DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SETS NOV 21 DEADLINE TO WIND UP DEALS WITH ROSNEFT, LUKOIL USslapssanctionsontop2Russianoil firmstopushMoscowintopeacetalks EU, too, unveils fresh set of sanctions, targets Russian shadow fleet, crypto Curbs tighten tap, leave India with headroom to taper off Russia crude SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 23 INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS FROM CHINA’SGDPDATA PAGE 19 ANDREW OSBORN, JEFF MASON & TIMOTHY GARDNER MOSCOW, OCTOBER 23 USPRESIDENTDonaldTrumphit Russia’stwobiggestoilcompanies with sanctions in a sharp policy shiftonMoscow’swarinUkraine, promptingglobaloilpricestorise by 5% Thursday and India to consider cutting Russian imports. Thesanctionstargetoilgiants Rosneft and Lukoil, which between them account for more than 5% of global oil output, and mark a dramatic U-turn by Trump, who said only last week that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin would soon hold a summit in Budapest to try to end the war in Ukraine. But Trump, in his latest about-face on the conflict, said Wednesday that the planned summitwasoff becauseitwould not achieve the outcome he wanted and complained thathis many“goodconversations”with TRUMP CANCELS MEET WITH PUTIN ‘Cancelled meeting (with Putin)... didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get’ DONALD TRUMP US PRESIDENT ‘No self-respecting country ever decides anything under pressure’ VLADIMIR PUTIN RUSSIAN PRESIDENT ‘(Sanctions) a signal to other countries...’ VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT Putin did not “go anywhere”. “We cancelled the meeting CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INDIA’SOILimportsfromRussia, its biggest supplier, may fall sharply following the imposition of sanctions by the US on Russian oil ● majors Rosneft andLukoil,industry insiders and experts told The Indian Express Thursday. While it is still too early to estimate the actual impact of the US sanctions, industry sources E EXPLAINED US President Donald Trump at White House on Wednesday; Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting Thursday EXPLAINED SEAT-SHARING DEAL STILL AWAITED United Opp names Tejashwi CM face, Sahani his deputy More names for Deputy CM can be considered after polls, says Cong RIL may attune its oil imports in line with Govt decision THE WORLD RUBIO WARNS ISRAEL NOT TO ANNEX WEST BANK CHINA’S NEW 5-YEAR PLAN: FOCUS ON INDUSTRY AND TECH NEW PENTAGON PRESS CORPS FILLED WITH CONSERVATIVE OUTLETS PAGE 18 `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 THE WORLD EU VOWS TO FUND UKRAINEFOR TWO YEARS USING FROZEN RUSSIAN ASSETS P18 saidthatgovernment-ownedrefiners are already evaluating compliance risks in a bid to ensure that whatever Russian oil they buy henceforth is not being sourced directly from Rosneft, Lukoilandtheirnumerousarms. Banks, too, are expected to avoid transactionsinvolvingpayments to the sanctioned entities to avoid risk of attracting secondary sanctions from Washington. Private sector refining giant Reliance Industries (RIL), which alone accounts for around half of India’s Russian oil imports and sources a bulk of its Russian oil purchases from Rosneft under termdeal,couldseeamassivecut in its oil imports from Moscow. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORTS PAGES 10, 17 No meeting with Trump as PM to attend ASEAN summit online Jaishankar to take part on October 27 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 23 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi willnottraveltoMalaysiaforthe ASEAN(Associationof SouthEast Asian Nations) leaders’ summit, but will attend the meeting virtually on October 26 instead. The Ministry of External PM Narendra Modi; Malaysia PM Anwar Ibrahim Affairs (MEA) said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent Modi at the summit (From left) VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, CPI (M-L) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Cong leader Ashok Gehlot in Patna on Thursday. Rahul Sharma on October 27. In a post on X, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he had received a phone call fromModi,informinghimthathe would attend the summit online “given the Deepavali festival”. Confirmingthathewouldnot be travelling to Malaysia, Modi posted on X: “Had a warm conversation with my dear friend, PrimeMinisterAnwarIbrahimof Malaysia. Congratulated him on Malaysia’sASEANChairmanship CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SANTOSH SINGH & ASAD REHMAN PATNA, NEW DELHI, OCT 23 AFTER DAYS of negotiations, the Congress Thursday finally announced RJD leader Tejashwi Yadavasthechiefministerfaceof the Mahagathbandhan. In addition,VikassheelInsaanParty(VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani was declared the alliance’s deputy chief minister face, with Congress leader Ashok Gehlot saying they could consider other names too as Deputy CMs after the polls. The Indian Express had reported that among the main issuesholdinguptheseat-sharing deal between the RJD and Congress was the Congress’s refusal to endorse Tejashwi as the CM face before the polls. DECISION 2025 BIHAR ● Intheend,NDAMLAs willpickNitishasCM, saysChiragPaswan ● BoostforTejashwi asINDIAbloc’sCM questionissettled ● EBCweightwithhim, Sahanimakesasplash PAGE8 Theannouncementregarding Tejashwi and Sahani was made byseniorCongressleaderGehlot at a joint INDIA bloc press briefing showcasing “unity” between CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Four ‘gangsters’ from Bihar gunned down in late-night encounter in Delhi INSIDE ALOK SINGH, HIMANSHU HARSH & PRAGYNESH SLAIN GANGSTERS ACCUSED INFIVE CONTRACT KILLINGS NEW DELHI, PATNA, OCT 23 MORE REPORTS, PAGE 4 At the site of the shootout in Delhi’s Rohini on Thursday. PTI Illegal Indian immigrant truck driver held as crash kills 3 in US EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 23 A 21-YEAR-OLD Indian-origin truck driver has been arrested afterheallegedlyrammedhissemitruckintomultiplevehicles,killing three people and injuring several others,inCaliforniaonOctober21, according to a media report. The driver, identified as Jashanpreet Singh of Yuba City, Jashanpreet Singh; second crash since Aug involving Indian driver hasbeenarrestedfordrivingunder the influence of drugs and gross vehicular manslaughter, Fox News reported. Quoting police, the report said Singh never hit the brakes of his truck before slamming into the traffic. It also said that toxicology tests confirmed impairment. Citing anonymous immigration officials, Fox News reported that Singh had entered the US illegallyinMarch2022.Hewasreleasedunderthe“alternativesto detention”policyof theprevious Joe Biden administration, which allowscertainmigrantstostayin CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 called “Sigma & Company”, and wasallegedlyinvolvedinseveral recent high-profile killings in Bihar’sSitamarhidistrict.Hewas among Bihar’s most wanted men, and police in the state had announced a reward of `50,000 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK Ensuring Health & Dignity of Elderly CRACKER TO SCARE MONKEYS INJURES DOZENS ON DIWALI CIPLA TO SELL WEIGHT-LOSS DRUG MOUNJARO IN INDIA PAGES 16, 15 Behind Tanvi Sharma’s badminton medal, mother who turned coach PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHIVANI NAIK MUMBAI, OCTOBER 23 FOR MEENA Sharma, mother of world junior badminton silver medallistTanviSharma,the love for a game she played in college, but couldn’t pursue seriously, needed both an outlet and an outcome. So the single mother from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, a physical education teacher, took it upon herself to turn bad- World junior badminton silver medallist Tanvi Sharma with mother Meena minton coach for her children, ensuring 16-year-old Tanvi ended up with a podium finish at the World Junior Championships in Guwahati. It’s for this that, in Punjab, Meena is called the ‘Mahaveer Phogat of badminton’, a referencetothefatherwhodefiedthe odds for his wrestler daughters and whose story inspired the Bollywood hit Dangal. Family finances were often stretched but the mother somehow ensured that Tanvi and her sister Radhika, a national-level shuttler,continuedtoplaytheexpensive sport. “Initially, she just Senior Citizen Health Insurance gets Cheaper wanted us to stay fit and never watchTV.Soshegotusstartedin a sport. Badminton was very expensiveandIdon’tknowhowshe must have managed alone. But it washerdreamthatweplayinthe Olympics and World Championships. She had a talent formanysportsbutdidn’tpursue anybecauseofus.Instead,shebecame a coach herself and taught us both,” recalls Radhika. Back in the day, Meena was a volleyball player but also dabbled in cricket and badminton. Her own sporting experience made her certain that she didn’t Life-saving Drugs become Cheaper CBC 15502/13/0040/2526 FOUR ALLEGED gangsters from Biharwerekilledinanencounter with a team of Delhi Police and Bihar Police personnel in North West Delhi’s Rohini early on Thursday. The men were identified as Ranjan Pathak (25), Bimlesh Mahto (25), Manish Pathak (33), and Aman Thakur (21). According to police, Ranjan Pathak was the leader of a gang CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New Delhi