Wednesday, February 4, 2026 | Vol. 69 No. 103 | 32 Pages THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation l E-paper edition is not a replica of the print edition GAMES NATION Will support if a motion is brought to impeach CEC Gyanesh Kumar, says Mamata Cinema Movie controversies over real-life portrayals ICC warns PCB of legal action from T20 World Cup’s official broadcasters JioStar Edit What will happen now to the unification plans of NCP? BRIGHT FUTURE | India secured the best deal compared to all its neighbours, surrounding countries and competing nations, claims Commerce Minister. A joint statement is to be issued ‘HISTORIC TURNING POINT’ Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday described the India-US trade deal as one that “the public had been waiting for many months” and a “a historic turning point that will reshape bilateral relationship and accelerate our journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047” Addressing the media, Goyal lauded the role of PM Nar- endra Modi saying “India has got a good deal with the US because of the personal relationship between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump”. He added that India has secured the best deal compared to all its neighbours, surrounding countries, and competing nations. “This deal has been achieved for all of you, for all of us. It brings positive signs for a bright future for the country.” He also acknowledged the contribution of the “negotiating teams” that “maintained continuous dialogue with officials and ministers of the US” to clinch this deal. Goyal also explained that Trump first announced the deal late on Monday night before Modi wrote about it in a post on X because it was the US which had imposed the reciprocal tariffs, and not India. “The US had imposed reciprocal tariffs, and when those were reduced from 50% to 18%, that information would naturally be given by Trump,” he said. Goyal insisted that “this agreement unlocks unprecedented opportunities for farmers, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), entrepreneurs, and skilled workers to make in India for the world, design in India for the world, and innovate in India for the world.” The entire country knows, how the PM cares for the welfare of our farmers, our brothers and sisters involved in animal husbandry, and the dairy sector. He protects their interests at every step. India has got a good deal with the US because of the personal relationship between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | money Piyush Goyal, Commerce Minister ‘Big decision, will benefit all’ No word on halting Modi compromised: Rahul Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told a parliamentary party meeting of National Democratic Alliance MPs that the India–US trade deal was a “big decision” that would “benefit everyone in the country.” At the meeting, Modi was received and felicitated by senior NDA leaders, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Nitin Nabin, Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel. The NDA partners also lauded him for reaching trade agreements with the oil, says Kremlin European Union, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, while briefing the media about the meeting, said the Prime Minister told members of the NDA that the alliance’s success was due to its “people-friendly policies” and “sustained hard work”. He also cautioned the lawmakers to not become “complacent” due to successes of the past and to focus on serving people to the best of their ability. Agencies MOSCOW  The Kremlin on Tuesday said it had not received any indication from India about halting purchases of Russian oil, after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that New Delhi had agreed to stop buying Russian crude as part of a trade agreement with Washington. Trump announced on Monday that the United States had reached a trade deal with India under which U.S. tariffs on Indian goods would be reduced 4Contd on | nation to 18% from 50%. In return, Trump said, India had agreed to halt purchases of Russian oil and lower trade barriers. Responding to the claim, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was closely analysing Trump’s remarks on U.S.-India relations. Asked directly whether India had decided to stop buying Russian oil, Peskov said: “So far, we have not heard any statements from Delhi on this issue.” 4Contd on | nation Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday charged that the trade deal announced by US President Trump and subsequently PM Narendra Modi late on Monday night was a “sell off” and that the latter “compromised” India’s interests because he was under pressure due to the Epstein files revelations. Talking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Gandhi said, “Modi ji is scared” and insisted that “our PM has been compromised.” The Congress leader also claimed that the deal would adversely impact the country’s farmers. “People of India will have to think who has done it and why…. The farmers of India must understand that in this trade deal, Narendra Modi ji has sold off your labour and blood and sweat. And that’s because he is compromised now. Not just you (farmers), the entire country has been sold.” He also declared that “the trade deal was stuck for four months” and “nothing changed” for a long period of time. But then, he added, “for some reason that I know and Modi ji knows, he signed the deal last evening”. Insisting that “there is immense pressure on Narendra Modi ji”, Gandhi said with the deal “the balloon of the Narendra Modi ji image, created with thousands of crores, can burst.” 4Contd on | nation Fuel switch: AI-132 pilot blamed SC pulls up judges for delaying judgments S Balakrishnan & Dhairya Gajara FPJ News Service NEW DELHI MUMBAI Air India on Tuesday blamed the pilot of its Heathrow–Bengaluru flight on Monday for “applying external force in an incorrect direction, causing the switch to move easily towards (fuel) cut-off.” Sources said it was surprising that the pilot, described as experienced, would apply external force in an “incorrect” direction. “There are well-laid-down procedures prescribed by Boeing, and pilots are well trained to operate the switches, among other things. Why would any pilot apply external force in a so-called incorrect way, fully knowing it would cause fuel cut-off?” a pilot, who did not wish to be named, told the FPJ. “If what the airline is claiming is true, Maha budget on March 6 The Maharashtra government will present the 2026-27 Budget on March 6. The state’s Economic Survey will be tabled on March 5. The budget session of the legislature will begin on February 23. This will be the first time in recent history that a sitting CM will present the Budget. Jets clip wings at Mumbai airport Dhairya Gajara MUMBAI The wingtips of two Airbus A320 aircraft operated by Air India and IndiGo collided at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Tuesday evening. All passengers disembarked safely, though then the question arises: what action has it taken against the pilot concerned? Air India cannot both blame its pilot and both aircraft sustained damage, leading to a delay to the outbound Air India flight. Passengers aboard the two scheduled commercial flights were briefly left alarmed when the wings of their aircraft scraped against each other at around 7 pm. 4Contd on | city yet not take action against him,” he added. 4See also | city The Supreme Court on Tuesday sent a strong message to HCs across the country, saying judges must put an end to the practice of reserving judgments and then delaying their delivery for months. A Bench of CJI Surya Kant FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on WhatsApp and its parent company Meta over the messaging platform’s 2021 privacy policy, warning that companies cannot “play with the right to pri- The Bench also raised concerns about targeted advertising and the use of user data without express consent vacy of this country” in the name of data sharing. It was hearing appeals filed by WhatsApp and Meta challeng- SC KEEPS STAY ON MCA ELECTIONS FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The SC on Tuesday refused to lift the stay imposed by the Bombay HC on the Apex Council elections of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA), making strong observations against the cricket body. A Bench headed by CJI Surya Kant along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, said the HC’s interim injunction was justified and declined to interfere at this stage. “Injunction is justified. They (Bombay HC) stopped you from committing bigger fraud! Do not invite more comments from us,” the SC said, Live Law and Bar & Bench report. 4Contd on | nation Who are you bringing? Those who do not even know the game of cricket do not even know how to handle a bat. Don’t make us express our sentiments too much on what is happening FPJ News Service his defence in a dowry case. In other words, RTI, it said, is not a matrimonial investigation tool. The case revolved around Kulwant Singh, who filed an RTI plea in July 2025 seeking exhaustive details of his RARE EARTH US to create $12b strategic reserve AP WASHINGTON father-in-law Rishipal Singh’s financial life — salary, provident fund, loans, advances, and both movable and immovable properties. Rishipal Singh, a retired revenue inspector from Bijnor district, had hung up his boots in 2015. His son-in-law, however, was just getting started. According to sources, Kulwant’s wife had accused him of demanding Rs 26 lakh as dowry. Kulwant’s counterstrategy was simple: prove that the alleged dowry-giver did not have the capacity. The Trump administration has announced plans to create a strategic reserve of rare earth elements, committing nearly $12 billion to build a stockpile aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on China and safeguarding key manufacturing supply chains. The White House on Monday confirmed the launch of “Project Vault,” which will be initially financed through a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, along with nearly $1.67 billion in private capital. The reserve is intended to protect manufacturers of automobiles, electronics and other critical goods from potential supply disruptions. Rare earth elements are essential for a wide range of technologies, including jet engines, radar systems, electric vehicles, laptops and smartphones. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation RTI rejects family snooping MUMBAI body and reserve 10–15 matters even. There are some judges who after this (hearings), don’t deliver the judgments. We are not on anyone individually. This is a challenge before the judiciary and an identifiable ailment and it needs to end. It can’t be allowed to spread more for interest of consumers of justice,” the CJI said. The SC was hearing an application complaining about delays in uploading a HC judgment. The application pointed out that the Jharkhand HC had pronounced a judgment in December 2025, but the decision was yet to be uploaded on its website or made available to the litigant’s counsel. Senior Advocate Mukul Ro- SC rap for Whatsapp over privacy breaches offgrid The Right to Information Act (RTI) has been used to expose scams, corner babus and rattle governments. What it cannot do, the UP State Information Commission has now clarified, is help a disgruntled son-in-law audit his father-in-law’s life. In a ruling that drew the line between transparency and family vendetta, the UP State Information Commission rejected a man’s attempt to pry into his retired fatherin-law’s finances to bolster and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipin M Pancholi said such delays cannot be allowed to continue at the cost of justice. It also indicated a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to curb the problem will be issued soon, Bar & Bench reports. “We have broadly two types of judges. One is the hardworking judge who will hear every- ing a Rs 213.14 crore penalty imposed on the platform for alleged abuse of dominance. A Bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi questioned the “take it or leave it” nature of WhatsApp’s privacy policy and flagged the absence of any meaningful option for users to opt out of data sharing, Bar & Bench reports. hatgi, appearing for the applicant, told the Court, “Some message has to go. This is playing with majesty of law.” Agreeing with the concern, the Bench also flagged another practice where matters are repeatedly listed even after arguments are completed. 4Contd on | nation After one year, Manipur to get CM; BJP picks Yumnam Singh 4Contd on | nation Matheran pollution: MPCB blames horses Pranali Lotlikar FPJ News Service MUMBAI MUMBAI The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that largescale equine activity is the primary cause of environmental pollution in Matheran, Maharashtra’s only vehicle-free hill station located near Karjat. The Board stated that the only viable solution to address the unique challenge of Matheran’s “vehicle-free yet horse-reliant ecosystem” is a strict reduction in the number of horses and the relocation of stables outside the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ). As per the complaint filed before the Tribunal, around 460 horses and 200 ponies operate daily in Matheran. They are largely used for transporting tourists and goods in the hill station, which was declared an ESZ by the Government of India in 2003. The matter arose from an application filed in 2024 by local residents Sunil Shinde and Ketan Ramane, who highlighted that the excessive use of horses for tourism and transportation has led to severe environmental degradation. The petition stated that over three tonnes of horse dung are generated daily, polluting air, water and soil, and adversely affecting public health. The applicants urged the Tribunal to direct authorities to reduce horse usage and explore ecofriendly alternatives such as battery-operated vehicles. BJP leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh  is set to be the next chief minister of Manipur, ending nearly a year of political vacuum in the violence-hit northeastern state that has been under President’s Rule since February 2025. Singh’s appointment comes almost a year after former CM N Biren Singh resigned on February 9, 2025, amid prolonged ethnic violence that paralysed governance and led to the imposition of President’s Rule just days later. The 60-member Assembly was then placed under suspended animation. Yumnam Khemchand Singh was elected leader of the Manipur BJP legislature party at a meeting held in New Delhi, attended by senior central leaders and observers. His name was finalised after extensive consultations between Manipur BJP legislators and the party’s central leadership, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah. 4See also | city 4Contd on | nation