SATURDAY FTA WITH EU WILL BE MOTHER OF ALL DEALS, SAYS PIYUSH GOYAL 17 JANUARY, 2026 $136.5bn epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard WAS INDIA’S BILATERAL TRADE IN GOODS WITH THE EU IN 2024–25 X.com/TheMornStandard NOBEL FOR TRUMP DON GETS MEDAL FROM MACHADO Venezuelan Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Thursday she “presented” her Nobel Peace Prize medal to the US president PAGE 9 Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said negotiations with the 27-member European Union are in their last phase INDIA GETTING A SUPER DEAL, SAYS MINISTER A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI   J8.00 Goyal said India is getting a super deal, and is giving EU a great deal too. “The good part is that we do not compete with each other.” PAGES 12 CONCLUSION OF TALKS LIKELY ON JANUARY 27 The conclusion of the talks for the agreement between India and EU is likely to be announced on January 27. India is looking at zero-duty market access for its labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles, leather, handlooms, and processed foods. EU is seeking greater access to Indian markets for auto exports, wines, and hi-tech manufacturing sectors | P10 Padi pooja in corruption spotlight at the Sabarimala S H A N A S @ T’puram AMID the Sabarimala gold theft case sending shockwaves across Kerala, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (VACB) intelligence wing has warned of entrenched corruption and irregularities at the famoue hill shrine, notably in the allotment of the prized padi pooja offering. In a ‘source report’, the intelligence wing calls for a sustained and precise action to root out the malpractices at Sabarimala, carried out with the active connivance of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) staff and their agents. The report, accessed by this newspaper, notes that 18 types of poojas and 39 kinds of offerings are perfor med at the shrine, with malpractices detected in the manner the TDB staff intervened in several rituals for monetary gain. As for padi pooja, the bookings are full till 2041. The intelligence report flags that most of these slots were cornered by TDB staff and their benamis, and later resold to devotees at steep premiums. While the official rate of padi pooja is `1.37 lakh, benamis charge devotees up to 10 times that amount. To conceal the fraud, the names of the actual PRESS CLUSIVE Tender procedures tainted, says report The intelligence wing’s report says corruption also tainted tender procedures at the Sabarimala hill shrine, much like the sale of Adiya Shistam Ghee. It casts serious doubts on the annadanam being offered by the TDB, noting the absence of clear records on the number of beneficiaries Captures BMC and most of the 28 other municipal corporations that went to polls ED chargesheet against Al-Falah chief; `140 cr assets seized S U M I T K U M A R S I N G H @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Faridabad-based AlFalah University’s chairman Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, and his family-run Al-Falah Charitable Trust as part of a money laundering probe linked to the November 10, 2025, terror attack near Red Fort. The ED has also attached assets worth `140 crore of Al-Falah University . According to the ED, the 54acres land of the university in Dhauj area of Faridabad, the university buildings have been attached as part of a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA. The chargesheet has said that Siddiqui exercised absolute control over Al-Falah Charitable Trust, Al-Falah University, including Al-Falah School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, and related entities, and a key beneficiary of “unlawful proceeds”. “As Managing Trustee and Chancellor, he exercised complete administrative, financial and operational control, with other office-bearers functioning as nominal/proxy persons,” the chargesheet has said. Siddiqui was arrested in November on money laundering charges linked to cheating students of the institutions run by his trust. “Siddiqui was found to have routed funds through family-owned entities,” accordoing to the probe agency . The case is related to a wider probe into a “white-collar” terror module, in which over two dozen people, including three doctors, have been arrested. The university’s role emerged after Umar-un-Nabi, a doctor at Al-Falah Medical College, carried out a suicide car bombing near Red Fort. BJP-led alliance wrests country’s richest civic body S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai THE BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena together breached the Thackeray citadel in Asia’s richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), by winning 116 of the 227 seats that were up for grabs, narrowly going past the halfway mark of 114. For the first time after 25 years, the BMC could have a nonShiv Sainik as mayor. However, the narrow majority could prod Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Sena to lay claim to the post. In 2022, he became the surprise chief minister after toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. “I am extremely grateful to my sisters and brothers of Mumbai for blessing the NDA,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X. “Mumbai is the pride of our nation. It is the city of aspiration. It is a city that drives our growth,” he said. In the BMC elections, the BJP won 89 seats against the previous tally of 82, while Uddhav’s Sena won 65 seats against the 84 his party won in 2017. The Shinde-led Sena bagged 29 seats, while Raj Thackeray’s MNS performed poorly with just six, and Congress slid to 24. Ajit Pawar’s NCP and NCP (Sharad Pawar) won three and one seats, respectively . Of the total 29 civic body elections, the BJP managed to win over 20, which include Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Jalgaon, Dhule, Sangali-Miraj, Jalna, Ulhas Nagar, Akola, Vasai Virar, Amaravati, Sambhaji Nagar, Nanded, Panvel and Kalyan Dombivali, while the Congress managed to win Latur, Parbhani, Chan- devotees who paid for the ritual were not recorded by the devaswom board. Also, many of those who booked padi pooja in the past five years did not perform the ritual, with the slots instead being auctioned to higher bidders. Similar irregularities were flagged in rituals like thanka anki charthu (booking full till 2035), ashtabhishekam (booking full till 2035), sahasrakalasham (booking full till 2030), udaysthamana pooja, pushpabhishekam and kalasabhishekam. The report also flags largescale irregularities in the allotment of rooms at Sannidhanam. Devaswom guards and security personnel have also been named for accepting financial favours from affluent devotees in return for facilitating VIP-style darshan. It further makes damning observations against TDB staff, accusing them of acting as agents for travel operators by arranging premium accommodation, expedited darshan, and pooja slots in exchange for extra cash. The source report calls for a detailed probe into temporary appointments at the Sabarimala, pointing out that many individuals have been repeatedly engaged on a temporary basis over the past decade. WINNERS LOSERS OTH 228 BJP SS 1,438 405 CONG 318 MAHARASHTRA MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS NCP(AP) 165 TOTAL WARDS: 2,869 SS(UBT) 157 BRIHANMUMBAI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AIMIM 94 NCP(SP) 35 VBA 15 MNS 14 NCP(SP): 1 BJP 89 NCP(AP): 3 MNS: 6 MIM: 8 Uddhav Sena Congress: 24 Shinde Sena: 29 drapur, Bhiwandi and Kolhapur. The Shinde Sena held Thane, and the Ajit Pawar-led the NCP secured a win in the Ahilyanagar Municipal Corporation election. The AIMIM won in the Malegaon civic body against the Shiv Sena. The victory of the BJP in most of the civic bodies is a stamp on the leadership of incumbent Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He steered the BJP to emerge as the single largest party by winning as many as 1,438 65 corporators in the 29 civic bodies while the Shinde Sena secured 405, Congress 318, Uddhav Sena 157 seats, Ajit Pawar-led NCP 165 and Sharad Pawar-led NCP SP 35. The outcome could embolden the BJP to go alone in the 2029 assembly elections. As for the Opposition, it needs to introspect how to fight against the BJP effectively Lazy armchair . approach will not work against a party that does 24/7 politics with a mega poll machinery P8 . PARVEEN NEGI 3,000-bed facility for patient kin at AIIMS U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi THE All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday told the Delhi High Court that it has provided land to the authorities concer ned for construction of 80 pagodalike night shelters for the patients’ kin to save them from cold, while the hospital itself is undertaking the construction of a 3,000-bed rest house on a two-acre land. The hospital’s counsel told a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia that while the land was provided to Delhi Urban Shelt e r I m p r o ve m e n t B o a r d (DUSIB) as an immediate step, the construction of the rest house was a long-term measure. The counsel said this in response to court’s January 14 directions, made while hearing a suo motu petition on the state patients’ kind lived on the SC rejects Justice Varma’s plea against probe panel E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday dismissed Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma’s plea challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to admit an impeachment motion and the validity of a panel set up to inquire corruption charges against him. Justice Varma was repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court after burnt wads of currency notes were found within his Delhi residence compound on March 14 last year. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma said “constitutional safeguards for judges cannot come at the cost of paralysing the removal process itself,” and added there is nothing in the Inquiry Act to suggest that rejection of a motion in one House would render the other House incompetent to proceed in accordance with law. RCB proposes AI-powered cameras at Chinnaswamy in pre-IPL push E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru BULL BY THE HORNS Celebrating Tamil pride, a group of tamers attempts to conquer a raging bull at a Jallikattu event in Madurai on Friday. A total of 881 bulls and around 400 tamers from across Tamil Nadu took part in the event | SHIBA PRASAD SAHU EVEN as the suspense over Benglauru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium hosting Indian Premier League (IPL) matches continues, home team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday proposed to install 300350 artificial intelligence-powered cameras at the stadium for better crowd management. In a formal communication to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), RCB said the advanced surveillance technology will empower the association and law enforcement agencies to efficiently manage crowd movement, ensure disci- plined queueing, monitor unauthorised access through realtime tracking of entries and exits, and significantly enhance overall fan safety . KSCA shared that RCB has taken upon itself to bear the entire cost of the proposed operation, which is estimated to be around `4.5 crore. The club has partnered with Gurugrambased technology company Staqu for the initiative. With advanced analysis of video, audio and text data, the system will enhance investigation and enable accurate decision-making. The real-time AI video analytics capability is said to allow for early detection of incidents such as violence, unauthorised access and intrusion, allowing suitable response from authorities and law enforcement. The stadium has not hosted any competitive cricket since the stampede during RCB’s victory celebrations on June 4, 2025, in which 11 people lost lives. Recently, the state government denied permission to host Vijay Hazare Trophy matches there for safety concerns. The stadium in the heart of Bengaluru will also not host any matches of the T20 World Cup, scheduled from February 7. R-DAY PARADE On display at ceremonial boulevard how battles are fought M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi BRINGING a sense of the battlefield to Kartavya Path, Republic Day 2026 will transform India’s ceremonial boulevard into a dynamic display of how the armed forces operate in real combat conditions. In a significant departure from tradition, missiles, artillery systems and soldiers will move not as static showpieces but in formations that mirror battlefield deployment, offering spectators an immersive view of modern military sequencing. At the heart of the parade is a new “phased battle array formation”, under which key Army assets will roll out in operational order. Reconnaissance elements will lead the column, followed by logistics units and combat platforms, with troops moving alongside in full battle gear. Defence Secretary R K Singh said the 77th Republic Day celebrations would see “many firsts this time”. He said that key indigenous assets would advance in sequence, beginning with reconnaissance elements, followed by logistics units. “This new format seeks to make the parade-watching more engaging for spectators. The aerial component will also be shown in battle array formation,” he said. Cutting across the boulevard will be some of the country’s most formidable indigenous systems, including the BrahMos, Akash air defence system, medium range surface-to-air missiles, advanced towed artil- lery gun system, Dhanush artillery gun, and Shaktiban, alongside a display of select drones. The spectacle will extend into the skies. The flypast will feature frontline fighters and support aircraft flying in coordinated formations. Rafale and Su-30 fighters will share the airspace with MiG-29s, P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, Apache attack helicopters, light streets outside AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital. The counsel said that the rest house has been proposed in Ansari Nagar West and will be constructed with the help of an NGO from Ahmedabad. The DUSIB said that 20 new pagodas were set up near AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital, and more would be erected soon. Twenty tents each were also erected near Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and the hospitals attached to Lady Hardinge Medical College, the DUSIB counsel told the court. The HC urged the members of Delhi High Court Bar Association to raise funds for the rest house in the same manner it did during the Punjab floods. “Activate members of the bar so that some kind of fund is donated,” the chief justice said, while asking all the authorities to cooperate with AIIMS in the construction of the rest house. combat helicopters, advanced light helicopters, Mi-17 helicopters, and the C-130 and C-295. There will also be 18 marching contingents, 13 military bands, animal units, and Bhairav battalion debut. Traditional “VVIP” labels for enclosures have been dropped in favour of river names. Beating Retreat seating will be named after musical instruments. EXPRESS READ GRAP III measures back in Delhi-NCR The Commission for Air Quality Management on Friday invoked curbs under Stage III of GRAP in DelhiNCR after the air quality dipped to the ‘very poor’ category. Central Pollution Control Board recorded an AQI of 354 at 4 pm. | P4 Four Godara-Brar gang members held Police in Haryana have arrested four members of the Rohit Godara-Goldy Brar gang with four foreign-made weapons. The gangsters— Raman, Lokesh, Balraj, and Ravinder Singh—were allegedly involved in criminal activities in the US. Ladakh body to hold meeting in Feb The high-powered committee on Ladakh will hold, on February 4, its first meeting since the September 24 clashes, marking the resumption of deliberations between the Centre and representatives from the UT.