FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW Page 6 Bengaluru: The founder and chairman of the Confident Group, C J Roy, allegedly shot himself dead at his office in Bengaluru on Friday during or immediately after an Income Tax raid. The cause behind the suicide is yet to be ascertained. The incident occurred at his property on Longford Road in Bengaluru. The Confident Group is a prominent real estate companies in the country. Police stated that the I-T Department sleuths arrived in two vehicles and raided Roy's office. Roy, who came to office afterwards at noon, apparently shot himself in the chest. Police stated that he had faced questioning by I-T officers for an hour. Roy fired at himself using a pistol. Investigators are verifying whether the incident took place during the Income Tax raids. All eyes on local lad Samson as India look to wrap up series against NZ Page 12 SATURDAY INTERVIEW NCP leaders meet Fadnavis, seek Ajit Pawar's portfolios STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Mumbai, 30 January S enior leaders of the late Ajit Pawar-led NCP met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday and staked their party's claim to key ministries like finance, state excise as well as sports, held earlier by Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister. Senior NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal went to Mr Fadnavis’s official ‘Varsha’ bungalow in South Mumbai, where they held discussions for at least an hour on Friday. After the meeting, Praful Patel told media persons that the party wants to fill the post of Deputy Chief Minister as soon as possible. “We are partners in the Mahayuti alliance. So we have to take the right decision to fill the post held by Ajit Pawar as soon as possible. At the same time, I want to clarify Saturday, 31 January 2026 ‘Health systems will be resilient’ Page 9 Realty group chief kills himself amid I-T raid: | Page 7 Dangerous drift Ukraine faces brutal weather as Trump says Putin agreed to halt power grid attacks BRIEFLY MUMBAI SPORTS WORLD EDITORIAL PAGE | Late Maharashtra Dy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar with party leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare during celebrations of the party’s Assembly poll lead in Mumbai. FILE PHOTOGRAPH that we need to consider public sentiment before making any decision. We must give the family some time to come out of their grief. We will soon discuss the party’s future course with Sunetra Pawar and the family,” Mr Patel said. Senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said: “Sunetra Pawar may be elected as legislative party leader of the NCP tomorrow (Saturday). If there is unanimous consent among all members, the oath-taking ceremony could also take place tomorrow itself.” “There is a possibility that Sunetra Pawar’s name will be confirmed even for the post of Deputy CM. NCP MLAs have been called to Mumbai tomorrow (Saturday). It is understood that a final decision will be taken after discussing with Sunetra Pawar today (Friday) or tomorrow (Saturday),” Sunil Tatkare said. Meanwhile, sources said that discussions about a post-Ajit Pawar NCP began right after the tragic air crash on Thursday night itself. Mr Tatkare, the party’s working president Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and the disgraced Dhananjay Munde first met Sunetra Pawar in Baramati. After a discussion with her, they went to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai demanding the portfolios of the late Ajit Pawar. NCP founder Sharad Pawar has not reacted to these developments so far, even as close confidants of the late Ajit Pawar revealed on Friday that the departed Deputy Chief Minister had planned to merge both the NCPs into a single party before his death. Right to menstrual health a fundamental right: Apex Court PARMOD KUMAR New Delhi, 30 January In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Friday held that the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to menstrual health, recognising it as an essential facet of human dignity, privacy and bodily autonomy of girl children, encompassing access to safe, effective and affordable menstrual hygiene management (MHM). A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan on Friday observed that “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.” Issuing a slew of directions, the Court ordered that all States and Union Territories shall ensure that every school, whether government-run or privately managed, in both urban and rural areas, provides oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins manufactured in compliance with ASTM D-6954 standards free of cost. Such sanitary napkins must be made readily accessible to girl students, preferably within toilet premises through sanitary napkin vending machines, or, where immediate installation is not feasible, at a designated place or with a designated authority within the school. On infrastructure, the Court directed that all States and Union Territories shall ensure that every school is equipped with functional, gendersegregated toilets with usable water connectivity. It further ordered that all existing and newly constructed school toilets must be designed, constructed and maintained to ensure privacy and accessibility, including by catering to the needs of children with disabilities. Emphasising the dignity dimension, the Court said that “Inaccessibility of menstrual hygiene management measures undermines the dignity of a girl child, as dignity finds expression in conditions that enable individuals to live without humiliation, exclusion, or avoidable suffering.” Arab foreign ministers arrive for second India-Arab meet, being held after 10 years STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 30 January Old Warhorse Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after defeating Italy’s Jannik Sinner in their semi-final match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, on Friday. He will meet Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s final. AGENCIES (Match report on Page 12) The foreign ministers of several Arab nations arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting(IAFMM), scheduled for Saturday. The Foreign Ministers of Libya, Eltaher S M Elbaour and Somalia, Abdisalam Ali, arrived in the national capital on Friday. On Thursday, the League of Arab States (LAS) Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit arrived in New Delhi to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ and related meetings. Earlier, Comoros Foreign Minister Mbae Mohamed, Palestine Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin and Sudan's Foreign Minister Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim reached New Delhi on Thursday to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting. The 2nd edition of the India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is being held after a gap of 10 years. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday held bilateral talks with the Arab dignitaries, including Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Palestine Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Libyan Foreign Minister Eltaher S M Elbaour, Comoros Foreign Minister Mbae Mohamed, among others. The Foreign Ministers' Meeting is being preceded by the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) today at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting is expected to build on existing cooperation and expand the partnership. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after 10 years, as the first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016. During the first Foreign Ministers Meeting, the leaders identified five priority verticals of cooperation - economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. "India Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. India-EU security & defence pact catapults India to the level of NATO ally, without joining NATO RAMESH BHAN New Delhi, 30 January If the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the 27-nation European Union (EU) positions India as a strategic 'Third Pole' in the global financial architecture, the Security and Defence Partnership catapults India to the level of an important NATO ally, without being its member. In international relations, the strategic "Third Pole' is used to describe an emerging global power, particularly India, acting as a balancer in a multi-polar world. In other words, India is emerging as a third independent pole to avoid overdependence on the US-China (G2) binary framework. The two sides signed the Security and Defence Partnership alongside the crucial FTA on 27 January, marking the first overarching framework of its kind between India and the EU. The Security and Defence Partnership enables closer coo- peration and joint initiatives on shared priorities like maritime security, non-proliferation and disarmament, space, countering cyber and hybrid threats, and counter-terrorism. Under this partnership, India and the EU strengthen defence industrial cooperation and advance alignment on defence initiatives, according to a statement issued by the European Commission. The two sides also launched negotiations on a Security of Information Agreement to enable the exchange of classified information, in line with the security interests of the EU and its Member States, paving the way for 'India's participation in EU security and defence initiatives in line with EU Treaty-based frameworks.' The European Commission's observation '… paving the way for India's participation in EU security and Defence initiatives in line with EU Treaty-based frameworks,' hints at a wider role for India in NATO and indicates a shift in global power dynamics. “The EU and India maintain a long-standing strategic partnership. With the signing of a new Security and Defence Partnership, we are entering a new phase of EU-India relations. It will expand our cooperation in areas such as maritime security, counterterrorism, and cyber-defence. The EU and India see the world changing in similar ways and are responding together. Security is now a core part of our relationship,” High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas said. India is increasingly viewed as a stabiliser and a crucial partner for NATO because of its traditional stance on strategic autonomy and role as a leading contributor to UN Peacekeeping. It is clear from the developments that NATO is looking towards India to help manage complex regional challenges like those in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific, leveraging India's ability to maintain dialogue with diverse actors like Russia. Through the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and Mahasagar doctrines, India is positioning itself as the primary architect of stability in the Western Indo-Pacific, offering "strategic depth without alignment". NATO's shifting focus and the US factor also play their part. NATO member-states are under pressure because of the United States' aggressive policies towards Greenland and high tariffs against some NATO members. These moves by the USA have pushed allies to seek alternative security frameworks. The India-EU defence partnership is a step towards reducing dependence on the USA, although NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said Europe cannot fully defend itself without the USA. It might appear that India could join NATO Plus. However, rather than membership, the relationship between India and the EU is evolving towards a structured political dialogue that allows NATO to benefit from India's geostrategic perspective. The partnership brings India closer to NATO without making it a member of NATO or NATO Plus. NATO Plus (or NATO 5) is an informal security arrangement between NATO and five allied nations ~ Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, and South Korea ~ designed to enhance global defence cooperation and intelligence sharing. The US has proposed including India to strengthen Indo-Pacific ties. However, India has declined, citing the framework's incompatibility with its strategic autonomy. If India joins the NATO Plus, it could sour ties with Russia, India's closest ally. India prefers "limitedliability partnerships" over treaty-bound alliances. The current goal is to use its closeness to NATO to counter common threats like terrorism and maritime insecurity without committing to collective defence. However, there are advantages for India in becoming a member of NATO Plus. India would gain access to intelligence sharing between these countries, the latest military technology without much of a time lag and further strengthen India's Defence partnership with the United States. The Security and Defence Partnership does what India could expect after becoming a NATO Plus member. The Agreement upgrades existing consultations into a dedicated annual ministerial-level dialogue to provide policy guidance and track progress. Additionally, India is now exploring participation in specific European Defence programmes, like the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) initiative, a 150 billion Euro fund for defence preparedness. The partnership aims at linking Indian manufacturers to the "ReArm Europe" network, positioning India as a cost-competitive hub for manufacturing and aero-structures.