The Editorial Page: A grave injustice has been followed by a worrying silence 10 FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 Happening today lINDIA’S MEDAL strategy for the next 10 years, which has been seen and approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be unveiled at a Sports Governance Conclave being organised by the Sports Ministry in Ahmedabad. The Conclave will be attended by representatives of National Sports Federations, Indian Olympic Association and the Sports Ministry. lMONTHS AfTER the ICC Women's World Cup triumph, India's top cricketers will be seen in their franchise colours as the 4th edition of Women’s Premier League gets underway in Navi Mumbai. Defending champions Mumbai Indians, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, will take on Smriti Mandhana's Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Match starts 7.30 pm IST. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm Business as Usual By EP UNNY SEARCHES AT SIx LOCATIONS IN WEST BENGAL, fOUR IN DELHI ED’s raids on I-PAC hit Mamata wall: ‘Bid to steal TMC poll plan’ Probe agency says raids linked to coal smuggling, money laundering case, moves HC against CM’s ‘interference’ Coach Ankush Bhardwaj suspended by rifle association, FIR filed in Faridabad under POCSO Act Ravik Bhattacharya, Atri Mitra, Tanushree Bose & Deeptiman Tiwary Nitin Sharma & Abhimanyu Hazarika Kolkata, New Delhi, Jan 8 POLL-BOUND West Bengal witnessedadayofdramaasthe Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at 10 locations linkedtoelectionmanagement company I-PAC — only for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to step in while searches were underway at the Kolkata residence of its director Pratik Jain, prompting the central agency to knock on the High Court’s doors. I-PAC, founded by election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, is managing the Trinamool Congress’s poll campaign. Theraids,whichcoveredsix locations in West Bengal’s KolkataandBidhannagarandfour in the national capital, were in connectionwithanallegedcoal smuggling and money laundering case, the ED said. The searches covered IPAC’s office on the 11th floor of aSaltLakebuilding,Jain’sLoudon Street residence, and the office of a trader in Burrabazar. AfTER CONTAMINATED WATER DEATHS Fresh row in Indore: Collector, mayor attend meeting in RSS office Cong questions admn’s ‘impartiality’; BJP says ‘courtesy’ call, nothing wrong Chandigarh, Faridabad, January 8 During the search at I-PAC office in Kolkata Thursday. ANI As word of the raids spread, Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma reached Jain’s residencearound11.45am.And by noon, Banerjee was there. She got out of her car and walked up the street, asking: “Pratikerbaritakothay(where is Pratik’s house)?” A while later, she came out of the residence holding a green plastic folder and a laptop. She left at 12.40 pm. “It is most unfortunate that theEDraidedthehouseandoffice of our IT wing and its head. They are trying to collect information. I rang up Pratik; he is in charge of my party's IT »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Showing a green folder, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she had picked up the party’s file and a hard drive from I-PAC director Pratik Jain’s house. EXPRESS FULL COVERAGE, PAGE 3 ‘Akin to raid on a party office’: ED action adds to Opposition unease I-PAC’s other big client is DMK; TN also headed to polls Manoj CG & Deeptiman Tiwary New Delhi, January 8 ONE OF the recurring themes ofattacksbyOppositionparties againsttheNarendraModigovernment since 2014 has been what they claim to be selective anddeliberatetargetingoftheir leadersbyCentralinvestigating agencies, especially the EnforcementDirectorate(ED).On Thursday, with raids on political consultancy and election management company I-PAC in Kolkata, the ED went one step further. It is the first time that a private election management companyhascomeinEDcrosshairsanditsofficesraided.And that too in a state where it is »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Trump clears Bill which proposes 500% secondary tariffs for Russia oil trade... Ahead of US Supreme Court’s ruling likely today on his tariff moves, and arrival in India of new ambassador Shubhajit Roy & Ravi Dutta Mishra New Delhi, January 8 INDIA IS once again in the crosshairs of a proposed US law that could impose 500 per cent tariffsoncountriesbuyingRus- sian oil. Veteran Republican leader and US Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said US President Donald Trump has “greenlit” the Russia sanctions Bill. “This Bill would give PresidentTrumptremendousleverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that providesthefinancingfor(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine,” Graham said. Titled “The Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025”, the Bill allows the administration to impose secondary tariffs and sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports. The legislation proposes a 500 per cent tariff on secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil. This is meant to cut off the sourceoffinancingformuchof Russia’s military actions. ThenewBillcomesaheadof the US Supreme Court’s expected ruling Friday on the legality of Trump’s sweeping globaltariffs.Itwilldecideifthe President has overstepped his »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ... And withdraws US from 66 international organisations, leaving door open for China Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav outside the RSS office Anand Mohan J Bhopal, January 8 A POLITICAL row erupted in Indore Thursday after Collector Shivam Verma and Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav attended a meeting at the RSS office in the city late Wednesday night, days after contaminated drinking water in the Bhagirathpura area resulted in the death of at least eight persons and brought officials under scrutiny. Themeetingwasconfirmed by multiple sources and acknowledged in part by the Mayor who played down its significance. “As a swayamsevak, I often go to the RSS office. It has nothing to do with the present crisis,” Bhargav told The Indian Express. Collector Verma has notcommentedonthemeeting. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 National shooting coach booked for ‘sexually assaulting’ minor he trained List includes India-led ISA; to impact funding, leadership of groupings Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, January 8 PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has withdrawn the US from 66 internationalorganisations,including UN bodies and the International Solar Alliance led by India and France, saying these institutions were “redundant” and “contrary” to his country’s interests. Signing a memorandum titled ‘Withdrawing the United States from International Organisations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States’, Trump directed all executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to put into effect the US withdrawal from these organisations “as soon as possible”. E. ExPlAINED The two baskets The 66 global bodies likely to be impacted by the US exit are in two major baskets: one with the climate and environment groupings, and another of economic and rights bodies. These will now be grappling with funding and leadership challenges. ExpLAINEd pAGE 9 In Delhi’s assessment, the direct impact of Trump’s decision to withdraw from internationalorganisations—fromthe WorldHealthOrganisationand UNESCO to the latest round of 66 global bodies, will be on the fundingandleadershipofthese groupings. It will likely cast a massive shadow on the leadership vacuum in these organisations, and China is expected to step in given its leverage, resources and influence in terms of capital and capacity. These are the likely fallout: nWHO:TheUSwithdrawal »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE NATIONAL Rifle Association of India (NRAI), India’s governing body for shooting, suspended a national coach, Ankush Bhardwaj, on Wednesday after Faridabad police lodged an FIR against him for the alleged sexual assault of a minor shooter he was training. According to police, the FIR, which names Bhardwaj, was registered on January 6 in Faridabad under section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which pertains to aggravated penetrative sexual assault, and section 351(2) of the BNS, which deals with criminal intimidation. A Faridabad police spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing, including obtaining CCTV footage from a hotel in which the alleged incident occurred and recording witness statements. Bhardwaj (33), a former pistolshooterwhorunsashooting academy in Mohali, did not respondtorequestsforcomment from The Indian Express. The minor's parents said in ajointstatementthattheywere Ankush Bhardwaj runs a shooting academy in Mohali RELATED REPORT PAGE 17 “deeply traumatised” and “focused on taking care of (their daughter's)healthatthistime”. They also said that “as parents, we do not want anyone else to suffer the same fate”. NRAISecretaryRajivBhatia told The Indian Express that Bhardwaj was suspended as soon as the association came to know about the FIR. “The FIR is of January 6, and NRAI Secretary General Pawan Singh suspended the coach immediately. We have issued a showcause notice to the coach, and the rest of the matter will be takenforwardasperlaw.Weare not engaging the coach for any coaching activity at present, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BJP lays its demands before AIADMK: Power-sharing, three ministers, 56 seats In talks with Shah, EPS said such an arrangement could prove damaging Arun Janardhanan Chennai, January 8 INAsignificantescalationinits negotiationswiththeAIADMK, the BJP has sought a formal power-sharingcommitmentin Tamil Nadu ahead of the Assembly elections, asking for Cabinet representation in the event of an alliance victory — a demand that goes well beyond seat-sharing and could stir the state’s political conventions. At a late-night meeting in Delhi on Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah pressed AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, also known as EPS, to reserve at least three Cabinet berths for the BJP if the AIADMK-ledNDAweretoform thegovernmentinTamilNadu, Shah and Palaniswami met on Wednesday night. FILE according to top sources familiar with the discussion. The demand was made alongside the BJP’s proposal that the saffron party and its own allies together contest 56 of the state’s 234 Assembly seats. Senior AIADMK leaders described the power-sharing proposal as unprecedented, and said Palaniswami did not »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 { MAdHAV GAdGIL • 1942-2026 } Scientist, ‘people’s ecologist’, voice of Western Ghats, forests, rivers, communities Nikhil Ghanekar died late Wednesday night in Pune after a brief illness. He was one of India’s foremost IT WAS those bird-watching voices on ecology and environwalks on Vetal Tekdi (Hill) in ment protection. Pune at a young age, encourGadgil was born in 1942 in aged by his economist father, Pune to Pramila and Dhananthat made him fall in love with jay Gadgil. Decades later, folthe Western Ghats. But, as he lowing long years of service at wroteinabiographicalessayfor the Indian Institute of Science the India Seminar journal in (IISc) in Bengaluru, Gadgil re2020, it was after an turned to the city after retirement. He exchangeoflettersat PAGE 1 14withSalimAliona continued to engage greenbee-eater’stail widely with people and a meeting later and wrote regularly with the legendary ornithol- aboutthepullsandpressuresof ogist that he made up his mind India’s growth trajectory on its to become a field ecologist. ecology. A pioneer in ecological So much so, those who sciences, Madhav Gadgil, 83, worked with him and knew New Delhi, January 8 anchor him said his legacy was that of a “people’s ecologist”. This, evenasheledinstitutions,such as the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), which he founded at IISc, and chaired seminal Government panels, such as the Western Ghats Expert Ecology Panel (WGEEP). Beyond his work as a field scientist and mentor, it was the role he played as chairman of WGEEP and its report, calling for safeguards for a large swatheofthefragileGhats,that will remain etched in public discourse. Raghunath Mashelkar, who worked alongside Gadgil in Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s scientific advisory committee, Madhav Gadgil with his grandchildren. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT posted on X that he “spoke for forests,riversandcommunities that had no voice”. Ramachandra Guha, who co-authored two books with Gadgil, including the seminal “This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India” (1992), posted on X: “I am devastated. He was an exemplary scientist and citizen, and to me, a friend and mentor for forty years and more.” In all, Gadgil wrote 225 scientific papers and seven books, including another coauthored with Guha titled “Ecology and Equity: The Use and Abuse of Nature in Contemporary India” (1995). After studying biology at Kolkata FergussonCollegeinPune,and completing his masters in Zoology from the University of Mumbai,GadgilpursuedaPhD in Biology with a thesis in Mathematical Ecology at Harvard University. After teaching biology at Harvard for two years, he returned to India and joined IISc in 1971, where he continuedtoworktillhisretirement as the institute's chairman in 2004. It was at IISc in 1982, that Gadgil founded CES, the first Centre of Excellence, in the newly formed Department of Environment. Earlier, he had undertaken extensive field studies, ranging from one on the forest ecosystem in Bandi- purTigerReservetoanotheron the ecology and management of bamboo resources in Karnataka. His field work with colleagues on protected areas in southern India eventually led to the establishment of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in 1986. Prof Raman Sukumar, who worked closely with Gadgil at CES, said, “The fact that today Bengaluru is considered the Mecca of academic studies in ecology and evolutionary behaviour was, I would say, almost entirely due to Madhav.” Sukumar said, “But beyond his academic legacy, he was a great believer in a democratic approach to planning and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2