The Editorial Page: India’s next manufacturing leap is about what it produces 8 SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2026 Journalism of Courage JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 Happening today lTHE SEcOND INDIA-ARAB Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will be held in New Delhi after a gap of 10 years, aimed at boosting engagement in economy, energy, education and culture. lWORLD BANK PRESIDENT Ajay Banga will visit Pakistan, where he is scheduled to hold meetings on the country's economy. The Indus Waters Treaty is also likely to be discussed. lIN AUSTRALIAN OPEN women's singles final, top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will take on fifth-seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. TRACk THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm business as Usual By EP UNNY REcIPROcITY KEY PRINcIPLE IN TRADE DEALS, SAYS MINISTER EU deal goes beyond trade... Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra can lift manufacturing: Goyal set to be Maharashtra E. Says technical know-how, investment to spur industry to build capacities Anil Sasi & P Vaidyanathan Iyer New Delhi, January 30 INDIA IS looking at ramping up itsmanufacturingwithtechnologyknow-howandinvestments fromEuropeancountriesthatgo well beyond just trade, said Union Commerce and Industry Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, January 30 PAgE 2 KErALA rEALtor KILLS SELf IN HIS bENgALUrU offIcE STATING THAT the right to menstrualhealthisapartofthe right to life, a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court on Friday directed all States and Union Territories to putinplaceMenstrualHygiene ExPlAINED Why India, EU see deal as win-win PM Narendra Modi and EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa witness the exchange of MoU between Union Minister Piyush Goyal and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic on Tuesday. ANI FULL TRANSCRIPT OF GOYAL’S INTERVIEW TOMORROW MinisterPiyushGoyal,afterhavingwrappedupthenegotiations foraFreeTradeAgreementwith Menstrual health is a part of fundamental right to life, says SC INsIDE fORMAL ANNOUNcEMENT ExPEcTED TODAY Management (MHM) measures, including gender-segregated toilets and free sanitary napkins, in all government as well as private schools. Issuing a slew of directions, the bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan asked the Centre, States and UTs to ensure compliance within »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 the European Union. InaninterviewwithTheIndian Express, Goyal said, “The The EU trade deal offers an opportunity for Indian manufacturing to scale up and emerge as an alternative to China as a supplier for the 27-member European bloc . It is being seen as a win-win for both. fact is that this (the deal) is much more than just trade. It is »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ThE BIG PICTURE A L L t H At ’ S L E f t b E H I N D Air India returns personal belongings of crash victims PAgE 10 Deputy Chief Minister Decision comes hours after NCP delegation met CM Fadnavis Alok Deshpande & Shubhangi Khapre Mumbai, January 30 AJIT PAWAR’S wife and Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar is set to succeed her late husband as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday, becoming the first woman to hold the post. Sunetra will be appointed theNationalistCongressParty's (NCP) Legislature Party leader at 2 pm and will be sworn in as DeputyCMlaterintheevening, sources in the party said. The decision came hours afterNCPbeganformalconsultations with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on filling the Deputy CM’s post, even as theBJPindicateditwouldleave the decision to its alliance partner while maintaining the existing balance within the ruling government. A delegation comprising Rajya Sabha MP and NCP working president Praful Patel, state party chief and Lok Sabha MP Sunil »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaipur Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar (right) with NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule at his funeral in Baramati, Thursday. PTI RELATED REPORT, PAGE 5 ‘What can we do?’: INDIA signals limited options amid NCP merger buzz Asad Rehman New Delhi, January 30 AMID A push for the reunificationoftheNationalistCongress Party (NCP) and speculation that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) faction may “join the government”followingthemerger, the other parties in the OppositionINDIAblochaveadopteda wait-and-watch approach. “What can we do?” asked a senior All India Congress Com- mittee (AICC) leader in Delhi. “The two factions and the (Pawar)familyhavetotakeacall. A senior member of the family hasdiedandwedon’twanttointerfere and make any overtures right now. We are watching the situationandwilldosomething as the situation develops.” The two NCP factions were set to announce their merger on February 8, before the untimely demise of Maharashtra »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2