The Editorial Page: Thirty-five years later, let’s pick up threads of an incomplete 1991 story 8 MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2026 Journalism of Courage AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹5.00 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 happening today U.S. WEIGHS MILITARY ACTION Iran protest toll over 500, Trump briefed on strike options lISRO WILL MARK ITS FIRST launch of 2026, with its PSLV-C62 rocket set to place an earth observation satellite along with 14 other co-passenger satellites into orbit. lMINISTRY OF STATISTICS and Programme Implementation will release the CPI inflation data for December. This will be the final inflation number in the current series, with MoSPI set to release CPI data as per the new series from February 12. Tehran says will target US bases, Israel if attacked; Pezeshkian vows to listen to people lUNION HOME MINISTER Amit Shah will speak at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India's Cooperative Chintan Shivir on ‘Transforming India’s Economic Future with Expanding Role of CAs’. Tyler Pager, Eric Schmitt & Edward Wong TRACk THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm Washington, January 11 Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Somnath temple in Gujarat on Sunday. PTI business as Usual By EP UNNY Those opposed to Somnath reconstruction still around, need to foil divisive forces: PM GujArAT pAgE 3 Calls temple a symbol of ‘resilience’, links it to march towards Viksit Bharat pm: AmId gLObAL Brendan Dabhi Somnath, January 11 TARGETING THOSE with a “slavish mentality” for opposing the reconstruction of the Somnath temple soon after Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday ‘Govt good at implementation, so new welfarism, infra took off. (Pvt investment) needs rule of law, not to weaponise state to target or favour’ ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR DEVESH KAPUR PROFESSOR OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES AT JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY pAgE 13 gOvT TO mERgE AgRI SCHEmES, LINk fUNdS TO STATE REfORmS nath temple by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026 and 75 years of its reconstruction in 1951, Modi said, “It is the wheel of time at »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ThE wOrlD pAgE 15 kEEpINg CLOSE wATCH AS IRAN pROTESTS gROw, SAyS ISRAEL peoplesofarandevenmoreare feared dead, activists said Sunday, news agency AP reported. Over 10,600 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests,itsaid,quotingtheUSbased Human Rights Activists News Agency. With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Iranian government has not offered overall casualty figures for the demonstrations. Amid Trump’s threat, Iran’s Parliament Speaker warned Sunday that the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if the US strikes the IslamicRepublic.“Intheeventof an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centres, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets… We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat,” he said. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a TV interview, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Multiple highly-placed sourcesconfirmedtoTheIndian Express that discussions have been underway to create four IBGs from the two pace and may be divisions of the ExPrEss implemented XVIIMSC—the59 soon,startingwith Divisionandthe23 the PanagarhDivision — after based XVII Corps, the plans get final the country’s first mountain governmentsanction. strikecorps(MSC)thatfacesthe Each IBG is likely to be frontier with China. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Troops to be drawn from mountain strike corps facing China frontier New Delhi, January 11 pAgE 6 TURmOIL, INdIA mOvINg AHEAd wITH CERTAINTy A videograb of an anti-regime protest in Tehran. AP Plans for four agile Army battle groups in the east gather pace Amrita Nayak Dutta NATION that such people are still aroundandthecountryshould remain vigilant and united to thwart “every such power trying to divide us”. Speakingontheconcluding day of the Somnath Swabhiman Parv to mark 1,000 years of the destruction of the Som- work… religious fanatics who came to destroy temples have been relegated to the pages of history while Somnath temple stillstandsatthesameplace,its flag still flying.” “If any country has an approximately 100-year-old heritage,itpresentsitasitsidentity. Bharathas1,000yearoldplaces like Somnath. These are examples of our capability and traditions. Unfortunately, after USPRESIDENTDonaldTrump has been briefed in recent days on new options for military strikes in Iran as he considers following through onhis threat to attack the country for crackingdownonprotesters,accordingtomultipleUSofficialsfamiliar with the matter. Trump has not made a final decision, but the officials said he was seriously considering authorisingastrikeinresponse totheIranianregime’seffortsto suppress demonstrations set off by widespread economic grievances. They said the US President has been presented with a range of options, includingstrikesonnon-militarysites in Tehran. (Violence surrounding the protests challenging Iran’s theocracy has killed at least 538 THE INDIAN Army’s plans to establish Integrated Battle Groups(IBGs),whichwillbeselfcontained, agile, brigade-sized fighting units, have gathered exclusive Defence to skill, slew of PART OF PLAN TO BOOST USER SECURITY pacts on table as Merz Govt proposes phone and Modi meet today makers to give source Shubhajit Roy code, firms push back New Delhi, January 11 INDIA AND Germany are set to seal a slew of pacts on semiconductors, critical minerals, a defence and security roadmap, and skill development as GermanChancellorFriedrichMerz meetsPrimeMinisterNarendra Modi in Ahmedabad Monday, The Indian Express has learnt. This is Chancellor Merz’s firstbilateralvisittoIndiasince assuming office last May. He is »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E. ExPlAINED EU outreach TheGermanChancellor’s visitsetsthestageforadeeper engagementwithEUasits topleadersandFrenchPresidentMacrontraveltoIndia weekslater.WithIndiaand EuropeviewingtheRussia’s warinUkrainedifferently, bothsideswillworkon reducingtheirdivergences. Aditya Kalra & Munsif Vengattil New Delhi, January 11 INDIA PROPOSES requiring smartphone makers to share source code with the government and make several software changes as part of a raft of security measures, prompting behind-the-scenes opposition from giants like Apple and Samsung. The tech companies have counteredthatthepackageof83 securitystandards,whichwould also include a requirement to alert the government to major software updates, lacks any global precedent and risks revealing proprietary details, according to four people familiar with thediscussionsandaReutersreviewofconfidentialgovernment and industry documents. The plan is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 {Prashant tamang • 1983-2026 } Indian Idol star from Darjeeling who became ‘pride of the hills’, face of Gorkha movement PAGE 1 anchor Ravik Bhattacharya & Suanshu Khurana Kolkata, New Delhi, Jan 11 IN 2007, the hills of Darjeeling were on edge. Not due to a politicalagitationorprotest,but becauseoneoftheirown—PrashantTamang,aKolkataPolice constable—hadreachedthefi- nals of Indian Idol Season 3. What made the then 25year-old’spresenceuniquewas thataGorkhaboyfromDarjeeling had captured the national imagination. So much so, that leaders associated with Subhas Ghising’s Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), including Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri, spearheaded campaigns in Tamang’s favour, organising rallies,raisingfundsandurging local residents to vote. Prashant Tamang died Sunday due to suspected cardiac arrest Branded “Pahad Ka Gaurav” (Pride of the Hills), Tamang acquired quite a following, even beyond West Bengal where he worked. He won the show despite facing criticism from judges Javed Akhtar, Anu Malik, Alisha Chinai and Udit Narayan. The win came with a different kind of affection, though.ItfuelledGorkhapride, especially when he named his winning album Dhanyavaad »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad