Sanctions-hit Russia is offering its flagship Urals grade to India at a discount of $35 per barrel to lure New Delhi to lift more shipments.

The Ukraine war and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Russia have raised several dilemmas for central banks. One set of problems are the real economy issues - high inflation before growth has recovered from the pandemic. The second and more enduring set of questions are how to diversify forex reserves and make payments if there are tit for tat sanctions. To discuss this CNBC-TV18 spoke to Eswar Prasad, International Trade Policy Professor at Cornell University and author of The Future of Money.

Russian oil tankers are increasingly going dark or shutting off their transponders and automatic identification systems (AIS) in order to evade US-led sanctions. Oil cargo is switching hands from Russian sources to companies and countries silently in order to avoid the global stigma of being associated with Russia as it continues to attack Ukraine. India has already bought more Russian crude since February than it did in the full previous year.

The sanctions involve asset freezes and travel bans, and the sanctioned include a famous TV anchor on state-owned channel Rossiya, and the man known as the 'butcher of Maruipol,' among others.