DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, PATNA, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 PHASE 1 NOMINATIONS CLOSE, MONDAY DEADLINE FOR PHASE 2 93 121 149 76 Don’t suspect foul play in Zubeen death, say police in Singapore SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, OCTOBER 17 THE SINGAPORE police, in a statementissuedonFriday,have said that “based on preliminary investigations”,they“donotsuspect foul play” in singer Zubeen Garg’s death. Garg, 52, died in Singapore on September 19. He was there as a cultural brand ambassador for the North East India Festival, Singapore,whichwasscheduled SeatpacteludesMahagathbandhan, partiesgotheirownwayinfirstphase Tussle over a dozen constituencies in Bihar, RJD vs Congress on some SANTOSH SINGH & ASAD REHMAN PATNA, NEW DELHI, OCT 17 REFLECTING THE confusion and thetusslewithin,theOpposition Mahagathbandhan in Bihar failed to announce a seat-sharing pact Friday as nominations closed for the first of the two-phase Assembly elecDECISION tions in the state. 2025 Partners of the BIHAR alliancefilednominationpapersforall121seatsgoingtopollsinthefirstphase—the total strength of the Bihar House is243—whiletalkscontinuedto end the deadlock over seats. The lastdateforfilingnominationsfor the remaining 122 seats in the DECISION 2025 BIHAR ● Tickets to Muslims shrink, Nitish, Chirag say ‘resolve intact’ ● Seemanchal heavyweight’s sons head for a clash ● Why Maithili Thakur stands out in field full of Bhojpuri stars PAGE8 second phase is Monday. The Mahagathbandhan, comprising the RJD, Congress, CPI (ML-L), CPI (M), CPI and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Backchannels, firm line and oil prices behind return to Metres apart, RJD office keeps all India-US talks table waiting, BJP HQ in full poll mode HIMANSHU HARSH PATNA, OCTOBER 17 THE FINAL nomination day for 121 seats in the first phase of Biharelectionscomingtoaclose Friday,theofficesof thetwomain parties of the two main camps, located metres from each other onPatna’sBeerChandPatelPath, are pictures in contrast. A man leans against a huge replica of the party’s lantern symbol at the RJD headquarters, his voice cutting through the murmurs of a small group. “Seats and fields should have been divided much earlier; we shouldn't have left room for this tug-of-war,” he says. Thethoughtseemstobewrit Union Home Minister Amit Shah meets Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in Patna on Friday. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and DY CM Samrat Choudhary are also seen. PTI large on all faces streaming in and out of the RJD office, a blur of white kurta-pyjamas, as the Mahagathbandhan comprising the RJD, Congress, Left parties and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP)missedthecrucialdeadline CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 `58-cr digital arrest: Victim was targeted months after he got `50 cr from shares MOHAMED THAVER MUMBAI, OCTOBER 17 JUST MONTHS before a 72-yearold man in Mumbai fell prey to a Rs 58-crore digital arrest scam, one of the largest cyber cons in the country, he received Rs 50 croreforliquidatinghissharesin a pharmaceutical company where he was a partner, The Indian Express has learnt. While the money came into hisaccount“earlierthisyear”,officers associated with the probe told this newspaper, the man was first contacted via video call by digital scamsters on August 19. Subsequently, sources said, the scamsters forced the victim tovisitfourbankswhereheheld accounts for 27 days across a 40day period to transfer money to various “mule accounts” while they listened in on an “active phone call” to "keep a tab". INSIDE AANCHAL MAGAZINE & ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 WITH INDIAN negotiators back inWashingtonthisweekforarenewed push to seal the India-US tradedeal,thereareatleastthree factors that seem relevant to these fresh deliberations. One, “backchannel” talks, as part of the diplomatic spadework, are learnt to have continued even when trade relations deteriorated. Moreover, on the defence and strategic dialogue, sources said, it has been “very good business as usual.” This is onekeyreasonwhystrategicties are on track even if trade talkssputteror face hurdles. New Delhi’s ● expectation is that if all goes wellwiththetradenegotiations, Indiacouldseethetwosetsof US tariffs, adding up to 50 per cent, being replaced by a “much lower” number. Two, the Indian position has been adequately clarified to the Americans that there are certain things which India will not yield on, even if there is a cost to pay for it and that New Delhi is willing to bear some pain on certain issues of principles, a government official said. And that India’s stance of passive resistance, while not be- & GOVT RESPONSE EXPLAINED CLIMATE BEHIND THE UNPRECEDENTED RISE IN CO2 LEVELS PAGE 17 BY UNNY ing an aggressive stance like that adopted by China, is ostensibly working. New Delhi’s view is that it will not compromise on its strategic autonomy and will not be dictated to by anyone on whom it should be doing business with, particularly when it comes to Russia, a key and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE IS SHINDE SENA’S POSTER IN MUMBAI TARGETED AGAINST BJP? MORE TO IT THAN MEETS THE EYE PAGE 12 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL E ‘ASSAULT ON RULE OF LAW’: SC SEEKS CBI “The victim fell for the scam becausehebelieveditwaslinked to the money he had received earlier this year,” an officer said. The Maharashtra Cyber police, which is probing the case, arrested seven persons in the case on Wednesday and Thursday. “The fake video calls, we suspect, were made from Rajasthan and Gujarat while the seven persons arrested so far in the case are from in and around Mumbai. These are basically people who provided their bank accountstomovemoneyaround in exchange for a commission,” US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office. AP EXPLAINED 18/10/2025 INDIAN NEGOTIATORS IN WASHINGTON A CONVERSATION WITH SKY Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Devendra Pandey, Deputy Associate Editor, The Indian Express, with India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Friday. Amit Chakravarty HATHRAS: POLICE CLOSE CASE, SUSPEND TWO OFFICERS PAGE 6 SEEKS RS 992 CRORE 2 held after ‘encounter’, 1 of them Ministry pushes back on deep fund injured, freed for lack of evidence cut for rural training institute MANISH SAHU & NEETIKA JHA LUCKNOW, HATHRAS, OCTOBER 17 A week after two persons were arrested by the Hathras Police following an alleged shootout, they were released due to “lack of evidence” in two cases — a robbery, and an attempt to murder and Arms Act FIRs — filed against them. AdditionalSuperintendentof Police (ASP), Hathras, Ashok Kumar Singh, said: “The closure report has been filed in both the robbery and attempt to murder casesduetolackof evidence.The two accused have now been released from jail.” Circle Officer, Hathras, Yogendra Krishna Narayan, who issupervisingtheprobe,alsosaid: “Theclosurereporthasbeenfiled on the basis of insufficient evidence found during the investi- gationofthecase.”Headdedthat thecasecouldbereopenedif any new evidence is found.” The incident had sparked controversy after their families claimed the encounter was fake and that the two — a minor, according to the family, and Sonu aliasOmveer(30)—werepicked up from their homes. Following the allegations, two police officers were suspended and separate inquiries were ordered by CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 FIRST STRIPPED of almost all its funding, now poised for a near `1,000-crore rescue. Months after the Finance Ministry cut its allocation to a token `1 lakh – down sharply from `73.68croreinthepreviousyear’s revised estimates – the Rural Development Ministry is now pushingforfundinfusionintothe Hyderabad-based National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), the government’s apex rural training institute. TheMinistrycirculatedanote on October 13 seeking the Union Cabinet’sapprovalforaninfusion of`992.26crore–`575croreasan Endowment Fund and `417.26 crore to meet pension liabilities. The proposal, The Indian Express has learnt, seeks to “ensure the seamless functioning of NIRD&PR and facilitate its transformation into a Centre of ExcellenceorDeemedUniversity” following its “disengagement” from the Ministry. Disengagement means the government will no longer provide annual budgetary support to the institute. An email sent to the Rural Development Ministry did not elicit a response. Established in 1958, the NIRD&PRisanautonomousbody under the Ministry and is describedasthegovernment’s“apex CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Curb on use of ‘ORS’ term brings to light Hyderabad doctor’s 8-yr fight PAGE 1 ANCHOR ANONNA DUTT NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 ADIABETICchildfromChennaiis rushedtotheICU,severelydehydrated. His parents had done everything right — or so they thought. They had given him a tetra-pack “ORS” drink after he beganvomitingandpassingloose stools.Bythetimehereachedthe hospital, his condition had spiraled into an emergency. In another part of the coun- try, a young girl recovering from burn injuries suddenly becomes critical because of dehydration. Her caregivers, too, had been faithfully administering a storebought “ORS” product. The common thread in both stories? Packaged, flavoured drinks that claimed to be “ORS solutions”. For years, Hyderabad-based paediatrician Dr Sivaranjini Santhosh has been collecting stories like these — heartbreaking accounts from parents, colleagues and anxious relatives who reach out to her through her social media platforms. Her aim has been to ensure that chil- dren with diarrhoea do not end up consuming flavoured, sweetened beverages in place of the genuine Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), a landmark discoveryinmedicinepioneeredby Dr Dilip Mahalanabis. OnWednesday,thecountry’s food regulator issued an order banning all beverages from using the term ORS in their trademarked name, withdrawing an earlier order allowing the term with disclaimers. Over the last decade or so, several tetra-pack products claiming to be ORS have entered the market without actually adhering to the sugar and salt ra- tios needed for a person to effectively absorb the water they are drinking, Dr Santhosh told The Indian Express. Her journey started with educating people on social media around eight years ago — she saw children coming to her clinics who were severely dehydrated despite being given what the parents assumed was an ORS solution. But she knew that was not enough. These products were not only giving children excess sugar, they were actively harming their health. “Even if a product carries the warning ‘not ORS’ — which many of the new products do not — people still think Hyderabad paediatrician Dr Sivaranjini Santhosh thatitisanORSsolutionbecause that’swhatthebrandnamesuggests. It misleads people into choosing products that can actually worsen the diarrhoea in children and may even lead to deaths if timely medical intervention does not happen,” said Dr Santhosh. “ORS is a medical product that has saved millions of lives. Around13%of thedeathsinchildren under the age of five years happen because of diarrhoea and ORS is an effective tool for preventing these deaths. There is a fixed formula for how much glucose, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride has to be there in the ORS solution. This formula is such that the sugar and salt actually pull water with them into the body and rehydrate a person. Any excess sugar will actually pull the water back into the gut and worsen the diarrhoea,” she explained. In her eight-year long journeytoensurethatpeoplearenot misled, she went to the Telangana High Court, wrote to the health minister and the prime minister. “I knew I had to stopthiswhenIsawseverelydehydrated children coming into my clinics, when my colleagues reported that children ended up in ICUs because they were given these tetra-pack solutions that did not really help.” But there were several ups and downs. At first, she did not even know who she should reach out to.“Beingamedicalproduct,Iassumed that the drug regulator (Central Drugs and Standards Control Organisation) would regulate these products. When theywrotebacktome,Iwassurprised to find out that it was actually the food regulator.” Dr Santhosh also wrote to medical associations to discontinue sponsorships from these products. “I was isolated, people CONTINUED ON PAGE 2