The New Indian Express Wishes its readers a Our offices and press will remain closed today, hence there will be no issue of the newspaper on Tuesday hyderabad l Monday l October 20, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Gone in 4 minutes: Thieves steal Napoleon-era jewels at Louvre Robbers on Sunday broke into the iconic Paris museum and made off with the jewels in an audacious daylight robbery lasting 4 minutes Eight items stolen from gallery of apollo Diamond-adorned crown recovered Around 9.30 am, several intruders broke a first-floor window, cut through the glass with a disc cutter, and headed straight to the Gallery of Apollo, officials said. They are believed to have entered the museum from the riverfront side, where construction is underway, used a freight elevator to reach the gallery, stole eight items from a 23-piece Napoleon collection and fled on scooters diamonds and emeralds, which belonged to Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III, was found damaged near the building ■ The value of the stolen items is still being assessed. Meanwhile, a manhunt is on with the authorities looking for four suspects ■ Shortly after the thieves fled, a 19th-century crown adorned with 800 Metres is the distance from the robbery site to the Paris police HQ 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 Gaza truce strained after Israel, Hamas trade fire 33 reported dead; both sides accuse each other of breaching ceasefire Agen c i es Just nine days after the guns fell silent in Gaza, the landmark ceasefire agreement appeared to be faltering on Sunday, with Israel carrying out fresh airstrikes in Gaza after accusing Hamas of violating the truce terms by firing at Israeli troops. Gaza’s civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said at least 33 people, including a woman and two children, were killed in Israeli strikes across the territory on Sunday Israel said it was check. ing reports of casualties. Israel’s military said Hamas militants opened fire on troops in parts of Rafah city that fall under Israeli control according to the agreed ceasefire lines. In response, the military launched fresh airstrikes on Hamas targets in southern Gaza, it said. Israel said it responded to at least three incidents in which “Hamas fired towards our troops standing behind the yellow line in the agreed-upon positions.” Hamas, however, insisted it was complying with the truce. Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday | afp The group said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months, and “we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas”. Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire, claiming in a statement that Israel “continues to breach the agreement and fabricate flimsy pretexts to justify its crimes”. The escalation comes just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed security forces to take “strong action” against Hamas targets in Gaza over alleged ceasefire violations. Israel informed the Trump administration in advance of the strikes via the US command centre overseeing the ceasefire, Axios reported. A US official said Washington urged Israel to “show restraint”. The renewed tensions follow Israel’s demand on Saturday for Hamas to fulfil its ceasefire obligations by returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages. meeting on oct 22 in delhi Ladakh representatives called for talks with MHA KDA to resume talks. The delegation will include three representaIN a significant thaw after months tives each from LAB and KDA, of impasse, Ladakh’s key agita- their legal advisor, and MP Haji tors are set to resume talks with Haneefa. Dorjay said they would the Centre, with an eight-member push for the release of all detaindelegation from the Leh Apex ees, including climate activist Body (LAB) and Kargil Democrat- Sonam Wangchuk, who remains ic Alliance (KDA), alongside MP jailed under the National Security Haji Haneefa Jan, scheduled to en- Act, and seek compensation for gage a Ministry of Home Affairs the victims. (MHA) sub-committee on “The sub-committee October 22 in New Delhi. meeting will allow us to L AB c o - c h a i r m a n raise our issues freely, Chering Dorjay told this from detainees’ release to newspaper that the MHA We welcome the core demands of statedecision of the has invited them for talks hood and the Sixth SchedGovernment of chaired by the Union India to invite us ule,” Dorjay said. Home Secretary. This KDA leader Sajjad Kar(LAB, KDA and marks the first direct en- others) for talks in gili said the LAB and Delhi and look gagement between LadaKDA will jointly attend forward to a kh representatives and the sub-committee the Centre after the dia- positive outcome meeting. of the dialogue logue broke down follow“We are meeting for with respect to our ing protests in Leh on statehood & Sixth Scheddemands September 24 demanding ule status, justice for Sepstatehood and inclusion Chering Dorgay, LAB tember 24 victims, and under the Sixth Schedule. release of detainees inThe violence left four people dead cluding Sonam Wangchuk. We beand over 80 injured in police lieve only genuine dialogue can action. restore trust & fulfil Ladakh’s asAhead of the meeting, the MHA pirations,” he said. on October 17 announced a judiThe LAB and KDA, representcial inquiry led by a retired Su- ing political, social, religious, and preme Court judge into the Sep- trade bodies across Leh and tember 24 incident—one of the Kargil, have been seeking statekey preconditions set by LAB and hood and Sixth Schedule status. f aya z w a n i @ Srinagar Afghanistan, pakistan agree on ceasefire deal The two sides have agreed to set up “mechanisms” to ensure lasting peace after days of violent clashes along the border that left several dead on both sides | P9 E x p r ess Re a d Kishan: Maoist-hit districts down to 11 Govt moves to trace drugs with QR codes Hyderabad: Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said the number of districts in the country affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) has come down sharply from 125 to just 11 over the past decade | P4 New Delhi: In the wake of deaths of over 20 children due to substandard cough syrups, the centre plans to mandate barcoding and QR code-based traceability for vaccines, narcotic and psychotropic drugs, and anticancer medicines | P7 C ent r e w r ites to S t a tes states directed to snuff out bonded labour, trafficking J i t en d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi Cop killer stabs man, nabbed after chase m v k s a s t r y @ Nizamabad After two days on the run, rowdy-sheeter Shaik Riyaz, accused of killing a police constable, was caught in Nizamabad on Sunday. According to police, Riyaz, who had fatally stabbed CCS constable E Pramod on Friday while being escorted to the station, was traced to the Sarangapur area. Pramod, who suffered multiple stab wounds, died later that night in the hospital, following which an ext e n s ive m a n h u n t w a s launched to capture Riyaz. The hunt ended on Sunday afternoon when Riyaz, believed to be hiding inside a lorry cabin, was spotted by a local resident, Asif. When Asif tried to apprehend him, Riyaz stabbed him, sparking a brief chase through nearby forest. Police teams, acting on a tip-off, closed in and overpowered the fugitive. Asif was being given treatment. Riyaz was taken to the GGH and then placed in custody  continued on P2 . Need organ, tissue donation teams in all hospitals Gandhi name is synonymous with India. It continues to inspire the nation A Revanth Reddy, Cheif Minister KAVITA BAJ E LI - DATT @ New Delhi THE Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) ALL hospitals in India should have dedicated teams has directed all states and Union Territories to intento counsel families of potential organ and tissue dosify action against inter-state human trafficking and nors, the Centre said in a communication to all states. bonded labour, following mounting concerns over Hospitals have been asked to report all deaths, make slow progress in rehabilitation efforts. efforts for timely counselling of family members, and In a government order issued on September 25, Secencourage them for organ and tissue donation. retary Vandana Gurnani instructed all Chief SecreThe move comes as India faces a huge gap between taries to constitute vigilance committees in every the number of patients requiring human organ and district and sub-division to track bonded and child tissue transplants and the availability of donors. labour cases. States have also been asked to submit “It is essential that hospitals should constitute orproposals for immediate financial asgan and tissue donation teams by insistance to rescued labourers within volving brain stem death committee three months of issuing release members and transplant coordinator / certificates. counsellor,” said the National Organ The directive follows a Supreme and Tissue Transplant Organization Even if the Centre will rehabilitate Court order of November 22, 2024, (NOTTO) in a letter to all states. NOT- family does 1.84 crore which asked MoLE to conTO is a national-level ogan- not agree to bonded sult with states to simplify isation set up under the Un- organ press donation, the labourers by procedures for identifying clusive ion health ministry. option for 2030. So far, and rehabilitating bonded NOTTO director Dr Anil tissue 35,000 Kumar, in his letter, said donation labourers labourers. This is the secthe organ and tissue donation team must be given have been ond such directive since December must be mandatorily notified of all the to the family freed 2024, after the Centre expressed dissatisfaction with the states’ progress. deaths happening in hospitals. Ministry of “However, not much progress seems to “Even if the family does not agree to Dr Anil Kumar, Labour have been made,” the order observed. organ donation, the option for tissue director, NOTTO MoLE oversees the Bonded Labour donation must be given to the family ,” System (Abolition) Act, 1976, and implements the “ReDr Kumar said in the letter dated October 17. habilitation of Bonded Labour-2021” scheme, which Tissues such as corneas, skin, bones, and heart provides compensation of `30,000 and rehabilitation valves can be donated from cases of brain-stem-death grants of `1 lakh for men and `2 lakh for women. and cardiovascular deaths in hospitals or due to natuNCRB data for 2023 shows forced labour (23,520 casral death cases. Tissues can be harvested up to 10 es) as the largest human trafficking crime, followed hours after death. One donor can save eight lives. by sexual exploitation (17,944). Maharashtra, Telan“India requires nearly one lakh corneas annually , gana, and Odisha reported the highest cases. yet only about one-third of this demand is being met. Dr Tina Kuriakose Jacob of the International InstiBone donation, in particular, plays a vital role in the tute for Migration Development termed the order “a treatment of patients with trauma, nonunion of bone step toward systematic review and monitoring to profractures, congenital abnormalities, and other bonetect the poorest and most vulnerable workers.” related disorders,” the letter said. The cheif minister greets people at Sadar Sammelan Utsav in Hyderabad on Sunday | P4 BRS, BJP have joined hands to split votes in JH: Revanth E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy accused the BRS of acting as the ‘B team of the BJP’ to split votes in the Jubilee Hills byelection. He alleged that both parties conspired to obstruct the implementation of 42% reservations for Backward Classes in local body elections and colluded in the bypoll, similar to their secret pact during the Lok Sabha elections. During the commemoration of the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Yatra at Charminar on Sunday, Revanth presented the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award’ to former union minister and member of the Congress Working Committee, Salman Khurshid. The award recognises his contributions to promoting harmony and unity . Reiterating his allegation of a secret pact between BRS and BJP before the Lok Sabha elections, Revanth said the transfer of 21% votes to BJP in those polls was enough to prove the BRS con- spiracy in the state. He urged people to thwart BRS attempts to divide votes in the Jubilee Hills bypoll. Urging youth participation in politics, Revanth said an amendment to the Constitution to reduce the minimum age to contest Assembly elections from 25 to 21 years was the need of the hour. He recalled how former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi lowered the voting age to 18. Recalling the late prime minister’s Sadbhavana Yatra, Revanth said, “We are organising this programme to continue to honour the legacy of Rajiv Gandhi. I congratulate the organisers for presenting the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award to Salman Khurshid ji.” Revanth added that the name ‘Gandhi’ was synonymous with India.“Indira Gandhi sacrificed her life to protect the integrity of the country. Rajiv Gandhi continued her legacy and sacrificed his life too. Inspired by this, Rahul Gandhi embarked on the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Generations of the Gandhi family remain an inspiration to the nation,” he added. FESTIVIE MODE ON Fireworks from high-rise building in the heart of the IT corridor add glitter to Diwali celebrations that enveloped the entire state on Sunday, the eve of the festival State lights up for Diwali, buzz in the air S i d d h a r d h a G at t i m i @ Hyderabad Hyderabad came alive on Sunday as the city shook off the previous day’s bandh and plunged into Diwali celebrations. Streets buzzed with families crowding firecracker stalls, children tugging at their parents for favourites. From Begum Bazaar and Secunderabad to Kukat- pally and Miyapur, markets were packed through the day. Shoppers browsed piles of sweets, gifts, and fireworks, comparing prices and scouting for lastminute deals. Price soars, sale remains steady Many traders said that customers were now opting for green crackers, even though they cost more. At one store, rows of nearly 150 cracker varieties lined the counters, sparklers priced at around `100 to aerial shots touching `5,000. “We’re only selling Indian-made crackers this year. Chinese ones tend to burst early and cause accidents,” said Balareddy, a wholesaler. While prices have risen by 2–3%, most vendors in Hyderabad said sales were steady and footfall higher than expected.  Continued on P2