hyderabad l saturday l January 31, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE city EDITION Gold, silver crash after trump names Warsh next Fed chairman Kevin Warsh would replace current chair Jerome Powell when his term expires in May. Powell was on Trump’s line of fire for not cutting interest rates Precious metals see record one-day falls why warsh is an unlikely choice Precious metals dropped sharply, with Comex gold down 11.37% and silver dropping over 31.35%, the steepest one-day falls. At MCX, India’s commodities exchange, February silver futures fell by 27% and gold by 11.6%. Investors, wary of Warsh’s image that he is reluctant to aggressively cut rates, went on a selling spree after Trump’s choice became known. ■ ■ In some ways, Warsh is an unlikely choice as he is someone who typically supports higher interest rates to control inflation Trump has said the Fed’s key rate should be as low as 1 per cent, far below its current level of about 3.6 per cent, a stance few economists endorse. Warsh has recently said he supports lower rates | P11 19 members of the fed reserve generally decide rate cuts 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 Be available in Hyd: SIT to KCR Menstrual health a fundamental right C h i t h a l u r i R e v a n t h @ Hyderabad The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged phone-tapping case on Friday issued a fresh notice to BRS supremo and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, asking him to be available for examination at his Nandinagar residence in Hyderabad at 3 pm on Sunday . Police officials said the notice was affixed to the wall of the Nandinagar house on Friday evening as no one was present at the time of service. The fresh notice was issued after KCR asked the SIT to send a revised notice and examine him at his residence in Erravalli village in Siddipet district. However, the SIT stated that, as per official records, his place of residence was Nandinagar and the examination would therefore be conducted there. “It is reiterated that the Inves- tigating Agency to balance the , interest of investigation and having due consideration to your age and in line with the statutory provisions, had voluntarily notified that your place of investigation will be your residence as per the official records available with us. The request for examination at a place which is not your residence as per official records cannot be acceded to, as the venue of examination is determined with reference to the place of residence reflected in official records,” the notice said. The SIT also cited administrative reasons, stating that the examination would involve reference to electronic and physical records of a sensitive nature, which would be difficult to transport to Erravalli village in Markook mandal. KCR was therefore asked to be available at his Hyderabad residence on February 1 at 3 pm. On Thursday the SIT had is, sued a notice under Section 160 of the CrPC, asking him to appear on Friday In that notice, of. ficials said that as he was above 65 years of age, he could be examined at the Jubilee Hills police station or any other convenient place within Hyderabad. In response, KCR said the law required that the examination be conducted at his residence and informed the SIT that he was busy with civic body elections. He indicated he would appear later at his Erravalli residence. BJP to deploy big guns Shah, Nabin for civic polls outreach I r e d d y S r i n i v a s R e d d y @ Hyderabad Telangana is set for a high-voltage campaign by the BJP in the municipal elections scheduled for February 11. BJP national president Nitin Nabin and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to lead the campaign to bolster the party’s prospects in urban local body polls across the state. According to party sources, the two leaders will address public meetings and participate in roadshows during the first week of February, covering key towns and cities. As per the tentative schedule, Nabin is likely to address a public meeting in Mahbubnagar on February 2 or 3. Shah is expected to address rallies in Nirmal and lead a roadshow in Karimnagar on February 7 or 8. The BJP’s campaign trail is set to include Nirmal, Karimnagar and Mahbubnagar, all considered politically significant urban centres. Sources said the party has commissioned an internal survey to gauge public mood across municipalities and municipal corporations. The BJP believes the feedback will be favourable in several urban bodies, particularly in Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Mah- bubnagar municipal corporations, where it expects a positive voter response. Party leaders are hopeful of securing strong results in these corporations with the active involvement of BJP MPs and MLAs. The leadership believes the party is in a relatively better position in several urban local bodies compared to the Congress and the BRS. Viewing the municipal elections as politically crucial, the BJP is treating the contest as a stepping stone to capturing power in the state in the next Assembly elections. Adding to the momentum, the party has appointed Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar as the election in-charge for the municipal and corporation polls.  continued on P5 In the process, he became the oldest man in Open era to reach the Australian Open final The Australian Open came alive with two epic semifinals on Friday. All five-setter with one lasting over In the first semis, Carlos Alcaraz needed over 5 hours and 27 minutes to beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5 WOMEN’S FINAL The case was registered on March 10, 2024, and relates to alleged illegal tapping of about 6,000 phones of judges, leaders, journalists and others during the previous BRS government Second test for ex-CM KCR had earlier appeared before the PC Ghose Commission probing alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram LIS on June 11, 2025 Goyal faults UPA govt’s naive protectionism SANT W ANA BHATTACHARYA , PUSHPITA DEY & DIPA K MONDAL @ New Delhi Great, greater… greatest 5hours 6K phones tapped In the second, Novak Djokovic beat Jannik Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Aryna Sabalenka takes on sixth seed Elena Rybakina in the final I Live at 2pm 38 This will be Djokovic’s 11th Aus Open final and 38th Grand Slam – an all-time record INDIA lost billions of dollars in export opportunities due to the ‘naïve reading’ of sensitive sectors by the previous government during earlier negotiations with the European Union, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday . The free trade agreements with the UK and EU have opened up the automobile and wine sectors that were earlier perceived as sensitive. Goyal, in an exclusive interview with TNIE, said it was the ‘naïve’ decision by previous governments to keep these sectors closed that resulted in Indian exporters losing access to large developed markets. “It was the height of naïveté that the Congress could not even see what was sensitive and what was not. Today, India exports $9 billion worth of automobiles,” Goyal told TNIE. “Because of that failure under the UPA gover nment, crores of people lost livelihoods. Our ability to move up the value chain and develop higher skills and better quality products was compromised. The Congress, DMK and their partners must be held accountable for this,” Goyal said. Under the India–EU FTA, tariffs on imported European cars will be reduced from 110% to 10% under a quota-based system, while duties on car parts will be completely phased out over 5-10 years. Similarly, duties on wines will be reduced from the current 150% to 75% when the agreement comes into force and will be progressively lowered to as little as 20% over time. poll bound ‘No dues’ rules bring `7.5 crore windfall MV K S a s t r y @ Nizamabad The rule requiring candidates to clear all pending municipal dues before filing nominations has led to increased collections for the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation (NMC), with several aspirants settling longstanding arrears to obtain mandatory No Dues Certificates. One payment drew attention after an aspirant cleared `7.51 crore in dues. Katipalli Shamtha Reddy, a Congress aspirant from the 19th division who is also in the race for the mayor’s post, said the dues accumulated due to a prolonged dispute over property tax assessments. Her husband, businessman Narendar Reddy told TNIE: “We have been , paying our property tax, but the payments were not updated online. The NMC later issued property tax bills. We approached the high court, which directed us to produce records. The case is pending. Since we need the No Dues Certificate, we cleared the dues. We hope to get a refund and will raise the issue during the campaign.” Municipal officials said the pay- ment resolved a dispute dating back to 2009. According to NMC Additional Commissioner (Revenue) P Ravindra Sagar, the original liability was about `2.50 crore, but interest and penalties increased the demand to `8.16 crore. “Two days earlier, we refused to issue the No Dues Certificate despite repeated requests,” he said. “The aspirant approached the High Court, but there was no order in their favour. After this, `64 lakh was paid initially , followed by `7.51 crore through a demand draft. We then issued the certificate.” continued on P5 SC asks all schools to provide sanitary pads for free s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi HOLDING that the right to menstrual health is part of the right to life and education under Article 21, the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict on Friday directed all states and Union Territories to provide free biodegradable sanitary napkins to girl students and put in place functional, gender-segregated toilets for all students. Such sanitary napkins shall be made readily accessible at no cost to girl students, preferably within the toilet premises through sanitary napkin vending machines, or, where such installation is not immediately feasible, at a designated place or with a designated authority within the school, it added. The 126-page verdict by a bench of justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan warned that private schools failing to comply would face derecognition. “A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education,” Justice Pardiwala wrote, noting that the pronouncement is meant for classrooms where girls hesitate to ask for help, teachers restrained by lack of resources, and parents who may not realise the impact of their silence. “The right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to menstrual health. Access to safe, effective and affordable menstrual hygiene management measures helps a girl child attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. The right to healthy reproductive life embraces the right to access education and information about sexual health,” the bench held. The court directed that all schools must establish Menstrual Hygiene Management corners equipped with spare innerwear, uniforms, and disposable bags. School toilets must have handwash facilities and covered waste bins. The judgment came on a PIL filed by social worker Jaya Thakur seeking nationwide implementation of the Centre’s Menstrual Hygiene Policy . The absence of safe and hygienic menstrual management measures undermines dignified existence Supreme Court Compliance compulsory States and UTs must ensure compliance in three months, with District Education Officers asked to conduct annual inspections and child rights commissions overseeing implementation Sunetra to be sworn in as Dy CM today S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar, spouse of deceased Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar, is set to be sworn in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister on Saturday, hours after she is elected the legislative party’s leader. At present, Sunetra represents the party in the Rajya Sabha. The NCP which has 41 MLAs, , will hold its legislative party meeting at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday. The day began with NCP leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde meeting CM Devendra Fadnavis and conveying that Sunetra will be elected the NCP legislative party leader and join the cabinet as deputy CM in place of her husband. “We also informed the CM that she will hold all portfolios that were allotted to Ajit Pawar, including finance, excise and sports,” said a party source. Sources said Sunetra and her sons Parth and Jay are likely to attend the legislature party meeting where she will be elected its leader. “After the meeting, she will submit the letter of her election as the legislative party leader to the governor and stake her claim for the post of deputy CM.”