TUESDAY 27 PAK, NAQVI KEEP SUSPENSE ALIVE OVER WORLD CUP PARTICIPATION JANUARY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard After Bangladesh was removed from the event, PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi said the government will take final call about them playing the T20 WC X.com/TheMornStandard D E E P FA K E P I C S EU LAUNCHES PROBE INTO GROK The European Union opened a probe into X on Monday after its AI chatbot Grok spewed nonconsensual sexualised deepfake images on the platform PAGE 9 PCB KEEPING ‘ALL OPTIONS’ ON THE TABLE A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 After meeting Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Naqvi took to social media to confirm that final decision would be taken on Friday or Monday. “I had a productive meeting with the Prime Minister and briefed him on the ICC matter. He directed that we resolve it while keeping all options on the table,” Naqvi posted on X. Free trade deal with EU done, signing today PICS: PTI & SHEKHAR YADAV A successful India makes the world more stable, says EU chief Ursula von der Leyen From L: President Droupadi Murmu, President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and PM Narendra Modi after attending the Republic Day parade in Delhi; IAF flypast in Operation Sindoor format, comprising 2 MiG-29, 2 Rafale, 2 Su-30MKI and 1 Jaguar; the CDS and three service chiefs with US Ambassador Sergio Gor P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi gan in 2007. The talks were suspended in 2013 as both sides AFTER several false starts, ne- opted for certain protectionist gotiations for the India-Europe- measures. The negotiations an Union Free Trade Agree- were relaunched in June 2022. ment (FTA) concluded on “The European Union reMonday. A formal announce- mains a vital economic & strament will be made on Tuesday . tegic partner for India, and we Confirming the development, value our shared commitment Commerce Secretary Rajesh to a mutually beneficial, ambiAgrawal said: “Negotiations tious India-EU FTA for the have been successfully con- prosperity of our businesses cluded. The deal has been and people,” Goyal stated in his finalised.” social media post. Commerce ministry sources Both sides will keep certain said while the pact will be an- sensitive sectors out of the nounced on Tuesday processes deal. India does not want to , like legal scrubbing open up the dairy and and ratification by EU agricultural sectors. member states could “A successful India take another year. makes the world more The India-EU deal Negotiations have stable, prosperous and was closed in the pres- been successfully secure. And we all benconcluded. The ence of European efit,” Von der Leyen deal has been Council President said. She even said that finalised António Costa and Euthe engagement beRajesh Agrawal, ropean Commission tween India and the EU President Ursula von Commerce secretary “will culminate tomorder Leyen, who were row in the signature of in India as special guests for our Security and Defence the Republic Day “Their pres- Partnership”. . ence underscores the growing India has a trade surplus strength of the India-EU part- with the EU, which stood at $15 nership and our commitment billion in FY2025, with exports to shared values. The visit will of $75.9 billion against imports add momentum to the deepen- of $60.7 billion. The EU acing engagement and coopera- counts for 17% of India’s total tion between India and Europe goods exports and one-third of across diverse sectors,” Prime its IT services exports. Analysts Minister Narendra Modi said say the FTA could boost India’s in a social media post. exports to the region by over Described as the ‘mother of 50% in the next five years. all deals’ by the Commerce This is the fourth FTA India Minister Piyush Goyal, the In- will be signing since 2025. Last dia-EU FTA will be signed after year, it concluded FTAs with the two decades of talks, which be- UK, New Zealand and Oman. Kuki village torched in fresh Manipur violence P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati FRESH violence erupted in Manipur on Monday with a Naga rebel group bur ning down several houses belonging to members of the Kuki community in Kangpokpi district. Claiming responsibility for the arson attack at K Songlung (II) village, the Zeliangrong A building burns after it was set on fire United Front (ZUF) said it was in Manipur’s K Songlung village | X targeting illegal poppy cultivation, narcotics trafficking and encroachment of the territory of the Zeliangrong Inpui Naga people by illegal immigrants. The ZUF said action had to be taken as repeated “public alerts” were not heeded to. The outfit said it burned down farmhouses and farms and dismantled unauthorised structures and materials used in illegal poppy cultivation. Reacting to the incident, the Kuki-Zo organisation Committee on Tribal Unity threatened to shut down two national highways from midnight on Tuesday if the authorities failed to apprehend the perpetrators within 24 hours. New-age arsenal on display at R-Day parade J A V A R I A R A N A @ New Delhi India-China relations have continued to improve and develop, aligning with interests of both countries and their people, and are of great significance for promoting world peace I extend my heartfelt congratulations to people of India on your 77th Republic Day. US-India share a historic bond as the world’s oldest and largest democracies Xi Jinping, China President Donald Trump, US President THE 77th Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path on Monday brought Operation Sindoor and India’s military might to the forefront with patriotic commemoration under the ‘Vande Mataram’ theme. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa attended as chief guests, marking the first collective participation of the European Union leadership at India’s national celebrations. Cultural and historical elements linked to the Independ- ence struggle were reflected in tableaux from different states along the Kartavya Path, as the official theme was ‘150 Years of Vande Mataram’. The parade featured a European Union defence contingent as well, with four flag bearers on three vehicles carrying flags of the European Union, the EU Military Staff and EU naval missions Operation Atalanta a n d O p e r a t i o n A s p i d e s, respectively . The tri-services tableau, “Operation Sindoor: Victory Through Jointness,” was a standout which recreated the strike at Muridke terror camp India, Canada work on March visit of PM Carney to push trade talks J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi INDIA and Canada are working to finalise a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to New Delhi in March, as both sides seek to accelerate negotiations on a bilateral trade deal. The visit would mark the next phase in warming ties between the two countries, which have moved to restart talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) after a diplomatic impasse. New Delhi and Ottawa are in talks to finalise the terms of reference for the CEPA negotiations, which aim to double bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030, sources said. The push for a CEPA has gained urgency amid rising trade tensions with the United States. India is currently subject to 50% US tariffs on certain goods, while Canada faces 35% levy under measures imposed by the Trump administration. Against this backdrop, New Delhi has sought to diversify export markets and expand trade agreements beyond US. The two sides are also looking to deepen cooperation in the civilian nuclear sector, and India is exploring increased investment from Canadian pension funds. Car ney’s remarks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos are widely seen as Canada’s shifting strategic posture. He said Canada was pursuing new trade and security partnerships with countries including India, Qatar, Thailand, as well as Mercosur and ASEAN. Ties with Canada have substantially improved since Carney became PM last year. EXPRESS READ Ban on non-Hindus proposed at Char Dham India to face harsh heat stress in 25 yrs: Study EC uploads list of 1.5 cr voters after SC order A proposal to ban non-Hindus from entering Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri temples is likely to be approved later this week, an official said on Monday. However, the Yamunotri Temple Committee, one of the four holy shrines of Char Dham, has not yet made a conclusive decision. The Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee seems to have reached a consensus among all stakeholders. A new study conducted by researchers at Oxford University indicates that India will need more cooling solutions in the coming decades to protect its large population from rising heat levels. If the current pace of fossil fuel consumption continues, global temperatures could rise by 2°C in the next 25 years, it says, potentially doubling the number of people exposed to extreme heat. The Election Commission (EC) has uploaded on its website a list containing names of around 1.5 crore voters belonging to the ‘logical discrepancies’ and ‘unmapped’ categories following the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The move follows a Supreme Court directive. Over 30 lakh voters are ‘unmapped,’ while the remaining 1.2 crore electors belong to the ‘logical discrepancies’ group. Centre asks Haryana, UP to push water in Yamuna for clean-up A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi IN a meeting convened recently on the rejuvenation of the Yamuna, the Centre directed Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to increase environmental flows, trap drains, and curb industrial effluents entering the river. It was also decided at the meeting to conduct an external audit of all drains in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi that flow into the Yamuna. “Three projects to boost the environmental flow in the upstream of the Yamuna were discussed,” a senior government official said. One of them involves diverting nearly 800 cusecs of water from the Upper Ganga Canal in Uttar Pradesh to the Wazirabad barrage to increase the environmental flow of the Yamuna. Environmental flow is the minimum flow required to maintain river’s ecological balance. Another aims to add 100 cusecs of water from the Munak Canal in Haryana directly into the river, the official said. A third project proposes the construction of an additional water channel from the Hathnikund barrage into the river. Officials said this would help reduce accumulation of silt and waste in the Yamuna. To reduce pollution levels, the government is also focusing on improving the quality of wastewater entering the river from sewage treatment plants. “The Jal Shakti Ministry un, der the Yamuna rejuvenation plan, is hiring a third-party company to understand the real quality of water coming out from the STPs in the three states,” the official said. The Delhi government has already launched a Sewerage Improvement Scheme (SIS), a comprehensive master plan to revamp the capital’s sewerage infrastructure. “After the upgrade work, the STPs will be able to discharge treated water as per the standards set by the government and increase the treatment capacity also,” the official said. To address pollution from drains in neighbouring Haryana, a 2026 deadline has been set to regulate the outflow of all drains to acceptable norms. Officials said that to further curb pollution from industrial units in Haryana, directions have also been issued for setting up more common effluent treatment plants. in Pakistan destroyed by the Indian Armed Forces on May 7 last year. It also showcased the S-400 anti-missile system used in Operation Sindoor, HAROP loitering munitions, Rafale jets with SCALP missiles, and a Su30 MKI launching BrahMos at hardened shelters. In a first, the military columns were presented in a phased “battle array”, with ground and aerial combat elements displayed in a sequence intended to reflect contemporary battlefield deployment. The IAF staged a 29-aircraft flypast, led by the new ‘Sindoor’ formation, comprising Rafale, UGC EQUITY RULES TURN INTO CASTE BATTLE Su-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar that were deployed during the four-day clash with Pakistan. The Defence Research and Development Organisation showcased its Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, dubbed the “carrier killer”, for the first time. The system incorporates the novel hypersonic glide vehicle technology . The display also featured major strike and air defence systems, including the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile and the Akash Medium Range Surface to Air Missile. A total of 30 tableaux participated in the parade. A campaign by students and parents opposing the UGC regulations is fast acquiring political colour, with officebearers of BJP Yuva Morcha taking lead. Even an SDM has resigned on the issue | P7 WOMEN DEFY PLATFORMS Gig workers switch off for a day, plan physical protests nationwide I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi GIG and platform service workers across the country switched off their apps on Monday as part of a nationwide online strike called by the Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU), marking the first phase of a broader protest against what the union described as exploitation and insecurity in the platfor m economy. The union said nationwide physical protests will follow on February 3 at multiple locations. According to GIPSWU, workers from ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery domestic serv, ices, beauty and wellness, logistics, e-commerce, and digital services participated in the app switch-off. The union said the protests are being led by women gig and platform service workers, drawing attention to the specific challenges they face in appbased work. It alleged that workers face arbitrary blocking of worker IDs, opaque rating systems, income insecurity lack of grievance redressal , mechanisms, and unilateral changes in work policies. The union said women workers face additional vulnerabilities about safety, dignity, and legal protection, and claimed that those who demand fair payment are often harassed or subjected to violence and later penalised through ID blocking, leading to loss of livelihood. Seema Singh, national president of the GIPSWU, said the union has made repeated representations to the Centre, but key demands remain unaddressed. “These include recognition of gig and platform workers as workers under a separate Central law, a ban on arbitrary ID blocking, fairer rating and assignment systems, improved income rates, and effective grievance redressal mechanisms, including Inter nal Complaints Committees under existing law,” she said. The union also questioned the lack of clarity around recent government announcements on platform work policies, citing the absence of written orders. Through the online strike and the planned February 3 protests, GIPSWU said workers aim to draw public and governmental attention to their longstanding demands.