Wednesday, January 7, 2026 | Vol. 69 No. 80 | 30 Pages Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation GAMES NATION Amid power struggle, Sidda surpasses Urs to become Karnataka's longest serving CM ‘GRAVE SITUATION’ | Health crisis has shaken public trust and tarnished image of the city regarded India’s cleanest, says court Insensitive: HC chides MP on Indore water deaths Agencies INDORE The Madhya Pradesh HC on Tuesday came down heavily on the state government and local authorities over their “insensitive” handling of the contaminated water crisis in Indore’s Bhagirathpura locality, which has led to multiple deaths and hundreds of illness cases. A division bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi directed the state’s chief secretary to appear via video conference on January 15. The bench was hearing several petitions, including one filed by Indore HC Bar Association president Ritesh Inani. “The HC termed the response of the state and district administration as insensitive and said the episode had shaken public trust while tarnishing Indore’s image,” Inani said. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation Medicines being distributed in an affected area. The HC asked the chief secy to appear via video link on Jan 15 ‘Long detention sans HC snubs TN, allows trial is punishment’ hilltop temple lamp FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution is not eclipsed by the gravity of the offence, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday, observing that prolonged incarceration of an undertrial without commencement or reasonable progress of trial effectively converts pretrial detention into a form of punishment. The court made these observations while granting bail to former Amtek Auto promoter Arvind Dham in a The right to speedy trial, enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution, is not eclipsed by the nature of the offence. SC judges Alok Aradhe and Sanjay Kumar money-laundering case registered by ED under the PMLA, Live Law reported. 4Contd on | nation Cinema Entrepreneur Anupam Mittal and his Iron Man perspective Ashleigh Gardner still feels Australia the best team in the world despite India’s World Cup win N Chithra CHENNAI The Tamil Nadu government suffered a setback on Tuesday as a division bench of the Madras HC (Madurai Bench) dismissed its appeal and upheld a single judge’s order directing that the Karthigai Deepam be lit atop the stone lamp pillar (Deepathoon) on the Thirupparankundram hill in Madurai. It noted that the state's apprehension of communal conflict was unfounded. The bench comprising Jus- tices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan disposed of a batch of 26 writ appeals, clearing the way for the Thirupparankundram Devasthanam to light the festival lamp at the hilltop pillar. The ruling marks an important chapter in a long-running dispute dating back to 1917, involving the Arulmigu Subramanian Swamy Temple and the Hazarath Sultan Sikkandar Badhusha Avuliya Dargah. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation Edit Of oil, gold and the American dream of ruling over the world UP draft roll drops 2.89cr FPJ News Service MIUMBAI The EC on Tuesday published the draft electoral rolls for Uttar Pradesh following an extensive Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, resulting in the removal of nearly 2.89 crore names from the previous list. Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said that 12.55 crore voters were retained in the draft roll out of the 15.44 crore electorates recorded in October 2025, marking the highest level of deletions seen in any state during the current KALMADI, MAN OF MANY HATS, PASSES AT 81 revision cycle. Addressing reporters in Lucknow, Rinwa explained that around 18.70 per cent of voters could not be carried forward due to verified deaths, permanent migration from registered SIR DELETION addresses, or the discovery of multiple enrolments. Of the deletions, 46.23 lakh voters, or 2.99 per cent, were confirmed to be deceased since the last update. A far larger segment – approximately 2.57 crore voters, accounting for 14.06 per cent – FPJ News Service Suresh Kalmadi, former MP from Pune, Union Minister of State for Railways and prominent sports administrator, passed away on Tuesday at a private hospital in Pune at the age of 81. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, a son and grandchildren. A graduate of the National Defence Academy in the early 1960s, he was commissioned IAF, where he served from 1964 to 1972. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation BJP-Congress tango benches Shinde Sena Ravikiran Deshmukh power. However, in a strategic move, the BJP instead aligned with the Congress, In a surprising political de- which has 14 members, and velopment, the local unit of the NCP with four BJP in Ambernath, a town members, effectively in Thane district, has joined keeping the Sena out. hands with the Congress to With this development, it clinch power in the munici- has become clear that the pal council. Shiv Sena, a The Eknath AMBERNATH COUP BJP partner Shinde-led in the MaShiv Sena has strongly pro- hayuti government that has tested the BJP decision. ruled the council for the Following the recent past 35 years, will now have elections to the Ambernath to occupy the opposition Municipal Council, it was benches. During the elecwidely expected that the tions, the Shiv Sena and the Shiv Sena, which emerged BJP had contested against as the single largest party each other. with 27 councillors, would 4Contd on | nation ally with the BJP to assume MUMBAI PUNE were found to have either shifted residence permanently or were unavailable during the door-to-door verification drive. Another 25.47 lakh names were struck off after being detected as duplicate registrations at more than one location. The CEO said that the Commission undertook a statewide enumeration campaign using 1,72,486 polling booths where booth-level officers collected signed forms from residents. Modi not that happy with me: Trump FPJ News Service MUMBAI US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said PM Narendra Modi is not that happy with him because of the tariffs imposed by Washington on Indian goods over purchases of Russian oil, reported PTI. Trump, speaking at the House GOP Member Retreat, also claimed that the PM had approached him saying, “Sir, may I see you please?” to which he responded, “Yes.” “I have a very good relationship with him. He’s not that happy with me because they’re paying a lot of tariffs now as they are not doing the oil trade with Russia, and they have reduced it very substantially,” Trump said. His remarks came a day after he warned that the US could further raise tariffs if India failed to address American concerns over continued Russian oil imports. “They wanted to make me happy, basically. PM Modi is a very good man. He is a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy,” Trump said earlier. He further threatened: “India does trade with us, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly.” On Tuesday, he noted India had been waiting for five years to receive Apache helicopters. “We’re changing it. India has now ordered 68 Apaches.”