KAZAKH KEEPS HER COOL AT ARENA MANGALURU  SUNDAY  FEBRUARY 01, 2026  `12.00  PAGES 26  CITY EDITION Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina raises a toast after her victory on Saturday | AFP Elena Rybakina edges past Aryna Sabalenka to lift the Australian Open. The Kazakh, born in Moscow, is one of the hardest hitters in the game. Sabalenka, who had yet to drop a set this year, had started the final as a favourite, but very soon came under fire. Being played indoors because of rain, she recovered but the Kazakh won the first set. Sabalenka roared back to take the second but her opponent ultimately prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 P13 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 2-yr deputation at Centre must for IPS officers M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi FACING an acute shortage of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers at the Centre, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended promotion guidelines to make central deputation mandatory for empanelment to senior ranks. MHA has revised its norms stating that IPS officers would be required to complete a minimum of two years of central deputation at the rank of SP and DIG, or an equivalent level, to be eligible for empanelment as IG or its equivalent cadre. The decision follows reminders from MHA to state governments to nominate an adequate number of IPS officers for central deputation in line with the Central Deputation Reserve. These reminders have come even from the level of Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, highlighting gaps in staffing at the Centre, particularly at the SP and DIG levels. The revised rules will apply to IPS officers of 2011 batch onwards. An MHA official said younger IPS officers have shown reluctance for central deputation due to the appeal of field postings in districts where they lead police forces and exercise direct command. As a result, many officers prefer to remain in their respective state cadres during the early and middle stages of their careers. Officers become more inclined to serve at the Centre only after reaching the IG level or above. This imbalance prompted the rule tweak. SUNETRA DEPUTY CM, SHARAD PAWAR SORE 1st woman in Maha to hold post; NCP merger may hit hurdle: Sharad PROBE GATHERS STEAM SIT to investigate CJ Roy’s suicide S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE SUNETRA Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra on Saturday at the Governor’s House in Mumbai, becoming the first woman to occupy the position in the state. She was allotted excise, sports, minority development and Aukaf (Waqf) departments, but not finance and planning which her late husband Ajit Pawar held. The brief swearing-in ceremony at the Lok Bhavan took place three days after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar died in an air crash in Baramati on January 28. A commerce graduate, Sunetra, 62, resigned from her Rajya Sabha membership, and is expected to contest the byelection to the Baramati assembly constituency represented by her late husband. After Ajit Pawar’s demise, THE State Government on Saturday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising of ficers from the Bengaluru City Police, to investigate the suicidal death of Chiriankandath Joseph Roy, popularly known as CJ Roy, chairman of Confident Group -- a prominent real estate company . T he SIT will be headed by 2009-batch IPS officer C Vamsi Krishna, now serving as Joint Commissioner of Police (West). Lokesh B Jagalsar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) - South division, will function as the Investigation Officer . DCP (Central) Akshay M Hakay and other senior officers deputed from various divisions and special units will be members. @Bengaluru From left, CM Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Acharya Devvrat, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar after her swearing-in in Mumbai | PTI the 85-year-old Sharad Pawar had called a meeting of the Pawar family on Friday night to discuss the merger of both factions of the NCP. But Sunetra and her two sons, Parth and Jay skipped it and left for Mum, bai for the NCP’s legislative party meeting and oath-taking ceremony An apparently miffed . Pawar told the media in Baramati a day later that he had no EXPRESS READ Guv reserves hate speech India beat New Zealand bill for Prez consideration by 46 runs in fifth T20I BENGALURU: Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has reserved the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crime (Prevention) Bill, 2025, for consideration of President. Gehlot emphasised need for more deliberations to ascertain palpa-ble Constitutionality of the Bill P4 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ishan Kishan smashed a maiden T20I hundred while Suryakumar Yadav hit a fifty as India defeated New Zealand by 46 runs in the 5th and final match to seal the series 4-1 on Saturday. Score:India: 271/5 in 20 ovs, NZ: 225/10 in 19.4ovs P13 idea that Sunetra was going to be sworn in as deputy CM. “We had several meetings with Ajit for the merger of NCP . It was his wish that both factions should come together... it appears the process may hit a roadblock following the accident,” Sharad Pawar said. Parth then rushed back to Baramati to mollify his grandfather as P10 well as Supriya Sule. The SIT has been empowered to induct additional officers and resources as required. “The SIT will investigate the suicide case of CJ Roy. Based on its findings, the future course of investigations will be decided,” Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara told the media. The complaint filed by 6 3 - ye a r- o l d TA Joseph, Managing Director of Confident Group, with the jurisdictional Ashoknagar police will be transferred to the SIT. As part of the investigation, the SIT will examine the data of two mobile phones of Roy, his bank transactions and his professional life. It will also record the statements of his staff. The Income Tax officials who were at the scene of crime when the incident occurred are also likely to be questioned. CONTINUED ON P7 Mysterious blast injures 6 in Humnabad E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Bidar At least six people, including four children, were seriously injured after an unidentified object exploded in Molakera village, Humnabad taluk of Bidar district on Saturday This . is the third such incident in the village in recent times. Sources said the condition of two -- Anwar Jamir Sab (19) and Jabbar Razak (60) -- is critical. The other four injured children aer Busera Alauddin (4), Areez Razak Sab (4), Arzan Razak (7) and Mastan Musa (8). They were given first-aid at the Humnabad Government Hospital and then shifted to Mal- lareddy Hospital in the neighbouring Hyderabad for further treatment. A few months ago, a school student had lost his leg in a similar explosion. He had stepped on an object and it exploded. Several villagers said that even last week, they heard a loud noise. CONTINUED ON P7 WITH THIS ISSUE THE DISASTER DIARY PLUS 12 P AGES PRESS INTAKE Panel for abolition of regional devpt boards except KKRDB | P4 Jayamala marks her second term as president of KFCC | P4