hyderabad l Friday l October 10, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 38 l LATE City EDITION exam centres to be allocated based on aadhaar addresses new policy aims to enhance fairness Candidates will no longer have the option to select preferred test cities, unlike the previous system allowing three to four choices. The policy aims to enhance fairness by reducing instances of impersonation and cheating during national-level entrance exams. Rural students will benefit from centres assigned closer to their Aadhaar-based addresses Starting from 2026-27 academic session, the NTA will assign exam centres for JEE Main, NEET-UG, and CUET-UG solely on Aadhaar card address strict verification rules in the offing ensure their Aadhaar details are updated; name and date of birth on Aadhaar must exactly match Class 10 marksheet, NTA has said ■ SC, ST, OBC, EWS, and PwD candidates must ensure their category certificates match both Aadhaar and Class 10 records for benefits ■ Candidates studying away from their permanent addresses must Jan ’26 is when The new centre allocation system will debut with JEE (Main) 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 calls Trump, hails Gaza truce, discusses trade and Qatari officials, it marks the first phase of a 20-point USPRIME Minister Narendra backed peace framework. Modi on Thursday held a phone “We welcome the agreement conversation with US President on the first phase of President Donald Trump, congratulating Trump’s peace plan. This is also him on the announcement of a reflection of the strong leaderthe Gaza ceasefire deal and re- ship of Prime Minister Netanviewing the status of bilateral yahu,” Modi said. trade negotiations. Modi deThe Modi-Trump call also rescribed Trump as a “friend” in vives the possibility of a meeta post on X and praised the “suc- ing between the two later this cess of the Gaza peace plan”. month on the sidelines of the “ I s p o ke t o m y ASEAN Summit in friend, President Kuala Lumpur. Both Trump, congratulathave been invited, and ing him on the success going by the diplomatof the historic Gaza ic calendar, it may be We hope the release of peace plan. We also rethe last multilateral hostages and viewed the progress in event this year where enhanced trade negotiations and they can meet. “This is humanitarian agreed to remain in a multifaceted relaassistance to the close contact in the tionship. We are confipeople of Gaza coming weeks,” Modi will bring respite dent of sailing through posted on X. to them and pave this phase,” said a Later, Modi called Is- the way for lasting source, adding “the peace raeli Prime Minister trade ne gotiations Benjamin Netanyahu have been going on Narendra Modi, PM and congratulated him and the next round is for the peace deal. Acbeing planned.” cording to a statement by the Trade tensions between India I s r a e l i P M O, N e t a n ya h u and the US escalated after ‘paused’ the security cabinet Washington imposed a 50% tarmeeting discussing the Gaza iff on certain Indian goods. deal to take Modi’s call. While talks have resumed, The Gaza deal—announced many sticking points remain. by Trump on Truth Social—in“The relationship is going cludes a ceasefire, the release of through an unexpected patch,” all hostages held in Gaza, a par- said a source familiar with the tial withdrawal of Israeli forc- talks, adding, “despite that, es, and a large-scale prisoner there is a strong personal equaexchange. Negotiated in Cairo tion between Modi and Trump.” with the US, Israeli, Egyptian,  Joy, relief in Gaza: P11 J AYA N T H J ACOB @ New Delhi SC directs legal help to 3.66 lakh SIR exclusions s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a nt y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Bihar State Legal Service Authority (BSLSA) to issue directions to its district-level bodies for assisting 3.66 lakh voters excluded from the final electoral rolls in filing appeals with the Election Commission. A two-judge bench headed by Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi on Thursday said the question of deciding appeals by voters who have been excluded after the SIR exercise of electoral rolls in Bihar within the stipulated time and with a reasoned order will be considered on the next date of hearing on October 16. “We request the chairman of Bihar legal services authority to send a communication to secretaries in local authorities to provide free legal aid to help the excluded ones to file their appeals,” SC said. express read Four held in ephedrine lab bust at Jeedimetla Hyderabad: In one of the biggest drug hauls in recent months, EAGLE sleuths raided a flat in Jeedimetla and arrested four persons involved in manufacturing ephedrine. About 220 kg of the drug, valued at `72 crore in the international market, was seized. The manufacturing unit, PNM Life Sciences at IDA Bollaram, has also been sealed | P5 Literature Nobel for master of the ‘long-form’ | p11 HC stays 42% BC quota in local body polls T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, on Thursday granted an interim stay on the election notification issued by the State Election Commission (SEC) on September 29 and GO Ms No. 9 dated September 26, which provided 42% reservation for BCs in local body polls. The stay came just hours after the SEC issued the election notification for the first phase of the local body polls. The bench’s decision came while it was hearing 10 writ petitions challenging the government’s decision to extend reservations. Notices were issued to the chief secretary and the principal secretaries of the Panchayat Raj, General Administration, BC Welfare, and Law and Legislative de- partments, as well as to the chief electoral officer. They were directed to file counters within four weeks, with petitioners allowed two weeks thereafter to submit rejoinders. The bench also allowed all 60 implead petitions in the matter and said a detailed, reasoned order would follow. Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy informed the court that the state had conducted a door-todoor socioeconomic survey covering SCs, STs and BCs, as the Census data had not been updated since 2011. The survey found that 57.6% of Telangana’s population belongs to BC communities, based on which the Cabinet fixed 42% reservation in local body elections. He argued that no objections were raised during the survey and , criticism emerged only after the data was used for determining quotas. continued on p6 £350 million missile deal part of deepening ties with the UK Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his UK counterpart Keir Starmer in Mumbai | PTI J aya nt h J a c o b @ New Delhi India and the UK on Thursday cemented a new phase in their evolving relationship, unveiling a wide-ranging set of agreements across trade, defence, education and technology as prime minis, ters Narendra Modi and Keir Starmer expressed a strong commitment to build on the momentum of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). “India and the UK are natural partners. In today’s time of global uncertainty, our growing partnership stands as an important pillar of global stability and economic progress,” Modi said after the meeting with Starmer. Both leaders hailed the potential of CETA to double bilateral trade by 2030 through tariff cuts, greater market access, and enhanced investment. Accompanied by the UK’s largest-ever business and academic delegation to India, Starmer described India as a “global player” with a “remarkable growth story”. A key outcome was the announcement of a £350 million defence deal under which the UK will supply LMMs to the Indian Army The missiles, man. ufactured in Northern Ireland, will not only boost India’s defence capabilities but also support 700 jobs in the UK. The two sides also agreed to move forward with a government-to-government framework for future defence deals and signed a military training cooperation agreement.  p9 Hike in tariffs, H-1B visa fee could affect India-US relations: Revanth E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday warned that recent policy decisions by the US, particularly the hike in import tariffs on Indian goods and the steep increase in H-1B visa fees, could have an “adverse impact on both economies”. In the same breath, he invited American business leaders to partner with Telangana in its ambitious economic roadmap and the development of Bharat Future City . The chief minister was addressing a delegation of senior US business leaders, think tank representatives and philanthropists engaged in investment, policy exchange and bilateral cooperation, who met him and IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu at the Secretariat. Revanth said abrupt decisions like tariff hikes and visa restrictions risk straining trade and talent ties between India and the US.  continued on p7 CM A Revanth Reddy speaks to members of a US delegation in Hyderabad on Thursday Elections on hold E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Hours after the Telangana High Court stayed GO 9, which provided 42 per cent reservation for the Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday put the local body election process on hold until further orders. In its initial statement, the SEC said it would “abide by the directions issued by the Telangana High Court”. Later, after examining the court order, it formally announced that the election process had been put on hold. In a late-night communication, the Commission said the election notifications (G-761/1 and G-762/1) dated September 29 are kept in abeyance with immediate effect until further notification. continued on p6 BC leaders threaten statewide bandh Following the interim stay on GO 9, BC organisation leaders staged a protest outside the court. Agitators raised “CM, down, down” slogans. National BC Association leader and MP R Krishnaiah accused the government of ‘stealing food from their mouths’ and threatened a statewide bandh, similar to the Mandal Commission movement | p6