The Editorial Page: With tariff cloud lifting, India-US can shape balance of power in Asia & world 12 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2026 JOURNALISm of COURAgE NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAIPUR, ₹15 SRINAGAR) 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 DAY AFTER U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ANNOUNCED TRADE DEAL, TARIFF CUT FROM 50% TO 18% Farmers secure, agriculture and dairy interests protected: Goyal $100-bn imports a year for 5 yrs: Agri goods, energy, aircraft parts & tech from US to India Says deal better than what India competitors got; USTR: exciting opportunity Ravi Dutta Mishra & Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, February 3 AMID CONCERNS that India has agreed to cut tariffs for agri goods and committed to buy more of these from the US, whichmayhurtfarmers,Union Commerce and Industry MinisterPiyushGoyalsaidTuesday that the interests of sensitive sectors like agriculture and dairy have been fully protected in the India-US trade deal. US President Donald TrumphadonMondayslashed tariffs on India from 50% to 18%, the lowest among most emerging economies and New Delhi’s competitors. While Trump said India has committed to buying American goods including agricultural products at a “higher level”, US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollinssaidthedealwillseethe USexport“morefarmproducts to India’s market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural Happening today lTHE SUPREME Court will hear a plea filed by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. lFIVE-TIME CHAMPIONS India, led by Ayush Mhatre, face Afghanistan in the semifinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup. Ravi Dutta Mishra & Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, February 3 Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal addresses the media on Tuesday. PTI Business as Usual By EP UNNY INDIA IS committed to purchasing $100 billion worth of US products annually for five years, which will largely include aircraft, technology items, precious metals, oil, nuclear products and agricultural goods, The Indian Express has learnt. New Delhi, February 3 America.” In an interview, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said India has agreed to cut tariffs across goods »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the NDA parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. ANI GOVT-OPP STANDOFF DEEPENS ‘Compromised’: Rahul targets PM; Chair suspends 8 Opp MPs for rest of session NATION PAGE 10 StoP ShArING USEr dAtA or ExIt: SC to mEtA, WhAtSAPP Quotaaccesshasbeengiven in cotton, pulses, chestnuts, onion among a range of other items,sourcessaid,addingthat Delhi has given market access toproducts,suchasapples,that are already open for other countries. India had given market access to apples to New Zealand »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS, PAGES 16, 17 ADAYaftertheannouncement of a trade deal with the US followingmonthsofnegotiations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NDA MPs Tuesday that India is at the global centrestage, shaping the new order and “the world is tilting towards India”. Speakingatameetingofthe NDA parliamentary party, Modi, according to an MP present there, referred to India’s trade deal with the US days afterapactwiththeEU,anddescribedit as a “big decisionthat will benefit a large section of people in the country”. Hailing the India-EU trade dealasthe“motherofalldeals”, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Yumnam Khemchand Singh set to be Manipur CM; Kuki-Zo, Naga MLAs may be Dy CMs Sukrita baruah & Jatin Anand Guwahati, New Delhi, February 2 AFTER WEEKS of deliberations, the BJP on Tuesday elected 62-year-old Yumnam Khemchand Singh as the leader of the Manipur legislature party, paving the way for government formation and for Singh to take over as the next Chief Minister. Manipur was put under President’s Rule last year, days after N Biren Singh resigned as CM of the state, which had been roiled by eth- bENGAL S.I.R. One‘logical discrepancy’ category,two setsofdataon noticesserved Ravik bhattacharya & Damini Nath Kolkata, New Delhi, February 3 TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.cOm Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case: 16 accused: 1 dead, 1 in custody, 14 out on bail PAGE 15 E. Liz Mathew will start its three-day brainstorming for the next bi-monthly monetary policy. The decision will be announced Friday. Bail Diaries buy over $500-billion worth of American energy, technology, agriculturalproducts,andcoal, among other products. Sources said while Indiahasopeneditsagriculture sector to a wide category of products, it has maintained protection on genetically modified (GM) products, soya meal, poultry, maize, cereals, and corn. World is tilting towards India, says PM as NDA hails ‘historic’ trade pacts lTHE RbI’S rate-setting panel ThE BIG PICTURE This is over twice last year’s imports. In FY25, India imported $45.62 billion worth of American goods, while exports to the US stood at $86.51 billion. Under the trade deal announced Monday, Washington lowered tariffsonIndia to 18% from 50% imposed in August 2005, and US President Donald Trump said India will Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Hibi Eden, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and others at the Parliament complex on Tuesday. PTI IN PARLIAMENT, PAGE 8 Manoj C G & Harikishan Sharma New Delhi, February 3 THE STANDOFF between the Opposition and the governmentintensifiedonTuesdayas Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he was not allowed to quote from or speak about former Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpub- lished memoir and eight Opposition MPs were suspended fortheremainderoftheBudget Session. For the second straight day, Gandhi tried to quote or speak about the former Army chief’s unpublished memoir to target the Modi government over a military face-off with China in easternLadakhinAugust2020. As the LoP repeatedly attempted to raise the issue of »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THIRTEEN LAKH vs 50.89 lakh. Two sets of data from the Election Commission, both dated January 18, have this mismatch in the number of votersservednoticesunderone category as part of the Special IntensiveRevision(SIR)ofelectoral rolls in West Bengal. Over 1.16 crore electors had been flagged in the state for “logical discrepancies” in their documentsafterthefirstround of SIR, and asked to appear for hearings to prove their eligibility as voters. The hearings are currentlyoninBengal,withone of the discrepancies flagged beingsixormorevotersnaming the same person as a parent. The SIR process in Bengal, along with eight other states and three Union Territories, began in October last year. On January 18, the EC submitteddatathroughaswornaffidavit in the Supreme Court in »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l NALSAR ADVOCACY GROUP REPORT TO BE RELEASED TODAY In 10 years, trial courts handed death to over 1,300 people, HCs upheld only 70 PAGE 1 anchor Apurva Vishwanath & Amaal Sheikh New Delhi, February 3 A HIGH acquittal rate of death row prisoners by High Courts and the Supreme Court shows a pattern of “erroneous or unjustified convictions” in the trial courts, a study of ten years of death penalty data by the Square Circle Clinic, a criminal laws advocacy group with the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, has found. l whatthereportsays Death sentences imposed by Sessions Courts 1,310 Death row cases taken up by High Courts 842 Death row cases upheld by High Courts 70 Death row cases acquitted by High Courts 258 Death row cases decided by the Supreme Court 38 Death row cases upheld by the Supreme Court 0 DEATH PENALTY DATA: 10 YEAR OVERVIEW (2016–2025) In the last ten years, while trial courts across India have sentenced 1,310 people to death, only 70, a “staggeringly low number of cases”, were confirmed by the High Courts. Of the 70 death sentences confirmed by the High Courts, the SupremeCourtdecidedonly38 of them and upheld none. The report will be released Wednesday. As of December 31, 574 people were on death row. The reportstatesthatthisis“thelargest number of persons on death row at the end of a calendaryearsince2016”,evenasappellate courts continue to overturn or commute most death sentences imposed at the trial stage. In 2025 alone, sessions courts across the country sentenced128peopletodeathin94 cases. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New Delhi Manipur’s former CM N Biren Singh (right) with Yumnam Khemchand Singh (second left) in New Delhi Tuesday. ANI nic violence since May 2023. The decision was taken at a meetinghelmedbyBirenSingh »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2