FRIDAY 09 JANUARY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard ‘MY SPEECH AIMED TO QUELL VIOLENCE’, SONAM WANGCHUK TELLS APEX COURT GREENLAND ROW DENMARK WELCOMES US MEET Jailed activist Sonam Wangchuk’s lawyer told the Supreme Court on Thursday that facts were being manipulated to portray him as a criminal Denmark has welcomed a meeting with the US next week to discuss Donald Trump’s renewed call for Greenland to come under American control ‘NOT GIVEN FULL GROUNDS OF DETENTION’ A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00  Wangchuk said he was neither given the “complete grounds” of his detention, not an opportunity for a representation against his arrest. “The tenor of the speech is not in any sense threatening the security of the state or that I will continue such activities or to propagate violence, but to quell it,” he said. Wangchuk was detained under NSA | P7 PAGES 12 Didi crashes ED’s raid party, seizes docs S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee comes out of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain’s house with a green folder in hand, which she said contained her party’s documents | PTI KISAN YATRA Farmers to reach Delhi on March 19 for MSP hike THE Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s raids at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata on Thursday in connection with a money laundering probe turned into high drama as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stormed in and took away some documents. Mamata, who entered Jain’s house at Loudon Street with police escort while the ED searches were still going on, came out with a green folder, which she claimed contained details of TMC candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls. “They have raided the residence and offices of our incharge of the IT cell. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which have details about our party candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back,” she said, adding the papers had no link to any financial probe. I-PAC, which offers political consultancy to the TMC, also manages the party’s IT and media operations. Banerjee alleged ED officials walked away with hard disks, mobile phones, laptops, candidate lists, and internal strategy documents of the TMC. “Is it the duty of the ED to collect po- Republican Senator Lindsey Graham claims Trump ‘greenlit’ a bill that could impose up to 500% levy on India for buying Russian oil More tariff terror as Don OKs bill on Russian curbs J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi SEVERAL farmers’ organisations are back in action with their old demand of getting an assured purchase price for their produce. Working under the umbrella of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha-Non-Political (SKM), they have announced plans for an all-India march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in February and March. Named Kisan Yatra, its purpose is to put pressure on the Centre to legalise the minimum support price (MSP) regime, implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission to ensure that farmers receive an amount above 50 per cent of the cost of production as MSP, and provide full debt relief to farmers. According to Jagjit Singh Dallewal, national coordinator of the SKM, the Kisan Yatra will commence in the first week of February in Kanyakumari and conclude in Srinagar in March. “During this journey, we will organise kisan panchayats across the country to mobilise grassroots support. We will collect millions of villagelevel resolutions in favor of these demands and present them to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a grand Kisan Mahapanchayat scheduled for March 19 at the Ramlila Ground,” he said. Previously, he undertook a 132-day fast in Punjab, demanding a legal guarantee of MSP . Additionally, a delegation from the group is set to meet with the Supreme Court-appointed High-Powered Committee in Panchkula on Friday to discuss agricultural issues. Following this meeting, the delegation will also meet with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture. INDIA could face punitive US trade action in the form of tariffs as high as 500% after President Donald Trump reportedly agreed to let a long-pending legislation on Russian sanctions move forward, potentially setting up a Senate vote as early as next week. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday that Trump had “greenlit” the bipartisan bill after they met at the White House. “President Trump will allow the sanctions bill to move forward,” Graham said, and added that a vote could come soon, though the bill’s fate in Congress remains uncertain. The legislation, formally titled the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, seeks to impose steep tariffs and secondary sanctions, running as high as 500%, on countries that continue to do business with Russia, particularly those importing Russian energy India and China, the world’s two . largest buyers of discounted Russian crude since the start of the Ukraine conflict, would be directly in the firing line. “This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” Graham said in a statement. The bill has been spearheaded by Graham alongside Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and has accumulated dozens of co-sponsors in the Senate, with a companion measure introduced in the House of Representatives. Its stated aim is to choke off funding for ‘Russia’s war efforts’ by targeting energy revenues that have remained more or less steady despite earlier Wester n sanctions. Under the proposal, the US would impose tariffs of at least 500% on all Russian goods and services imported into the US. Crucially the same level , of duties would also apply to imports from countries that “knowingly” purchase Russian-origin oil, gas, ISA FOCUS ON ITS MISSION, SAYS GOVT J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Narendra Modi Donald Trump EXITS INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE In a setback to global climate cooperation, Trump formally withdrew the US from the International Solar Alliance, a flagship renewable energy initiative co-led by India & France | P7 uranium and petroleum products. The bill also mandates visa bans and asset freezes on senior Russian officials and foreign entities found to be supplying defence equipment to Moscow, while directing the Treasury Department to sanction Russian state-owned financial institutions. Graham had previously indicated that Trump supported the bill, but it repeatedly stalled amid resistance and demands from the White House for greater executive flexibility As. sociated Press reported that a White House official said the President now backs the proposed legislation, though it was unclear whether earlier requested revisions had been incorporated. India has increased its imports of Russian crude since the beginning of Ukraine conflict. At times, Russian oil has accounted for 35–40% of India’s total crude imports. New Delhi has defended the purchases as a matter of national interest and energy security . Trump, however, has repeatedly criticised India’s continued buying of Russian oil. In August, his administration imposed an additional 25% levy on Indian imports, taking total US tariffs on Indian goods to 50%. 1 Following the US exit from 66 international organisations, including the Indiabacked International Solar Alliance (ISA), the government said the alliance remains focused on its objective of supporting member countries to scale up solar energy 2 Govt sources said the ISA will continue to work with member countries, particularly least developed countries and small island developing states, on the development and deployment of solar energy. Its work includes mobilising finance, building capacity, and reducing risk perceptions Stages dharna in front of I-PAC office Mamata also staged a sit-in protest in front of the Godrej Waterside Building that houses I-PAC, raising slogans against ED and Union minister Amit Shah litical party data?” she asked. She then proceeded to the IPAC office in Salt Lake and went up to the 11th floor office of the agency using a lift from the basement. She stayed in the office for about one hour. Her security personnel were seen bringing out many files from the I-PAC office and placing them inside the CM’s car. The ED said the raids were not against any political party , adding that simultaneous searches were conducted at 10 locations in Delhi and West Bengal in connection with a money laundering probe into a multi-crore coal scam. Later in the day, the ED moved the Calcutta High Court against Mamata alleging interference in its investigation. The HC is expected to take up the matter on Friday . In its statement, the agency accused Mamata of taking away “key evidences including physical documents and electronic devices” from Jain’s house and the I-PAC office. Bill for hefty penalty up to `3 cr in place of jail likely in Assembly today A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi THE cost of simplifying a law can be quite exacting. Escaping jail under the proposed Delhi Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill 2026—which is likely to be tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Friday—will not mean going easy on offenders, as it swaps imprisonment for steep civil penalties that touch the sky ranging from `20 lakh , to as high as `3 crore in the most serious cases. T he proposed law seeks to decriminalise minor violations across several Delhi government laws and replace imprisonment with a structured civil penalty system. The draft bill could not be taken up in the ongoing Assembly session over the past t w o d ay s d u e t o e a rl y adjournments. In the education sector, laws governing professional colleges and diploma-level technical institutions will scrap imprisonment clauses and impose stiff civil penalties of up to `3 crore for violations, such as charging capitation fees. Under the Delhi Industrial Development, Operation and Maintenance Act, 2010, unauthorised construction or alteration in an industrial estate will attract a civil penalty of up to `25,000, with an additional `1,000 per day if the violation continues. Misuse of industrial land may draw a penalty of up to `10,000 plus `500 per day. Non-compliance with key provisions under the amended Section 40 can lead to penalties of `10,000 to `25,000, while other contraventions may now attract up to `5,000, instead of the earlier token fines. In the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954, major contraventions will attract a fine of `10,000 to `25,000, with higher amounts for continuing defaults. Under the Delhi Electricity Reform Act, 2000, civil penalties will now range from up to `1 lakh and up to `6,000 per day for continuing violations. Civil fines for serious breaches will range from from `5 lakh to `20 lakh. Under the Delhi Agricultural Produce Marketing Act, 1998, civil penalties will be up to `50,000 plus per-day charges. FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, TERRE POLICY CENTRE M ADHAV Gadgil, the ecologist many called the people’s scientist, passed away in Pune on the night of January 7, after a brief illness. He was 83. With him goes a rare kind of public intellectual — one who believed that science must walk hand in hand with society That nature . is best protected when people are ment, widely regarded as the country’s first major environmental movement, bears his imprint. Later, as chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, he led the prepara- THE Supreme Court on Thursday slammed the Cabinet Secretary to the Union of India for flouting its directions to file an affidavit in connection with the regulation of private universities in the country . “We are really surprised as to how the Cabinet Secretary was under the misconception that despite a categorical order of the court that the affidavit has to be affirmed by him, he has not filed it and has instead been filed by the Secretary of the Higher Education Department,” a bench of justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and N V Anjaria said. The court had in November 2025 directed a nationwide audit of private universities after a petition alleged that Amity University had harassed a student for changing her name. She said the institution had refued to change her name in its rolls despite furnishing all legal documents. In 2021, the petitioner had changed her name from Khushi Jain to Ayesha Jain and published it in the Gazette. Yet, Amity barred her from attending classes and even taunted her for taking a Muslim name. “We were not taking this issue totally as a judge or as just an issue before the court. It is taken only in public interest. On the next date, larger picture will emerge and take you (counsel) into confidence regarding what is going on in our minds. We will require you all to be proactive then. Mr (Tushar) Mehta (Solicitor General) will not believe how many letters and petitions I have received from all over India. We are getting some petitions with evidence,” the bench said. During the hearing, when a lawyer said that education should not be an industry Jus, tice Amanullah said, “Exactly . We are creating the future of the country Whatever we do to. day is meaningless if we don’t ensure that the baton is passed on to the right hands.” Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday chaired a security review meeting on the prevailing situation in Jammu & Kashmir and instructed all agencies to remain alert and continue to work in synergy. CAPITAL COLD A woman braves the cold near Yamuna Bazar on Thursday. Delhi shivered at a minimum of 5.8° C. Palam was the city’s coldest area at 4.8° C | PARVEEN NEGI | P4 Madhav Gadgil, the people’s scientist who gave Nature a voice DR VINITAA H APTE @ New Delhi Shah chairs security review meet on J&K 24 MAY 1942 – 7 JANUARY 2026 trusted as its custodians. Gadgil lived by the ethic he quietly embodied: simple living and high thinking. A Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee, and a recipient of the United Nations’ Champion of the Earth Award, he was globally respected, teaching and lecturing in 16 countries. Yet his work remained deeply rooted in India’s landscapes — its forests, hills and villages — and in the lives of those who depend on them. He founded the Indian Institute of Ecology and was instrumental in shaping India’s environmental consciousness. The Silent Valley move- S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y EXPRESS READ 3 “ISA today represents 125 member/ signatory countries. ISA remains focused on its objective of supporting member countries in collectively addressing key common challenges to scaling up of solar energy, in line with their needs, to achieve universal energy access,” said sources SC raps Cab Sec for not filing affidavit on pvt univs tion of a report that continues to challenge policy-makers and citizens alike. It asked difficult questions about development, biodiversity and justice — and refused easy answers. What set Gadgil apart was his extraordinary accessibility He spoke in . simple, lucid Marathi, translating complex ecological science into ideas communities could claim as their own. Knowledge, he believed, must never remain locked in institutions. His research consistently foregrounded marginalised voices and championed community-led conservation across forests, wetlands and fragile ecosystems. One of his most enduring contributions was the establishment of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in 1986, now India’s largest protected area. It reflected his conviction that conservation thrives when people are partners, not obstacles. To students, whom he mentored generously, he offered the same message: begin with what surrounds you. Observe closely and care deeply . Gadgil is survived by a son and a daughter. His wife, Sulochana Gadgil, a distinguished meteorologist, passed away in July 2025. His final rites were held at Pune’s Vaikuntha crematorium on January 8. EC relief for select voters in hearings The EC on Thursday exempted voters away from West Bengal for studies, medical treatment and work, among other reasons, from appearing for hearings related to the SIR of electoral rolls in person. Lid off `2K cr scam in Raj meal scheme A scam of over `2,000 crore has been unearthed in Rajasthan’s state-run midday meal scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has booked 21 persons in this regard. | P8