COIMBATORE l monday l october 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE 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 Jaishankar flags deeper US shift, says global order faces new gaps Anti-CEC protests become bigger, thousands hit streets Some structural changes are linked to current administration, others reflect long-term shifts J AYAN T H J A C 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 is important here to distinguish the more structural trends e x p r e ss r e a d Strange yellow layer in seawater sparks alarm Chennai: A mysterious yellowish layer in coastal waters from Nellore to Puducherry has sparked concern among fishers and scientists. Samples are being collected to determine if it’s a phytoplankton bloom or something unusual | P2 Deaths involving TN govt buses down 5% Chennai: Fatal accidents involving government buses fell by 3% and the number of deaths in such accidents declined by 5% in the first seven months of this year compared to the corresponding period in 2025 | P2 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 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 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 negotiations 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. Flydubai co-pilot likely to have acted independently, say Israel investigators a g e n c i es @ 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 the incident. Saudi Arabia, where the plane made an emergency landing, is also conducting its own investigations. 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 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 plummet, ing 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. 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 I S H O R E @ Mumbai/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 . @ Chennai Four school students aged 10 to 13 years, including two girls, who went missing from Lakshmipuram near Chromepet on Saturday, were found dead in Tiruneermalai Lake on Sunday morning. The police suspect that they may have got caught in the sludge and drowned while bathing in the lake. The bodies were recovered with the help of fire and rescue services personnel on Sunday, sent to the Tambaram district government hospital for postmortem, and later handed over to the families for final rites. According to the Chromepet police, the deceased were identified as Class 7 student K Devadarshan (12) and Class 8 students Pooja (13) and L Kushi (13). They were all from the same gover nment school in C h r o m e p e t . D Yu vanesh (10), a Class 6 student of a private school, was the fourth victim. The parents of the children are daily-wage workers in the construction sector. Since their schools had been closed since Friday, the children had gone out together to play around noon on Saturday.  P5 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). Athletes 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 TVK govt buys tur dal `31 cheaper/ kg, `187 cr saved in 3 months The TVK gover nment has procured tur dal at `77.89 per kg for public distribution through fair price shops, which is nearly `31 or 29% cheaper than the `109.15 paid per kg by the previous DMK regime, thereby saving `187.56 crore for the state exchequer in last three months. While the TVK government had spent `467.34 crore to procure 60,000 tonnes of tur dal from July to September, the DMK govern- State govt would save `750 crore in a year The TVK government had spent `467.34 crore to procure 60,000 tonnes of tur dal from July to September, while the DMK government, since July last year, had spent `654.9 crore every three months to procure dal of identical quantity, quality, and specification. If the TNCSC manages to buy at the same price for next 9 months, TN would save `750 crore ment, since July last year, had spent `654.9 crore every three months to procure dal of identical quantity, quality, and specification. If the TNCSC manages to secure the same price in the next three tenders (for nine months) for procur- 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. E x p r ess n e w s se r v i ce @ Chennai C l o u d o v e r p a st s p e n d i n g B AN B U S E LVAN @ Chennai UDAYAN K I S H O R E @ New Delhi Vijay, Stalin and EPS sharpen attacks as bypoll campaign ends Four kids die in suspected drowning in Chennai lake e x p r ess n e w s se r v i ce After journo stir, Delhi cops send sex harassment complaints to CB ing tur dal, the annual savings to the state exchequer could increase to around `750 crore. Considering the hike in inflation and lack of significant change in the price of the commodity in India and international markets, the substantial reduction in procurement cost of dal has raised questions as to whether the state had overpaid for procurement under the previous regime. The last tender floated during the DMK regime was finalised on May 2, two days before the announcement of the election result, and the procured stocks were used for distribution until the end of August. Every month, 20,000 MT of tur dal is allocated for distribution to ration cardholders at the rate of one kg per card. Of these, 86% to 88% of cardholders purchase the commodity at a subsidised price of `30 per kg. The work orders iss u e d by t h e Ta m i l Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) to six contractors for procuring tur dal to supply from September, a copy of which is available with TNIE, show that the corporation has paid an average of `77.89 per kg.  P5 On the last day of campaigning for the bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Sunday appealed to voters to reject the “evil forces” and “exhausted forces” that have deceived people for long, and support the TVK candidates contesting on behalf of the Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance. Campaigning in Dharapuram for the second time since Wednesday he said DMK chief , MK Stalin’s comments about TVK candidate Sathyabama were unfit to be repeated, and warned that he would not stay silent if such demeaning comments are made about mothers, sisters and women. He traced such rhetoric to the days of MGR and Jayalalithaa, and asked why today’s AIADMK was keeping the DMK at arm’s length only in name. Meanwhile, DMK chief MK Stalin on Sunday posed four questions to the TVK government, alleging that its “reel” of portraying itself as a “pure” force had unravelled in four months. In a post on X, he questioned how Vijay could project himself as a protector of women while retaining people accused of sexual violence as MLAs and district secretaries. He also alleged that money was being distributed to voters. Stalin urged CM Vijay rides a bullock cart during his rally in Dharapuram on Sunday | PTI Case filed against Udhaya Tiruppur: The district police on Sunday registered a case against Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin for engaging a child in a bypoll campaign in Dharapuram. While canvassing votes for DMK candidate S Suganya in Dharapuram on Saturday evening, Udhayanidhi lifted a minor boy onto his campaign vehicle, and the boy criticised the CM | P4 voters to consider the increase in power tariff and hike in prices of essentials before casting their votes. In a separate statement, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami called for a “stinging rebuke” to the “traitors” recontesting on TVK’s symbol. He urged voters to give a verdict that would be a lesson to both the TVK and the defectors. P5