Overview
- Polling is underway across 29 municipal corporations including Mumbai’s BMC for 2,869 seats with 15,931 candidates, with heavy security and results due on January 16.
- The Supreme Court stayed three West Bengal police FIRs against ED officials in the I-PAC case, issued notices to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior officers, ordered devices and CCTV preserved, and sought responses within two weeks ahead of a February 3 hearing.
- Iran’s airspace closure forced Air India and IndiGo to reroute and cancel flights as the Indian embassy advised nationals to leave, with 10,000–12,000 people of Indian origin in the country and student groups seeking clarity on evacuation.
- In a separate matter, the Supreme Court reserved its order in the Harish Rana passive-euthanasia plea after medical boards reported negligible recovery prospects and the bench said it would consider withdrawal of life support.
- Public-safety probes advanced after seven women from one family died in a Rajasthan NH-52 crash, an eight-year-old in Odisha lost sight in one eye after a toy from a ₹5 snack packet exploded, and a 26-year-old died in a high-speed Bhilai car accident captured on CCTV.