kochi l Sunday l april 20, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city edition 24 get 100 percentile in JEE-Main, Rajasthan has most toppers Twenty-four candidates scored a perfect 100 in JEE (Main), results of which were announced by the National Testing Agency on Saturday File photo t’gana, u.p., maharashtra do well too 21 top candidates from general list 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 ■ ■ 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 India condemns murder of Hindu leader in Bangladesh Jayanth Ja 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 D i n a j p u r, Bangladesh. Local media reports said Roy was abducted from home by four men on motorcycles halfBhabesh C Roy 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 .” 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 rising in faith The resurrection of Jesus Christ portrayed as part of Easter celebrations at Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Church in Kochi | T P Sooraj The New Indian Express wishes its readers a Happy Easter 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, interrogation revealed that Shine had “used narcotic substances on several occasions”. He has been booked under the 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. Shine has also been accused of attempting to destroy evidence. After his arrest, Shine underwent a medical examination at the Shine Tom Chacko being taken for medical examination following his interrogation at Ernakulam Town North police station | T P Sooraj General Hospital in Ernakulam, where samples of his hair and nail were collected for scientific testing to determine possible 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 strongly believe he fled the hotel room to evade arrest and destroy evidence,” said a top officer with the Ko- chi city police, who chose to remain anonymous. “The actor has been granted bail for now, but he will be summoned again for further questioning in the coming days,” he added. 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 initially summoned the actor to appear at 10.30 am, but he arrived at the Ernakulam Town North police station by 10 am, accompanied by his lawyers. “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,” ● More on P5 he said. WITH THIS ISSUE The Great New AdVentures First in-person trade talks with US 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, non-tariff barriers, and customs facilitation, the ministry official quoted 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 September-October 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. PLUS 12 PAGES 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. P2 11 killed as building collapses in Delhi New Delhi: Eleven people died after a four-storey building collapsed in north-east Delhi’s Shakti Vihar in the early hours of Saturday. The incident also left 11 persons injured. According to police, there were 22 people inside the 20-year-old building at the time of the incident, most of them families.