Jan 19 news LIVE: CBI questions TVK chief Vijay for over 6 hours; no fresh summons
Catch all the important news updates from India and across the world
Live Updates
- 19 Jan 2026 1:45 PM IST
Bail must be the rule, not punishment before trial: Ex CJI Chandrachud:
Former CJI DY Chandrachud said bail should be the norm unless clear risks exist, warning that security laws invert innocence into guilt. Citing Umar Khalid’s prolonged detention, he stressed the need for speedy trials under Article 21, opposed pretrial punishment, highlighted judicial concerns in granting bail, and defended the collegium system overall. Read the full story here
- 19 Jan 2026 1:20 PM IST
125 fall ill after food poisoning at pre-wedding event in Thane
Around 125 people were taken ill due to suspected food poisoning during a pre-wedding haldi ceremony in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Sunday.
Guests at the function in Kalyan complained of nausea and vomiting shortly after the meal and were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Police said all affected persons received treatment and were later discharged. An inquiry is underway, with food samples sent for testing and the caterer called in for questioning.
- 19 Jan 2026 1:05 PM IST
Karachi mall fire toll rises to 14
The death toll from a major fire at Gul Plaza, an old shopping mall in Karachi, has risen to 14 after rescue teams recovered eight more bodies from the rubble. The blaze, which broke out late Saturday, gutted the building and caused partial structural collapse, hampering rescue efforts.
Officials fear casualties may increase, with dozens reportedly still trapped. Authorities suspect an electrical short circuit, though the cause is yet to be confirmed. The incident has again highlighted serious fire safety lapses in Karachi’s commercial buildings.
- 19 Jan 2026 12:59 PM IST
Pakistan Cricket Board announces major structural reforms in PSL
The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced major reforms to the Pakistan Super League, replacing the draft system with a player auction from the league’s 11th edition. The franchise purse has been increased to $1.6 million, retention has been capped at four players per team, and options such as mentors, brand ambassadors and right-to-match have been scrapped. Two new teams, Hyderabad and Sialkot, will get pre-auction picks, while franchises can also directly sign one new foreign player. PSL 11 begins on March 26, with Faisalabad added as a venue. The changes are implemented to increase the earning opportunities for the players.
- 19 Jan 2026 12:51 PM IST
China’s population shrinks for fourth year despite push to boost births
China’s population continues to shrink despite a decade of policy shifts aimed at reversing decades of strict family planning. New government data released on Monday shows the population fell for a fourth consecutive year, declining by about 3 million to 1.404 billion in 2025. The number of births dropped sharply to 7.92 million, down 17 per cent from the previous year, indicating that the brief uptick seen in 2024 was not sustained. Experts estimate China’s fertility rate is now around 1, far below the 2.1 needed to maintain population levels.
After ending its one-child policy in 2015 and later raising the limit to three children in 2021, Beijing has rolled out incentives to encourage families to have more children. These include cash subsidies, tax exemptions for kindergartens, daycares and matchmaking services, and the removal of tax exemptions on contraceptives. However, these measures have had limited impact as many families cite the high cost and pressure of raising children. China, which lost its status as the world’s most populous country to India in 2023, now faces mounting demographic challenges.
- 19 Jan 2026 8:43 AM IST
Davos: Oxfam cites Indian reservations as example of how to democratise power
As it flagged billionaires usurping the political landscape globally, rights group Oxfam on Monday (January 19) cited India’s reservation system as a “compelling” example of progress on how ordinary people can be politically empowered.
In its annual inequality report released in Davos on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, attended by rich and powerful from across the world, Oxfam International said billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens.
Making a case for building “the power of the many”, Oxfam said ordinary people become powerful in a political system where political, institutional, and social conditions increase their capacity to influence decision-making despite structural inequality.
“This happens when institutional inclusiveness, political incentives for responsiveness, collective organisation, effective governance and ideological commitments align.
“Non-state actors such as CSOs, grassroots movements and trade unions are natural allies of states in building greater political engagement from under-represented communities, and ensuring access for all to meaningful participation in policymaking,” Oxfam said in the report, titled Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power.
It said there are some compelling examples of progress on this crucial issue.
“In India, for example, political reservations (quotas) for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised groups create opportunities for economically disadvantaged and socially excluded communities to gain legislative representation and push redistributive policies,” Oxfam said.
Oxfam also cited the example of Brazil’s Participatory Budgeting that emerged in the 1990s and saw significant expansion during the 2000s.
- 19 Jan 2026 8:31 AM IST
China's economy grows 5 pc in 2025 despite Trump tariffs, thanks to strong exports
China’s economy expanded at a 5 per cent annual pace in 2025, buoyed by strong exports despite Trump’s tariffs.
However, growth slowed to 4.5 per cent in the last quarter of the year, the government said on Monday (January 19). That was the slowest quarterly growth since late 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The economy, the world’s second largest, grew at a 4.8 per cent annual pace in the previous quarter.
Strong exports helped compensate for weak consumer spending and business investment, contributing to a record trade surplus of USD 1.2 trillion.
- 19 Jan 2026 7:19 AM IST
Kukis demand justice for woman who died 2 years after gang rape
Various organisations have demanded justice for a Kuki woman from Manipur who died recently from illness allegedly linked to the trauma she suffered after being gang-raped during the early phase of the ethnic violence in the state in 2023.The Kuki organisations based in Manipur’s Churachandpur and Delhi claimed that she was kidnapped in Imphal and gang-raped in May 2023. She, however, escaped from the kidnappers, but never fully recovered from the shock and injuries and died on January 10 while undergoing treatment in Guwahati.The groups also demanded a separate administration for the Kukis, claiming that it was not possible for them to live together with the Meitei community. - 19 Jan 2026 7:13 AM IST
High-speed trains collide after one derails in Spain, killing at least 21
A high-speed train derailed, jumped on to the track in the opposite direction and slammed into an oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday (January 18), killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens more, the country's transport minister said.The tail end of an evening train between Malaga and Madrid with some 300 passengers went off the rails near Cordoba at 7.45 pm local time and slammed into a train with some 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city.Spain's Transport Minister Oscar Puente updated the death toll to 21 confirmed victims after midnight when he said that rescues had removed all the survivors. But Puente said there could be more victims still to be confirmed.Puente said the causes of the crash were unknown. He called it “a truly strange” incident because it happened on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated in May. - 19 Jan 2026 7:11 AM IST
Verified 3,919 deaths from Iran protests, says US-based activist agency
A US-based activist agency said Sunday (January 18) it has verified at least 3,919 deaths during a wave of protests that swept Iran and led to a bloody crackdown, and fears the number could be significantly higher.The Human Rights Activists News Agency posted the revised figure, up from the previous toll of 3,308. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities.Iranian officials have not given a clear death toll, although on Saturday, the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the protests had left “several thousand” people dead — and blamed the United States for the deaths.It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties from the wave of protests that began December 28 over Iran's ailing economy.The Human Rights Activists News Agency says 24,669 protesters have been arrested in the crackdown.
