WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 26 THINgS IN 2026 From Linkin Park concerts and architectural initiatives making the local global to India’s return to the Venice Biennale, 2026 promises to leave a mark in all things culture LUCKNOW, JANUARY 4, 2026 SPOTLIGHT LATE CITY 14+4 PAGES ₹6.00 D A I L Y Stefano Canali’s quiet luxury play F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , happening today lPM NARENDRA MODI will inaugurate via video conference the 72nd National Volleyball Tournament, which is being held in Varanasi. Over 1,000 players as part of 58 teams from across the country are taking part in the tournament. lSOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT Lee Jae Myung begins his state visit to China as Beijing aims to strengthen ties with Seoul amid strained relations with Japan over Taiwan. lAN ExHIBITION fEATURING the Piprahwa relics — titled ‘The Light & the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One’ — will open for public viewing at the Rai Pithora Cultural Complex in New Delhi. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm Chhattisgarh:14 Maoistskilledin twoencounters, topcommander surrenders Jayprakash S Naidu Raipur, January 3 FOURTEEN MAOISTS,including a key leader, were killed in two separate encounters by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) onSaturdaymorninginChhattisgarh’s Sukma district and neighbouring Bijapur district — a development security forces see as a major breakthrough as their anti-insurgency push enters its final stages.Theencounters,thefirst betweentheoutlawedCommunist Party of India (Maoist) and security forces this year, came hours before key Maoist commander Barsa Deva surrendered in Telangana. Of the 14 Maoists, 12 were killed in southern Sukma, while two were killed in Bijapur,wheretheencounterbroke out around 5 am. Among those killed in Sukma was Vetti Mangdu alias Mukka, secretary of the Konta area committee. A Divisional Committee member (DVCM), Mukka is said to have mastermindedtheimprovisedexplosive device (IED) blast in Konta that killed Additional Superintendent of Police Akash Rao Giripunje in June last year. For security forces, the twin encounters in Sukma and Bijapur, along with Deva’s surrender, signify shrinking space for the outlawed Maoists and a decisive phase in the anti-insurgency campaign. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 uTTAr PrADEsh Magh Mela begins, 31 lakh take dip at sangaM page3 C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , U.S. STRIKES CARACAS; MADURO AND WIfE TO fACE NARCO-TERROR CHARGES Maduro captured, flown out; US to run Venezuela: Trump Will run the country at least temporarily, tap its oil reserves, says US President THE UNITED States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country in an extraordinary military operation early Saturdaythatpluckedasittingleader from office. President Donald Trump insisted the US government would run the country at leasttemporarilyandwouldtap Venezuela’s vast oil reserves to sell “large amounts” to other countries. The action marked the culmination of an escalating Trumpadministrationpressure campaign on the South Ameri- New Delhi, January 3 THE ANNOUNCEMENT by President Donald Trump that the US had attacked Venezuelaandcaptured its President Nicolas Maduro put India in a diplomatic spot Saturday: on the one side is Trump’s unilateral move and, on the other side, is Delhi’s statedpositionthatseeksaninternational rules-based order. Delhi, which is usually conservative and wary of commenting on issues far from In- V A D O D A R A SHADOW OVER CRICKETING TIES BCCI makes KKR oust Mustafizur, puts India tour of Bangladesh on hold Devendra Pandey Explosions in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday. REUTERS can country that consisted of months of strikes on boats officialssaidweresmugglingdrugs totheUS.Behindthescenes,US officials tracked Maduro’s behavioralhabits,includingwhat he ate and where he slept, in preparing to execute an operation that resulted in one of the morestunningregimechanges in modern history. Maduro and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a military base, were aboard a US warship on their way to New York, where they were to face In a bind, Delhi issues advisory, no comment Shubhajit Roy P U N E , Mumbai, January 3 Regina Garcia Cano, Konstantin Toropin & Eric Tucker Caracas (Venezuela), Washington, January 3 P A T N A , dian borders, is in a bind given that many in the Global South will look to India to underline the need to respect international law, and non-intervention by foreign forces in the internal affairs of a country. India and the US are still negotiating a bilateral trade deal, months after Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs, including a 25 per cent penalty over Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. India has been tapering off that import although Delhi feels it was E. criminal charges in connection with a Justice Department indictmentaccusingthemofarole in narco-terrorism conspiracy. Trump said the US planned to run Venezuela until a transitionofpowercantakeplace.He claimed the American presence was already in place, though there were no immediate signs the US was running the country. Venezuelan state TV continued to air pro-Maduro propaganda, broadcasting live images of supporters »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INsIDE A photo of President Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima shared by President Trump on his Truth Social account AMID THE strain in ties between Delhi and Dhaka, IPL franchise Kolkata Knight RidersconfirmedSaturdaythat it had been instructed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to release Bangladesh cricketer Mustafizur Rahman from the squad. The BCCI also put India’s September tour of Bangladesh on hold after the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced the schedule. The BCCI said it will seek government approval for the tour. At the IPL auction last month, KKR had bought the 30-year-old fast bowler for Rs 9.5crore.Inrecentdays,itfaced abacklashafterattacksonHindus in Bangladesh, protests on either side of the border and summoning of envoys. In a statement, the KKR said, “Kolkata Knight Riders confirms that BCCI/IPL, as the regulator of IPL, has instructed it to release Mustafizur Rahman from the squad ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.” “The release has been carried out following due process and consultations, upon the in- Bangladesh cricketer Mustafizur Rahman ThE wOrlD days after he Was set on fire, hindU Man dies in dhaka structionoftheBCCI.TheBCCI willallowKolkataKnightRiders a replacement player in line with IPL regulations, and furtherdetailswillbecommunicated in due course,” it said. Earlier,BCCIsecretaryDevajit Saikia said that the BCCI had told KKR to release Rahman “due to recent developments”. Indiancricketcouldbestaring at a Pakistan-like situation withBangladesh,withbilateral cricket in doubt. The uncertaintyhasputIndia’sscheduled »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Months of U.s. force bUildUp preceded op against MadUro Who is nicolas MadUro? page 10 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MAHARASHTRA CIVIC POLLS Walkover for many BJP-Sena nominees, SEC seeks reports Alok Deshpande & Manoj More Mumbai, Pune, January 3 WITHCANDIDATESoftherulingMahayutiallianceledbythe BJP and the Shinde Shiv Sena being elected unopposed in 68 of 69 no-contest seats across municipal corporations in the state, less than two weeks before the polls scheduled for January15,theMaharashtraState Election Commission (SEC) Saturday put the declaration of results on hold and sought reportsfromlocalofficialstoconfirm there was no foul play. “As per rules, in case of an unopposed victory, we seek a report from the Returning Officer or the District Collector to ensure no force or any other means was used to intimidate other candidates from contesting,” a senior SEC official said. Once the report is submitted to the Commission, a final announcement is made, the official said, adding that a candidate is declared winner once it is established that no foul play took place. Pimpri-ChinchwadMunicipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, who is also the electionofficial,toldTheIndianExpress: “There are instructions from the State Election Commission from 2004 that if an unopposed election has taken place, we have to find out whether nomination withdrawal of other candidates had happened due to pressure. Accordingly, we will find out and send a report to the State Election Commission.” Pune Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram said, “We are in the process of sending a report to the SEC regarding those who have been elected unopposed.” Both the PCMC and PMC commissioners said they had not »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l INCONDUCIVE WINDS, TIDAL CURRENTS PUSHED IT OFF-COURSE SHORTLY AFTER IT LEFT PORBANDAR Stitched ship INSV Kaundinya back on course towards Oman after choppy start Pavneet Singh Chadha cal miles (370 km) towards its destination so far. The ‘stitched’ ship — modSHORTLYAFTERitleftPorban- elled on a fifth-century vessel dar, the Indian Navy Sailing depicted in a painting in the Vessel (INSV) Kaundinya’s Ajanta caves — set sail from voyagestartedona“challenging Porbandar on Monday, emnote”as“inconducive”windsin barking on a historic maiden voyage to Muscat in thefirst48hoursand the Sultanate of then tidal currents PAGE 1 Oman.Thevoyageis kept pushing the meant to retrace vessel off-course. ancient maritime OnThursday,Day 4 of the voyage, the sea calmed, routes that once connected the and the “favourable” winds western coast of India with fromthenortheastsetthevessel Oman, facilitating trade, culin the direction of Muscat. The tural exchange and sustained »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 shiphascoveredover200nauti- p 10 Panaji, January 3 anchor Crew aboard INSV Kaundinya. INDIAN NAVY Lucknow