hubballi l friday l september 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION India’s Russian oil imports hold at 1.8 million barrels per day India’s Russian crude imports held at 1.8 mn bpd in September as stronger Chinese buying curbed flows, but West Asian suppliers filled the gap lost volumes replenished by gulf nations giving up russian crude will be pricey India imported 2.82 mn bpd of Russian crude in July, which slipped to 2.08 mn bpd in August, according to global commodities data and analytics firm Kpler. Iraq and Saudi made up for the drop in Russian volumes. Iraq supplied 505,000 bpd of crude this month, up from 163,000 bpd in Aug. Saudi volumes rose to 576,000 bpd in Sept from 347,000 bpd last month ■ ■ The outlook for Russian supplies could become more complicated if the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 results in tougher restrictions on countries continuing to buy Russian oil Nikhil Dubey, lead analyst at Kpler, said India can technically replace Russian crude, although the shift would come at a higher cost 2022 is when India became an important buyer of Russian crude 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 SIR: Bulk Form 7 objections spark political slugfest Naushad Bijapur @ Belagavi The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has triggered a political controversy in Belagavi, with the Congress alleging an attempt to target minority voters through bulk applications seeking deletion of names. The controversy surfaced at a polling station in Veerabhadra Nagar, where two unidentified persons, who allegedly claimed to be Belagavi City Corporation employees, reportedly pressured a Booth Level Officer (BLO) to sign around 200 Form-7 applications seeking deletion of voters’ names on the grounds that they were “bogus”. The BLO, however, refused to sign the forms, pointing out that she had herself completed mapping of the voters whose names were being objected to. The two men allegedly insisted on obtaining copies of acknowledgements for the forms. The incident soon drew the attention of local political leaders. P6 E x p r e s s Re a d CM: Gavimath seer will open Mysuru Dasara Mysuru: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said Koppal Gavimath’s seer Sri Abhinava Gavisiddeshwara Mahaswamiji will inaugurate this year’s Mysuru Dasara celebrations | P6 Demand to sack CEC snowballs, Rahul urges him to turn approver Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi The demand to sack Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar gained more momentum on Thursday with Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi suggesting he turn approver as an act of nationalism. The Congress also reached out to the Opposition parties to step on the gas amid the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) issuing a 48-hour ultimatum for Kumar to resign so as to seize the political initiative. Pressure on Kumar built up after a media report revealed that fellow election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to decisions pertaining to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on multiple occasions but the CEC had brushed them aside. Congress sources said the INDIA bloc is set to file a notice in two weeks in both Houses of Parliament seeking removal of the CEC. This will be the Opposition’s third bid to impeach Kumar. In April, 73 Opposition MPs moved an impeachment notice in the Rajya Sabha, accusing the CEC of acting in a partisan manner. The notice is still pending. Meanwhile, the Congress directed its state units to organise protest marches to their respective State Election Commission offices on Friday demanding the immediate arrest and , removal of Kumar and a review of decisions and electoral roll changes made under him. Addressing reporters here, Rahul accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister Amit Shah of conspiring in ‘vote chori’ (vote theft) that benefitted the BJP in elections. Rahul claimed Modi and Shah would be investigated in due course of time for what they had done to the Indian electoral system, which he termed “anti-national” and an “attack on the idea of India”. “Kumar must resign immediately…This is not just some small rigging of an election. This is an attack on the constitution of India. …And the people who are responsible for this are going to get punished,” he said, warning the CEC to seriously consider the position he’s in. “He should turn approver.” he added. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke also demanded Kumar resign within 48 hours or the outfit would launch another nationwide agitation on the lines of its Jantar Mantar protest in June this year.  P7 3pm 4pm Closing 73,580.54 Change 1247.71 (-1.67%) sensex 1pm 73,000.00 In the red 11am 74,000.00 9am Stock markets tumbled on Thursday with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tanking over 1.6%—the steepest singleday decline in three months— as geopolitical tensions jacked up Brent crude oil prices and US bond yields hit a 19-year high, triggering an across-theboard selling pressure. Nifty 50 fell 1.64% to close at 23,063 while the Sensex slipped 1.67% to 73,580 on Thursday . Global sentiments, too, re- 75,000.00 main muted as US equities fell sharply amid signs of further monetary tightening. Brent crude oil prices rose 2% to $106/bbl, amid growing uncertainty over US-Iran ties. The US 10-year Treasury State to challenge D eva ra j B H i r e h a l l i & Aknisree Karthik @ Bengaluru As the four-day special session of the Karnataka legislature concluded on Thursday, the State government announced an interim input subsidy of Rs 2,500 each for around 50lakh drought-hit farmers, involving an estimated expenditure of Rs 1,250 crore, while awaiting assistance from the Centre under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, responding to the drought debate in the Assembly offered , Chief Minister DK Shivakumar speaks in the Assembly on Thursday | Express CHITRADURGA: Karnataka will challenge the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) direction to release 4,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Thursday, citing a water crisis in the state and declining inflows into its reservoirs | P7 to lead an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a farm loan waiver by the Centre. The chief minister said told the Assembly that the State was willing to bear its share of the financial burden if the Centre agreed to the waiver. The offer came when BJP and JDS legislators staged a walkout, demanding far m We are going to cooperate with the Opposition parties. It is our sacred duty to protect the Constitution and vote Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader ECI refutes charges The ECI on Thursday claimed changes to Form 6 and functioning of its digital platform, ECINET were both in accordance with the law CJP’s 48-hr deadline CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar resign in 48 hours to ensure free and fair polls. If not, CJP would launch a nationwide agitation yield surged to around 5.11%, its highest level since 2007. Elevated US bond yields mean more risk-free returns for foreign institutional investors, who tend to divert liquidity away from emerging markets. Experts say Indian equities are likely to remain weak in the near term as investor sentiment has turned risk-averse amid lingering uncertainties around inflation and economic growth. In the absence of positive triggers, the sentiment will remain cautious, they add. In d r a S @ B e n g a l u r u US President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on Thursday | PTI Hope Chinese cos are treated fairly, Xi tells Trump a g e nc i e s @ Washington PRESIDENT Donald Trump opened Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit on Thursday by celebrating their ‘truly great friendship’ even as the two confront a crowded list of disputes between the world’s biggest economies. Xi, on his first visit to Washington in a decade, called for the US and China to manage their superpower rivalry and keep artificial intelligence under human control, apart from making a case of ease of access for Chinese companies in the US. “I hope Chinese firms are treated fairly here,” he said. Xi said achieving the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand.” He also announced Red carpet an invitation for 1 lakh welcome young Americans to visit Senate Majority China for study exchange Leader Chuck programmes over the next Schumer five years. “Let us meet the accused Trump people’s expectations and of being in show our historical initia- thrall to tive, let us keep advancing authoritarian the cause of friendship be- leaders, tween our two peoples and attacking the work together to build a red-carpet better world,” he said. welcome for In his opening remarks, Xi Jinping | P9 Trump said, “Working together, President Xi and I have made tremendous strides on the issues facing our two countries... During this visit, we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security technology and super intelligence.” , , While Trump has dismissed fears that AI could pose a threat to humanity, Xi took a measured tone. “We both have the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure AI is always under human control,” he said. China and the US also agreed to extend a trade truce, due to lapse on November 10, by two months.  P9 Asian games Iran’s rower trained through war, bombings to win gold Indraneel Das I Express @ asian games Nagoya magine training to compete at the Asian Games, in double sculls rowing. An event where your endurance and the precise coordination you have with your teammate, developed through hours and hours spent together in the water, mean everything. Now, imagine doing that, except there is no water and no teammate. All you have is an ergometer. That, and the sound of mis- Kimia Zarei siles dropping outside her home in the Iranian city of Hamadan, was all that Kimia Zarei had to get in shape for the Games in Nagoya. Yet on Tuesday, she and her partner Zeinab Norouzi won gold in the women’s lightweight double sculls. Iran’s rowers are among the strongest at the Games. The war back home could not break their spirit or resolve as Iran won two gold, as many silver and a bronze. “We were bombed everyday,” Zarei remembers her preparation. “When I was training at home, I would hear the sound of bomb explosion. It was close to our home and when you go to the window, you can see everything.” Zarei and her fellow athletes had their practice at Urmia cut short. On the first day of the war, the federation sent athletes back home. Each of them were given an ergometer to train. loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh per farmer. “We must sustain our farmers amid the drought situation. Just as the Central government has waived loans worth lakhs of crores for industrialists, it should waive farmers’ loans as well. We are ready to bear the State’s share of the cost. I will seek an appointment with the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Let them be partners in sharing the burden. Even if we have to scrap four projects, I am ready. I don’t want confrontation, I want cooperation,” Shivakumar said. P4 RTCs facing `8K-cr annual loss, struggling to pay salaries: Byrathi Gyanesh Kumar, CEC Sensex, Nifty tumble to 3-month low ARSHAD KHA N @ New Delhi `2.5K input subsidy for 50L drought-hit farmers Hat-trick of Asian Games medals for Roshibina India’s wushu athlete Naorem Roshibina Devi made the most of a second chance at the Games on Thursday. After initially failing to qualify in the selection trials, she bounced back to win a silver medal in the women’s 60kg sanda event on Thursday. In the process, she completed a hat-trick of medals at the Games (2018, 2023 & 2026) Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh on Thursday told the Legislative Council that the four state-owned road transport corporations (RTCs) are suffering an annual loss of Rs 8,000 crore because of four consecutive hikes in the price of diesel and other petroleum products by the Centre. This has left the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation in a situation where they don’t have enough funds to pay employees’ salaries, said the minister. Suresh said the corporations did not increase bus fares in keeping with higher diesel prices. The government was considering increasing fares to make up for the losses, but was apprehensive about an uproar by Opposition parties, he said. “If bus fares are increased, the first opposition will come from Opposition parties,” he said. Suresh said his department was trying to convince CM DK Shivakumar to allow a fare hike, keeping in mind the survival of the corporations and the need to provide better services to passengers. P7