The Editorial Page: In a volatile world, Germany and India move towards a stable Indo-Europe 14 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES ₹6.00 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 CONGRATULATED INDIA ON SHANTI (NUCLEAR ENERGY) BILL: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT THE BIg PICTURE Jaishankar, Rubio talk: Trade to rare minerals, nuclear to defence Iran toll crosses 2,000, Trump says keep protesting, help on way My gig as a delivery worker PAGE 8 Govttellsquick commercefirms todrop‘10-min delivery’deadline Soumyarendra Barik & Aanchal Magazine New Delhi, January 13 AMID THE ongoing debate aboutworkingconditionsofgig workers engaged with delivery aggregators such as Blinkit, Swiggy and Zomato, the MinistryofLabourandEmployment has intervened to ask the companies to drop the “10-minute delivery” deadline. On Tuesday, Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met the representatives of leading platforms including Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato and Swiggy to discuss concernsrelatedtothedelivery timelines, sources said. After the meeting, sources said Blinkit had acted on the directive and removed the 10minute delivery promise from itsbranding.AnindustryexecutivetoldTheIndianExpressthat Swiggy was also initiating the process for removing it. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Susan Heavey & Elwely Elwelly Washington, January 13 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaks during the launch of preparations for BRICS India 2026. PTI REPORT, PAGE 2 They discussed next steps and a possible meeting next month: Gor 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, nuclearcooperation,energyanda possible meeting next month. While the trade deal negotiations are key, the importance of the other topics — critical minerals, defence, energy and nuclear—cannotbeunderestimated. For both Washington andDelhi,theseissuesarecriticalforaproductivepartnership. ItisnotclearwhetherRubio and Jaishankar will meet during a bilateral visit, or on the sidelines of a multilateral event, including the AI Impact summit in Delhi next month. Following the discussions, Jaishankar described it as a “good conversation”, while Gor called it a “positive call”. In a post on X, Jaishankar said, “Just concluded a good conversation with @SecRubio. Discussed trade, critical minerals, nuclear cooperation, defence and energy. Agreed to remain in touch on these and USPRESIDENTDonaldTrump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting and said help was on the way, without giving details, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years. “Iranian patriots,keepprotesting—take over your institutions... help is on its way,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that he had cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until Business as Usual By EP UNNY A videograb shows people identifying bodies at a morgue in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. AP RELATED REPORT, PAGE 14 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Trump’s 25% Iran tariff: Not much India impact given low trade volume Ravi Dutt Mishra & Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, January 13 USPRESIDENTDonaldTrump has warned that any country that does business with Iran willfaceatariffof25percenton any trade with the US. “Effectiveimmediately,any »CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 the “senseless 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. country doing business with theIslamicRepublicofIranwill pay a tariff of 25 per cent on any and all business being done with the United States of America.Thisorderisfinaland conclusive,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without providing further details. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON OP SINDOOR We were fully prepared to launch ground ops against Pak: Army chief Amrita Nayak Dutta 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 4 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. 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 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 l WaterQualityIndexofmithi:Downanddown 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 redhot form, India would be hoping to seal the series win. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INDIANEXPREss.cOm Plan (SIP). May-2024 31.88 May-2025 27.6 May-2023 24.21 May-2021 43.82 May-2022 27.01 May-2019 27.01 May-2020 22.72 May-2017 27.12 May-2018 21.22 May-2015 28.06 PAGE 6 May-2016 35.19 EKNATH SHINDE MAHARASHTRA DEPUTY CM May-2014 33.58 ‘Mumbai is not a cake to be cut into pieces’ May-2012 54.14 EXPREss interview * NOT AVAILABLE FOR MAY Happening lACCUSED WAS BOOKED IN 2023; COURT REJECTS HIS ANTICIPATORY BAIL PLEA UP ATS gets HC’s earful: Why man today 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. Investment 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) 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- 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 Systematic 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 Begin with 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. who helped Rohingya not arrested? PAGE 1 anchor Bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, January 13 THE LUCKNOW bench of the Allahabad High Court gave the UttarPradeshPolice'sAnti-Terror Squad (ATS) a dressingdown for failing to arrest a man facing charges of heading a group trying to illegally settle Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya in India to create unrest in the country and not filing a chargesheet in the case. Rejecting the anticipatory bail petition of the accused, Abdul Ghaffar, the court confronted the ATS investigating officer (IO), who was present in the court, why no serious efforts were made by him to apprehend him while his alleged activities endangering the country's security came to the agency's notice in 2021, even before the case was lodged in the matter in 2023. Ghaffar is one of the 10 people the ATS had named as accused in the case registered on October 11, 2023, on charges ofhumantrafficking,cheating, forgery and conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Foreigners Act & Passport Act. A division bench of Justice Pramod Kumar Srivastava and Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan said in its January 9 order, “We 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). »CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Lucknow