thrissur l sunday l february 01, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city EDITION Rybakina edges past Sabalenka to lift the Australian Open Elena Rybakina took out Aryna Sabalenka to win in three pulsating sets. This is the Kazakh’s second Slam and first since 2022 Wimbledon Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina raises a toast after her victory on Saturday | AFP Kazakh keeps her cool at arena after women, over to men’s final 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 ■ ■ Novak Djokovic, featuring in his first Slam final since 2023, has the chance to equal the record of most Majors. He has superior head to head against Carlos Alcaraz 5-4 Alcaraz, who survived a five-setter against Alexander Zverev, can become the youngest to win all four Slams 10 Djokovic has 10 Australian Open titles 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 Sunetra dy CM, Sharad Pawar sore Maha gets its first woman deputy CM; Sharad Pawar says NCP merger may hit a roadblock S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai 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 Kerala SIR: Over 11.6 lakh seek inclusion in final list E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram As the deadline for filing claims and objections to the draft voters’ list —published as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) — ended on January 30, the state poll panel has received as many as 11.65 lakh forms for inclusion in the final electoral roll to be published on February 21. This includes 10.18 lakh applications from within the state and 1.47 lakh from abroad. Notably, only 16,250 applications — 1.59% of the total forms from within the state—were submitted by political parties on behalf of voters after the draft electoral roll was published on December 23. As per figures released by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)-Kerala on Saturday, a total of 19,521 forms relating to exclusion of voters (Form 7) from the rolls were submitted by individuals. Political parties had submitted only 679 forms (3.47%) in this category between December 24 and January 30. A total of 1.47 lakh overseas voters have also applied for enrolment after the draft voters’ list was published last month. They had submitted applications in the Form 6-A category . The Election Commission of India had recently provided an alternative option to Indian citizens born outside the country for enrolment. This was in the wake of complaints that such applicants were not able to apply as new voters online owing to the lack of provision to enter a place of birth outside India. CEO-Kerala Rathan U Kelkar said citizens could still continue to submit applications for enrolment in the electoral roll.  ● More on P5 WITH THIS ISSUE The Disaster Diary PLUS 12 P AGES Immediate challenges before Sunetra Pawar From left, CM Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Acharya Devvrat, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar after her swearing-in in Mumbai | PTI MUMBAI: Sunetra Pawar’s first challenge is to win the Baramati by-election since her miffed father-in-law, Sharad Pawar will not cede control over their bastion that easily. Both Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule were invited to her swearing-in ceremony, but they refused. She also needs to develop her pan-Maharashtra foothold to keep the party from disintegration and resolving internal dissensions constituency represented by her late husband. After Ajit Pawar’s demise, 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 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 P8 well as Supriya Sule.  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 idea that Sunetra was going to be sworn in as deputy CM. “We had several meetings Shah slams TMC, vows jail for corrupt SU B HE N DU M AITI @ Kolkata Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday attacked the Trinamool Congress in pollbound West Bengal, alleging that no other administration in the country was as corrupt as the Mamata Banerjee-led regime and asserting that BJP would jail corrupt leaders if voted to power. Addressing BJP workers at meetings in Barrackpore and Siliguri, Shah said the party would form the government with an absolute majority. He said BJP aimed to secure over 50 per cent vote share, compared to 38 per cent in the 2021 Assembly polls and 39 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it won 77 Assembly seats. Home minister Amit Shah addressing a rally in Bengal | Special Arrangement He accused the state government of giving corruption an institutional shape and shielding tainted leaders. Targeting Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Shah alleged corruption exceeding Rs 1,000 crore and questioned whether jailed Trinamool leaders would be renominated to prevent disclosures. Shah referred to alleged scams including Saradha, Narada, coal and cattle smuggling, school recruitment and the public distribution system, and said corruption continued despite arrests. He accused the state of blocking border fencing by denying land to the Border Security Force and alleged infiltrators were being protected for electoral gains, adding a BJP government would secure the border within 45 days. Referring to the factory fire that killed 25 workers, Shah alleged corruption and administrative failure and asked why the owners had not been arrested. General Budget today TDP hopes for G Ram G spend compensation P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Under G RAM G, rural projects are linked to the PM Gati Shakti national master plan. I believe this will largely reduce repetition (in MGNREGA), as the scheme focuses on specific priority areas. It will create lasting assets for communities and villages Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu Flaws in NREGA Pointing out flaws in MGNREGA, Devarayalu said the scheme often involved the same work being repeated year after year. G Ram G will address it. On tech hassle, he added, “4G is widespread. We will ensure offices are in place in areas with poor connectivity so no one is left out.” Ahead of Sunday’s Union Budget, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a key ally of the NDA, said while the recently enacted Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (G RAM G) is expected to add an estimated `2,500 crore burden to Andhra Pradesh’s state budget, it is confident that the Centre will step in with financial support to bridge the gap. In an interview with this newspaper, TDP parliamentary party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu said the party has already taken up the matter with the Centre. “We have sought the Centre’s support for implementing G RAM G, and we have received a lot of confidence from them. We expect to receive a substantial allocation for the Purvodaya scheme to meet the additional cost for G RAM G,” he said. The state is also expecting allocation of funds for river interlinking projects and the development of horticulture across at least 40 lakh acres in Rayalaseema and other backward districts in the Union Budget, added Devarayalu. Under the G RAM G Act, the guarantee of work has been increased from 100 days to 125 days per financial year, and states are required to cover 40% of the expenditure for the rural job scheme. Under this revised funding formula, Andhra Pradesh is expected to shoulder an additional Rs 2,500 crore. To meet the additional cost, the state is exploring two potential sources, the Purvodaya scheme and the Rayalaseema drought mitigation scheme, said Devarayalu. “We are hoping to secure as much funding as possible for both in the Union Budget,” he said. A recent report by research group Libitech said Andhra Pradesh is already burdened with nearly `10 lakh crore in debt. In 2024–25, Andhra Pradesh spent around `7,800 crore under MGNREGA, with the state contributing about `780 crore. Under the new Act, the state’s share is projected to rise sharply to nearly `3,120 crore. Special team to probe Confident Group head Roy’s suicide case Express News Service @Bengaluru The Karnataka government on Saturday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising officers from the Bengaluru City Police, to investigate the suicide of C J Roy, chairman of Confident Group. The SIT will be headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (West) C Vamsi Krishna. Lokesh B Jagalsar, DCP- South division, will be the investigating officer. “Based on the findings of the SIT, the future course of investigation will be decided,” Home Minister G Parameshwara told the reporters. The complaint filed by T A Joseph, MD of Confident Group, with the 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. Roy reportedly used his licensed NP bore 0.25 pistol to shoot himself. Police officials, who seized the weapon, sent it to the Forensic Science Laboratory for detailed examination. On Saturday, the postmortem was conducted at the Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. Dr MN Aravind of the hospital told the media that the bullet which entered the left side of Roy’s chest was lodged inside the body without exiting. The 6.35mm bullet damaged Roy’s heart, lower lung and diaphragm. The gunshot wound caused Roy’s death, he said. P5 2-yr deputation at Centre must for IPS officers of SP/DIG rank M UKESH RA 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. In an order, the MHA has revised its norms stating that IPS officers would now be required to complete a minimum of two years of central deputation at the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG), or an equivalent level, to be eligible for empanelment as Inspector General (IG) or its equivalent cadre. The decision follows repeated reminders from the MHA to state governments to nominate an adequate number of IPS officers for central deputation in line with the Central Deputation Reserve (CDR). These reminders have come even from the level of Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, highlighting persistent gaps in staffing at the Centre, particularly at the SP and DIG levels. According to the order, the revised guidelines will apply to IPS officers of the 2011 batch onwards. A senior 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. Officers become more inclined to serve at the Centre only after reaching the IG level or above. This imbalance prompted the rule tweak. ‘Let polluters pay’: Fin panel pitches for green levy RA J ESH A B RAHA M @ Kochi ishan roars, sanju quiet Ishan Kishan celebrates after scoring a hundred in the 5th T20I against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. Ishan’s 43-ball 103 helped India score 271. Homeboy Sanju Samson, however, managed just 6 runs I B P Deepu E x p r ess Re a d Min: Syllabi to be 25% lighter from next year KC (Joseph) not to cede seat share Kollam: In a surprising move, Education Minister V Sivankutty announced that the syllabi for classes 1-10 will be reduced by 25% in the state from the next academic year. “Major changes will not be made in the content of the textbook. The curriculum committee has already given its nod,” the minister said. P2 Kottayam: Dispelling rumours of the Congress eating into its share of seats for assembly election, the high-power committee of the Kerala Congress (Joseph) has resolved not to relinquish any of the 10 constituencies the party contested in 2021. It also decided to select candidates based on winnability. P5 Invoking the principle of ‘let the polluter pay,’ the first report of the 7th State Finance Commission has proposed a pollution tax or user fee on medium and large economic enterprises, marking a decisive push to link local government revenue with environmental accountability and buoyancy of the local economy . Headed by economist K N Harilal, the SFC also proposed a reworked devolution formula that factors in the ageing population and urban density, signalling a shift towards a more development-sensitive fiscal framework. The report, submitted by the commission to the government on Thursday, suggested that economic units, which include Key suggestions Pollution tax/user fee on biz units Additional weighting for urban population/density Ageing population weighting in devolution formula Link devolution to changing demographic & development pressures industries, hospitals, resorts, restaurants, etc., be required to file annual statements detailing the volume of waste or pollutants generated and the mode adopted to treat the contamination. Such a levy, the commission noted, could gradually evolve into a stable and accepted source of revenue for local governments, while simultaneously creating awareness on pollution control and waste management practices. Beyond the proposed green levy the report recommended a , major overhaul of the devolution framework to reflect Kerala’s demographic transition and mounting urban pressures. It called for additional weighting for urban population or population density and proposed devolving 29% of the State Plan to local self-governments in 2026-27. “We suggest a tax or a user fee on the polluter following the principle of ‘let the polluter pay,’” the report said, adding that it was possible to design “a simple format” for pollution disclosures “without creating administrative cobwebs”. Filing annual statements on pollution, it argued, would be both revenue-enhancing and “highly informative and awarenessgenerating”. While cautioning against an ambitious levy in the initial phase, the report observed that over time it could grow into “a widely accepted and generally abided source of revenue for loc a l g ove r n m e n t s i n t h e country”. It advocated involvement of the Union Finance Commission to build wider consensus among states, warning that competition to attract investment could otherwise undermine environmentally sustain● More on P5 able initiatives.