SAMBALPUR l monday l october 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION OPEC+ concurs to keep November oil output targets steady OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to keep oil production ‌targets steady for November, in line with market cues that policy shifts are unlikely until next year Exports at 60-80% of normal levels lens on future production estimates Core members of broader OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman. Gulf OPEC+ producers have been pumping well below output targets in the face of continuing export ​disruptions from the US-Israel war on Iran, with exports fluctuating at 60% to 80% of normal levels, Reuters reported ■ ■ The Iran war has delayed the group’s output capacity review—crucial to determine members’ 2027 output quotas—because it has thrown estimates of future production potential into uncertainty OPEC+ pumped 25 million barrels per day in August, up ​630,000 bpd from July, still 5 million bpd below prewar levels ​in February 2 mn bpd of output cuts in place covering most opec+ members CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Anti-CEC protests become Jaishankar flags deeper US shift, bigger, thousands hit streets says global order faces new gaps Police detain protesters demanding resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi on Sunday | Parveen Negi S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i & UDAYAN K IS H O RE @ Mumbai/New Delhi After journo stir, Delhi cops send sex harassment complaints to CB UDAYAN K IS H O RE @ New Delhi Protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged election irregularities continued on Sunday, with opposition parties taking to the streets in Mumbai and multiple student groups agitating in New Delhi. In Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray the MNS chief Raj Thackeray NCP , , (SP) state president Jayant Patil and Congress leader Vigilance Balasaheb Thorat, with probe in KL thousands, participated in Keralam Home the ‘Virat Garjana Morcha’ Minister Ramesh (Grand Roar March) which Chennithala culminated in a rally . has ordered a “We are fighting to get Vigilance probe real freedom to India that into a 2006 has been muzzled by the BJP through the Election project when CEC Gyanesh Kumar Commission and other inwas PWD secy dependent institutions that and the death of are no longer free and fair... a Malaysian 13 crore voters were denied engineer the right to vote just so the BJP could win state elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal comfortably Uddhav alleged, referring to deletions in ,” the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Raj Thackeray said the SIR should be cancelled and voting done by ballot papers. In the capital, Congress, AAP, various student organisations, and civil society groups held protests as police fortified central Delhi to bar them from reaching Jantar Mantar. AISA’s Neha Bora, and AAP’s Delhi chief Saurabh Bhardwaj were among several detained and later released. Bora was detained in a police car near Shangri-La hexagon. Protesters lay on the ground and climbed atop the car to block its movement forcing police to drive in reverse to take her away . Scores of journalists sat in protest in front of Parliament Street Police Station here on Sunday demanding registration of an FIR on sexual harassment complaints of three women scribes against Delhi police personnel. The police finally transferred the plaints to its Crime Branch for “impartial enquiry”. Members of Congress, AAP and CJP joined in the journalists’ protest after three women scribes said they were sexually harassed by cops durSpat among ing detention of protesters supporters at Jantar Mantar at SaturCongress, AAP, day’s agitation against CJP and AISA Chief Election Commissupporters have sioner Gyanesh Kumar. been swiping at They alleged no women each other on X personnel had been present although AISA’s at the spot. One of the comNeha Bora and plainants claimed that an CJP’s Abhijeet Assistant Commissioner of Dipke reaffirmed Police had sexually assaulttheir support for ed her. “I asked ACP Vivek each other and Bhagat of the Delhi Police their struggle about the absence of women police personnel, following which he sexually assaulted me and pushed me back,” she said. The New Delhi district police in a statement said the complaints were transferred to the Crime Branch which would will examine the allegations. The Press Club of India pointed out that the woman journalist had spent hours at the police station on Saturday night to get an FIR registered. “Behaviour of this kind cannot be normalised in a democracy. Journalists must be allowed to work freely, without fear, and document those who gather to raise various issues,” it said in a statement. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi questioned the delay in police action and raised concerns about the safety of women. No ‘hera pheri’ in SIR process in Odisha, SAYS CEO RS Gopalan Sudarsan Maharana @ Bhubaneswar Days after applying for voluntary retirement, Odisha chief electoral officer RS Gopalan dismissed suggestions of any ‘hera pheri’ (foul play) in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the state followed all prescribed procedures and ensured the process was transparent. “Odisha followed every step listed in the book and every step to make sure the process was transparent,” he asserted. In a telephonic interview, the CEO also told TNIE that he has sought voluntary retirement from service on personal and health grounds. Speaking on the allegations of deletion of 27 lakh voters, Gopalan said the state had around 3.42 crore voters follow- ing the special summary revi- mained unmapped - were carsion in January 2025. However, ried out against 2.75 lakh addibefore the SIR process began, tions, taking the final figure to there were some additions and about 3.16 crore. deletions and by May 20, 2026, Gopalan said that the delethe electoral roll was around tions were not carried out 3.34 crore. A pre-SIR mapping merely on the basis of not bewas carried out in which 95 per ing able to produce any docucent of the voters were traced ment. “The EROs monitored it back to 2002 roll, while a their level, while we around 12 lakh (5 pc), realso shared the whole mained unmapped. 20 lakh list by booth in After house-to-house the public domain. The survey, around 20 lakh booth level a g ents names were removed (BLAs) of recognised from the draft electoral political parties had roll that included also given the list of deRS Gopalan around 8.8 lakh deleted names. There is ceased, 8.32 lakh permano question of any nently shifted, around two lakh ‘hera pheri’ in the mapping who couldn’t be traced and process,” Gopalan said. about 1.58 lakh duplications. On his VRS, he said, “I have During claims and objec- completed 25 years of service. tions, another 44,000 deletions Moreover, as I joined service - around 20,000 from 58,000 late, there is no further scope Form-7s and another 24,000 of promotion,” the CEO said. FULL INTERVIEW ON P2 from the voters that had re- Some structural changes are linked to current administration, others reflect long-term shifts J AYAN T H J AC O B @ New Delhi External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday the US is undergoing deeper structural changes that extend beyond the policies of any one administration. He said the decline of US underwriting of the existing global order was creating new gaps and responsibilities for other major powers. He also stressed that India’s long relationship with Russia remains important even as New Delhi continues to push for dialogue and diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine. Speaking at the Munich Leader’s Meeting in Delhi, Jaishankar said some of the changes in US policy could be temporary or linked to the current administration, but others reflected longer-term shifts. “It Shift in Indian strategy on Russia-Ukraine conflict India has moved beyond advocacy in trying to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war by becoming more actively involved in discussions aimed at addressing issues arising from the war, including the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. “We’ve conversations with Russia and Ukraine,” said S Jaishankar is important here to distinguish the more structural trends from the behavioral ones and take both of them seriously .” Looking at the continuity of some policies across administrations, Jaishankar noted several initiatives associated with US President Donald Trump’s first administration continued under President Joe Biden. “Many policies which President Trump initiated in his first administration continued under Former-BJD MLA Pranab Balabantray attacked, car ruined E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Jajpur BJD leader and former Dharmasala legislator Pranab Kumar Balabantray was allegedly attacked by armed miscreants at Gada Madhupur village under Jenapur police limits on Sunday . Balabantaray, who escaped unharmed, was returning home after attending the regional party’s Jan Sampark Padyatra when the alleged attack took place. The attack reportedly occurred in presence of more than 30 policemen. According to reports, the former MLA was returning to his Jaraka residence in his SUV when some armed youths intercepted his vehicle and started attacking it. While his vehicle suffered major damage, Balabantaray was rescued by BJD workers and his supporters present at the spot. Balabantaray claimed the attackers were BJP workers and supporters of local MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo. He alleged that over 30 policemen stood as mute spectators when he was attacked. “I along with my supporters was murderously attacked by a group of around 50 armed miscreants who were supporters of Dharmasala MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahu. The miscreants assaulted me and my supporters besides damaging many vehicles. Police did nothing and stood there as mute spectators,” he alleged. The BJD leader further claimed that the Jajpur SP was hand in glove with the supporters of Dharmasala MLA Sahoo. Later in the day, he staged protest in front of the office of the Jajpur SP along with hundreds of his supporters demanding immediate arrest of the attackers. Former ministers Pranab Prakash Das and Pritiranjan Ghadei joined the protest. The protest was withdrawn around 11 pm after Jajpur SP Yash Pratap Shrimal assured that all miscreants would be arrested within 48 hours. The SP said four policemen would be provided to Balbantray for his round the P4 clock safety and security  . Videograb of the damaged car windshield | Express ‘Flydubai co-pilot likely to have acted independently’ a g e n c i e s @ Tel Aviv THE Omani co-pilot accused of attacking his colleague on board the Flydubai flight to Israel and trying to seize the controls most likely acted alone, Israeli sources told CNN on Sunday . Another Israeli source said that, at the moment, Israel does not know of any link to a group or government. The co-pilot in in custody in the UAE. Israel and UAE are both probing Australia police probe local links A counterterrorism unit in Australia is probing local links of the Omani pilot of FZ1073. According to media reports, the Omani national studied ​at a university in Melbourne the incident. Saudi Arabia, where the plane made an emergency landing, is also conducting its own Biden,” he said and cited the emergence of a US industrial policy as one example. On India’s relationship with Russia, Jaishankar said the ties had deep historical roots and expanded beyond their traditional focus on defence and security. He said Russia stood by India at critical moments when its security and territorial integrity were under threat. “That history is not forgotten,” he said, adding that the relationship today encompasses defence, nuclear cooperation, space, trade, investment, energy and resources. At the same time, he described the Russia-Ukraine war as “an unfortunate conflict” and reiterated India’s position it should end through dialogue and diplomacy “There has to be negotia. tions in this regard,” Jaishankar said, noting that India had advocated this position for years and had in recent months become more directly involved in efforts to address some of the issues arising from the conflict. “We have conversations with both Russia and Ukraine in this regard,” he said. India has sought to contribute to discussions on the safety of shipping in the Black Sea as well as concerns involving grain exports, energy exports and “non-attack possibilities,” he added. investigations. Authorities in the UAE had shared with Israel a list of passengers and crew ahead of the FlyDubai flight, regional officials said on Sunday, but Israel had not raised red flags on any passenger or member of the crew before the flight took off. Flydubai flight FZ1073 avoided disaster on its journey from Dubai on Wednesday, plummeting 16,000 feet in 30 seconds after the attack on the plane’s captain. Despite being wounded, pilot Captain Smit Machchhar unlocked the cockpit door and signal his distress to passengers and crew, who rushed into the cockpit to regain control of the aircraft. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Omani authorities had barred the pilot from flying over suspicions he had adopted radical ideological views. a games to remember Members of the Indian contingent waving the tricolour and walking during the Asian Games Closing Ceremony in Nagoya on Sunday. India finished fourth in the medal tally with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals (85 medals). Athletics brought 24 medals (1 gold) while boxers (3 gold), archers (5 gold) and shooters (3 gold) stole the show with stellar performances. India will look to build on the momentum and shift the focus to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles | PTI