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 | MUMBAI Page 6 Shinde Sena’s ‘separate group’ plan in doubt after CM’s call Page 9 Aus Open: Alcaraz clears De Minaur challenge to make first semifinal Page 5 The Tully Standard Trump reshuffles immigration team after Minneapolis killing Page 12 NATION India, EU conclude ‘mother of all deals’; FTA to reshape global order ASHOK TUTEJA India, European Union ink security & defence partnership: New Delhi, 27 January A fter years of thorny negotiations, India and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday announced the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that will significantly enhance bilateral trade and investment and help the two sides fight the ‘weaponisation’ of tariffs by US President Donald Trump. In what is being called as “The mother of all deals’’, the pact was announced at a joint press conference by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of the European Council Antonio Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the end of the 16th India-EU Summit here. “India and Europe have taken a major step forward today. The India-EU Free Trade Agreement opens new pathways for growth, investment and strategic cooperation,’’ PM Modi said. He said the agreement will drive trade, investment and innovation while strengthening the strategic relationship. It reflects the shared resolve of the two sides to shape a stable and future-ready economic relationship. “Today marks a historic moment as we open a new chapter in EU-India relations — on trade, security, and people-to-people ties. Our Summit sends a clear message: in a reshaping global order, the EU and India stand together as strategic, reliable partners,’’ the President of the European Council said while the European Commission President said Europe and India are making history by concluding “the mother of all deals.’’ She said the two sides have created a free trade zone of two billion people which will benefit both of them. “This is only the beginning. We will grow our strategic relationship to be even stronger,’’ she added. New Delhi: India and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday announced the signing of a Security and Defence Partnership, the first such overarching defence and security framework between the two sides that will deepen ties in the domains of maritime security, defence industry and technology, cyber and hybrid threats, space, and counter-terrorism, among others. They also welcomed the launch of negotiations on a Security of Information Agreement that will facilitate the exchange of classified information and pave the way for a stronger cooperation in areas related to security and defence. The two sides also announced the signing of nearly ten more agreements at a media interaction addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Council Antonio Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the end of the 16th India-EU Summit here. These include an MoU on Comprehensive Framework on Co-operation on Mobility; Launch of negotiations for an India-EU Security of Information Agreement; Constitution of a Green Hydrogen Task Force; and MoU between RBI and European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA). The two sides commended progress on the ‘India�EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025’. They reiterated their determination to further reinforce their strategic partnership, delivering tangible benefits for both sides. • Related reports: Page 10 SC moved against UGC’s equity regulations, petition alleges exclusionary grievance mechanism for general category PARMOD KUMAR New Delhi, 27 January The Supreme Court has been moved challenging the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, seeking to put on hold their implementation. The plea contends that, in the name of equity, the regulations create a grievance redressal mechanism for protecting Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, socially and educationally backward classes, and economically weaker sections but exclude students and staff belonging to the general category. The UGC regulations, notified on 13 January 2026, apply to all higher educational institutions across the country. Their stated objective is to eradicate discrimination in higher education on grounds such as religion, race, gender, place of birth, caste, or disability, with particular emphasis on protecting Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, socially and educationally backward classes, economically weaker sections, and persons with disabilities, and to promote equity and inclusion on campuses. To achieve this, the regulations mandate every higher educational institution to establish an Equal Opportunity Centre, tasked with overseeing policies for disadvantaged groups, providing academic and social counselling, and fostering diversity within campuses. However, the petitioners contend that the grievance redressal mechanism created under the regulations is restricted in scope and effectively excludes students and staff who do not belong to SC/ST or OBC categories, thereby denying them institutional protection even in cases of alleged caste -based hostility or discrimination. Assailing the regulations, the plea seeks a direction restraining their implementation in the present form and a declaration that denial of access to the grievance redressal mechanism on the basis of caste identity amounts to impermissible State discrimination. The petition argues that the UGC framework under challenge rests on an untenable presumption that caste-based discrimination can operate only in one direction, thereby foreclosing, as a matter of law, the possibility that persons belonging to general or upper castes may also be subjected to caste -based abuse, intimidation, hostility, or institutional prejudice. BCCI to do away with elite A+ contract category STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 27 January The retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from Test cricket and T20 Internationals, and Ravindra Jadeja from the shortest format, have made the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) rethink the topmost A+ category of Annual Central Contracts. Board secretary Devajit Lon Saikia has confirmed that due to a lack of players playing all three formats and meeting the required criteria, the category will be scrapped in the upcoming retainership cycle. The BCCI’s central contracts are annual retainers that offer significant financial security to India’s top cricketers. The system is divided into four categories — A+, A, B and C — with annual payouts of Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore, and Rs 1 crore, respectively. However, the A+ bracket Wednesday, 28 January 2026 SPORTS WORLD EDITORIAL | will no longer feature any players going forward, as there are currently no cricketers who play regularly across all three formats of the game. Explaining the rationale behind scrapping the topmost category, Mr Saikia said that the players who were eligible for the A-plus category are now playing just one of the three formats. In the last annual contracts, only four players ~ Rohit, Virat, Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah ~ were included in the A+ category. Now with Rohit and Virat playing exclusively the ODI format, and Jadeja featuring onlt in Tests and ODIs, Bumrah is now the sole all-format player among them. Mr Saikia said that the players featuring in a single format are not eligible for the category, and hence the BCCI was forced to do away with the elite A+ bracket that was introduced in 2018. “There are not many all-format players currently, and hence the board had to rethink retaining the top bracket. Last year, there were four players in the A+ category, but since the three of them (Rohit, Virat, and Jadeja) are now limited to a single format or two, only Bumrah is among the few to feature in all three formats,” Mr Saikia said. Mr Saikia had also assured that Bumrah, the only three-format player in the category, won’t experience a pay cut. Multiple sources have suggested that the restructuring of the annual central contracts could see players in the A category earning Rs 7 crore, which means Bumrah will join the likes of Test captain Shubman Gill in that bracket. In contrast, Rohit and Virat could be moved to a lower category given their single-format availability. Akhilesh projects Mamata as BJP’s strongest national challenger UNITED NEWS OF INDIA Kolkata, 27 January Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday projected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the most effective leader in the country in taking on the BJP, placing her above all other opposition figures in the fight against the ruling party. After a nearly 45-minute meeting with Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna, the state secretariat, Mr Yadav told the media: “If anyone has truly confronted the BJP across the country, it is the Chief Minister of West Bengal.” The meeting was also attended by SP leader and former Left Front fisheries minister Kiranmoy Nanda. Akhilesh’s remark is being seen as politically significant at the national level, as it indirectly suggested that even the Congress has failed to challenge the BJP with the same resolve as Mamata Banerjee. Regional parties have often accused the Congress of “high-handedness,” particularly during seat-sharing talks, including in Bihar. Mr Yadav's comment echoed the wider opposition view that while the Congress claims to fight the BJP in over 250 seats, that assertion is not reflected on the ground. The SP chief is in Kolkata on a two-day visit to attend a family function. He expressed confidence that the BJP would once again be halted by Mamata Banerjee in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. He also predicted that the BJP was contesting in the state only for a “respectable defeat.” On the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Mr Yadav claimed that nearly three crore voters’ names had been removed in his state. He alleged that West Bengal was being specifically targeted. “Earlier, the Commission worked to ensure more people became voters. This is the first time a constitutional body is working with the objective of deleting voters’ names,” he said. Mr Yadav also praised Mamata Banerjee’s conduct during the Enforcement Directorate searches at the residence of I-PAC head Prashant Jain and the firm’s office on 8 January.