KOZHIKODE l Thursday l October 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Gold records worst single-day plunge since 2013, falls over 6% After record rally of more than 70% so far this year, the yellow metal fell 6.3% on Tuesday, its biggest single-day fall in more than 12 years Profit-booking, trade talks behind slump ANALYSTS WARN OF SHORT-TERM VOLATILITY The sharp fall in prices is attributed primarily to profit booking and a slew of positive news flows which have shaved the sheen off the safe-haven metal. A key factor is the upcoming meeting of US president Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping to iron out their trade differences. Other factors are a strong dollar and the likelihood of US shutdown ending | p10 ■ ■ Silver too registered a sharp fall of 7.8%—its worst since 2011—on Tuesday as the historic squeeze in the London market began to ease Analysts warn of more volatility in the short term as the market is likely to correct further. On whether the price of gold will fall below I1 lakh per 10 grams soon, one analyst said, it is difficult to predict A1,32,294 per 10 grams—the record price peak gold touched last Friday 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 Trump nuances stance on India’s Russian oil buy Carrying Irumudikettu, Prez Murmu climbs 18 sacred steps E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Pathanamthitta US prez says Modi isn’t going to buy much war with Pakistan and India. That was a very, very good US President Donald Trump thing,” Trump said. has softened his earlier asserThe Diwali call, initiated by tion that India would complete- Trump, was their third publicly ly stop buying Russian crude known conversation since midoil, saying after a Diwali phone September and comes amid oncall with Prime Minister Naren- going tensions in US–India reladra Modi that India tions, particularly “is not going to buy over Washington’s much oil from Rusdecision to impose sia”. It reflects a nusteep tariffs on key anced shift from his Indian exports. This previous claim that includes a 25% levy Modi had promised a linked to India’s confull halt to Russian tinued purchase of Modi unlikely imports, which Russian crude as to travel to was not corroborated Trump seeks to presMalaysia by the Indian sure Moscow amid Prime Minister Modi is government. unlikely to participate the ongoing conflict Speaking to reportin Ukraine. in the ASEAN Summit ers after the call, In his Oval Office in Malaysia scheduled Trump added that he for Oct 26–28, which is remarks, Trump dialso spoke about expected to be attended aled back his earlier “let’s not have no by US President Donald stance: “He’s not gowars with Pakistan,” ing to buy much oil Trump, according to a claim refuted sourc- sources. While an official from Russia. He es here in Delhi. wants to see that war word on the level of India’s participation Sources said “Pakiend as much as I do. is awaited, the prime stan was not disSo they’ve cut it way cussed during the minister may address the back, and they’re phone conversation” summit virtually. India is continuing to cut it between the two lead- typically represented at way back.” ers. “I just spoke to the India-ASEAN Summit Modi, in a post on by the prime minister, X responded warmly your prime minister . but there have been today. Had a great “Thank you, Presiexceptions conversation. We dent Trump, for your talked about trade... phone call and warm He’s very interested in that. Al- Diwali greetings. On this festithough we did talk a little while val of lights, may our two great ago about let’s have no wars democracies continue to illumiwith Pakistan. The fact that nate the world with hope and trade was involved, I was able to stand united against terrorism talk about that. And we have no in all its forms.” J ayan t h J a c o b @ New Delhi E X P R ESS R EA D Prison officer becomes highest organ donor T’Puram: Declared brain dead following an accident, prison officer A R Aneesh, 38, has gifted his heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, hands and corneas to help nine people. This is the most number of organs donated by a single person in Kerala | P5 Sabarimala tip of the iceberg? Improper bookkeeping, lack of transparency in managing assets a problem in many Kerala temples P4 New rules on removal of social media content New Delhi: Starting November 1, only senior officials of the rank of joint secretaries or DGPs can issue orders to social media platforms to remove unlawful content, say the amendments to IT Rules, 2021, notified on Wednesday | P8 President Droupadi Murmu climbs the 18 holy steps at Sabarimala temple on Wednesday. She is the second Indian President, and the first woman head of state, to visit the hill shrine | pti No disabled-friendly venues at ‘inclusive’ school sports meet A s w i n A s o k K u m a r @T’Puram The government’s claim of the 67th Kerala State School Sports Meet being inclusive does not extend to key venues of the event. Students and special educators participating from various districts complained about the lack of ramps, proper distribution of drinking water and inadequate infrastructure at the meet. Even the organisers said three of the four venues in Thiruvananthapuram — University Stadium, Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium and College of Agriculture, Vellayani — where the inclusive sports events are organised, lack a barrier-free space. They even admitted that the requirement to set up ramps did not figure during discussions held ahead of the meet. Hailing the facilities provided by the education department in Not just the the previous sports meet held in students who Kochi, special educators for dis- use wheelchairs, abled students from Kasaragod but also those said the audience gallery at Uni- who have trouble versity Stadium does not have walking faced difficulties (in even a single ramp for students movement) with locomotive disability . “Not just the students who use A special educator wheelchairs, but also those who from Kasaragod have trouble walking faced difficulties,” said a special educator, preferring anonymity Taking a dig at the food distribution fa. cilities at Puthirikandam ground the day before, the educator said an inclusive student fell while waiting for food. “With the soil turning muddy after the rain, even we may have difficulty walking. Do we need say more?” asked another. Special educators from Alappuzha, too, remarked that the atmosphere was not generally barrier-free for the disabled. “Water dispensers were also not provided for our children,” said one ● More on P4 of them.  human vs machine 6L Amazon jobs on the line as robots step in E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Amazon.com plans to replace more than 6,00,000 employees with robots over the next decade in the US, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing inter nal documents. The company is one of the largest employers in the US, with nearly 1.2 million hires. Referring to interviews with staff and internal documents, the NYT reported that the company’s ultimate plan is to automate 75% of its operations and it expects to increase sales by a factor of two by 2033 compared to now through automation. Automation would help Amazon avoid hiring 1,60,000 employees by the end of 2027, resulting in savings of $12.5 billion over the next two years, the report said. At the Amazon facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, which is built with automation in mind, a thousand robots already do much of the packing and shipping work. In 2026, the Louisiana facility would employ only half of the staff compared to what it would have without the deployment of robots. As for Amazon India, sources said there are no immediate plans to deploy robots. President Droupadi Murmu visited the Sabarimala temple on Wednesday, becoming the first woman President to offer prayers at the hill shrine. The President, who observed the traditional customs associated with the pilgrimage, performed the kettunira ritual at Pampa before proceeding to Sannidhanam for darshan. The special helicopter carrying Murmu touched down at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium g round in Pramadom around 8.40am. She was accorded a warm reception by Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan, Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony, MLAs K U President Droupadi Murmu offering prayers at the sreekovil of Sabarimala temple on Wednesday | Express Jenish Kumar (Konni) and Pramod Narayan (Ranni), District Collector S Prem Krishnan and District Police Chief R Anand. From there, she travelled to Pampa in a speciallyarranged motorcade. At Pampa, the President began her pilgrimage by symbolically washing her feet in the river — a purification ritual t h a t Ay y a p p a d e v o t e e s undertake. She then proceeded to the nearby Ganapathi temple, where the Irumudikettu – the twin sacred bundle carried by devotees – was prepared and tied for her under the supervision of melsanthi Vishnu Namboothiri. Her Aide-de-Camp Saurabh S Nair, personal security officer Vinay Mathur and son-in-law Ganesh Chandra Hombrom also participated in the ritual, following the same procedure that is observed by pilgrims before their ascent to Sannidhan● More on P5 am.