to power but loot the public | P5 At least 17 dead, 18 injured in blast at explosives plant near Nagpur Mumbai: 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 in Raulgaon village, 25 km from Nagpur city. Sources said 35 workers and two supervisors were present at the time of incident. 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 consumes 5.5 million barrels of crude oil per day and imports more than 80% of its requirement, is particularly exposed. Around 1.5-2 million barrels per day of India’s crude imports pass through this narrow corridor. In FY25, nearly 50% of India’s crude oil imports and 54% of LNG imports were routed via Hormuz. Experts warn the macroeconomic transmission to India is imminent; higher crude prices raise fuel and transportation costs, feeding into broader inflation. Manoranjan Sharma, chief economist at Informerics Ratings, said the immediate consequence would be rising inflationary pressure triggered by higher energy prices. 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 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali 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. 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 .