The Editorial Page: In a volatile world, Germany and India move towards a stable Indo-Europe 18 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2026 JOuRNALISm of COuRAGE PUNE, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES ₹7.00 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 REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 CONGRATULATEd INdIA ON SHANTI (NUCLEAR ENERGY) BILL: U.S. STATE dEPARTMENT 132 160 200 80 NATION GOVT TO qUICK COMMERCE FIRMS: DROP ‘10-MIN DELIVERY’ DEADLINE PAGE 9 THE BIg PICTURE My gig as a delivery worker PAGE 14 Jaishankar, Rubio talk: Trade to rare minerals, nuclear to defence Iran toll crosses 2,000, Trump says keep protesting, help on way They discussed next steps and a possible meeting next month: Gor Susan Heavey & Elwely Elwelly Washington, January 13 Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, January 13 A DAY after US ambassadordesignate Sergio Gor struck a conciliatory note in Delhi in an attempt to repair strained ties between the two countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of StateandNationalSecurityAdvisor Marco Rubio spoke over phone Tuesday and discussed bilateral trade negotiations, critical minerals, defence, nu- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaks during the launch of preparations for BRICS India 2026. PTI clearcooperation,energyanda possible meeting next month. While the trade deal negotiations are key, the importance of the other topics — critical minerals, defence, energy and »CONTINUEd ON PAGE 2 USPRESIDENTDonaldTrump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting and said help was on the way, without giving details, as Iran’s clerical establishmentpresseditscrackdown against the biggest demonstrationsinyears.“Iranianpatriots, keep protesting — take over yourinstitutions...helpisonits way,” Trump said in a post on TruthSocial,addingthathehad cancelledallmeetingswithIranian officials until the “sense- BMC polls tomorrow, look at Mithi river today: Toxic flow, projects stalled, crores unspent 2005 deluge killed over 1,000. Since then, apart from desilting and flood mitigation, official delay and inaction choke Mumbai river, worsen its water quality even as Rs 6,000 crore sits idle Business as Usual By EP UNNY »CONTINUEd ON PAGE 13 AS THE high-stakes campaign for elections to civic bodies in Maharashtra drew to a close Tuesday, a team from the Crime Branch of Pune City Police showed up at the office of DesignBoxed, the firm manag- l THE 28TH CONfERENCE of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth begins in New Delhi. Sessions will be held on topics including the use of AI in Parliament. lINdIA ANd NEW ZEALANd play the second ODI. After Vadodara, where India edged out the Black Caps, action shifts to Rajkot. With Virat Kohli in red-hot form, India would be hoping to seal the series win. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INDIANEXPREss.cOm May-2024 31.88 May-2025 27.6 May-2023 24.21 May-2021 43.82 May-2022 27.01 May-2020 22.72 May-2019 27.01 May-2017 27.12 May-2018 21.22 * NOT AVAILABLE FOR MAY Police knock on doors of firm behind Ajit party campaign Express News Service Mumbai, January 13 MAHARASHTRA CHIEF Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that his government stopped urban development department (UDD) projects worth Rs 40,000 crore on accountofcostoverrun,incon- sultation with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Speaking at a joint interactivesessionwithTheIndianExpress and Loksatta on Tuesday in Mumbai, Fadnavis spoke on the issue of transparency and governance that has been raisedbytheOppositionparties »CONTINUEd ON PAGE 2 New Delhi, January 13 SHEDDING NEW light on Indian moves during Operation Sindoor in May last year, Army chiefGeneralUpendraDwivedi said Tuesday “the Army’s mobilisation to expand the conventional space was such that if Pakistan made any mistake, we were fully prepared to launch ground operations”. Speaking to the media ahead of Army Day on January 15, General Dwivedi said Operation Sindoor is still ongoing and any misadventure will be »CONTINUEd ON PAGE 2 E. EXPLAINED The reminder: Ops still ongoing By detailing Indian moves last year, the Army chief is sending Pakistan a clear reminder that Operation Sindoor is still ongoing and any threat will invite a retaliation. Pakistan, he said, has also been testing Indian defences by sending drones and its DGMO has been told to desist from such acts. Begin with IN PUNE WHERE BOTH NCPS ARE UNITEd fOR CIVIC POLLS Pune, January 13 Happening today May-2015 28.06 PAGE 8 May-2016 35.19 MAHARASHTRA DEPUTY CM May-2014 33.58 EKNATH SHINdE May-2012 54.14 ‘Mumbai is not a cake to be cut into pieces’ Express News Service Amrita Nayak dutta l WQI: 63-100, good to excellent (non-polluted) l WQI: 50-63, medium to good (non-polluted) l WQI:30-50, bad (polluted) l WQI: 38 and less, bad to very bad (heavily polluted) EXPREss interview Development projects worth Rs 40k cr stopped due to cost overrun: CM We were fully prepared to launch ground ops against Pak: Army chief l WaterQualityIndexofmithi:Downanddown May-2013 26.78 THE MITHI river flowing through India’s financial capital under the country’s richest civic body became a national symbol of urban vulnerability afterthedevastatingfloodsthat claimed over 1,000 lives in 2005. Over two decades later, after repeated warnings and nearly Rs 1,297 crore spent, the river remains a vulnerable weak spot, an investigation by The Indian Express has found. Records obtained by this newspaper under the Right To Information (RTI) Act show that Mithi’s water quality has deteriorated sharply, with per- »CONTINUEd ON PAGE 2 SHEdS NEW LIGHT ON OP SINdOOR The river originates from the overflow of Vihar and Powai lakes and snakes through Andheri and BKC before draining into the Arabian Sea through the Mahim creek. SANKHADEEP BANERJEE Mar-2011* 33.41 Mumbai, January 13 Apr-2010* 45.25 Nayonika Bose May-2008 41.03 investigation sistent sewage contamination andrampantpollution,evenas mitigationprojectshavestalled or been delayed with funds totalling over Rs 6,300 crore allocated and waiting to be spent. As Mumbai votes on January 15 in the long-delayed elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) — a civic body that boasts of a budget of around Rs 75,000 crore — the condition of the city’s largest river stands as a May-2009 42.76 EXPREss A videograb shows people identifying bodies at a morgue in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. AP less killing” of protesters stopped. The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, has posedthebiggestinternalchallenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years and has come at a time of intensifying international pressure after Israeli and US strikes last year. FollowingtheUSPresident’s post, Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said on social media platform X that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were the “main killers” of the Iranian people. ing the political campaign of the NCP faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. TheCrimeBranchpresence at the firm’s office in Wakdewadi area of Shivajinagar in Pune raised eyebrows and fuelled speculation ahead of the elections Thursday. The NCP factions of Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar, rivals ever since the split in the party in 2023, have joined hands in Pune and PimpriChinchwadforthecivic body elections. Reached for comment, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, “It was not a raid. An oral complaint »CONTINUEd ON PAGE 2 lSIMILAR NOTICES BEING GENERATED IN OTHER STATES, UTs WHERE S.I.R. UNDERWAY Bengal SIR: EC notices to electors flagged for having over 6 ‘siblings’ Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). The key to harnessing the power of compounding is to remain invested for a longer tenure, allowing the Investment to compound. The longer you stay invested, the greater the compounding effect can be. Starting early and consistently adding to your investments may further amplifies the benefits of compounding. PAGE 1 anchor damini Nath New Delhi, January 13 THE ELECTION Commission of India (ECI) has started issuing Centrally-generated notices to electors flagged by its software for being one among more than six people who have named the same person as a parent on their enumeration The notice in Bangla reads: ‘You have been added as the son/ daughter of someone whom six others have claimed as their father, which creates the suspicion of a possible wrong connection’ form in the ongoing Special IntensiveRevision(SIR)ofelectoral rolls, calling them for hearingstoestablishtheireligibility, The Indian Express has learnt. The notices have been generated by the ECI and sent to thelocalofficials’log-insonthe ECI’s centralised portal, and »CONTINUEd ON PAGE 2 Mutual Fund investors need to complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, which can be done by submitting completed KYC Form along with the required documents at any AMC's branch Office or Official Points of Acceptance. Please refer https://www.licmf.com/kyc-redressal to know about KYC documentary requirement, procedure for change of address, phone number, bank details etc. The investors are cautioned to invest only with SEBI registered Mutual Funds, the details of which can be verified on SEBI's website under 'Intermediaries/Market Infrastructure Institutions’(https://www.sebi.gov.in/intermediaries.html.) For any complaints and grievance redressal, investors can contact the Investor Relations Officer of the respective AMC and if not satisfied with the resolution given by the AMC, he/she can approach SEBI by registering the complaint on SEBI SCORES Portal (https://scores.sebi.gov.in/) and/or escalate the compliant through Online Dispute Resolution Portal (https://smartodr.in/login).