FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 16 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA LC | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Friday, 10 October 2025 SPORTS NATION Manmohan govt hit back after 26/11, isolated Pakistan: Khera PERSPECTIVE PAGE NATION Mayawati’s rally draws lakhs, seen as BSP’s comeback push When corruption crosses borders Page 9 Page 5 Mamata slams ECI, questions haste in taking up SIR exercise India, UK PMs endorse pacts to deepen ties The path-breaking India-UK CETA will create new job opportunities for youth, expand trade and benefit both our industries as well as consumers. Mumbai, 9 October P Kolkata, 9 October Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today launched a scathing attack on both the Election Commission of India and the Central government over the alleged haste in taking up the planned Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. The chief minister’s statement came amid indications from the ECI that the SIR exercise, prelude to Assembly elections in the state scheduled for the first half of next year, could be initiated around 2 November. Speaking at a press conference at the state secretariat in Nabanna, Miss Banerjee questioned the ECI’s urgency in implementing the SIR process in such a rushed manner. Miss Banerjee also condemned the alleged issuance of National Register of Citizens (NRC) notices by the state of Assam to two residents of Nadia district. She raised concerns over the timing of the planned SIR ~ when West Bengal is simultaneously celebrating festivities and grappling with a natural disaster in north Bengal ~ while she questioned Assam’s jurisdiction in sending such notices. “Is this a tactic to introduce NRC in the state under the guise of SIR? Why such urgency to roll out the Special Intensive Revision in such a tearing hurry? It’s nothing but a ploy to pressure Booth Level Officers (BLOs) into preparing documents at the behest of certain poll panel officials who are taking instructions from the leadership of the ruling party at the Centre and attempting to browbeat BLOs into working under duress,” Miss Banerjee said. She further alleged that under the pretext of the SIR, Election Commission officials were issuing threats to BLOs. “SIR is neither a field survey nor a public outreach process. Instead, the poll panel is simply summoning BLOs and pressuring them,” she said. rime Minister Narendra Modi hosted his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, on Thursday at the Mumbai Raj Bhavan, where they held discussions on trade, education, defence co-operation as well as regional stability. The two countries have agreed to establish an India-UK connectivity and innovation centre and a joint centre for AI, and form a critical minerals industry guild to bolster supply chains and promote green technologies, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting. They also announced joint investment in a climate technology startup fund and set up new collaborations on health and renewable energy, an offshore wind task force, and a health research partnership, among other things. The agreements are expected to accelerate bilateral trade growth, support the establishment of UK university campuses across India, and reinforce cooperation in harnessing frontier technologies to drive inclusive economic growth and strengthen national security. “The path-breaking India-UK CETA (comprehensive economic and trade agreement) will create new job opportunities for youth, expand trade and benefit both our industries as NARENDRA MODI, PRIME MINISTER PM Narendra Modi and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer greet the audience at the Global Fintech Fest at Jio World Centre, in Mumbai on Thursday. AGENCIES well as consumers. In this context, PM Starmer and I discussed trade linkages and economic ties between our nations in the times to come,” PM Modi said after the meeting. Earlier extending a warm welcome to the visiting UK PM, Mr Modi took a walk with him around the colonial era Raj Bhavan lawns overlooking the Arabian Sea without any aides for a few minutes before they sat down for delegation level talks. Union Minister Piyush Goyal, NSA Ajit Doval, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri were also present as part of the Indian delegation at the high-level meeting held at the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Maharashtra Governor. Both the PMs addressed a joint press conference at the Raj Bhavan, where Mr Modi said that the partnership between India and the UK is driven by “trustworthiness, talent, and technology”. He said: “India's dynamism and the UK's expertise combine to create a unique synergy. Our partnership is trustworthy, and it is driven by talent and technology”. Significantly, the UK PM pitched for India to be included in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a permanent member, which has been a long-standing Indian demand."We sit together in the Commonwealth, G20 and we want to see India taking its rightful place in the UN Security Council," Mr Starmer said. Calling Indo-UK economic relations the “jewel in the crown”, he said: “We want to be partners. That journey and my visit this week are about doubling down on the potential Israel, Hamas agree to part of Trump’s Gaza peace plan AGENCIES Washington, 9 October Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to pause fighting in Gaza so that the remaining hostages there can be freed in the coming days in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, accepting elements of a plan put forward by the Trump administration that would represent the biggest breakthrough in months in the devastating two-year-old war. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media in trumpeting the agreement. “All Parties will be treated fairly!” Israel and Hamas separately confirmed the contours of their deal, which drew celebratory gatherings from hostage families in Tel Aviv and cautious optimism from some in Gaza. Hamas intends to release all 20 living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority as whether and how Hamas will disarm, and who will govern Gaza ~ but the sides appear closer than they have been in several months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed most of Gaza and triggered other armed conflicts across West Asia. of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of Trump’s proposal ~ such Mo d i wel c o m e s Israel-Hamas agreement: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today welcomed the agreement between Israel and Hamas on the first phase of US President Trump's peace plan, citing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's strong leadership as a key factor in the development. In a post on the 'X' platform, PM Modi stated: "We welcome the agreement on the first phase of President Trump's peace plan. This is also a reflection of the strong leadership of PM Netanyahu. We hop e the release of hostages and enhanced humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza will bring respite to them and pave the way for lasting peace." • More Reports: Page 11 Art in the midst of terror gets Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai Lit. Nobel AGENCIES Stockholm, 9 October The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature was on Thursday awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art." Herscht 07769 by this year's literature laureate, Krasznahorkai, has been described as a great contemporary German novel, on account of its accuracy in portraying the country's social unrest. "In Herscht 07769 we find ourselves in not a feverish nightmare in the Carpathians but rather a credible portrayal of a contemporary small town in Thuringen, Germany, which is nevertheless also afflicted by social anarchy, murder and arson. At the same time, the terror of the novel plays Page 16 Page 13 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE De Klerk’s heroics stun India as SA clinch CWC thriller out against the backdrop of Johann Sebastian Bach's powerful legacy. It is a book, written in a single breath, about violence and beauty 'impossibly' conjoined," the Swedish Academy said in a statement. Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 in the small town of Gyula in southeast Hungary, near the Romanian border. A similar remote rural area is the scene of Krasznahorkai's first novel Satantango, published in 1985, which was a literary sensation in Hungary. Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer in the Central European tradition, which extends from Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdism and grotesque excess, the Swedish Academy said in its announcement. He drew inspiration from Asia - particularly Mongolia and China - for books like The Prisoner of Urga, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens. According to a CNN report, the late American essayist Susan Sontag dubbed the "contemporary master of the apocalypse," Krasznahorkai's novels ~ often set in shivering Central European villages ~ depict townsfolk searching for meaning in symbols scattered across a godless world. The Nobel Prize in Literature is often seen as the literary world's highest honour, bringing global attention to voices that challenge, console, and provoke, offering a rare moment when books dominate global headlines. of our trade deal for the benefit of all of us. So, I brought a record 126 British businesses with me to India this week. We had to get a bigger aircraft to travel over here than the one we planned, but this delegation has some of our biggest, most iconic businesses and smaller and medium sized businesses, but also leaders from education”. “As global leaders in tech and innovation, we have also taken the opportunity to deepen our cooperation through our technology security initiative, with new commitments on AI, advanced communication, and defence technologies,” Mr Starmer added. PM Modi said: “We have reached an agreement on cooperation in military training. Under this agreement, flying instructors of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will work as trainers in the UK’s Royal Air Force”. • More Reports: Page 12 Terror and talks can’t go together: Rajnath STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 9 October India and Australia have signed three key agreements pertaining to Information Sharing, Submarine Search and Rescue Cooperation and Terms of Reference on the establishment of Joint Staff Talks. The agreements and Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signe d during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s official visit to Canberra, Australia, today. Mr Singh h eld a wide-ranging bilateral meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Australia, Richard Marles. The meeting marked five years of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with both sides reaffirming their shared commitment to deepening defence cooperation across a wide spectrum, including military exercises, maritime security, defence industry collab oration and joint research in science and technology. Reiterating India’s stand with regard to the threat of terrorism, the defence minister said: “Terror and talks cannot go together, terror and trade cannot go together and water a n d b l o o d c a n n o t f l ow together.” He also urged the international community to come together against all forms of terrorism.