Qatari PM says Gaza ceasefire goes into effect on January 19
Qatar’s prime minister on Wednesday announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that will pause the devastating 15-month war in Gaza and clear the way for dozens of Israeli hostages to go home. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced the agreement in the Qatari capital of Doha, the site of weeks of painstaking negotiations. He said the deal would go into effect on Sunday.
Short-seller Hindenburg Research to be disbanded: founder
U.S. investment group Hindenburg Research will be disbanded, its founder Nate Anderson said Wednesday, adding that it has completed the projects it was handling. Founded in 2017 as a kind of corporate muckraker, the short-seller with around 10 employees has pushed several companies to admit accounting errors or misrepresentations.
Three Indian nuclear entities no more on U.S. restrictions list
In a significant move, the United States on Wednesday removed restrictions on three Indian nuclear entities, over a week after National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced that Washington was finalising steps to “remove” hurdles for civil nuclear partnership between Indian and American firms. The three entities are Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre (IGCAR) and the Indian Rare Earths (IRE), according to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
Easy access to clean toilets a basic right, essential for human dignity, says Supreme Court judgment
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) declared that easy access to clean public toilets for all — including men, women, persons with disabilities, and transgender persons — is not just a matter of convenience but a basic right and an essential part of human dignity. “Though public toilets are built near every toll plaza in the National Highways across the country, we seldom find them to be maintained and accessible,” a Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan observed in a 34-page judgment.
GRAP 4 curbs invoked in Delhi-NCR amid sharp dip in air quality
The Centre’s panel on Delhi-NCR’s air quality on Wednesday (January 15, 2024) invoked curbs under stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) amid a sharp dip in air quality due to unfavourable meteorological conditions, according to an official order. Calm winds, low temperatures and foggy conditions allowed accumulation of pollutants in the region, with the air quality index soaring from 275 on Tuesday (January 14, 2024) to 396 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Exports dipped 1% in December, trade gap eased from November’s record high
India’s goods exports contracted 1% year-on-year in December to a fraction over $38 billion, while imports grew 4.9% to almost $60 billion, but this narrowed the merchandise trade deficit to a three-month low of $21.9 billion, reflecting a sharp moderation from November’s record gap of $31.8 billion. Gold imports which were feared to have spiked to a fresh high of $14.9 billion in November, before the Centre corrected that tally by $5 billion last week to $9.9 billion citing an erroneous ‘double count’, more than halved sequentially in December to $4.7 billion. However, this still marked a significant 55.4% increase over the yellow metal’s December 2023 imports.
Rahul Gandhi an ‘irresponsible and immature’ Leader of Opposition: BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of being an “irresponsible and immature” Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha), asserting that everything he did or said had been “in the direction of breaking India and dividing the Indian society”.
ED attaches properties worth ₹100 crore of former AIADMK Minister R. Vaithilingam under PMLA
The Chennai Zonal Office of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has attached two immovable properties worth more than ₹100 crore belonging to R. Vaithilingam, MLA of Orathanadu and former Tamil Nadu Minister for Housing and Urban Development. The properties were attached by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 on January 9, 2025.
Pro-Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun case: panel seeks action against key person
A high-powered enquiry committee — formed over a year ago based on information provided by the United States to probe the role of organised criminal groups, terrorist organisations, and drug peddlers — submitted its report to the Union government recommending expeditious legal action against an “individual,” the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Wednesday (January 15, 2025). The MHA did not identify this individual, but said that their “earlier criminal links and antecedents” came to notice during the committee’s enquiry.
Modi, Shah, Nadda, Irani in BJP’s list of star campaigners
The BJP on Wednesday announced the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president J.P. Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others, in the list of 40 star campaigners for the Assembly election. The list also includes senior party leaders such as Union Ministers Manohar Lal, Giriraj Singh, and Hardeep Singh Puri, as well as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Supreme Court relief to Naidu, dismisses plea to cancel his bail
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) provided a major relief to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu by dismissing a petition filed in 2023 by the previous Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party government to cancel his bail in the skill development ‘scam’ case. Appearing before a Bench headed by Justice Bela Trivedi, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi for the current dispensation in the State said a chargesheet was filed in the case and there was no need to cancel the bail granted by the State High Court.
Centre, Ladakh leaders discuss new land policy
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is considering a proposal to regularise vast areas of government land in the Union Territory of Ladakh, in the names of local residents who have been using or tending these barren or wastelands over the years. The proposal was discussed at a high-powered committee meeting between Ladakhi civil society leaders and MHA officials on Wednesday (January 15, 2025).
Israel supplied Iran with centrifuge platforms containing explosives, top official acknowledges
Israel supplied Iran with centrifuge platforms containing explosives for its nuclear enrichment programme, a top Iranian official has acknowledged for the first time, underscoring the sophistication of sabotage programs targeting the Islamic Republic. The comments by Mohammad Javad Zarif, a former Foreign Minister who serves as Vice-President for strategic affairs for reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, appear aimed at explaining to the country’s disaffected public the challenges Iran’s government faces under crushing Western sanctions over the programme. The comments also acknowledged details previously reported in Israel about a 2021 attack on Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
Galwan incident with China should not get repeated, says Army chief
Stressing that special attention has been given to develop modern equipment and critical infrastructure at the northern border, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Wednesday (January 15, 2025z that “whatever was done in Galwan should not get repeated”. At the 77th Army Day Parade held at Pune this year, the Army showcased its newly inducted robotic mules, 100 of which have been inducted and 12 were part of the parade. An all-woman Agniveer contingent of the Corps of Military Police and an all-girl contingent of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) were also part of the parade along with various marching contingents of the Army. A Nepali Army band joined the Indian Army Day parade for the first time.
ISL | Mohammedan snatches draw with two late goals against Chennaiyin
Mohammedan SC pulled off a dramatic draw with two goals in added time to hold Chennaiyin FC 2-2 in an ISL encounter at the Kishore Bharati Stadium here on Wednesday. Chennaiyin enjoyed a healthy two-goal lead till the end of the regulation time with strikes from P.C. Laldinpuia (10) and Lukas Brambilla (49). Mohammedan made a spectacular turnaround in injury-time when substitute Manvir Singh Saini reduced the margin in the 90+5th minute.
West Bengal government pegs Gangasagar pilgrims figures over a crore, RTI contradicts claim
The West Bengal government on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) claimed that over 1.1 crore pilgrims have participated in the Gangasagar mela 2025 describing the annual pilgrimage at the confluence of river Ganga and the Bay of Bengal as the “best mela in the country”. State’s Minister for Power and Youth Affairs lauded the arrangements at the mela and said that the initiatives envisaged by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had paved the way for smooth functioning of the fest.
Delhi polls: BJP’s Parvesh Verma faces action for ‘distributing’ shoes to electors
The returning officer for the New Delhi Assembly segment has directed the police to investigate an incident of BJP candidate Parvesh Verma allegedly distributing shoes to electors at a Valmiki temple in violation of the poll code. Citing complaints received about the alleged act of “corruption,” the returning officer has instructed the station house office of the area to initiate the action for violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and has sought an action-taken report at the earliest.
Published – January 16, 2025 06:22 am IST