The Editorial Page: Trump is succeeding because of leaders who want to be little Trumps 10 FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2026 Journalism of Courage MUMBAI, 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 CBC 03101/13/0008/2526 REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 Delhi court acquits Kejriwal in two ED cases over summons U.S. ANNOUNCES ‘NEW GAZA’ PLAN As Trump unveils his Board of Peace, Delhi waits, watches Not intentional disobedience, says judge; Satyameva Jayate: AAP chief Sohini Ghosh & Nirbhay Thakur New Delhi, January 22 A DELHI court Thursday acquittedformerDelhiChiefMinister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal of the charge of disobeyingapublicservant’sorder forskippingsixsummonsfrom theEnforcementDirectoratein connection with its probe into the Delhi excise policy case. The court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal ruled that “mere non-appearance (following the sum- happening today lPRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi will flag off four new train services in Kerala. He will address a rally in Madurathakam, Tamil Nadu. l UDDHAV THACKERAY and Raj Thackeray will address their party workers together in Mumbai to mark Bal Thackeray's 100th birth anniversary. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm INsIDE P2 mons) is not intentional disobedience”. AAP leaders hailed the verdict and Kejriwal, in a post on X, said, “Satyameva Jayate”. The ED had filed two criminal cases against Kejriwal – »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 144 179 73 Ahead of EU leaders’ visit Sports alarm bells: Toxic outdoors, no weather-proof indoors, IOC takes note ExPrEss exclusive Nihal Koshie & Mihir Vasavda ■ At the India Open last week, international badminton stars questionedDelhi’splaceonthe global calendar, citing health concerns from the toxic air. Some of them even complained to the International OlympicCommittee(IOC).“We can confirm that the IOC Athletes’Commissionhasreceived the information and is in touch,”theIOCtoldTheIndian Express. Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, January 22 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with ambassadors from European Union countries in New Delhi on Thursday. “Spoke to them about the current state of the world with volatility and instability as the new normal,” Jaishankar said in a post on X. ANI INTERNATIONAL SHUTTLERS WRITE TO IOC ON DELHI’S AIR New Delhi, Mumbai, January 22 116 India, China, Russia, much of Europe skip event, Pak there Rs 10-LAKH HEALTH COvER FOR ALL: AAP gOvT IN PUNjAB sPOrTINGExODUs INDIA-SOUTH AfRICA Test moved to Kolkata last year. smog has reduced visibility. WHEN THE heat peaks, many ASIAN GAMES medallist Tejaswin Shankar shifted base to South Africa and the US. “The idea was to try and avoid time in Delhi during those months,” he said. wrestlers move to hill towns. But Railways coach Kripa Shankar Patel said: “You can’t run long training cycles there... The oxygen is lower because of the altitude.” SHOOTERS TRAINING at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi are travelling to Bhopal. Beyond health, national coach Deepali Deshpande said IN 2023, the Cycling Federation of India moved the national camp for road and endurance cyclists from Delhi to Guwahati. In 2024, it was shifted to Patiala. ■ Dronacharya Award-winning hockey coach Pritam Siwach is worried. At the Sports Authority of India’s Sonepat centre, dust and toxic air have »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Bangladeshfirm: ‘Willingtoplay, butnotinIndia’ ASUSPresidentDonaldTrump unveiledhisBoardofPeaceand son-in-law Jared Kushner announced plans for a ‘New Gaza’ rebuilt from the ruins of the Israel-Hamas war, India stayed away from the ceremony in DavosThursday,optingtowalk the diplomatic tightrope for now by neither declining nor acceptingTrump’sinvitationto ThE wOrlD P 14 E. ExPlAINED EvERYONE WANTS TO Why the dilemma BE A PART: India’s dilemma over the TRUMP AT Board of Peace has much to do with balancing its longDAvOS ThE IDEAs PAGE SHOULD INDIA jOIN THE BOARD? BEST OF BOTH SIDES PAgE 11 standing foreign policy principles, especially on multilateralism and the issue of Palestine, against the strategic benefits of joining an elite global platform, and potential diplomatic fallout with the US if it were to decline the invitation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the board. Sources said India has strong reasons for not joining the board immediately, and Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur to have woman mayors as lottery triggers row HCasks,‘istheCM sohelpless’:State assuressurrender of‘absconding’ sonofminister »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Express News Service Kolkata, January 22 A DAY after the International Cricket Council (ICC) asked the BangladeshCricketBoard(BCB) to confirm whether their team would play the T20 World Cup in India next month as scheduled, the Bangladesh government responded on Thursday, reiterating that its players are »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Business as Usual By EP UNNY Alok Deshpande Mumbai, January 22 MUMBAI WILL have a woman mayor for the second consecutive term after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was placed in the Open (Women) category in the lottery draw for mayoral reservations held on Thursday. The previous mayor of the BMC was Kishori Pednekar of the undivided Shiv Sena. Thereservationlottery,conducted for 29 municipal corporations that went to polls last week, triggered a row with objections from the Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), which questioned the exclusion of Mum- Omkar Gokhale Mumbai, January 22 Workers prepare the residence of the new mayor in Byculla, Mumbai, on Thursday. AKASH PATIL bai from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation list. The Congress also raised concernsoverthereservationdraw for Parbhani. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE BOMBAY High Court on Thursday expressed concern over an “adversely affected rule of law” and questioned the Maharashtra government for not arrestingVikasGogawale,sonof cabinet minister and Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale, who is namedincross-FIRsoveraviolent clash between workers of Shiv Sena and NCP during the Mahad Municipal Council elections in Raigad last month. Over an hour after the court pulled up the government, its »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mumbai