The New Indian Express wishes its readers a SAMBALPUR l wednesday l October 01, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION President Donald Trump joined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in declaring an end to “woke” culture in the US armed forces | P9 DURGA PUJA & Dussehra The office and press of TNIE will remain closed on October 1 & 2. There will be no issue of the paper on October 2 & 3. 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 PM says the 20-point plan offers a pathway to lasting stability for the war-ravaged region Modi backs Trump’s Gaza peace proposal J AYA N T H J AC O B @ New Delhi India on Tuesday welcomed US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi terming the proposal a “viable pathway” to lasting peace, security, and development for both Palestinians and Israelis. The ambitious roadmap, unveiled by Trump during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, aims to bring an immediate halt to nearly two years of devastating conflict in Gaza. The plan mandates a 72-hour window for Hamas to release all hostages, both living and deceased, in exchange for a ceasefire and partial Israeli troop withdrawal. “We welcome President Donald J Trump’s announcement of a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict,” Modi said. India, which supports a twostate solution and has consistently condemned terrorism, said it hopes “all concerned will come together behind President Trump’s initiative and support this effort to end conflict and secure peace”. India’s endorsement of Trump’s plan is consistent with its longstanding call for diplomacy and dialogue to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict. Sources highlighted New Delhi’s historical support for Palestinian statehood, its early recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and its vote in favour of the “New York Declaration” on peaceful settlement earlier this month. India has maintained a delicate diplomatic balance throughout the war, condemning Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terror attack while also calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan proposes a ‘Board of Peace’ led by Trump and international experts, including former British PM Tony Blair, to oversee an interim government in Gaza. Central to the proposal is the reconstruction of the enclave as New Gaza alongside a renewed push for a two-state solution with secure, recognised borders. The peace push comes amid international exhaustion with the prolonged conflict, which has claimed over 66,000 lives. India is the new builder of the world... We want you to build our regions as well Israeli ambassador Reuven Azar It (Trump’s plan) provides a viable pathway to longterm and sustainable peace, security and development for the Palestinian and Israeli people Narendra Modi, PM 7.42 crore in final voter list of Bihar, 47 lakh names out M U K E S H RA N J A N @ New Delhi Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US President Donald Trump at the White House | ap/pTI Ceasefire, return of hostages & aid flow to Gaza central to plan Trump’s 20-point plan outlines an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with all hostages—living or deceased—to be returned by Hamas to Israel within 72 hours. The proposal calls for a suspension of all military operations and a freeze on battle lines, followed by a phased Israeli withdrawal contingent on compliance of the terms of the peace proposal. In exchange for hostages, Israel will release 1,950 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas members who renounce violence will be granted amnesty and safe passage to leave, if they wish so. Humanitarian aid will flow into Gaza under the supervision of the United Nations and other multilateral agencies The Election Commission of India on Tuesday released the final voters’ list for poll-bound Bihar, dropping 47 lakh names that were on the rolls before their Special Intensive Revision began. The final list has 7.42 crore voters in Bihar as compared to 7.24 crore in the draft list. While 21.53 lakh were added to the draft electoral rolls, 3.66 lakh ineligible ones were deleted from that list. In the draft rolls, the ECI had deleted 65 lakh names from the list of 7.89 crore electors in Bihar, who were eligible to vote in the Lok Sabha elections held in 2024. The Asia Cup trophy issue spilled over to the Asian Cricket Council’s annual general meeting on Tuesday . Sources said the BCCI registered a strong protest over the decision of not presenting the winner’s trophy to Suryakumar Yadav and Co after they beat arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in the final on Sunday . ACC president Mohsin Naqvi, who also happens to be Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and interior minister of the country, however, remained defiant even forcing at least one of the BCCI representatives, former treasurer Ashish Shelar, to leave the meeting though for a brief pe- riod. Vice-president Rajeev Shukla was another BCCI representative in the meeting. “The BCCI raised a strong objection for not handing over the trophy to the Indian cricket team,” a source, who attended the meeting told this daily. “Naqvi tried to end the matter by saying the issue is not on the agenda but the BCCI represent- atives continued with their demand and also asked why the trophy is in the hotel and not at the ACC headquarters. Later it was decided that the ACC members will resolve the issue amicably The single point agenda .” of the meeting was to elect a vice-president but that was also deferred. Earlier, Naqvi’s opening re- Electors as on 24 June 2025: 7.89 crore Electors removed from draft list: 65 lakh Electors in draft list after SIR: 7.24 crore Ineligible electors removed from draft list: 3.66 lakh Eligible electors added to draft list: 21.53 lakh Total electors in the final list: 7.42 crore The 47 lakh deletions in the final rolls include deaths, migration and illegal immigrants – Nepali, Bangladeshi and Rohingyas from Myanmar. “If any eligible person still wishes to apply for inclusion of their name in Electoral Roll, they can submit an application up to 10 days before last date for filing nominations for the election and if any person is not satisfied with decision of ERO regarding an entry in final electoral roll, they may, under Section 24 of the RP Act, 1950, file a first appeal before District Magistrate and a second appeal before CEO,” the EC said. The SIR controversy is yet to be settled judicially. The final hearing on the matter in the Supreme Court will take place on October 7. The court had earlier said even the final voters’ list could be canceled if any wrongdoing is found. NEPAL Now, SI recruitment exam win historic t20i SERIES vs WINDIES Playing a T20I series against a full member for the first time, Nepal won the first two matches against twotime world champions West Indies to win the series. The recent upheaval in the country makes the win even more special | P13 Asia Cup row: BCCI corners ACC president Naqvi f i r o z m i r z a @ Chennai Figure it out mark stirred yet another controversy as he congratulated Nepal for winning a T20I series against the West Indies and Mongolia for becoming an ACC member but didn’t mention India’s Asia Cup triumph. Shelar questioned Naqvi for not congratulating India. Naqvi then duly obliged and extended his wishes to the winners, sources said. deferred over ‘irregularities’ E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar/Berhampur Continuing the recent trend of cancellations and postponement of competitive examinations over irregularities and paper leaks, the state government on Tuesday announced the deferment of written test for the Combined Police Service Examination 2024. Originally scheduled for October 5 and 6, the examination was to be conducted for the recruitment of sub-inspectors (SIs) in the Odisha Police. This is for the third time that the recruitment test of SIs has been postponed. The decision to keep the exams on hold came hours after Berhampur police intercepted three buses near Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh on Monday night and detained 120 candi- dates, who were allegedly being taken to Hyderabad for ‘special coaching’ arranged by the private agency conducting the recruitment test. Sources said all detained candidates are being interrogated by the Berhampur police. Further details in this matter are awaited. A statement issued by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) on the orders of its chairman Santosh Kumar Upadhyaya said the written examination of CPSE 2024 has been “postponed for some unforeseen development.” Fresh dates for the examination will be announced later, it added. While, the OPRB remained tight-lipped over the immediate cause of the postponement, sources said that some irregularities were detected following which the decision was Continued on P5 taken.