DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SPECIAL INTENSIVE REVISION ROW: DRAFT ROLL LEFT OUT 65 LAKH NAMES Use Aadhaar, any of 11 listed papers for inclusion claim: SC on Bihar rolls Asks parties to let BLAs assist in claim form submission NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 WITH INDIAN oil refiners intensifyingtheircrudediversification efforts amid the increasing weaponisation of trade tariffs by US President Donald Trump against New Delhi, another country targeted by Trump appears eager to boost oil trade with India. India’s crude oil imports from Brazil — which, like India, faces 50 per cent tariff from the US — posted the highest growth among all oil suppliers in the first six months of 2025, and have grown further from there, according to an analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights (SPGCI). “Sky-high US tariffs are promptingIndiaandBraziltoexplore opportunities to boost oil trade, as New Delhi looks for alternatives to Russian oil, while Brazil scouts for newer markets for its growing crude output… Russian oil flows to India continue, but Indian refiners are preparing for the worst by continuingtodiversifytheirsources, a move that could lead to Brazilian crude flows to India,” SPGCI said in a note. So far this year,BrazilhasbeenIndia’sninth biggest supplier of crude oil. Indianrefiners’heftyimports of Russian crude have surfaced as a major irritant for the Trump administration.TheUSPresident recently announced an additional 25 per cent tariff — over and above the 25 per cent tariff announced earlier on Indian goods — as a penalty for India’s Russian oil imports. New Delhi has called the targeting of India over the purchase of Russian oil “unjustified and unreasonable” and said these imports began as its traditional supplies were diverted to Europe, with the US having “actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD THE SUPREME Court Friday directed the Election Commission of India to let those excluded from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls submit their claim forms online, or physically, along with their Aadhaar card or any of the 11 documents listed by the Commission. An estimated 65 lakh names were excluded from the draft voter list following the Special IntensiveRevisionexerciseinthe poll-bound state. Stating that its attempt is to see that the entire exercise is “voter friendly”, the bench of JusticesSuryaKantandJoymalya A race against ● time SUBMISSION OF claims for inclusion in the voter list will be a race against time. That window closes on September 1. There have been pleas for more time to complete the SIR exercise. As of date, the SC has not extended the time period. The matter will be heard next on September 8. OPP PARTIES HAIL SC DECISION PAGE 6 Bagchi asked Bihar’s 12 recognised political parties to instruct their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to assist voters in submitting claim forms. Hearing pleas by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and others challenging the SIR, the bench, on August 14 when the matter was last heard, had issued a set of directions to the EC to make available — both online and offline — the list of the estimated 65 lakh voters whose names had not been included in the draft rolls, alongwiththereasonsforexclusion. OnThursday,theEC,through an application, informed the bench that it had complied with RAVIK BHATTACHARYA & ATRI MITRA LONG QUEUES of men and women, clutching papers, are formed in front of six tables under a tarpaulin sheet. As they reach the tables, they hand over their forms to more than 20 volunteers, who ask questions, check and file the papers, and give the applicants receipts. A Matua heartland located about 90 km from Kolkata, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The crowd at a camp in Thakurnagar, about 90 km from Kolkata. Partha Paul Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Begusarai on Friday. PTI ‘Saw how files were signed from jail’: PM on Bills against arrested ministers GAYA, AUGUST 22 IN HIS first comments on the Bills to remove a Central or State Minister who is facing allegations of corruption or serious offencesandhasbeendetainedfor at least 30 days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the practice of an elected representative sitting in jail and signingoff on government files must change. Speaking in Bihar, he GOVT & POLITICS PM DIDN’T SPEAK ON ‘VOTE CHORI’: RAHUL INBIHAR PAGE 6 also flagged the threat of demographicchangeinthestate’sborder districts, saying the ‘Demography Mission’ he announced on Independence Day is meant to counter this. “There is a law that if a junior government employee is held in custody for 50 hours, he or she is automatically suspended. Be it a driver, a junior clerk, or a peon, theirlifeiscompletelyruined.But if someone is a Chief Minister, a minister, or the Prime Minister, they can enjoy the privileges of power even from jail. How can this be allowed?” Modi asked. He said that since his tenure began as Prime Minister in 2014, in all these years, “not a single CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘IIT graduate, St Kitts resident’: The many lives of man held in `65-cr Ponzi scheme PAGE 1 ANCHOR MANISH KUMAR PATHAK MUMBAI, AUGUST 22 ONJULY6,PratikRadhakrishnan wasdrivingaroundBengaluruin arentedluxurycar,whenhewas stopped by the police.Withthat, the 35-year-old’s dream run came to a halt. From chartered helicopters fordomestictravelandhigh-end motorcycles to three wristwatchesworthatleastRs25lakh each and a citizenship of Saint Kitts under an assumed name of RohanMenon—Radhakrishnan, who claims to have graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)Madras,wasarrested for allegedly running a Rs 65-crore Ponzi scheme. The investigation has revealedthat30peoplefromPune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kerala and Chennai had invested in his fake firm in less than a year. The Mumbai Police were as deadline looms: Confused voters, officials in a rush At a camp for BLOs set up at the government high school in Sitamarhi’s Parihar block in Bihar. Damini Nath DAMINI NATH SITAMARHI, AUGUST 22 THAKURNAGAR (NORTH 24 PARGANAS), AUGUST 22 Pratik Radhakrishnan, alias Rohan Menon, was held from Bengaluru in July alerted to his scheme in June by a 62-year-old man, who had invested Rs 5.24 crore in Radhakrishnan’s company, TARS ProjectManagement.Since2024, after he allegedly acquired the SaintKittscitizenshipusingforged papers, Radhakrishnan had been attracting investments under his assumednameof RohanMenon. According to the Mumbai Police, the FIR against Radhakrishnan, who grew up in Chennai, was filed by the 62year-old resident of Mumbai’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DELHI-NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION SC modifies ‘harsh’ order, says stray dogs to be released A story of two camps after sterilisation CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SIR in mind, rush for ‘Hindu’, ‘Matua’ cards near Bengal’s Bangladesh border HIMANSHU HARSH ISRAEL MINISTER SAYS GAZA CITY MAY BE DESTROYED, NEW ATTACKS KILL 17 FORMER SRI LANKA PRESIDENT RANIL HELD ON STATE FUND MISUSE CHARGE P 16 E E X P L A I NE D ANANTHAKRISHNAN G Targeted by Trump, India & Brazil set to deepen crude oil supply ties `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 TWO CAMPS — one with an enquirydeskandatrickleofvisitors, the other packed with officials and their volunteers huddled around cellphones. The first camp, at the Block Development OfficeinSitamarhi’sPariharblock, is for electors left out of Bihar's draft roll; the other camp, at an adjoining school, is to help officialsuploaddocumentsofpotential voters. Aspartof thesecondphaseof the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR), WHAT WILL NOT COUNTINBIHAR electorsandpoliticalpartieshave time until September 1 to make claimsandraiseobjectionstothe CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Only aggressive dogs or those with rabies to be kept in shelters: Bench ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 TERMING ITS earlier order on confining stray dogs in DelhiNCR to dedicated shelters instead of releasing them as “too harsh”, the Supreme Court on Friday directed that these dogs should be returned to the area fromwheretheywerepickedup after sterilisation, deworming and vaccination, in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023. Thecourt,however,“clarified that this relocation shall not apply to dogs infected with rabies or suspected to be infected with rabies,andthosethatdisplayaggressive behaviour”. “Such dogs shall be sterilised and immunised, but under no circumstances should they be released back onto the streets. Furthermore, as far as possible, such stray dogs shall be kept in a separate pound/shelter after sterilisationandimmunisation,” a three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria said. Expanding the scope of the case beyond the confines of Delhi-NCR,thecourtdirectedthat allStatesandUnionTerritoriesbe impleaded in the matter. It also saidthatallrelatedcasespending before various High Courts CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DOG LOVERS TOLD TO PAY FOR INFRA THE BENCH asked individual “dog lovers” and NGOs, who approached the court against the earlier order, to deposit Rs 25,000 and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, within a week to continue being heard in the matter. “THE AMOUNTS so deposited shall be utilised in the creation of infrastructure and facilities for the stray dogs under the aegis of the respective municipal bodies,” the bench said. CITY ANIMAL LOVERS CELEBRATE; MCD TO MARK FEEDING SPOTS SOON PAGE 4