INDORE: The water contamination tragedy in Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital Indore — repeatedly ranked India’s cleanest city over the past decade — has triggered widespread distrust of municipal tap water, forcing residents to rely on bottled water and adding to the financial burden of low- and middle-income households. Officials confirmed that at least six people have died and over 200 have been hospitalised following an outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea linked to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura. However, the death toll remains disputed, with figures ranging between 10 and 16.

“Yes, we are now scared of drinking municipal water. We need proof that it is safe before we consume it,” said Sunita to news agency PTI, a resident of Marathi Mohalla. “We are buying drinking water jars from the market at ₹20 to ₹30 per jar.” She alleged that residents had been receiving “dirty water” from taps for the past two to three years, but repeated complaints went unaddressed. “For a long time, we have been adding alum and boiling water before drinking,” she added. The loss of trust is so severe that even tea stall owners are using bottled water to reassure customers. “We are making tea using bottled water, but we haven’t increased prices,” said tea vendor Tushar Verma. Meanwhile, the district administration has stepped up efforts to contain the outbreak and rebuild confidence. District Magistrate Shivam Verma said an information, education and communication (IEC) campaign is underway in Bhagirathpura through NGO workers, advising residents to boil water for at least 15 minutes and to use only drinking water supplied through municipal tankers. Chlorination of municipal pipelines and tube wells in the affected area is also in progress. Health experts said chlorination remains one of the most effective methods to eliminate disease-causing pathogens and prevent water-borne infections. While the administration has officially confirmed six deaths, Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava earlier indicated that 10 fatalities may be linked to the outbreak. Residents claim the toll is as high as 16, including a six-month-old infant. Indore draws its water from the Narmada river through pipelines from Jalud in neighbouring Khargone district, nearly 80 km away, with tap water supplied to households on alternate days. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday ordered the transfer of municipal commissioner Dilip Kumar Yadav and the suspension of additional municipal commissioner Rohit Sissoniya and the in-charge superintendent engineer of the Public Health Engineering department, Sanjeev Shrivastava. In a status report submitted to the High Court, the state government said the diarrhoeal outbreak caused by contaminated water supply is now under effective control, with continuous monitoring in place to prevent any resurgence.(With agency inputs)

Caribbean air travel erupted into chaos over the weekend after US military captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, prompting sweeping airspace restrictions across the region. According to FlightRadar24, no commercial aircraft were flying over Venezuelan airspace on Saturday. The US Federal Aviation Administration also imposed restrictions that forced major airlines to cancel hundreds of flights across the eastern Caribbean, disrupting travel during an already busy holiday period. Airlines warned passengers that delays and cancellations could continue for several days.US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA acted in the interest of passenger safety. In a post on social media, he said “the FAA restricted the airspace in the Caribbean and Venezuela to ensure the SAFETY of the flying public.”“When appropriate, these airspace restrictions will be lifted,” he added on the social platform X. “Please work with your airlines directly if your flight has been impacted.”

Flights disrupted across key Caribbean destinations

Services were cancelled or suspended to and from several major destinations, including:

Airlines said they were waiving change fees for travellers forced to alter their plans. Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport, located just 15 miles (24 kilometres) off Venezuela’s coast and popular with US holidaymakers, saw widespread cancellations on Saturday, according to airport authorities, normal operations were expected to resume on Sunday. The disruption extended beyond aviation. In Barbados, PM Mia Mottley said that the situation had affected both air and sea entry points. Speaking at a news conference, she said “the consequences of the conflict have been exceedingly disruptive to both of our ports of entry,” referring to the country’s airport and its cruise ship terminal.

How are airlines dealing — Modifications, rescheduling & more

Earlier, the FAA said it had imposed a temporary airspace restriction affecting Puerto Rico’s main international airport and surrounding areas. A statement posted on X by Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan said the move was due to the “security situation related to military activity” in Venezuela.Most commercial flights operated by US airlines to and from the airport were suspended or cancelled as a result, although foreign airlines and military aircraft were exempt from the restriction. JetBlue: About 215 flights were cancelled “due to airspace closures across the Caribbean related to military activity.” However, services to destinations further west, including the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, were unaffected. Customers were offered rebooking options or refunds. United Airlines: Modifying its schedule to account for the closures and allowing passengers to change travel plans without fees as it continued to monitor the situation in coordination with US aviation authorities. Southwest Airlines: Cancelled all flights to Aruba on Saturday and suspended services to Puerto Rico until further notice, while flights to the Dominican Republic continued. American Airlines: Waiving change fees for flights to and from around 20 island destinations, including Anguilla, Antigua, Curacao, Saint Lucia, and the US and British Virgin Islands. Delta Air Lines: Issued a travel waiver for customers travelling through 13 affected airports until Tuesday. Dutch carrier KLM: Cancelled flights affecting thousands of passengers but planned to resume services on Sunday to Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire and other Caribbean destinations.

‘Really painful on the wallet’

For many travellers, the impact was immediate. Lou Levine and his family were due to return to the Washington, DC, area from Puerto Rico on Saturday morning when they discovered their JetBlue flight had been cancelled. Attempts to rebook by phone failed, and the family later turned to social media for help.Eventually, JetBlue rebooked them on a flight departing the following Saturday, extending what was meant to be a week-long New Year holiday into a two-week stay.Levine said that his employer had been accommodating, but the disruption has come at a cost as his daughter will now miss a week of high school, and the family will have to undergo additional expenses.“I love it here. But we have dog-sitting and cat-sitting and car rental. It’s fine. It’s just really painful on the wallet,” Levine said.The family hopes to secure an earlier return if flights resume sooner.

Peak travel season

The cancellations came shortly after the peak holiday travel period, during which, according to AAA, nearly 122.4 million Americans travelled at least 50 miles from home. However, many travellers were still in the Caribbean, attempting to return ahead of work and school commitments.“The Caribbean is a top destination this time of the year,” said AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz. “We do have a lot of people who are trying to get back home this weekend ahead of work and school on Monday.”Diaz urged travellers to stay informed and allow airlines to send updates, noting that while “it’s understandable we want to unplug,” monitoring developments remains important.

AI pioneer and Meta’s most famous employee Yann LeCun has opened up about his departure from Meta after more than a decade, revealing that mounting pressure from CEO Mark Zuckerberg and fundamental disagreements over the company’s AI direction ultimately drove him to leave. In an interview with the Financial Times, the 65-year-old computer scientist—who won the prestigious Turing Award in 2018—didn’t mince words about Meta’s pivot toward large language models and the hiring of 28-year-old Alexandr Wang to lead the company’s superintelligence efforts.LeCun told FT that Zuckerberg “basically lost confidence” in Meta’s generative AI organization after the team “fudged” benchmark results for Llama 4, released in April 2025. “Mark was really upset and basically sidelined the entire GenAI organisation,” LeCun said, predicting that “a lot of people who haven’t yet left will leave.”

Philosophical divide: Why LeCun calls LLMs a “dead end”

The departure marks a significant split between LeCun’s vision for AI and Meta’s current direction. Whereas Zuckerberg has spent billions developing large language models in the quest for “superintelligence,” LeCun has long maintained that LLMs are by nature limited. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people at Meta, including perhaps Alex, who would like me to not tell the world that LLMs basically are a dead end when it comes to superintelligence,” he told the publication.LeCun’s new startup, Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, will focus on “world models” that learn from videos and spatial data rather than just text—an approach he believes is necessary for AI to truly understand the physical world.

“Young and inexperienced”: LeCun’s assessment of his former boss

The French scientist didn’t hold back when discussing Wang, who Meta hired after investing $14.9 billion in his company Scale AI. “He learns fast, he knows what he doesn’t know… There’s no experience with research or how you practice research,” LeCun said, adding pointedly: “You don’t tell a researcher what to do. You certainly don’t tell a researcher like me what to do.”Despite the tensions, LeCun maintains he remains on good terms with Zuckerberg personally, and Meta will partner with his new venture.

Maharashtra skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad reached a major milestone in domestic cricket during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025 match against Mumbai. The right-handed batter has overtaken Virat Kohli to register the highest batting average by an Indian batter in List A cricket, among players with a minimum of 50 innings.

Kohli has long been one of the best batters in limited-overs cricket. Gaikwad has been scoring runs regularly for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has also delivered for the India team in different formats. His steady performances have made him a dependable top-order batter.

Ruturaj Gaikwad Overtakes Virat Kohli in List A Record

Ruturaj Gaikwad etched his name in the List A record books by overtaking Virat Kohli to record the highest batting average by an Indian, among players with at least 50 innings.

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He reached the milestone while playing for Maharashtra against Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy match in Jaipur. Gaikwad scored 66 runs off 52 balls, including seven boundaries.

The Maharashtra skipper has scored 4,904 runs in 97 List A matches. He now averages 57.69, narrowly ahead of Kohli’s 57.67, who has 16,207 runs in 344 matches.

Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Performances for Team India in International Cricket

Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a fine century in the second ODI against South Africa at Raipur. He made 105 runs off 83 balls, including 12 fours and two sixes. However, his effort went in vain as South Africa won the match by four wickets and leveled the series.

The right-handed batter has played eight ODIs and scored 228 runs at an average of 28.50. Against South Africa, he has 141 runs in five innings. Gaikwad has also scored 79 runs in two matches against Australia and eight runs in one innings against the West Indies.

Gaikwad has registered two 50-plus scores in ODIs so far. Apart from his century in Raipur, his other notable knock was 71 against Australia in Mohali in 2023. He has shown the ability to play important innings at the international level.

Virat Kohli Last Seen In Action For Team India in South Africa ODIs

Virat Kohli delivered a dominant performance in the ODI series against South Africa, scoring 302 runs in three innings at an outstanding average of 151, including two centuries and one half-century. His best knock was 135 off 120 balls in the series opener at Ranchi.

Since making his ODI debut in 2008, Kohli has built a remarkable career. He has scored 14,557 runs in 296 innings at an average of 58.46, with 53 centuries and 76 half-centuries. The veteran batter is the second-highest run-getter in ODIs, behind Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli will next be seen in action in the home ODI series against New Zealand. The three-match series begins on January 11 in Vadodara, followed by matches in Rajkot on January 14 and Indore on January 18.

Also read: Devdutt Padikkal all but seals India ODI squad spot for New Zealand series after domestic heroics

Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday condemned the US military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.The socialist democrat called it an “act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”At a news conference, Mamdani said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump by phone to voice his opposition to the military operation and the attempt to change Venezuela’s government.Mamdani said: “I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal international law and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day. I registered my opposition, I made it clear and we left it at that.”US President Trump had announced the capture earlier in the day, describing it as a “large scale strike” following months of US assaults on suspected drug vessels allegedly tied to the Venezuelan regime in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific. The Venezuelan government issued a statement condemning the attack, describing it as an “attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a ‘regime change,’ in alliance with the fascist oligarchy.”Mamdani later took to X to highlight the potential impact on New Yorkers, particularly the city’s tens of thousands of Venezuelan residents. “This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home. My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance,” he said.The mayor is a democratic socialist who shares some policy similarities with Maduro, including a focus on redistributing wealth. Mamdani has campaigned on taxing the wealthy and corporations to fund public services, while Maduro redistributed wealth through oil revenues and state control of resources. However, Venezuelan socialism has involved nationalisation and centralised control, contributing to economic collapse and authoritarian practices, unlike Mamdani’s localised policy agenda focused on public housing, childcare, transit and city-owned grocery stores, according to Fox News.

MUMBAI: A large number of candidates from the Mahayuti parties are set to be elected unopposed in the municipal corporation polls, a situation that was confirmed by BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye. Upadhye said on X: “The BJP’s momentum continues. From the Mahayuti, 68 corporators are elected unopposed. The largest number is from the BJP.”He added that 44 unopposed candidates across eight municipal corporations were from the BJP, with the largest number from the KDMC. There were 22 from the Shiv Sena. He also stated that the NCP, which is contesting the polls solo, had two unopposed corporators.The opposition was scathing about the spate of unopposed elections, alleging that money and threats were used to get opposition candidates to withdraw. The opposition also alleged that the ruling parties had the support of the state’s election commission.Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut alleged that candidates opposing the Mahayuti were offered up to Rs 5 crore to withdraw from the election. “Bags containing 5 crore rupees each were sent to the houses of candidates in Jalgaon to force them to withdraw.”He referred to the SEC as the “pet cat” of the govt. “Although the deadline for withdrawal was 3 pm, instructions were issued from the offices of the chief minister and deputy chief minister to accept applications even after that and backdate them to before 3 pm,” alleged Raut.“Check the phone calls and records of everyone involved. Investigate who called whom in the last 24 hours – which guardian minister, which minister, or which office made the calls,” he said.Raut said such a trend of unopposed elections was not witnessed anywhere in the world. “Even prominent leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Vasantdada Patil, Ram Manohar Lohia and Narendra Modi were not elected unopposed,” Raut said.The Congress party’s Satej Patil asked why only Mahayuti candidates were being elected unopposed. “There is the use of muscle power and money. In some cases, returning officers are giving wrong decisions. The election authorities should probe this,” he said.

In the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) elections, where as many as 20 candidates from the Sena-BJP Mahayuti are set to be elected unopposed, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kalyan-Dombivli unit, submitted a complaint to the SEC.AAP demanded that elections must be conducted even in wards where only one candidate remains in the fray. The party urged the commission to grant NOTA (None of the Above) the status of a “deemed” or “virtual” candidate in such wards. Furthermore, AAP proposed that if the sole candidate secures fewer votes than NOTA, a re-election should be held in that ward. This demand was formally communicated by AAP poll committee advisor Akash Vedak.Thane’s Shiv Sena (UBT) president Kedar Dighe raised questions on whether political parties can claim their candidates “won unopposed” and sought clarity about whether these candidates still need to face the NOTA button.Dighe was apparently responding to celebrations among the Dy CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena cadres in Thane city and suburbs after rival contestants to seven seats in the city and a few others across various neighbouring corporations were either disqualified or pulled out of the race.Dighe posted, “If there is a NOTA button on the EVM, then how are the currently elected candidates declared ‘unopposed’? The Election Commission should place the NOTA button against these so-called unopposed candidates. That would show how many voters oppose them, and democracy would become more transparent.”Samajwadi Party president and MLA Abu Azmi said, “There was a lot of pressure on our municipal councillors to withdraw their nominations after taking money. Wherever money was distributed, nominations were withdrawn.”

Alice Kaushik and Kanwar Dhillon, who met on the sets of Pandya Store, have been in a relationship for over four years now. The two have had their share of ups and downs, but have emerged stronger. Recounting the most challenging phase they went through following her stint on Bigg Boss over a year ago, Alice says, “Kanwar had said something in an interview, which upset me, but I’m glad we worked things out and are in a happy space today.”The controversy began after Kanwar, in an interview, said he had never told Alice that he wanted to marry her. He only said that he would like to marry someone like her. For Alice, this public denial of their relationship while she was in the Bigg Boss house was hurtful. “Emotionally, it took a toll on me and I started avoiding giving interviews for almost a year, because I did not want to answer any questions on that subject.”Alice says the two eventually discussed the matter. She adds, “I came out, I was gutted and shocked when I saw the interview because he had chosen not to speak the truth, and I do not think he wanted anyone to know that the reason I ever said yes to being in a relationship was that he had convinced me he wanted to marry me. There is a difference between keeping things private and lying in an interview. Our entire relationship had always been very public, so for me I was just speaking my truth. There was nothing to hide. But I chose not to address it in any of the interviews after I came out because he was receiving hate, and my first instinct was to protect him. This is the reason I chose not to give interviews for the past year, because this question is inevitable. But now he, too, thinks that I should be able to speak my truth. We are in a good space. It took a while.”

As for marriage, the couple is in no rush. “Not any time soon. I have always wanted to marry a littlelate in life and thankfully, Kanwar feels the same way,” she signs off.

After the rising political pressure on the BCCI to impose a ban on Mustafizur Rahman and restrict the participation of Bangladeshi players in the IPL, the BCCI has finally issued a directive for the Kolkata Knight Riders to replace the Bangladeshi paceman from their squad.

The Kolkata Knight Riders picked Mustafizur Rahman in the IPL 2026 mini-auction for a whopping INR 9.20 crores. He has played for several franchises in the IPL, as he has played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Mumbai Indians, the Rajasthan Royals, the Delhi Capitals, and lastly the Chennai Super Kings.

BCCI issues directive for Mustafizur Rahman’s replacement from KKR

Mustafizur Rahman played for the Delhi Capitals last season, having replaced Jake Fraser-McGurk from the Capitals squad. The BCCI succumbed to the pressure built by the political leaders and masses of India, and hence issued the directive to release him from the squad ahead of the IPL.

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Mustafizur Rahman has been released by the Knight Riders management, and hence, they will be allowed to side along with other players who can replace him in the KKR squad.

Top 7 pacers who can replace Mustafizur Rahman for KKR:

7. Naveen Ul Haq

Afghan pacer Naveen Ul Haq has played in the IPL for the Lucknow Super Giants back in IPL 2023 and 2024. The pacer has picked 25 wickets in the history of the IPL. He went unsold in the previous auction and in the recent mini-auction as well. The pacer can come in handy on the KKR side and will be a good replacement for Mustafizur Rahman in the death overs.

6. Alzarri Joseph

West Indies paceman Alzarri Joseph rose to fame with a stunning performance in the IPL. Making his IPL debut in 2019, he picked 6 wickets in a single game for the Mumbai Indians. Later in 2022 and 2023, he played for the Gujarat Titans and picked 7 wickets in every season. Joseph is also a stunning replacement option for the Knights.

5. William O’Rourke

The lanky speedster from New Zealand, William O’Rourke, has been rising as a white-ball talent. Rourke played in the IPL for the Lucknow Super Giants last season as a replacement in the side. The young pacer is quick and can deliver smartly with the new ball for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

4. Gerald Coetzee

South African paceman Gerald Coetzee has not been named in the ICC T20 World Cup squad, but could make it to the Kolkata Knight Riders squad as a replacement for the Bangladesh star. Coetzee played for the Gujarat Titans last season but went for too many runs and his uneconomical spells left him unsold in the auction.

3. Shamar Joseph

Shamar Joseph, the West Indies speedster, has been ruled out due to an injury since the home series against Australia. Shamar Joseph was part of the Lucknow Super Giants camp last season but did not get adequate chances to make it count in the IPL. Joseph went unsold in the player auction in 2026, and if he recovers from injury, he can replace Mustafizur in the KKR camp.

2. Fazalhaq Farooqi

Fazalhaq Farooqi is the best possible option in this list of pacers to replace the Bangladesh paceman Fazalhaq Farooqi. Farooqi played for the Rajasthan Royals last season, and in the few opportunities he had, he proved to be a very effective and economical bowler. Farooqi can be the like-for-like replacement for Mustafizur Rahman.

1. Tom Curran

The England bowling all-rounder Tom Curran has not played for England for a long time, but despite this, he has turned out to be an exceptional talent across T20 leagues. He has performed very well in the last few years in the CPL, BBL, ILT20, and The Hundred, or any other league he has played in. Curran can turn out to be convincing with both the bat and ball, which can be an advantage for the Knight Riders.

ALSO READ: Mustafizur Rahman publicly shares emotional message as BCCI forces KKR to kick him out of squad

SHAMLI: Claiming an immediate threat to his life from Uttar Pradesh police, gangster Haji Firoz Khan chained himself inside his home, rigged a noose and installed CCTV cameras at multiple corners on Saturday, and posted live videos every half hour.Calling it “mere theatrics”, police said Khan has been posting such “updates” on his social media account since Wednesday to affirm his well-being amid intermittent warnings that any attempt to arrest him would lead to his “suicide”.The bizarre episode unfolded at Jhinjhana town in Shamli district after police seized 14 properties worth Rs 30 crore belonging to Khan under section 14 (1) of the Gangsters Act on Dec 25 last year as he was listed as absconding in police records. However, in one video clip, Khan — in his late 50s — claimed a court had stayed his arrest and no police action should be taken against him.SP (Shamli) NP Singh told TOI : “Firoz Khan is using online videos to obstruct police and administrative work. He has been issuing criminal threats against the official proceedings by public servants and levelling false, baseless allegations against police and administrative officials while threatening suicide.”The SP added Khan had earlier maintained his own social media cell, through which he was now making unsubstantiated accusations, but legal action against the gangster will continue despite his “online stunts”. Khan has 22 cases, including those of rape and murder, against his name across the region, Singhsaid.In one of the clips, Khan could purportedly be seen showing the noose tied from a ceiling fan, while claiming “he has imposed precautionary house arrest upon himself as cops intend to eliminate him in an encounter”.Police said keeping in view the social media stunt, a case was filed against Khan, his niece and another accusedunder BNS sections i9ncluding 218 (resistance to lawful taking of property), 226 (threat of injury to public servant).