BHUBANESWAR l sunday l february 01, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l JEYPORE EDITION Rybakina edges past Sabalenka to lift the Australian Open Elena Rybakina took out Aryna Sabalenka to win in three pulsating sets. This is the Kazakh’s second Slam and first since 2022 Wimbledon Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina raises a toast after her victory on Saturday | AFP Kazakh keeps her cool at arena after women, over to men’s final The Kazakh, born in Moscow, is one of the hardest hitters in the game. Sabalenka, who had yet to drop a set this year, had started the final as a favourite, but very soon came under fire. Being played indoors because of rain, she recovered but the Kazakh won the first set. Sabalenka roared back to take the second but her opponent ultimately prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 ■ ■ Novak Djokovic, featuring in his first Slam final since 2023, has the chance to equal the record of most Majors. He has superior head to head against Carlos Alcaraz 5-4 Alcaraz, who survived a five-setter against Alexander Zverev, can become the youngest to win all four Slams 10 Djokovic has 10 Australian Open titles CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Sunetra dy CM, Sharad Pawar sore Maha gets its first woman deputy CM; Sharad Pawar says NCP merger may hit a roadblock Immediate challenges before Sunetra Pawar S udhir S ur ya w anshi @ Mumbai SUNETRA Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra on Saturday at the Governor’s House in Mumbai, becoming the first woman to occupy the position in the state. She was allotted excise, sports, minority development and Aukaf (Waqf) departments, but not finance and planning which her late husband Ajit Pawar held. The brief swearing-in ceremony at the Lok Bhavan took place three days after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar died in an air crash in Baramati on January 28. A commerce graduate, Sunetra, 62, resigned from her Rajya Sabha membership, and is expected to contest the byelection to the Baramati assembly From left, CM Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Acharya Devvrat, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar after her swearing-in in Mumbai | PTI constituency represented by her late husband. After Ajit Pawar’s demise, the 85-year-old Sharad Pawar had called a meeting of the Pawar family on Friday night to discuss the merger of both factions of the NCP. But Sunetra and her two sons, Parth and Jay skipped it and left for Mum, bai for the NCP’s legislative party meeting and oath-taking ceremony An apparently miffed . Pawar told the media in Baramati a day later that he had no idea that Sunetra was going to be sworn in as deputy CM. “We had several meetings MUMBAI: Sunetra Pawar’s first challenge is to win the Baramati by-election since her miffed father-in-law, Sharad Pawar will not cede control over their bastion that easily. Both Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule were invited to her swearing-in ceremony, but they refused. She also needs to develop her panMaharashtra foothold to keep the party from disintegration and resolving internal dissensions with Ajit for the merger of NCP . It was his wish that both factions should come together... it appears the process may hit a roadblock following the accident,” Sharad Pawar said. Parth then rushed back to Baramati to mollify his grandfather as P8 well as Supriya Sule.  Kalyani Group’s `17,000 crore hi-tech manufacturing cluster gets cabinet nod E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Bhubaneswar ishan roars, sanju quiet Ishan Kishan in scintiallting form as he scores a hundred against New Zealand on Saturday. Here he celebrates with Hardik Pandya. On the other hand, Sanju Samson manages only 6 runs. Ishan’s run: 8, 76, 28, DNP, 103; Sanju: 10, 6, 0, 24, 6 I BP Dipu The state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday approved the proposal for a `17,250 crore integrated manufacturing complex by Kalyani Group in Dhenkanal district, marking a major push towards high-value manufacturing in automotive, aerospace, defence and specialty materials sectors. The project has been approved under special provisions of the state’s Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR) 2022 and will be developed over nearly 1,100 acre in Gajamara as a multi- CM Mohan Charan Majhi chairing the cabinet meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan product industrial cluster. As part of the project, Kalyani Steels Limited will establish an integrated advanced specialty steel project at Gajamara with a production capacity of 700,000 tonne per annum (TPA) and 10,000 TPA of titanium alloy manufacturing. In addition to Kalyani Steel’s specialty steel unit, the complex will house a super alloy manufacturing facility of Saarloha Advanced Materials Pvt Ltd and an industrial components casting and forging unit of Bharat Forge and its subsidiaries, said chief secretary Anu Garg in her post-cabinet meeting briefing. Planned as an integrated cluster, the project will include multiple production units along with dedicated vendor parks to build downstream value chains in titanium, specialty steel, auto components, and aerospace and defence manufacturing. Continued on P5 General Budget today TDP hopes for G Ram G spend compensation Preetha N air @ New Delhi Under G RAM G, rural projects are linked to the PM Gati Shakti national master plan. I believe this will largely reduce repetition (in MGNREGA), as the scheme focuses on specific priority areas. It will also create lasting assets for communities and villages Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu Flaws in NREGA Pointing out flaws in MGNREGA, Devarayalu said the scheme often involved the same work being repeated year after year. G Ram G will address it. On tech hassle, he added, “4G is widespread. We will ensure offices are in place in areas with poor connectivity so no one is left out.” 2 yr deputation at Centre must for IPS officers of SP/DIG rank M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi FACING an acute shortage of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers at the Centre, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended promotion guidelines to make central deputation mandatory for empanelment to senior ranks. In an order, the MHA has revised its norms stating that IPS officers would now be required to complete a minimum of two years of central deputation at the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG), or an equivalent level, to be eligible for empanelment as Inspector General (IG) or its equivalent cadre. The decision follows repeated re- Shah slams TMC, vows jail for corrupt S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday attacked the Trinamool Congress in poll-bound West Bengal, alleging that no other administration in the country was as corrupt as the Mamata Banerjee-led regime and asserting that BJP would jail corrupt leaders if voted to power. Addressing BJP workers at meetings in Barrackpore and Siliguri, Shah said the party would form the government with an absolute majority. He said BJP aimed to secure over 50 per cent vote share, compared to 38 per cent in the 2021 Assembly polls and 39 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it won 77 Assembly seats. He accused the state govHome minister Amit Shah addressing a rally in Bengal | Special Arrangement ernment of giving corruption an institutional shape and shielding tainted leaders. Targeting Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Shah alleged corruption exceeding `1,000 crore and questioned whether jailed Trinamool leaders would be renominated to prevent disclosures. Shah referred to alleged scams including Saradha, Narada, coal and cattle smuggling, school recruitment and the public distribution system, and said corruption continued despite arrests. He accused the state of blocking border fencing by denying land to the Border Security Force and alleged infiltrators were being protected for electoral gains, adding a BJP government would secure the border within 45 days. Referring to the factory fire that killed 25 workers, Shah alleged corruption and administrative failure and asked why the owners had not been arrested. minders from the MHA to state governments to nominate an adequate number of IPS officers for central deputation in line with the Central Deputation Reserve (CDR). These reminders have come even from the level of Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, highlighting persistent gaps in staffing at the Centre, particularly at the SP and DIG levels. According to the order, the revised guidelines will apply to IPS officers of the 2011 batch onwards. A senior MHA official said younger IPS officers have shown reluctance for central deputation due to the appeal of field postings in districts where they lead police forces and exercise direct command.  Continued on P5 Ahead of Sunday’s Union Budget, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a key ally of the NDA, said while the recently enacted Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (G RAM G) is expected to add an estimated `2,500 crore burden to Andhra Pradesh’s state budget, it is confident that the Centre will step in with financial support to bridge the gap. In an interview with this newspaper, TDP parliamentary party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu said the party has already taken up the matter with the Centre. “We have sought the Centre’s support for implementing G RAM G, and we have received a lot of confidence from them. We expect to receive a substantial allocation for the Purvodaya scheme to meet the additional cost for G RAM G,” he said. The state is also expecting allocation of funds for river interlinking projects and the development of horticulture across at least 40 lakh acres in Rayalaseema and other backward districts in the Union Budget, added Devarayalu. Under the G RAM G Act, the guarantee of work has been increased from 100 days to 125 days per financial year, and states are required to cover 40% of the expenditure for the rural job scheme. Under this revised funding formula, Andhra Pradesh is expected to shoulder an additional Rs 2,500 crore. To meet the additional cost, the state is exploring two potential sources, the Purvodaya scheme and the Rayalaseema drought mitigation scheme, said Devarayalu. “We are hoping to secure as much funding as possible for both in the Union Budget,” he said. The Purvodaya scheme is aimed at the sustainable development of Eastern India, specifically Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. A recent report by research group Libitech said that Andhra Pradesh is already burdened with nearly `10 lakh crore in debt. In 2024–25, Andhra Pradesh spent around `7,800 crore under MGNREGA, with the state contributing about `780 crore. Under the new Act, the state’s share is projected to rise sharply to nearly `3,120 crore. “We have a strategy in place, and going forward, the funds will be augmented. We will ensure that the scheme is fully implemented,” he said. E x p r e s s Re a d Truck mows down bikers on flyover, five killed Berhampur: AT least five persons were crushed to death after a speeding truck, allegedly moving on the wrong side, rammed into three motorcycles on a flyover at Haladiapadar Chowk on the outskirts of Berhampur on Saturday | P4 WITH THIS ISSUE The Disaster Diary PLUS 12 P AGES