SATURDAY 31 DON NAMES FORMER FED GOVERNOR WARSH AS NEXT FED CHAIRMAN JANUARY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard 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 X.com/TheMornStandard RUSSIA NO STRIKES ON KYIV TILL FEBRUARY 1 NEW APPOINTMENT NEEDS SENATE NOD The Kremlin on Friday said President Putin had agreed to stop striking Kyiv for a week— ending Sunday—following a request by his US counterpart A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9 Rahul sincere, a voice against communalism, says Tharoor E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ T’puram A day after making peace with the Congress high command, Shashi Tharoor showered praise on Rahul Gandhi, terming him “sincere” and “a strong voice against communalism”. Tharoor and the party top leadership mended fences at a closed-door meeting with Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on Thursday . A visibly relieved Congress state leadership rolled out a warm welcome for Tharoor at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. K e r a l a Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan pitched the T h i r u v a n a n thapuram MP as a key campaign face for the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the upcoming assembly polls. Tharoor said, “I can assure you that I am part of the Congress party and that I am not going anywhere. I will be part of the poll campaign and will work for the victory of the UDF.” He clarified that his stand on certain issues may have been portrayed as pro-BJP , but he viewed it as pro-government and pro-India. Asserting that Gandhi consistently speaks against communalism and divisiveness, he said he has no differing view and never endorsed unfair criticism of him. GREAT, GREATER… GREATEST 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 NEW DELHI 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 5hours  38 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 This will be Djokovic’s 11th Aus Open final and 38th Grand Slam – an all-time record Sunetra to be sworn in Dy CM today, uncertainty on merger S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai THE Nationalist Congress Party has decided to replace the late Ajit Pawar with his partner, Sunetra Pawar, as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The party’s legislators will meet in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon to elect her as the leader of the legislature party. Her swearing-in is at Raj Bhavan that evening, at 5pm. On Friday NCP working pres, ident Praful Patel, state president Sunil Tatkare, minister Chhagan Bhujbal and former minister Dhananjay Munde met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and conveyed that Sunetra Pawar would be elected leader and retain all key portfolios earlier held by Ajit Pawar, including finance, excise and sports. Following her election, she is expected to stake a claim for the DCM post, with a swearing-in ceremony likely at Raj Bhavan the same evening. Senior BJP leaders said the alliance would support a smooth transition. A source said on Friday, the party leaders phoned the NCP MLAs and sought their opinions on the successor to Ajit Pawar. After the meeting, Tatkare said the party was in deep mourning and consultations with the Pawar family would precede further decisions. Party leaders said MLAs were contacted to seek their views, while sources indicated that Sunetra Pawar and her sons, Parth and Jay Pawar, may attend the meeting. NCP MLC Sanjay Khodake has written to the secretary of the Legislative Assembly, reserving Hall Number 26, seating 50 people, at Vidhan Bhavan to convene the meeting. It will take place at 2 pm on Saturday . Meanwhile, uncertainty persists over a possible merger between the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction and the Ajit Pawar group. Leaders from the Sharad Pawar camp have argued that unity would be a true tribute to Ajit Pawar. NCP state president Shashikant Shinde said that merger talks were expected after the local body elections, and that Ajit Pawar had personally led these discussions.   J8.00 PAGES 12 The new appointment, which requires Senate confirmation, amounts to a return trip for Warsh, 55, who was a member of the Fed’s board from 2006 to 2011. He was the youngest governor in history when he was appointed at age 35. Warsh is currently a fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business | P9 19 MEMBERS OF THE FED RESERVE GENERALLY DECIDE RATE CUTS Menstrual health a fundamental right SC asks all schools to provide sanitary pads for free 3 days of rain, storms in city, temperature to drop further E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi 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. 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, with District Education Officers asked to conduct annual inspections and child rights commissions overseeing implementation SUPREME COMMANDER President Droupadi Murmu during an interaction with the Tri-Service Band contingents on Friday | PTI THE India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainfall and thunderstorms over Delhi and surrounding regions between January 31 and February 2. Residents can expect cloudy skies, intermittent showers, and fluctuating temperatures over the next few days. The IMD has also predicted a further drop in minimum temperatures by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over the next two days, followed by a gradual rise of 5 to 7 degrees Celsius. Another western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from February 2 onwards, while the subtropical westerly jet stream over northeast India is contributing to unstable weather patterns. These systems are expected to bring cloud cover, rain, and temperature variations, impacting dayto-day activities, the IMD said. Delhiites woke up to a foggy Friday morning, with dense mist, low visibility, and cooler temperatures marking the start of the day. However, the air quality remained a concern, largely staying in the “poor” category despite slight improvements due to rainfall. The city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) at 6 am stood at 231. Out of 39 monitoring stations across Delhi, 13 recorded “moderate” air quality while 22 , were in the “poor” range. Certain areas experienced severe pollution, with Jahangirpuri, R K Puram, Nehru Nagar, and Siri Fort reporting the AQI levels above 300. Naïve protectionism under UPA cost India billions: Goyal VENEZUELAN ACTING S A N T W A N A B H AT TA C H A R YA , P U S H P I TA D E Y & D I PA K M O N D A L @New Delhi COMMERCE and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said India lost billions of dollars in export opportunities due to what he called a “naïve” reading of sensitive sectors by the previous government during earlier negotiations with the European Union. The Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the UK and the European Union (EU) have opened up sectors such as automobiles and wines that were earlier perceived as sensitive. Goyal, in an exclusive interview with The New Indian Express, said it was a “naïve” decision by previous governments to keep these sectors closed, which resulted in Indian exporters losing access to large developed markets. “I think 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, with auto components adding further to that,” Goyal told TNIE. “Because of that failure under the UPA gover nment, crores of people lost livelihoods. O u r ab i l i t y t o Confident Group head shoots himself dead during I-T raid R A K S H I T H G O W D A @ Bengaluru CHIRIANKANDATH Joseph Roy, chairman of Confident Group, shot himself dead on Friday following marathon grilling by income tax sleuths in Bengaluru. The real estate tycoon, who was also the Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic, took the extreme step at the consulate office located on the first floor of the Confident Pentagon building on Langford Road, Beng alur u. The taxmen were still conducting investigation at the Confident Group office located in the same building when it happened. His family alleged that “pressure” from the IT department drove Roy (57) to end his life. Police said I-T officials from Kerala were questioning him for the past three days. On Friday, Roy was questioned for several hours. During break, Roy went to the consulate office on the first floor. After a few minutes, a gunshot was heard. The staff found him lying in a pool of blood. “The incident happened around 3.15 pm. Roy was immediately shifted to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. We are in touch with his family members, who are not in India. The IT officials will also be questioned as part of the probe. As of now, there is no information regarding the I-T case registered against him and also the reason for the suicide,” Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said. move up the value chain and Goyal asserted that despite develop higher skills and better opening up the automobile and quality products was compro- wine sectors, the government mised. The Congress, DMK and has ensured that domestic intheir partners must be held dustry remains largely proaccountable for this,” tected by placing strict imGoyal said. port quotas on EU Under the India–EU products. EU-FTA FTA, tariffs on imported “There is no threat. European cars—curManufacturing costs in rently among the highest Europe are too high. We in the world—will be have protected 90% of our reduced gradually from domestic auto market. Small 110% to as low as 10% cars are not part of the deal, under a quota-based and even in the luxury segment, system, while duties on quotas are in place,” he said. car parts will be comHe added that excessive propletely phased out tectionism under previous govover five to ten ernments had come at a signifiyears. cant cost. “Crores of our brothers and sisters were not getting jobs, were not able to become exporters, and were unable to develop their businesses,” Goyal said. 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. “As for wine, only about 6,000 farmers grow grapes used for wine, and the entire wine industry is worth about `1,000 crore. In contrast, we have secured duty-free access for table grapes to the EU worth about `1,000 crore,” the minister said. UP police put pressure on judges for favourable orders, says High Court ‘Even junior judicial officer is supreme’ E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Allahabad High Court on Friday observed that police officers in Uttar Pradesh were mounting pressure on judges on a regular basis, particularly , chief judicial magistrates (CJMs), to pass specific orders of their liking. In a terse message to the state authorities, a single judge bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal told the state counsel that the court could not allow the state to become a police state. The judge made the observations while addressing Director General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Krishna and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad during a hearing. The officers had been asked to appear via video conference to explain the action being taken to curb the growing trend of Uttar Pradesh police shooting The Allahabad High Court bench said that a police officer should not consider himself superior to a judicial officer. “Once a judicial officer is sitting on the dais, he may be a junior division officer, but he is above all persons in front of him,” he noted. accused persons in their legs. During the hearing, the court observed that police officers, especially, those new to the service, mount pressure on judges, particularly in the trial , court at the district level. “Whenever a judicial officer or CJM asks the police authority as to why don’t they comply , then tussle starts between the Superintendent of Police (SP) and judicial officer. This has become a routine feature that the SP starts pressurising the judicial officer for a particular order,” the court said. The judge further said that this trend of police high-handedness was not limited to any particular district. “Once a judicial officer is sitting on the dais, he may be a junior division officer, but he is above all persons in front of him,” the court emphasised. The judge stressed that there must be mutual respect between police authorities and the judicial officers. PREZ CALLS MODI ON ENERGY, OTHER ISSUES EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday received a telephone call from the Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, during which the two leaders agreed to further expand and deepen the India-Venezuela partnership across multiple sectors, including energy . According to a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry , the leaders discussed strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, energy, digital technology, health, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a telephone call today from the Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez,” the MEA said. “The two leaders agreed to further expand and deepen the India-Venezuela partnership in all areas, includ- ing trade and investment, energy digital technology health, , , agriculture and people-to-people ties.” The MEA added that both leaders also exchanged views on key regional and global issues of mutual interest and underscored the importance of close cooperation for the Global South. “Both leaders exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest and underscored the importance of their close cooperation for the Global South,” the statement said. The two leaders agreed to remain in touch and continue their engagement to advance bilateral relations. EXPRESS READ Former RCOM chief held in money laundering case The ED on Friday said it has arrested former Reliance Communications (RCOM) president Punit Garg on money laundering charges in an alleged `40,000 crore worth bank loan fraud case against group companies of businessman Anil Ambani. The 61-year-old Garg was taken into custody on Thursday. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Delhi sent him to nine days of ED custody, the federal probe agency said in a statement. Garg was arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation, the ED said. The alleged laundered funds were “diverted” through multiple foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities of RCOM, the probe agency claimed.