kozhikode l Sunday l april 20, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition 24 get 100 percentile in JEE-Main, Rajasthan has most toppers File photo t’gana, u.p., maharashtra do well too Rajasthan, India’s coaching hub, had the highest number of candidates with a perfect score with as many as seven scoring 100 percentile. Next in line, three toppers each are from Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, followed by two toppers each from Delhi, West Bengal and Gujarat. One topper each is from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, as per NTA Twenty-four candidates scored a perfect 100 in JEE (Main), results of which were announced by the National Testing Agency on Saturday 21 top candidates from general list ■ ■ While 21 top-scoring candidates are from general category, the list includes one candidate each from SC, ST and OBC categories The examination was held in April across nine shifts at 531 centres in 300 cities, including 15 outside India. Results of 110 candidates found using unfair means, including forged documents, were withheld 9,92,350 appeared in the second edition of jee main exam 2025 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 Putin springs a short Easter truce surprise Unilateral Russian gesture after US tough talk ceasefire. Zelenskyy wrote on X that the truce plan came as air AMID growing frustration in raid alerts were announced in Washington over stalled peace Ukraine due to drone attacks. efforts, Russian President The ceasefire announcement Vladimir Putin announced a follows fresh Russian claims of surprise Easter truce in the territorial gains, including the conflict in Ukraine. capture of another settlement The truce will pause “all hos- near the Kursk border region. tilities” from 6 pm Moscow President Putin suggested the time on Saturday (11 truce would serve as a am Eastern Time) untest of Ukraine’s sintil midnight on Moncerity about wanting day (5 pm ET peace. US Secretary of Sunday). State Marco Rubio had The announcement signalled growing imcame on the same day patience with the peace as Russia, Ukraine process. swapped hundreds of On Friday he warned , prisoners in the war’s that the United States largest exchange. Rusis prepared to “move Our troops must sia said 246 Russian on” from its role in broservice members were be ready to repel kering peace talks unviolations of the returned from terriless there are tangible truce and any tory controlled by signs of progress in provocations Kyiv, and that ‘as a the coming days. “We gesture of goodwill’ 31 can’t keep chasing a —Vladimir Putin wounded Ukrainian breakthrough that isn’t prisoners of war were trans- coming,” he said. President ferred in exchange for 15 Donald Trump, too, weighed in, wounded Russian soldiers. saying that the negotiations bePutin said he expects Ukraine tween Russia and Ukraine are to reciprocate: “We assume that “coming to a head.” the Ukrainian side will follow Ukraine had last month our example.” agreed to Trump’s proposal for Ukraine has been wary of a full and unconditional 30-day short-term truces, having pre- ceasefire, only for Vladimir Puviously rejected a January 2023 tin to reject it. E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi 11 killed in multi-storey building collapse Rescue operation underway after a four-storey residential building collapsed in the Shakti Vihar area of New Delhi in the early hours of Saturday, killing 11 people, including seven of a family, and injuring 11 others. According to the police, there were 22 people in the ill-fated building, most of them families | Shekhar Yadav Shine arrested in drugs case, released on bail A b d u l N a z e r M A @ Kochi Two days after allegedly fleeing the scene during a narcotics raid at a Kochi hotel, actor Shine Tom Chacko was on Saturday arrested and released on bail. The arrest followed nearly four-hour-long interrogation. According to police, the questioning revealed that Shine had “used narcotic substances on several occasions”. He has been booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for consumption of narcotic drugs, abetment, and criminal conspiracy . According to the FIR, Shine and his friend, Ahmed Murshad, may have stayed at the hotel as part of a conspiracy involving drug use or possession. After his arrest, Shine un- India lashes out at B’desh over killing of Hindu leader J ayan t h J a c o b @ New Delhi In a sharp escalation of tensions over attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, India on Saturday condemned the brutal killing of community leader Bhabesh Chandra Roy as part of a “systematic persecution” and firmly urged Dhaka to protect its minorities without offering excuses or justifications. Bhabesh Chandra Roy, 58, a prominent Hindu leader and vice-president of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, was murdered in Dinajpur, BangBhabesh C Roy ladesh. Local media reports said Roy was abducted from home by four men on motorcycles half-an-hour after he receiving a suspicious call around 4.30 pm. They took him to Narabari village, where he was savagely assaulted. The attackers later dumped the unconscious Roy at his home in a van. He taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. “We have noted with distress the abduction and brutal killing of Shri Bhabesh Chandra Roy a Hindu minority leader in , Bangladesh,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government even as the perpetrators of previous s u c h e ve n t s r o a m w i t h impunity .” Shine Tom Chacko being taken for medical examination following his interrogation at Ernakulam Town North police station on Saturday | T P Sooraj derwent a medical examination at the General Hospital in Ernakulam, where samples of his hair and nail were collected for scientific testing to determine drug use. He was later released on conditional station bail. “We questioned him thoroughly about the incident and his possible links to narcotics trafficking networks. We believe he fled the hotel room to evade arrest and destroy evidence,” said a top officer with the Kochi city police, who chose to remain anonymous. “He will be summoned again for questioning in the coming days,” he said. K A Abdul Salam, assistant commissioner of the Kochi city narcotics cell, said though the interrogation began with denials, Shine eventually admitted to using drugs after being confronted with evidence. The police had summoned Shine to appear at 10.30 am, but he arrived at the Ernakulam Town North police station by 10 am. “Despite arriving ahead of schedule apparently confident, Shine grew visibly frustrated during the interrogation and eventually broke down under questioning,” said Salam. “Initially, he denied using drugs and provided multiple false narratives,” he said.  ● More on P5 India’s First in-person trade talks with U.S. next week D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi Aiming to quickly wrap up the first phase of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the US before the September-October deadline, India is sending a small delegation of five-six negotiators to the US on April 23. The delegation is likely to stay there for three days, commerce ministry sources told this newspaper. US vice-president J D Vance is due to arrive in India on Monday , April 21. The Indian delegation’s visit a couple of days later indicates the mutual urge to expedite the talks. Earlier, the ministry had indicated that physical negotiations will begin only in the first week of May “While virtual negotiations . have started, we thought we will send a small delegation to the US to carry forward the discussions,” a commerce ministry official told this newspaper. India’s chief negotiator — additional secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal — will lead the team for the first in-person talks. Agrawal was appointed the next commerce secretary on April 18. He will assume office from October 1. Though some media reports suggest both sides have agreed to have the discussions covering 19 chapters, including tariffs, nontariff barriers, and customs facilitation, the ministry official quot- ed earlier denied chapter-wise discussions would be held during the visit of the delegation. He said that chapter-wise discussion would begin in the second half of May. “The texts and contours of those discussions are being prepared currently the official said. ,” “The SeptemberOctober timeline is a deadline, not a target. If negotiations can be concluded earlier, it will benefit both countries. We are aiming to accelerate talks to avoid any adverse outcomes when the pause ends,” said a commerce ministry official. The Trump administration announced a 26% reciprocal tariff on India, but paused it for 90 days. su n da y spe c ia l Game-changer: Zeeshan gives family a better life through cricket F i r o z M i r z a @ Mumbai AT the age of 25, Uttar Pradesh legbreak googly bowler Zeeshan Ansari is looking after a family of 19 including his parents, siblings, uncles and their families. His father Mohammed Naeem and uncles Mohammed Chand and Mohammed Gayas — work as ladies tailors and before Zeeshan started earning through the sport, the family had often found it difficult to make ends meet. Despite difficult times, Naeem and his brothers never let Zeeshan feel the pinch while on his quest to glory . The old house in the narrow lanes of Chaudhary Tola locality of Aliganj in Lucknow still stands as a witness to the struggles the family had to go through in tougher times. The new house Zeeshan built is a symbol of their resilience and hope. That journey started The old house where Zeeshan and his family lived in Lucknow | Firoz Mirza when Zeeshan made it to the India U19 squad for the 2016 World Cup. Former national level footballer Kanhaiya Lal, coaches Abhay SIngh, Ajay Verma and Gopal Singh played their part as well. “Zeeshan got the house constructed soon after returning from the U19 World Cup,” father Naeem told this daily during a visit to the locality earlier this week. Not only the house, Zeeshan also got the tailor shop, the family owns at IT Chauraha renovated for rent at a decent sum to ensure steady source of income for the family of 12 children including seven daughters. “He always wants to make some arrangements for a steady source of income and the rent above `30,000 has come as a big relief,” uncle Mohammed Gayas, who played a key role in Zeeshan’s cricketing career, said. Zeeshan, who played five first class matches for UP got a chance to , showcase his talent in the inaugural UP T20 League last year. He topped the wickets chart. Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for `40 lakh. WITH THIS ISSUE The Great New AdVentures PLUS 12 PAGES The New Indian Express wishes its readers a EXPRESS READ Road devpt: Nod to use Silent Valley buffer zone Kochi: The standing committee of the National Board for Wild Life has cleared a proposal to use 134.1 hectares of land including 9.526 hectares of forest for development of Palakkad - Kozhikode greenfield highway. The highway will pass through the buffer zone of Silent Valley National Park at an aerial distance of 5.7 km to 7.3 km from forest boundary.