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 AHMEDABAD, JANUARY 4, 2026 SPOTLIGHT Stefano Canali’s quiet luxury play LATE CITY 14+4 PAGES ₹6.00 D A I L Y 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. 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 , President Maduro held, flown out; US to run Venezuela: Trump Inabind,Delhi issuesadvisory, nocomment Lee Jae Myung begins his state visit to China as Beijing aims to strengthen ties with Seoul amid strained relations with Japan over Taiwan. Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, January 3 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 Explosions near La Carlota airport in Caracas, venezuela, on Saturday. REUTERS 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 MangdualiasMukka,secretary of the Konta area committee. A DivisionalCommitteemember (DVCM), Mukka is said to have masterminded the improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Konta that killed Additional SuperintendentofPoliceAkash 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. “As part of the mission, District Reserve Guard (DRG) teams were dispatched to the South Bastar area,” Inspector GeneralofPolice,BastarRange, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GujArAT paGe 3 nia takes over ricin terror plot probe froM ats THE ANNOUNCEMENT by President Donald Trump that the US had attacked Venezuela and captured 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 stated position that seeks an international rules-based order. Delhi, which is usually conservative and wary of commenting on issues far from Indian 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 E. Chhattisgarh:14 Maoistskilledin twoencounters Jayprakash S Naidu N A G P U R , U.S. STRIKES CARACAS; MADURO AND WIFE TO FACE NARCO-TERROR CHARGES lSOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT Raipur, January 3 M U M B A I , Will run country at least temporarily, says US President INsIDE Regina Garcia Cano, Konstantin Toropin & Eric Tucker operation was preceded by Months of u.s. Military buildup Caracas (Venezuela), Washington, January 3 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 Trump administration pressure campaign on the South American country that con- paGe 12 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 P A T N A , P U N E , 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 Mumbai, January 3 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 venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, wife Cilia Flores. REUTERS FILE sisted of months of strikes on boats officials said were smuggling drugs to the US. Behind the scenes, US officials tracked Maduro’s behavioral habits, including what he ate and where heslept,inpreparingtoexecute an operation that resulted in one of the more stunning regime changes 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 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ED:GujaratIASofficerfixedbriberatesfor pleasonchangeoflanduseongovtportal Brendan Dabhi Rajkot, January 3 BRIBES SYSTEMATICALLY collected as “speed money” to expeditechangeofuseapplications for agricultural land in Surendranagar district is among the primary allegations levelled against former collector Rajendrakumar Patel, deputy mamlatdar Chandrasinh Mori and two other staff members of their office. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said it found that the former collector would downloadtheapplicationsfiled on the Integrated Online Revenue Applications (IORA) portal of the Revenue department of Gujarat for change of land RajendrakumarPatelwas arrestedbytheagencyonFriday. use and then “fixed bribe rates rangingfromRs5-10/sqmetre,” as per the remand application filed before the court on Friday. On Friday, Patel was remanded in the ED's custody until January 7. On downloading the applications, “... columns were added whereby, the bribe rates were fixed ranging from Rs 510/ sq. mt based on the nature of application and the sections applicable under law.” The bribe was collected in cash and the accused IAS officer was the final approving authority, the agency said. The agency added that it traced more than 800 such applications that had allegedly resulted in “generation of proceeds of crime to the tune of more than Rs 10 crore, which is part of the larger proceeds of crime.” Quotingthestatementofan individual who allegedly paid Rs65lakhinbribesformultiple applications at the rate of Rs 10 per square metre, the ED told »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 over 200 nautical miles (370 km) towards its destination so far. SHORTLYAFTERitleftPorbanThe ‘stitched’ ship — moddar, the Indian Navy Sailing elled on a fifth-century vessel Vessel (INSV) Kaundinya’s depicted in a painting in the voyagestartedona“challenging Ajanta caves — set sail from note”as“inconducive”windsin Porbandar on Monday, emthefirst48hoursand barking on a historic then tidal currents maiden voyage to PAGE 1 kept pushing the Muscat in the Sulvessel off-course. tanate of Oman. The On Thursday, voyage is meant to Day 4 of the voyage, the sea retrace ancient maritime calmed, and the “favourable” routes that once connected the winds from the northeast set western coast of India with the vessel in the direction of Oman, facilitating trade, Muscat. The ship has covered »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 p 12 Panaji, January 3 anchor Crew aboard INSv Kaundinya. INDIAN NAVY Ahmedabad