DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 HAL joins hands with US-sanctioned Russia firm to make regional jets in India MISTRY CAMP GETS A JOLT Tata Trusts votes to oust Mehli Mistry from boards MoU signed, SJ-100 may become first passenger jet to be fully Made in India Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh voted against his renomination MUMBAI, OCTOBER 28 HAL and UAC officials sign an MoU for the production of civil commuter aircraft SJ-100, in Moscow on Monday. ANI SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 28 AT A time when India’s energy and defence ties with Russia have emerged as a major irritant intheIndia-USrelationship,government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has inkeda memorandum of understanding with Russia’s Public Joint Stock Company United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC-UAC) — a company sanctioned by the US and some of its allies — to manufacture the latter’s SJ-100 regional jets in India. Theannouncementcomesas Indian refiners prepare to cut their Russian oil imports following imposition of US sanctions on two of Moscow’s largest oil and gas companies. Notably, PJSC-UAC was CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GOVT & POLITICS CABINET GIVES ITS NOD TO 8TH PAY COMMISSION TERMS OF REFERENCE PAGE 8 People gather for Chhath puja on the banks of the Ganga in Patna on Tuesday. PTI On sidelines of Chhath, SEEKS EXPLANATION WITHIN 3 DAYS women devotees still Enrolled as voter in two states, Prashant Kishor have Nitish on horizon gets poll officer’s notice HIMANSHU HARSH PATNA, OCTOBER 28 previous evening after offering prayers to the setting sun. Men carried “daalis (baskets)” filled with puja material on their heads, followed closely by women, many of whom had been fasting since Monday morning. After arranging their offerings by the riverDECISION 2025 bank, carefully aligning BIHAR the ritual items, they ON TUESDAY, the morningskyinPatnalitupbeforesunrise.Firecrackers illuminated thehorizon, the air echoed with Chhath songs, and childrenranalongtheDigha Ghat of the Ganga. As dawn approached, devoteesbegangathering.Many had spent the night here, others were returning, having left the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS P 6, 8 EU’s top leadership to ‘My honour...won’t step be chief guests at next back’: 78-yr-old farmer year’s Republic Day who took on Kangana SHUBHAJIT ROY KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR IN A first, India is inviting the European Union’s leadership -President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the EuropeanCouncil AntonioCosta —aschief guestsfortheRepublic Day celebrations next year, The Indian Express has learnt. The process of the formal invitation and the official WHEN BOLLYWOOD actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut appeared before a Bathinda court in a defamation case on Monday — she was granted bail after she tendered an apology and said she regretted the “misunderstanding” — many saw the momentas anemotionalvictory for Mohinder Kaur, the 78-year-old farmer who has been fighting a NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 28 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AMRITSAR, OCTOBER 28 Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa EU NEGOTIATORS TO VISIT FOR TRADE TALKS ON NOV 3 P 15 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Silver flares fired into clouds: Delhi takes two shots at summoning rain Mohinder Kaur at her home in Bathinda’s Bahadurgarh Jandian. Kamaldeep Singh Brar BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SOPHIYA MATHEW NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 28 NEARLY 50 years after the last such recorded attempt, Delhi witnessed an artificial rain experiment on Tuesday to tackle surgingairpollutionlevels. With the Capital reeling under an Air Quality Index of 294 (poor), two cloud-seedingtrialswereheldat 12.13 pm and 3.45 pm. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A Cessna 206H plane during the cloud seeding operation over Delhi on Tuesday. ANI RELATEDREPORTS, PAGE4 NETANYAHU ORDERS STRIKES ONGAZA P 14 Guarding data in quantum computers to Life 2.0: Finest GenNext in Indian science PAGE 1 ANCHOR ANONNA DUTT, ANJALI MARAR & ANURADHA MASCARENHAS NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, PUNE, OCTOBER 28 FROM MAKING plants and rice more resilient, and trackingcancer cells in a patient's blood, to keeping data safe in the incoming age of quantum computers, creating life-like matter or “Life 2.0”. These are some of the re- (From left) Dr Satendra K Mangrauthia, Dr Jagdis G Kapuganti, Dr Deepa Agashe, Dr Debarka Sengupta, Dr Dibyendu Das, Prof Arkaprava Basu, Prof Shweta Agarwal search areas that build bridges between disciplines and are being pioneered by the next wave of young Indian scientists who are among the 14 picked this year for the Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards. The award “recognises and encourages young scientists up to the age of 45 years who have made an exceptional contribution in any field of science and technology”. The Indian Express caught up with them. Dr Satendra K Mangrauthia Agricultural Science A senior scientist at Indian Institute of Rice Research in Hyderabad,hesteeredthedevelopment of one of India’s first CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SANTOSH SINGH & RAVIK BHATTACHARYA PATNA, OCTOBER 28 HOURSAFTERTheIndianExpress reported that Prashant Kishor has his name enrolled in the voter lists of two states — West BengalandBihar—theReturning Officer for the Kargahar assembly constituency has issued him a notice, seeking an explanation within three days. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The Express report dated October 28 MEHLIMISTRY,acloseconfidant of Ratan Tata, is on his wayout of Tata Trusts after a majority of trustees voted against his reappointment to the boards of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. These two trusts hold over 51 per cent in Tata Sons Ltd, the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. Threeofthesixtrusteesinthe two trusts opposed Mistry’s renomination through a circular resolution circulated last week. Thesethreetrustees,sourcessaid, are Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, chairman of the TVS Group, and former Defence Secretary Vijay Singh. Mistry was first inducted as trustee in 2022, with his current three-year term expiring on October 28. He will have to step downfromthegoverningboards of the Tata Trusts. Tata Trusts comprises Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust along with their allied trusts. Collectively, the Tata Trusts holds 66 per cent of Tata Sons, making it the most powerful E E X P L A I NE D GEORGE MATHEW What next for Mehli ● Mistry LAST WEEK, Mistry backed Venu Srinivasan’s continuation as a trustee on the condition that all trustees would, in turn, support his own nomination. His exit paves the way for Noel Tata to further consolidate his position within both the Tata Trusts and the broader Tata Group. It remains to be seen if Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata and Jehangir HC Jehangir — members of the Mistry camp — will fall in line or continue to resist the Noel Tata bloc. shareholderintheconglomerate. At the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Darius Khambata and Prameet JhaverisupportedMistry’scontinuation,whileattheSirRatanTata Trust,KhambataandJehangirHC Jehangir voted in his favour. The splitverdictunderscoresgrowing CONTINUED ON PAGE 2