DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2025, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 PRAISES PM, CALLS INDIA AN INCREDIBLE COUNTRY Modiassuredmewon’tbuyRussian oil,claimsTrump;MEAsaysnotaware There’s a process, it will be over soon: TURNING OFF RUSSIAN TAP EASIER SAID THAN DONE US President on India ending purchase THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW OMAR ABDULLAH JAMMU & KASHMIR CHIEF MINISTER AFFIDAVIT IN SC Communal charge, bid to stop pan-India SIR: EC on pleas against exercise ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16 STATING THAT its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voterlistinBiharwas“accurate”, theElectionCommissionof India (ECI) Thursday described as “communal” the charge that Muslims were disproportionately excluded from the final list at the end of the SIR exercise. Itsaidtheobjectiveof thepetitioners was to “derail and disrupt the SIR exercise and the formulationof finalelectoralrollfor the State of Bihar, and to prevent SIR being conducted in other States across India”. In an affidavit filed before a SupremeCourtbenchof Justices SuryaKantandJoymalyaBagchi, which is hearing petitions challenging the SIR, the ECI said that claims have been made on the basisof “somesoftwareforname recognition” but the fact is that the electoral rolls do not capture the religion of any elector. It said that though no appeal CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2025 BIHAR ● BJP, JD(U) focus on backward classes in poll lists, 13% tickets for women ● RJD falls back on the Shahabuddin factor in Siwan dist, fields son ● PK has no ideology: Manoj Tiwari PAGE13 SHUBHAJIT ROY & RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16 HOURS AFTER US President Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him Wednesday “they will not be buying oil from Russia” and that there was “a little bit of a process” to it which would be over “soon”, the Ministry of External Affairs said Thursdayitwas“notawareofany conversationyesterdaybetween the two leaders” and the country’simportpolicieswereguided bytheobjectiveto“safeguardthe interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario”. India’spurchaseof Russianoil had prompted Trump to impose anadditional25percenttariff on the country, raising the tariff to- SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16 President Donald Trump at an event at the White House on Wednesday. AP tal to 50 per cent. This move by the US administration in August cameinthemidstof negotiations for a bilateral trade deal which has still not been sealed. Trump and Modi are expectedtotraveltoKualaLumpur later this month where leaders CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ONCE AGAIN, US President Donald Trump has made a claim that may not square with facts — but is so closely linked to the on- E going diplomatic negotiations between India and US that New Delhi has little option but to tread with caution. Trump claimed that Prime MinisterNarendraModiassured him Wednesday that India EXPLAINED P 10 Russian oil and US trade talks: Latest Trump claim frames Delhi’s challenge NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16 THE OPPOSITION on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on US President Donald Trump's claim of an assurance that India would stop buying Russian oil. In a post on X, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said: "PM Modi is frightened of Trump. Allows Trump to Govt clears decks to let Adani plant for Bangladesh link to India grid HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16 THE CENTRE has granted approval to Adani Power Limited (APL), a large thermal power producer, to lay an overhead transmission line to connect its Godda Ultra Super Critical Thermal Power Plant with the Indian grid through a Line-In Line-Out (LILO) arrangement of theKahalgaonA–MaithonB400 KV line. As of now, the Godda plant supplies electricity exclusively to Bangladesh. Forlayingtheproposedtransmission line, which will pass through 56 villages of two tehsils — Godda and Poreyahat — in Godda district of Jharkhand, the Centre has conferred the same powerstotheAPL,whichthetelegraph authority possesses under theIndianTelegraphAct,1885,for placingtelegraphlinesandposts. Under the Act, the authority can, from time to time, place and maintain a telegraph line under, over, along or across, and posts in orupon,anyimmovableproperty. The Ministry of Power extended similar authority to APL byissuinganorderonSeptember 29 using powers under Section 164 of the Electricity Act, 2003. would stop buying Russian oil. The Ministry of External Affairs ● Thursday denied knowledge of any such conversation and reiterated its stated positionontheRussianpurchase CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Opp parties question PM’s ‘silence’, say key decisions outsourced to US EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE decide and announce that India will not buy Russian oil. Keeps sending congratulatory messages despite repeated snubs. Cancelled the Finance Minister's visit to America. Skipped CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 21ST CENTURY IS INDIA’S, SAYS MODI ■ Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for projects worth over Rs 13,000 crore across key sectors in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday TIMELINE ■ “By 2047, the centenary year of Independence, Viksit Bharat will happen... I can say confidently that the 21st century is going to be India's,” Modi said. AUGUST 6, 2024: Adani pitches for Godda plant, which provides power to Bangladesh, to be allowed to cater to demand in India REPORT,PAGE10 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan during his visit to Srisailam on Thursday. PTI AUGUST 10, 2024: Power ministry says “in view of emerging geo-political situation in Bangladesh”, standby connectivity may be granted to Godda plant. AUGUST 12, 2024: Power Ministry amends Guidelines for Import/ Export (Cross Border) of Electricity, 2018, making way for connecting Godda plant to Indian Grid, facilitating power sale Rs 5 crore and counting: CBI arrests Punjab Police DIG on graft charge AUGUST 14, 2024: CEA MAN AMAN SINGH CHHINA DECEMBER, 2024: THE CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ropar Range, Harcharan Singh Bhullar, from his Mohali office in an alleged bribery case, and said it had amends procedures, allowing govt to permit connecting generating stations to Indian Grid CERC amends rules to facilitate standby connectivity to plant CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 16 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 All 16 Gujarat ministers quit, CM Patel’s new team likely today The CBI released photos of cash recovered. X@CBIHeadquarters Preparations for the swearing-in ceremony at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar on Thursday. Bhupendra Rana PARIMAL A DABHI GANDHINAGAR, OCTOBER 16 ALL 16 Gujarat ministers resigned Thursday ahead of an expected reshuffle Friday, the first since Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel began his second term nearly three years ago. The ministers submitted their resignations to Patel after a meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence, clearing the decks for a new team, an outgoing minister confirmed to The Indian Express. This will be the biggest overhaul since September 11, 2021 when the then Chief Minister, the late Vijay Rupani, and his entire government resigned to make way for Patel. The move Thursday came days after Minister of State Jagdish Vishwakarma was elected Gujarat BJP president. Sources said Governor Acharya Devvrat is likely to administer the oath of office Friday to the new ministers in a possibly expanded Cabinet. Senior BJP leaders, including party president and Union Minister J P Nadda and party national general secretary Sunil Bansal, are expected to attend the ceremony. While Bansal was already in Gandhinagar, Nadda who arrived Thursday late evening, had a meeting with Chief ministerPatelimmediately that lasted around three hours, said sources. Devvrat, who was given additional charge of the post of Maharashtra Governor, was in Mumbai when the resignations were submitted. He was to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav is guest at Adda today EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, OCTOBER 16 ONLY 15 months after inheriting India'sT20captaincy,Suryakumar Yadav has helped build a halo of fearlessness around his team of young cricketers — more so, after India won the Asia Cup in Dubai last month after beating Pakistan in three politically charged encounters, including the final. His captaincy record in the shortest format is phenomenal with India having won 23 of 29 games for a win percentage of 82.75 per cent, the best among all Indian captains. OnFriday,Suryakumarwillbe the guest at the Express Adda in his hometown Mumbai. He will be in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Suryakumar Yadav CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hindu College’s Classroom No 27 has a visitor: The girl from Galle, now Lankan PM PAGE 1 ANCHOR VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16 IN THE early 1990s, far away fromherhome countrythat was in the midst of a bruising civil war, a girl from Galle sat on the bench by the window in Classroom 27 of Delhi's Hindu College, dreaming of home, debating Karl Marx and simply leading a “wonderful gang life” with her friends. On October 16, she returned to that same seat, this time as Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. “It is lovely to be back, lovely to see the current students. I become so hopeful when I see them,” said Amarasuriya, dressed in a striking blue sari as she addressed students and teachers at her alma mater. Speaking to The Indian Express, her former professor at Hindu, sociologist Susan Visvanathan, recalled the first time she met Amarasuriya as a student in the early 1990s. “I had returned to Hindu College from a Teen Murti Fellowship in 1992, andwasdelightedtofindaquartet of students — Ruchi, Ranu, Harini and Amrita. The girls stood out in a small class of 15 students. Harini sat in the front row, first seat near the window in Room 27. All of them answered and questioned one another... their curiosity and imaginative interventions were unique. They had such a wonderful gang life, each maintaining their unique identity, not quarrelsome or competitive.” During her address at the Sri Lanka PM Harini Amarasuriya with Hindu College principal Anju Srivastava and students during her visit to the college in New Delhi on Thursday. Amit Mehra Universityof Delhi,Amarasuriya displayed some of that verve as she said, “Let's change what we don't like about politics — the culture of some political parties, thecorruption,thenepotism,the distance from normal, ordinary citizens. Let's change that, but don't reject politics, because without politics, you won't be able to change the world, and that's what we have to do.” Visvanathan recalled how shekeptintouchwiththe“gang” over the next 30 years and more — this time, as a friend. When VisvanathanmetAmarasuriyain 2024, soon after field work as partof herresearchonSriLanka’s teaplantations,shewasstruckby thepersonshesaw.“Shehadnot changedatall…aswewereboth 32 years older, it was interesting for me that she had continued her rehabilitation work with Tamil and Sinhala workers throughNEST[aLankancommunity health organisation]... Her simplicity and charm and her sense of humour were the same as in 1992,” Visvanathan said. Ranu Jain, who was part of Amarasuriya's“girlgang”atHindu College in the 1990s and is now a photographer based in Australia, recalled the time spent with “the girl with the most disarming smile”.“Harini'squietintelligence, gentleness,andwarmthwereand continue to be her most striking qualities,” Jain said. Much after they graduated and went separate ways, Jain met Amarasuiya in Colombo in 2013. “It was then that I learnt of her interest in the grassroots movements of Sri Lanka... She told me about her cat and her rabbits and how they lived happily together,” Jain said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad