eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE FIFTY YEARS OF SHOLAY AHMEDABAD,LATECITY AUGUST3,2025 Javed Akhtar on writing the iconic film with Salim Khan 16+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM NO NEED TO COUNTER TRUMP’S ASSERTIONS: OFFICIALS To secure US trade deal, key ministries told to list what they can bring to talks table Govt works to increase energy & defence purchase, lower duties on larger percentage of US imports ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, AUGUST 2 FOLLOWING US President Donald Trump’s tariff sledgehammer, the government has kicked off an exercise to thrash out concessions across sectors that can be offered in the tariff negotiations later this month. Key economic ministries have been asked to see what they can still afford to offer to sweeten New Delhi’s deal when the US team is here on August 25. To reach an agreement, the Trump administration has been demanding much more than whatthegovernmenthasoffered in its market access commitments,includingloweringof tariffsacrosstheboardandremoval of non-tariff trade barriers. As policymakers grapple with Trump’s announcement of a25percenttariff ongoodsfrom August7,alongsideanadditional but unspecified “penalty” for its defence and energy imports from Russia, economic ministries have started sending in TOP SUPPLIERS OF CRUDE OIL TO INDIA OILSOURCE IMPORTVOLUME(thousandbarrelsperday) July2025 June2025 July2024 CHANGEINJULY2025 month-on-month year-on-year Russia Iraq SaudiArabia UAE US Nigeria 1,599 926 702 446 364 195 -24% 10.9% 21.2% 3.7% 20.1% 62.5% 2,104 835 579 430 303 120 2,090 797 654 359 261 96 -23.5% 16.2% 7.3% 24.2% 39.5% 103.1% Source: Kpler Even before Trump threat, Indian refiners cut down on Russian oil SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 2 AMID INCREASING pressure fromtheWestandtheUS,Indian refiners led by PSUs began cutting down on oil imports from Russia, much before US President Donald Trump announced an unspecified tariff “penalty” for New Delhi’s defence and energy imports from Moscow. Latest vessel tracking data shows that July deliveries of Russian crude — which would have been contracted May or early June — to refiners dropped significantly. Trade sources also indicated the refiners have, for the time being, halted future contracting of Russian oil, the mainstay of India’s oil imports for the better part of the last three years. India imported 1.6 million barrelsperday(bpd)inJulyfrom Russia, down 24 per cent from June, and 23.5 per cent compared with July last year, according to latest tanker data from globalreal-timedataandanalytics provider Kpler. The share of Russian crude in the oil import basketinJulydroppedsharplyto 33.8 per cent from June’s 44.5 per cent. This drop also likely CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 C RAJA MOHAN TAIPEI, AUGUST 2 FOR ALL the disquiet in Delhi over US President Donald Trump’s sugar-uncoated remarks, his rough and ready tactics on trade, thereneedstobeasobering acknowledgment of two realities: one, like it ornot,toughtacticsoftenwinon the street in a world that’s never stopped being an unfair place; and, two, Trump has prevailed. Most mainstream economists dismissed his approach, warning that his aggressive tariff regime would spell disaster for the US economy. Yet, four months after unveiling his first tariff chart on April 2—dubbed “Liberation Day”— and his second on Friday, Trump has gained enough ground to claimasignificantvictory. Like a gambler, who believes he is on a winning streak, Trump is set to roll the dice for far more sweeping changes in the postwar global financial and technological orders. The US President's bilateral CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM: India to be 3rd largest economy, must be vigilant about own interests INSIDE BHUPENDRA PANDEY ALLY CHANDRABABU IS FIRST CM TO FLAGU.S. TARIFFS TRUMP’S ‘DEAD ECONOMY’ JIBE DOES NOT STAND UP TO SCRUTINY PAGES 9, 12 DAYS AFTER US President Donald Trump called India a “deadeconomy”,PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India was on its way to becoming the world's “third-largest economy” and must remain vigilant about its economic inter- LUCKNOW, AUGUST 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath at a public meeting in Varanasi, Saturday. Express 3 weeks after collapse, work begins to remove tanker stuck on Vadodara bridge ADITI RAJA VADODARA, AUGUST 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Globaltradeandtechorderischanging, talkswithUSbasedonmaintainingstatus quowillleaveIndiamorevulnerable CALLS FOR PLEDGE TO ADOPT ‘SWADESHI’ CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FOR THE last three weeks, a chemical tanker has been precariouslydanglingonafragment of the collapsed section of Mujpur-Gambhira bridge in Vadodara – a grim reminder of the tragedy that left 21 people, a number of them on their way to work, dead on July 9. On Friday night, though, workbegantoremovetheheavy vehicle from the accident site. Given the vulnerable state of the bridge, the authorities have sought help from a Porbandarbasedmarinesalvagefirminthis regard. Closely associated with the Indian Coast Guard, the company is planning to deploy equipmentusedforshiplaunching and lifting vessels in shallow water for inspection. What Trump is actually doing — and why India needs to press reform & reset How search for infant kidnapped from Ahmedabad led police to ‘multi-state child trafficking ring’ BRENDAN DABHI AHMEDABAD, AUGUST 2 The truck seen perched precariously on the bridge as rescue personnel work underneath. File estsamidthe“instabilityanduncertainty” that the global economy is facing. Addressing a public meeting in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, Modi said: “As we talk about economic progress, I want to draw your attention to the current global situation... The global economy is currently facing multiple uncertaintiesandanatmosphereof in- ONJULY30,theDholkatownpolice station in Ahmedabad received a call from an inconsolable woman, informing the officer on duty that her infant had been kidnapped. The homeless balloon seller from Rajasthan's Tonk lives in a tent in this town situated in Ahmedabad Rural. This morning, she had placed her child in a makeshift cradle hanging on the side of the road and gone to attend nature's call. When she returned after a few minutes, she found the child, a seven-monthold girl, missing. Two days later, on Friday, a joint team of Ahmedabad Rural Police and the Aurangabad Crime Branch managed to track down the child in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, situated over 620 kms away, right around the time she was about to be sold off to a buyer based in the Maharashtra city. Though the child was reunited with her mother, the arrestof fivepeopleinthecaseand their interrogation revealed that the accused were involved in multiple cases of child trafficking pertaining to the sale of kidnapped infants to childless couples, police said. It all began a few years ago, police said, when Manisha Mahesh Solanki, resident of Kheda and the prime accused in the kidnapping and attempted trafficking of the 7-month-old girl, began selling her eggs to an IVF centre to earn an extra buck. “When Manisha could no longer do so (due to a possible healthissue),shebeganconvincing other women to sell their eggs and earned a commission in the process. At the IVF centre, she realised there was a high demand for infants among childless couples. So, she began procuring and selling children,” said Om Prakash Jat, SP of Ahmedabad Rural Police. BesidesManisha, police have arrested four other people allegedly involved in attempted trafficking of the Dholka infant. Police said they are hoping to make more arrests in the next few days. The disappearance, probe and rescue On how the Dholka infant's case was cracked, SP Jat said, “Since the child is only seven months old, we began with the premise that it could have been the handiwork of a trafficking CONTINUEDONPAGE2 stability. In such a scenario, countries across the world are focusing on their own interests. India is on the path to becoming the world's third-largest economy. So we, too, must remain vigilant about our economic interests.” At a time when India has been resisting giving duty concessions to the US on agriculture CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT AICTE DATA BTech seats fill fast as computer science drives enrolment to eight-year high Enrolment up 67% from 2017-18 amid tech-led surge; vacancy dips to 16% UG ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY COURSES ■ Enrolment ■ Seats vacant ■ Seats vacant (% ) (figures in lakh) 2.45 7.25 6.83 5.87 5.59 3.35 2.33 2.21 49% 27% 7.5 7.22 7.41 7.28 16.36% 9.2 10.4 11.26 12.53 2017- 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 18 -19 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 Source: AICTE data ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, AUGUST 2 DRIVEN BY interest in computer science and related fields, enrolment in BTech programmes hit an eight-year high in the 202425 academic session, with 12.53 lakh seats filled across the country — a 67% jump from 2017-18, according to data from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Vacancy rates dropped to just 16.36%. Computer science and engineering topped the list of programmes with the highest enrolment (3,90,245), followed by mechanical engineering (2,36,909); civil engineering (1,72,936); electronics and communication engineering (1,60,450); and electrical engineering (1,25,902). “While Computer Science and allied programmes have emerged as top choices due to thesurgeintech-sectorjobs,core engineering branches remain critical and continue to draw large numbers of students,” the AICTE said in response to questions by The Indian Express. The surge in BTech enrolment comes as the approved intake — the total number of seats CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 ‘Conversion, trafficking’ case: Kerala nuns walk out of Chhattisgarh jail after bail by NIA court THE WORLD HAMAS SAY WON’T DISARM; ISRAEL KILLS OVER DOZEN IN GAZA TRUMP FAST-TRACKS OVERHAUL OF FEDERAL RESERVE PAGE 14 The nuns (first and third from left) after their release from Chhattisgarh’s Durg Central Jail. PTI JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU RAIPUR, AUGUST 2 EXPRESS NETWORK RAHUL CLAIMS HE WAS THREATENED BY ARUN JAITLEY, DRAWS BJP IRE VOTER DELETIONS IN BIHAR DRAFT ROLLS: DISTRICT-WISE BREAK-UP PAGES 9, 11 AN NIA court in Chhattisgarh on Saturday granted bail to two nuns from Kerala, who were arrestedonJuly25overallegations of human trafficking and forced religious conversion. On Saturday afternoon, the nuns, Preethy Marry (55) and Vandana Francis (53), walked out of Durg jail after spending over eight days behind bars. Politicians, activists and others were waiting for them outside. The two nuns and another person,SukhmanMandavi,who has also been granted bail, were arrested on July 25 by the Government Railway Police (GRP) from Durg railway station following a complaint by workers of a right-wing outfit. The complaint alleged that they forcibly converted three women from Narayanpur and were attempting to traffic them. On Friday, their bail application was heard by Principal District and Sessions Judge (NIA court) Sirajuddin Qureshi, who CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘In content creation, people taking fewer risks... It (art) needs to be subjective’ ALAKA SAHANI & NARESH S MUMBAI, AUGUST 2 TALKINGABOUThisnearlythree decade-long career in Hollywood, Kal Penn, American actor-producer of Indian origin, said that he stands on the shouldersof somanyIndianandSouth Asian diaspora actors who are older than him by 40-50 years and whose names people don't know because they never had the opportunities that he had. “I hadthoseopportunitiesbecause of the doors that they kicked down in Hollywood,” he said, emphasising that contrary to popularperception,therewasno “overnight switch” that created platforms for diaspora artists. Penn, also an author, TV show host and former White House staffer, was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Friday. “It is easy to use a 2025 microscope and say I should have donethatin1998,”saidPenn,recallingthathewastoldhecouldn't study acting and was called a “sell-out” for choosingto pursue theatre and arts. Talking about his early films, hesaid:“Peopleaskmeif Iregret playing the character of Taj Mahal in Van Wilder (2002), a teen sex comedy. I always say, first of all, you are welcome. Because without that, there would be no Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004). And without that, I would not have got The Namesake (2006).” It was Mira Nair's then 14year-old son Zohran Mamdani, who is now a New York State Assembly member running for Mayor, who suggested Penn’s name for The Namesake. Actor-producer and former White House staffer Kal Penn at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Friday. Akash Patil Asked about “liberalism in Hollywood”, Penn said: “It is the same liberalism you see supporting(Joe)Bidenand(Kamala) Harris in their assault on Gaza, which is not that different from DonaldTrumpandJDVance’sassault on Gaza. If you care about human rights, you see a distinct line, but I don't see one with liberals in general. If you see what the Democratic Party has been doing on that particular issue, wages or taxation with a select few states, they have not really been wonderful in the way that true progressives have been.” The actor, who wears many hats,servedasWhiteHousestaff member in the Barack Obama administration. Looking back at theObamaadministration,Penn said he wished more had been done to secure public arts institutions. “We gave in to the fearmongering around funding the arts. Now those institutions are getting dismantled,” he said. Commentingonthecontemporary entertainment scenario, Penn said: “In content creation, people are taking fewer risks now. That's why there is the perceptionthatthelowestcommon denominator is the only thing CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Ahmedabad