Jan 13 News Live:No change in leadership, says Karnataka CM after meeting Rahul Gandhi

The Calcutta High Court will on Wednesday (January 14) hear petitions by the ED and the Trinamool Congress over the raid by the central agency at the residence and office of political consultancy firm I-PAC director Pratik Jain, with entry to the courtroom restricted only to lawyers concerned with these matters.

Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul directed that the hearings will be held with regulated entry, in view of unmanageable chaos inside the courtroom of Justice Suvra Ghosh on January 9 when these matters were to be taken up for hearing.

Justice Ghosh had adjourned the hearing till January 14, and left her chair after repeated requests to those not connected with the petitions to leave the courtroom fell on deaf ears.

The administrative notice said that only the senior counsels, their assisting lawyers and the advocate-on-record on behalf of both parties will be present at the time of hearing.

It said that the court proceedings with regard to the two petitions will be live streamed.

The notice further stated that if anybody, except the petitioners and the respondents, wants to participate in the court proceeding of these two matters, the individual may join virtually.

The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran spiked to at least 2,000 on Tuesday (January 13), news agency AP reported citing activists.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years, gave the latest toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross-checking information.

The group said 1,847 of the dead over more than two weeks of protests were protesters and 135 were government-affiliated. Another nine children were killed, and nine civilians who were not taking part in protests also were killed, it said.

With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government hasn’t offered overall casualty figures.

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch have imposed a ban on trekking, camping, hiking, and similar outdoor activities in all high-altitude areas of the border district for a period of two months, an official said on Tuesday (January 13).

"It has been reported that unrestricted movement of individuals and groups in such areas poses a serious risk to public safety due to difficult terrain, adverse weather conditions, and other unforeseen hazards," an order issued on Monday (January 12) read.

Poonch District Magistrate Ashok Kumar Sharma ordered the prohibition under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), following inputs from security agencies and field functionaries regarding security and safety concerns in certain high-altitude and forested areas.

The prohibition applies to individuals, groups, tour operators and adventure clubs, except those with prior written permission for official purposes. Security forces, emergency services, and government officials on duty have been exempted from the purview of this order.

"Any person found violating the order shall be liable for action under the relevant provisions of law," the order said, directing Senior Superintendent of Police Poonch to ensure strict enforcement.

It said the order would come into force with immediate effect and shall remain valid for a period of two months, unless withdrawn or modified earlier.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Tuesday (January 13) that the 54 lakh names, which were deleted from the draft rolls during the SIR in the state, were done unilaterally and by misusing powers of electoral registration officers (EROs).

Banerjee alleged that a bulk of the deleted voters were "genuine electors", who were not allowed to defend themselves because they weren't even apprised of the grounds of deletion.

"The EC, while sitting in Delhi, used AI tools devised by the BJP to delete names. This AI software accounted for the names-mismatch in SIR data. They deleted names of women who changed surnames post marriage," Banerjee alleged, while addressing a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna.

Claiming that 'logical discrepancy' was not part of the original SIR verification process, and that it was "included as an afterthought to add to deletions", Banerjee said that the "BJP-EC nexus" was planning to remove another one crore names from the final rolls.

"The EC has not allowed BLA-2s to attend hearings because the BJP couldn't amass its workers to do the job," Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday terminated the services of five government employees over suspected terror links.

The move is aimed at targeting the “roots of the terror ecosystem and its infrastructure within government machinery”, an official said.

“The dismissed employees include Mohammad Ishfaq, a teacher; Tariq Ahmad Shah, a laboratory technician; Bashir Ahmad Mir, an assistant lineman; Farooq Ahmad Bhat, a field worker in the Forest Department; and Mohammad Yousuf, a driver in the Health Department,” the official said.

The LG administration has so far sacked 85 government employees who were found to be working for terrorist groups.

India fell to third place among buyers of Russian fossil fuels in December 2025 after Reliance Industries and state-owned refiners sharply cut crude oil imports, a European think tank has said.

The total Russian hydrocarbon imports by India stood at 2.3 billion euros in December, down from 3.3 billion euros in the preceding month, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

“Turkiye displaced India as the second largest importer, purchasing Euro 2.6 billion of Russian hydrocarbons in December,” it said.

China remained the top buyer, accounting for 48 per cent (Euro 6 billion) of Russia’s export revenues from the top five importers.

“India was the third highest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, importing a total of Euro 2.3 billion of Russian hydrocarbons in December,” CREA said.

“Crude oil constituted 78 per cent of India's purchases, totalling Euro 1.8 billion. Coal (Euro 424 million) and oil products (Euro 82 million) constituted the remainder of India’s monthly imports.”

In November, India spent 2.6 billion euros on the purchase of Russian crude oil, which is processed in refineries to make fuels like petrol and diesel.

"India's Russian crude imports recorded a sharp 29 per cent month-on-month reduction to the lowest volumes since the implementation of the price cap policy. These drops occurred despite total imports growing marginally," CREA said without giving absolute numbers.

These cuts, it said, were led largely by the Jamnagar refinery of Reliance Industries, which reduced its imports from Russia by half in December.