Kazakh keeps her cool at arena coimbatore l sunday l february 01, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l Late city EDITION Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina raises a toast after her victory on Saturday | AFP The Kazakh, born in Moscow, is one of the hardest hitters in the game. Aryna 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 Rybakina won the first set. Sabalenka roared back to take the second but her opponent ultimately prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 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 TDP for G Ram G General Budget today Immediate challenges before Sunetra Pawar S u d h i r S u r ya w ans h i @ 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 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 easily. Sunetra had lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election to Supriya Sule from Baramati. Both Sharad Pawar and Sule were invited to her swearing-in ceremony, but refused. She also needs to develop her panMaharashtra foothold. 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 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 well as Supriya Sule.  P10 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 E x p r e s s Re a d Stalin asks PM, guv to read Economic Survey 4 TN devotees on padayatra fatally run over by car Sivaganga: CM MK Stalin on Saturday urged PM Modi and Governor RN Ravi to read the Economic Survey report before criticising the TN government as its performance has been highly appreciated | P5 Perambalur: Four woman devotees, who were undertaking a padayatra to the Samayapuram temple, were killed and three others sustained injuries after they were run over by a car on Saturday | P5 compensation P r e e t h a N a i r @ 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 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. AP is burdened with `10 lakh crore in debt. 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. 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. WITH THIS ISSUE The Disaster Diary PLUS 12 P AGES