FE LINES OPINION, P10 WELL BEING ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM While ‘mood foods’ have become a wellness buzzword, their grounding lies in decades of biology, culture & memory Page 9 Two wars that are blots on humanity Smart glasses WHEN YOU EAT TO FEEL Will they increase total screen time or reduce it remains to be seen Page 6 LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM Vol. 18 No. 31 REVISITINGY2K FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY MUMBAI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2025 14 Pages, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , The decline of drinking VAISHALI DAR New Delhi, October 4 Across the world, alcohol consumption is on the wane. As premiumisation becomes par for the course, and mindful drinking the new normal, the liquor industry is bracing for one of the biggest ‘shifts’ in consumer attitudes TENNIS LEGEND ANDRE Agassi made his professional pickleball debut at the US Open Pickleball Championships in Florida this year, elevating the new-age sport that is having its moment ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 World atlas of innovation Why no country can claim monopoly on transformative tech & how it’s an opportunity India has to seize K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , REUTERS October 4 Strong orders propel defence sector rally Top gainers INTHEYEAR to date YTD2025 return in % 2025, defence stocks have surged up to Garden Reach 68.5 Shipbuilders 68.5%, driven by strong order flows Astra 45 Microwave that boosted investor Paras Defence & sentiment.The Nifty 44 Space Techno India Defence Index Solar jumped 25.3%, Industries 41.6 significantly Bharat outperforming the Electronics 40.8 benchmark Nifty, Source: Bloomberg which gained 5.28% during this period. Of Relative performance the 18 constituents of 125.25 the Nifty India Defence 135 Nifty India Defence 125 Index, 13 delivered Index 115 positive returns so far 105 in 2025.With a 68.5% 95 return, Garden Reach 105.28 Shipbuilders emerged 85 as the top performer. 75 Oct 3, 2025 in India; 10,000 playing professionally Monsoon Pickleball Championship popularising the sport IRONMAN ■ Endurance event has 3.8-km swim, 180-km bike ride, full marathon (42.2 km) HYROX ■ The global fitness race entered India this year triathlon, which are attracting people of all ages, especially those looking for globally. Other new sports rising the popularity charts include padel and Ironman ■ Notable names like MPTejasvi Surya (right) has completed such races sports that combine activity and socialising.Not just humans, robots are also taking ■ Plaintiffs include United Auto Workers union, American Association of University Professors, nurse recruitment agency, others ■ Lawsuit filed in A COALITION OF unions, employers and religious groups filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to block President Donald Trump's bid to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highlyskilled foreign workers. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in San Francisco, is the first to challenge a proclamation Trump issued two weeks ago announcing the fee as he moves to further restrict immigration to the United States. Continued on Page 2 San Francisco first to challenge proclamation issued by Trump two weeks ago sent Friday to Trump,roughly a dozen industry organisations representing chipmakers,software companies and retailers said the new fee threatens to crimpacrucialtalentpipelineof foreignskilledworkersandleave critical jobs unfilled. US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump is considering significanttariffreliefforUSautoproduction that could effectively eliminate much of the costs majorcarcompaniesarepaying, Republican senator Bernie Moreno and auto officials told Reuterson Friday.“Thesignalto the car companies around the world is look, you have final assemblyin the US:we’re going to reward you,” Moreno said in an interview.“For Ford,forToyota, for Honda, for Tesla, for GM— those are the almost in order of the top five domestic content vehicle producers— they’ll be immuneto tariffs.” Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 ■ They argue that Trump's power to restrict entry of certain foreign nationals does not allow him to override law that created H-1B visa Business groups also protest A COALITION OF business groups warned President Donald Trump that the $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications risks harming the US economy andurgedtheadministrationto avoid changes to the skilled workerprogrammethatimpose added burdens on companies, reports Bloomberg. In a letter Israel,Hamas agree toTrump plan AGENCIES Jerusalem, October 4 ISRAELAND HAMAS signalled a readiness to move forward with US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan in a diplomatic breakthrough, but significant gaps will need to be negotiatedtobringanendtothe warin Gaza. The Israeli government said itwas preparing forthe“immediate implementation” of the »INSIDE« first steps of Trump’s plan. Hours earlier, Hamas issued its ownqualifiedacceptanceofthe proposal,sayingitwouldrelease all remaining hostages.Trump exuded confidence that a deal was imminent, saying it was a “big day”while also exhorting Israel to stop bombing Gaza.He conceded that negotiators still needed “to get the final word down in concrete.” Continued on Page 2 PM MODI CALLS IT ‘DECISIVE PROGRESS’ PAGE 14 QUESTIONS REMAIN ■ Hamas must move quickly ‘else all bets will be off’, says Trump. ‘I will not tolerate delay... Let's get this done, FAST’ ■ Hamas willing to free hostages, hand power, but other aspects unclear ■ Hamas statement didn’t address issue Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in of demilitarising Rome, Italy, on Saturday REUTERS Maruti Suzuki from 277,116 to 273,766 units,held on to the third spot, edging past Hyundai. The setback is significant because Hyundai has for years been a fixture in the second position, comfortably ahead of rivals, with models like the 127,321 131,006 Tata Motors 150,255 165,957 Mahindra 299,094 271,780 844,614 795,446 NEW H1 MAP H1FY25 H1FY26 277,116 273,766 IN A DEVELOPMENT that marks a break from nearlytwo decades of market hierarchy, Hyundai Motor India has lost its long-held number two spot in the passenger vehicle segment. The Korean carmaker, once firmly behind Maruti Suzuki, was pushed to the fourth position in the first half of FY26, trailing both Mahindra and Tata Motors. Hyundai was pushed to the fourth spot also in September dispatches. Sales data collated by FE shows that inApril-September 2025, Hyundai sold 271,780 units, a 9.1% decline from the 299,094 units it managed in the same period last year. The fall allowed Mahindra, riding a 14.4% surge in volumes to 297,570 units, to claim second place. Tata Motors,despite a marginal dip 260,210 297,570 VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, October 4 N E W D E L H I , P U N E to the arena, with 21 humanoids competing in a half-marathon in Beijing in April this year. In August, China even hosted an all-robots games with various sports being played. Data from theAssociation of Pickleball Professionals (APP) suggest that the US alone is estimated to have nearly 50 million adults volleying a ball over a 34-inch net between 2022 and 2023. Estimates also suggest that 4,000 new locations were added in the US in 2024, bringing the total to 15,910 courts nationwide. India, too, has over 70,000 activeplayersinpickleballwith 10,000 playing professionally. The game is rapidly moving from a niche,leisure activityto a mainstream sport, said Aditya Khanna, director, PickleballWorld Rankings (PWR),a unified global ranking system for pickleball players. Continued on Page 2 Tariff relief likelyforUS carproduction LEGAL RECOURSE Hyundai in reverse gear, slides to 4th spot ● Korean carmaker in H1 loses second rank held for years M U M B A I , Trump's $100k H-1Bvisa fee challenged in court ● President lacks constitutional power: Lawsuit Base: Dec 31, 2024=100 H Y D E R A B A D , ● Pickleball, padel, NICHE TO MAINSTREAM ■ Tournaments Ironman rising the PICKLEBALL like Indian ■ Over 70,000 Open League, popularity charts active players ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 Dec 31, 2024 C H E N N A I , READ TO LEAD New games on the block serving up a storm WHAT'S INSIDE — Compiled by Kishor Kadam C H A N D I G A R H , From oversized tees to baguette bags, fashion from the millennium era is taking over Gen Z wardrobes Page 7 Toyota Kia Hyundai Kirloskar Motor India Creta and Venue driving sales. But analysts say the overdependenceontheCretaisnow showing. Of the 51,547 units Hyundai sold in September, 18,861units,morethanathird, camefromtheCreta.TheVenue followed at 11,484 units,while therestoftheline-up,including the i10 Nios, i20, Aura, Exter, Verna,Alcazar,TucsonandIoniq 5,struggled to keep pace. Mahindra’srise,incontrast, has been broad-based.While it lacks a single superstar product, demand has been strong across models such as the XUV 3XO,TharandTharRoxx,Scorpio and Scorpio-N, and new electric offerings like the BE 6 and XEV9e. Continued on Page 2 Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the launch of the ‘Apki Poonji, Apka Adhikar’ campaign in Gandhinagar, PTI Gujarat, on Saturday Banks,regulators have`1.84lakhcr unclaimed assets PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Ahmedabad, October 4 UNION FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said financial assets worth `1.84 lakh crore were lying unclaimed with banks and regulators, and officials need to ensure these reach the rightful owners. Sitharaman launched the three-month Apki Poonji,Apka Adhikar (Your Money, Your Right) campaign from GandhinagarinthepresenceofGujarat finance minister Kanubhai Desai and otherseniorofficials. Speaking on the occasion, the FM said financial assets worth `1.84 lakh crore were lying unclaimed with banks and regulators in the form of bank deposits, insurance, provident fund orshares. She urged officials to work on three As—Awareness,Access and Action—to ensure these unclaimedassetsreachrightful owners during the threemonth-long campaign. “Unclaimed monies are lying with NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, UNION FINANCE MINISTER You come when you want with proper papers. Money will be given to you. The govt is the custodian for it thebanksorwiththeRBIorwith the IEPF (Investor Education and Protection Fund).We have to find the rightful owners and claimants of those funds and hand the money over to them,” Sitharaman said. “As per the DFS (Department of Financial Services), `1,84,000 crore is lying there. It is safe. I can assure you it is absolutely safe. You come when you want with proper papers. Money will be given to you,”she said. Continued on Page 2 Modi unveils UK PM Starmer youth schemes to visit India worth `62K cr on October 8-9 PM NARENDRA Modi unveiled various youth-focused initiatives worth more than `62,000 crore, with a special emphasis on poll-bound Bihar. Modi launched PM-SETU, a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of `60,000 crore. It envisages an upgrade of 1,000 government ITIs. ■ PAGE 14 UK PM Keir Starmer will make his first official visit to India from October 8 to 9 at the invitation of PM Narendra Modi. During the visit, on October 9 in Mumbai, the two leaders will take stock of progress in diverse aspects of the IndiaUK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with 'Vision 2035'. ■ PAGE 14