MONDAY IT’S CLOSE BATTLE AT THE 98TH OSCARS 16 Two frontrunner films, One Battle and Sinners, have a chance of breaking the all-time Oscar wins record at the nail-biter Academy Awards in LA. The ceremony will be hosted for a second year running by Conan O’Brien MARCH, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in BEST DIRECTOR facebook.com/TheMorningStandard Reports quoting Oscars insiders said the Academy is likely to honour One Battle director Paul Anderson, but Sinners director Ryan Coogler is equally deserving Coogler could become the first-ever Black person to win Best Director in the 98-year history of the Oscars X.com/TheMornStandard P E A C E TA L K S UKRAINE READY FOR NEXT ROUND Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he is ready for the next round of trilateral peace talks to end the country’s war with Russia PAGE 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00 POLL SEASON BEGINS Election dates for Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry announced POLL Didi clears DA SCHEDULE RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi CHIEF Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday announced the polling schedule of four states and one Union territory, setting the stage for high-stakes electoral battles that could impact the political future of the ruling TMC in West Bengal, DMK in Tamil Nadu, BJP in Assam, and CPI(M) in Kerala. Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry will go to polls on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will have voting on April 23. West Bengal will vote in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The results, for all, will be out on May 4. Out of West Bengal’s 294 constituencies, 152 assembly segments will vote on April 23 and the remaining on April 29. The two-phase polling marks a significant shift compared with the 8-phase election in 2021. West Bengal, held by Mamata Banerjee-led TMC since 2011, is headed for a fight to finish as the BJP is trying hard to win. “This election is more crucial for us than contests in other states,” a BJP leader said. In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK is facing stiff challenge from AIADMK-BJP alliance. APRIL 9 Assam 126 seats Kerala 140 seats Puducherry 30 seats Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during a press meet | PTI Bypolls in 8 seats ECI announced bypolls for eight seats in six states. Bagalkot and Davnagere South in Karnataka, Goa’s Ponda, Dharmanagar in Tripura and Nagaland’s Koridang will vote on April 9; Gujarat’s Umreth and Maharashtra’s Baramati and Rahuri on April 23 The Congress is confident of winning Kerala, currently held by the CPM which is eyeing a third term, while the BJP is also fancying its chances. BJP-ruled Assam is another state the Congress is trying to stage a comeback. In Puducherry, the ruling AINRC-BJP coalition is hopeful of retaining power. P8 APRIL 23 Tamil Nadu 234 seats April 23 & 29 (2 phases) West Bengal 294 seats RESULTS MAY 4 824 Seats across 4 states and 1 Union Territory 17.4 cr Voters eligible to cast votes dues, hikes clergy pay just in time S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata MINUTES before the Election Commission announced the Assembly election schedules in four states and Puducherry on Sunday Chief Minister Mamata Ban, erjee in poll-bound West Bengal announced a hike in honorarium for purohits and muezzins, and the clearance of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to government employees. She made the announcement on X at 2.40 pm, 80 minutes before the 4 pm press conference by the Election Commission to announce the poll schedule. “I am pleased to announce an increase of `500 in the monthly honorariums extended to our purohits and muezzins,” she wrote on X. Addressing state government employees, she said, “They will start receiving their ROPA 2009 DA arrears from March 2026 onwards.” It comes amid a standoff between the state government and its employees. The Supreme Court had directed the government to pay a portion of the DA arrears by March 31.  PAGES 12 BEST FILM: Leonardo DiCaprio-starring political thriller One Battle is neckand-neck with Michael B Jordan’s bluesy vampire horror Sinner. BEST ACTOR: Michael B Jordan or Timothée Chalamet could win their first Academy Award in a too-close-to-call best actor race Clear favourites: A sure thing appears to be best actress nominee Jessie Buckley, who plays William Shakespeare’s wife in Hamnet Sean Penn is viewed as the favourite for the best supporting actor award for his comic yet terrifying portrayal of a soldier in One Battle | P9 Iran keeps up hard talk, open to negotiations on Strait of Hormuz A G E N C I E S @ Tehran / Tel Aviv IRAN’S Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Iran was not interested in talks with the US, pushing back on President Donald Trump’s stance that Tehran wants a deal to end the war. “We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people ... we don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans,” Araghchi told CBS in an interview. His remarks came on the 16th day of the war that has jolted energy and oil prices across the world. On Sunday at , 70 MEDICAL STUDENTS RETURN TO NEW DELHI New Delhi: Nearly 70 out of 101 medical students who left Iran on Saturday reached Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday via Armenia and Dubai. Upset and angry with the Indian government not bearing their travel and boarding expenses, the students refused to speak to newspersons waiting to meet them | P7 DAY 16 least eight people were injured in Israel following missile launches from Iran even as even as Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon. Araghchi said Iran was ready to talk to countries that want safe passge through the Strait of Hormuz. An Indian-flagged crude tanker sailed out safely from UAE’s Fujairah after loading oil on Sunday Jag Laadki is the . fourth Indian-flagged vessel to have come out of the war zone unharmed. STUDENTS LET OFF HOURS BEFORE HC SPECIAL SITTING U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi DELHI Police acted with speed to address the grievances of students, who had been allegedly abducted, on the night before their habeas corpus petition was scheduled to be heard at a special sitting of the Delhi High Court on Sunday . The activists’ counsels told the high court in the special hearing that after being de- tained illegally by the police on Friday, they were released in the early hours of Sunday, hours before the court sat for the special hearing. The counsel informed the special bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja that after releasing the activists, the police “put pressure” on their families to withdraw the petition filed before the CONTINUED ON P3 high court. KITCHEN ANXIETY IN CAPITAL Small food vendors and restaurant owners suffer from increased cost of cylinders, struggle to keep daily business afloat| P4