eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE LUCKNOW,LATECITY The Fibre Fix OCTOBER5,2025 12+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA BIHAR Rolling out schemes for youth, PM says RJD and Cong ruined education HIMANSHUHARSH PATNA,OCTOBER4 LAUNCHINGAslewofyouth-centric initiatives worth Rs 62,000 crore in poll-bound Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday blamed previous governments led by the RJD and Congress for “ruining the educationsystem”inthestate,whichhe said, led to largescale migration. In an address through video conferencing from Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, the Prime Ministersaid,“Twototwo-and-ahalf decades ago, the education systeminBiharwasinashambles. Schools barely opened, appointments were not made. This is the truth.” `62,000-CR: LOANS TO SCHOLARSHIPS WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM AHEAD OF SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF ATTACK Israel, Hamas say they will work with Trump’s Gaza plan but gaps remain PM welcomes leadership of Trump, calls it decisive progress Hamas agrees to release hostages but much unclear about its future; Trump says it must move quickly or all bets off AARON BOXERMAN, NATAN ODENHEIMER & ADAM RAGSON JERUSALEM, OCTOBER 4 ISRAEL AND Hamas signalled a readiness to move forward with parts of US President Donald Trump’s20-pointcease-fireplan in what many hoped would lead to a diplomatic breakthrough but significant gaps will need to be negotiated to bring an end to the war in Gaza days ahead of its second anniversary. The Israeli government said Saturdaythatitwaspreparingfor the “immediate implementation” of the first steps of Trump’s proposal. Hours earlier, Hamas QUESTIONS PERSIST Fingers crossed in Delhi over next steps ■ Hamas said it’s willing to release hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians but other aspects of plan require consultations among Palestinians. ■ It didn’t address issue of group demilitarising ■ Next steps unclear for Palestinians in Gaza as Israeli troops are still laying siege to the city. said in a statement that it would release all of its remaining CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 4 ResidentialbuildingsdamagedinanIsraelioperationin Gaza City on Saturday. Reuters THE WORLD TRUMP’S 20-POINT PLAN FOR GAZA CEASEFIRE U.S. PEACE NOD PUTS NETANYAHU IN A TOUGH SPOT P 8 WITHIN HOURS of US President Donald Trump’s welcoming the Hamasstatementbroadlyagreeing to his proposal and asking Israel to stop bombing Gaza, Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again welcomed Trump’s “leadership” on what he called “decisiveprogress”anda“significant step forward”. While there are many CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BIHAR STUDENT CREDIT CARD SCHEME: In renewed format, offers interest-free education loans; scholarships increased from `1,800 to `3,600 PM SETU SCHEME: Worth Rs 60,000 crore, for upgrading 1,000 government ITIs PM-USHA SCHEME: New academic and research facilities in four Bihar universities at a cost of `160 crore Hesaidpeoplewereforcedto send their children away from Bihar to cities in other states, markingthebeginningofthemigration of youth from Bihar. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 GOVT & POLITICS HOLD POLLS SOON IN MINIMAL PHASES: PARTIES TO EC P 6 Shah to Maoists: What is there to talk... drop weapons, surrrender LANDMINE TO PODIUM GLORY JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU RAIPUR, OCTOBER 4 AGAINST THE backdrop of internal strife in the Maoist ranks on whether or not to surrender and engage in talks with the Centre, UnionHomeMinisterAmitShah Saturday drew a red line that takes the choice out of their hands. Speaking in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, he ruled out talks and made it clear that the only way for Maoists to survive is to lay down arms. Emphasising that both the state and central governments are “dedicated to the development of Bastar and other Naxal- SUBEDAR SOMAN RANA, 42,(left)wholosthislegina landmineblast,wonasilver inthemen’sshotputF57at theWorldParaAthletics ChampionshipsinNewDelhi onSaturday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Bastar, Saturday. PTI PARDEEP KUMAR,alsoa soldierandblastsurvivor, wonabronzeinthediscus throwF64classificationon Friday. Gajendra Yadav affectedareas”,hesaid,“Kuchlog vaartha ki baat karte hain. Mein fir se ek baar spastha kar deta hoon... Kis cheez ki vaartha karni hai? (Some people talk about having talks. I want to make it PAGE11 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MP: As kids died after taking cough Change of guard: Gill replaces Rohit syrup, officials probed in the dark as ODI captain, Shreyas his deputy PARASIA, OCTOBER 4 Mother of Yojita, a toddler who died on Saturday youngest residents. Health officials launched an urgent field investigation,testingtheusualsuspects: contaminated water sources,disease-carryingrodents, and mosquito populations. Each test came back negative. The health department did not conductpostmortems,citingalackof parentalconsent,leavinginvestigators to pursue the mystery. The first death was reported CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DEVENDRA PANDEY AHMEDABAD, OCTOBER 4 IN A decision that marks a changing-of-the-guard, the national selection committee on Saturday named Shubman Gill as India's One-day International captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, asitannouncedthesquadforthe three-match ODI series in Australia later this month. E EXPLAINED ANAND MOHAN J IN EARLY September, officials in Madhya Pradesh’s Parasia noticed something was wrong as several children aged under five started dying from unexplained health complications. Fortwoweeks,thedistrictadministrationscrambledtounderstand what was killing their Nutritionists and chefs are designing diets rich in this nutrient that can protect your gut, heart, brain FOUR-PAG E PULLOUT ● Writing on the wall While the selectors’ call to replace Rohit is wise — the next ODI World Cup is in 2027 and he will be 40 — it is also a message to him and Kohli: door isn’t shut but a spot will have to be earned. RohitandViratKohli,thetwo ODI giants of Indian cricket in this era, have also been named in the squad but the promotion of 26-year-old Gill, who is also the Test captain, was done with aneyeonthe2027WorldCupby when Rohit will be 40. TheselectorsinformedRohit, who captained India to two ICC trophies, in advance about the decision to remove him as ODI CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LoP in UP Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey being stopped by police at his home in Lucknow on Saturday. Vishal Srivastav Bareilly: Poster not issue, say police; row escalates as SP team stopped DyCM:Ariot-freeUP,goodgovernance ouridentity,SPknownfordirtypolitics ALOK SINGH & BHUPENDRA PANDEY NEW DELHI, LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 4 OVER A week after clashes erupted in Bareilly over the ‘I Love Muhammad’ row, Deputy Inspector General (Bareilly Range) Ajay Kumar Sahni said that the posters were not the issue but the large gathering that disturbed law and order. Speaking to The Indian Express on Saturday, Sahni said, “Theposterswereneveranissue. In fact, even before last Friday’s incident, we had informed the gathering’sorganisersaboutthis. INSIDE HALL OWNED BY BAREILLY VIOLENCE ACCUSED RAZED P 5 However, when they took the lawintotheirownhandsbypelting stones at the police, we were compelled to take action.” The Opposition Samajwadi Party and BJP, meanwhile, continued to spar over the incident after a 14-member delegation ledbyLeaderof OppositionMata Prasad Pandey was stopped from visiting Bareilly. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2 killed in septic tank blast at Farrukhabad coaching centre: Police EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 4 TWO PERSONS were killed and five injured on Saturday after a septic tank beneath a doublestorey building exploded in Farrukhabad’s Kadri Gate area, police said. A preliminary inquiry indicates that an accumulation of methane gas in the septic tank beneath the entrance steps may have caused the explosion, police said. The building, which housed a coaching centre on the ground floor and a library on the first floor, suffered significant structural damage in the blast, police said. According to the police, one of the deceased, believed to be around 26 years old, may have been inside the library in the building at the time. Authorities did not release the names of the victims till late evening on Saturday. At the site of the explosion on Friday. ANI Rescue teams from the local police and fire service reached the spot after being informed. They pulled victims from the rubble and took them to a nearbyhospital,wheretwowere declared dead by doctors. The five injured are in critical conditionandarereceivingtreatment, police said. The force of the blast damaged a large portion of the building and brought down an adjacent tin shed and its supporting CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Six villages in UP’s Bahraich district cry wolf — only, the fear is real PAGE 1 ANCHOR MANISH SAHU BAHRAICH, OCTOBER 4 THE NIGHTS are spent on machansorinsleeplessvigils,the daysinanervoushuddle.Forthe past three weeks, six villages in UttarPradesh’sBahraichdistrict, where a pack of wolves are feared to be on the prowl, have been on the edge. Six people — four of them children — have been killed and over 20 injured in alleged wolf attacks across the villages that are in a 20-km-radius of Kaiserganjtehsilof Bahraich.The fearisfamiliar.Exactlyayearago, after a spate of similar attacks and killings in the neighbouring Mahasi tehsil, the state government had launched Operation Bhediya and claimed to have captured six wolves. Butnow,thewolvesareback. Bahraich Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ram Singh Yadav said a pack of four wolves has been attacking people. “Of the four, an adult male was shot deadbyourteamrecently,while the remaining three — two subadults and an adult female — are on the run. Efforts are underway to capture them,” he said. Forest officials say the recent rise in wolf activity could be due to increasing water levels in the Ghaghra river. The floods, they say, may have forced wolves and jackals, which live in dens on the riverbank, to move into human settlements. Residentssitatopamachantoprotectthemselvesfromwolves atManjharaTauklivillageof BahraichinUP. Vishal Srivastav The attacks began on September 9, when a child was killed in Paragpurwa village. The latest attack was on the night of September 29, when an elderly couple, Khedan and his wife Mankiya, both in their 60s, were killed, prompting the residents of all six villages to “take matters in our hands”, as Deep Narayan Yadav, pardhan of Manjhla Taukli, one of the worst affected villages, says. Residents of the six affected villages have organised themselvesintoshiftstoguardthevil- lage round the clock. At several keyjunctions,groupsof villagers can be seen keeping vigil, armed with sticks and sharp-edged weapons. Villagers have also installed lights and loudspeakers andoccasionallysetoff firecrackers to scare the wolves away. Most children have stopped going to school, and adults now venture into the fields only in groups, armed with sticks, axes and the occasional rifles. Kaiserganj Block Education Officer Rakesh Kumar admitted that attendance in schools in the block has dropped considerably. But it’s at night that the fears heighten. So every night after dinner, 67-year-old Brij Lal, his wife Sita Kumari, 62, and their son, daughter-in-law and their children climb up to the two machans that they have raised outside their bamboo hut in Manjhla Taukli. “Our house is without a door, so we can’t risk sleeping inside. My wife and I sleep on one machan and my son and his CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow