wednesdAY no more 10-minute delivery by quick commerce companies 14 Eternal-owned quick-commerce firm Blinkit dropped its ‘10-minute’ delivery claim after a Union labour ministry fiat on Tuesday january, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Russia hits Ukraine Air strike on power grid pic: P Ravikumar Govt worries about risks in quick delivery Russia launched a second major drone & missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said on Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 Addl 25% Iran-linked tariff to have minimal impact on India: Govt V ismay Basu @ New Delhi P ushpita D e y @ New Delhi Major partners in total trade in 2024 India $3.6 bn Iraq Turkiye UAE China $12.3 bn $17.3 bn $32.4 bn $28.2 bn Iran’s trade Source: Trade Data Monitor via WTO, compiled by Bloomberg While US President Donald Trump delivered yet another blow by announcing 25% additional tariff on countries that do active trade with Iran, government sources said India is likely to have minimal impact. Their confidence stemmed from the fact that India’s total merchandise trade with Iran stood at only $1.6 billion (in 2024-25), which is 0.15% of the country’s total trade. “For India, Iran does not even figure in the top 50 global trading partners. India’s trade value with Iran is expected to further go down in the current fiscal year given external economic factors. (Therefore) 25% tariff announced by the US on trade partners of Iran is likely to have minimal impact on India,” said government sources. Iran’s total import in 2024 was worth about $68 billion, sourcing it goods mainly from the UAE ($21 billion - 30%), China ($17 billion - 26%), Turkiye ($11 billion - 16%) and the EU ($6 billion - 9%). India’s share was only $1.2 billion (2.3%). Top exports from India to Iran include cereals (rice), coffee, tea, spices, edible oil, etc. “There is still no clarity on whether humanitarian products like food and medicines will be exempted. India significantly exports such products. In any event, given the low overall trade volume, the macro impact will be low. If these products are exempted, the impact will be even lower,” said Anup Wadhawan, former commerce secretary . Trump announced the additional tariff to pressure Iran to step back from its violent crackdown on a wave of protests in the country that have left over 2,000 people dead. As per the data collated by Bloomberg citing WTO, India despite being one of the top 10 trading countries of Iran accounts for only 2.9% of the total share of trade. In 2024, the overall trade including both service and merchandise, between India and Iran stood at just $3.6 billion. Its merchandise trade with Iran dived by more than 20% in the last five years from $2.1 billion in 2020-21 to $1.6 billion in 2024-25, showed the data compiled by the commerce ministry . Next steps JAISHANKAR, RUBIO TALK, MAY MEET NEXT MONTH J ayanth J aco b @ New Delhi A day after Washington’s new ambassador to New Delhi Sergio Gor said India and the US would take up outstanding trade issues, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday and discussed the next steps in the trade negotiations, critical minerals and a possible meeting next month. Highlighting the breadth of engagement between the two sides, Jaishankar said the conversation also covered nuclear cooperation, defence and energy Gor, . too, said that Rubio and Jaishankar discussed “next steps regarding our bilateral trade negotiations, critical minerals and a possible meeting next month.” The diplomatic outreach signals an early effort to stabilise India–US relations. On Monday Gor described the current frictions as part of a mature , partnership capable of managing disagreements. Express read Army opens fire on Pak drones along LoC Indian Army troops opened fire to take down multiple suspected Pakistani drones that entered Indian territory from across the LoC in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday evening, army officials said in Jammu. However, the drones briefly hovered in the Manjakote sector before returning to Pakoccupied Kashmir. Airspace over Delhi to be partially shut for 6 days The city airspace will remain partially closed for two hours and 25 minutes for six days beginning January 21 in the run-up to the Republic Day. This is in line with the established protocol. The move, aimed at facilitating the Republic Day rehearsals and parade, will impact hundreds of flights. These flights are likely to be rescheduled during the day. New Delhi The failure of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)C62-EOS-N1 mission has shaken the confidence of space start-ups and raised concerns, particularly over insurance. None of the satellites from Indian private space companies that were on the launch vehicle were insured. This is due to Indian private insurance agencies don’t offer any budget-friendly schemes for the space sector. A senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official, not wanting to be named, said that earlier, satellites were launched by only government agencies for the government and the insurance was not necessary But now, with the space . J8.00 l This winter dense fog has once again emerged as a lethal hazard on Indian roads, producing dozens of accidents, causing more than 35 fatalities and scores of injuries across northern states, particularly in the National Capital Region, since November 2025. The worst of these accidents took place on the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura on December 16 last year that killed at least 17 and injured 89 people. It involved a pile-up of buses, cars, 14k deaths every year Govt data for 2022–23 shows foggy conditions accounted for over 30,000 accidents in each of these years, causing over 14,000 deaths. and trucks, which collided one after the other in thick mist. Some of these vehicles even caught fire. Like Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh sees heavy fog in late December and January, which makes it unsurprising that most Different strokes Split verdict on prior nod clause in anti-graft law S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a split verdict on the validity of a 2018 provision that was inserted into the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which mandates prior government approval before investigating public officials in corruption cases. While Justice B V Nagarathna ruled that Section 17A be struck down, Justice K V Viswanathan partially read it down. The matter would now go to the Chief Justice of India to assign it to a larger bench. Justice Nagarathna observed that Section 17A was an attempt to “protect the corrupt”. “The requirement of prior sanction is contrary to the object of the Act, and it forecloses inquiry and Protecting protects the corrupt rath- officers er than seeking to protect the honest and those with “The singular integrity who really do object (of not require any protec- Section 17A) is to protect tion,” she said. On the other hand, Jus- bona fide tice Viswanathan held that recommenan independent agency dations and must decide the question decisions taken of prosecution sanction. by officials and He directed that the sanc- bureaucrats,” tion be decided by the Lok- Justice pal/Lokayukta, reading Viswanathan down Section 17A to that observed extent. “Section 17A is constitutionally valid subject to the condition that the sanction must be decided by the Lokpal or the Lokayukta of the State,” Justice Viswanathan said. He added that striking down the provision will amount to “throwing the baby out with the bath water”, warning of policy paralysis from frivolous probes, and stressing the need to protect honest officers. He said a fine balance has to be maintained between the need to protect a public servant from mala fide cases and the importance of upholding probity in public office. None of Indian pvt space firms had insured satellites on PSLV Bosky K hanna @ Bengaluru l PAGES 12 Winter fog turns roads deadly, e-way pile-ups and crashes expose lax safety With toll topping 2,000, Trump announces fresh levy to press Tehran to go easy on the protesters Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials.... HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!! l Other aggregators, like Zepto and Swiggy-owned Instamart, are also expected to follow suit. The decision to do away with the ‘10-minute’ delivery model came after Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya persuaded delivery aggregators, keeping in mind growing concerns over welfare and safety of delivery workers galloping to close orders | P4 & 10 sector opening up for the private sector, the same trust factor has continued without safety nets, like insurance. This was the first time a PSLV carrying private satellites failed. ISRO insures its satellites when they are launched from foreign soil, but takes no such precautions when doing so in India. ISRO officials said they do not take responsibility of insuring. “Any satellite company coming for launch should get their own insurance. Foreign agencies partnering with us do it,” a senior official said. An Indian space agency that was to launch its satellite said, “We did not insure our satellites because it is a costly affair and we trusted ISRO. But, now we are worried.” Centre discussing safety net This issue has gained momentum with the draft of new space policy being finalised. A Ministry of Space official said, “Entire concept is new. Policy is being finalised and discussion is happening on insurance. There is a need to make it mandatory for the sector to grow safely.” fatalities are reported in this region. In Delhi’s north, Punjab regularly reports heavy fog days that cause considerable discomfort to motorists. Two fatal crashes in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab took place earlier this week. A head-on motorcycle collision in Etah killed three and injured two on Monday while a car-bus collision in , Hoshiarpur took four lives. The Punjab crash took place in the early hours of Saturday . Cold countries counter fog with tech, India with regrets | P4 Pak-born US cricketer ‘denied’ WC visa B’desh stand firm After a video conference with ICC, Bangladesh remained firm in their refusal to travel to India for T20 WC. BCB have said they want matches to be played at a neutral venue E x pr e ss N e w s S e rvic e @ Chennai ALI Khan, a Pakistan-born and raised US international cricketer, has claimed on Instagram that his Indian visa has been ‘denied’. Khan, who put out a story on his personal handle without elaborating, has featured in 13 T20Is for the US. It’s understood that there are other Pakistan-origin players in the US team who are in a similar situation but the International Cricket Council (ICC) is expect- ed to find a quick resolution to the issue. With the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka in under a month, the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan have once again brought this issue to the foreground. With many teams having Pakistan-origin players, it remains to be seen whether those players are also facing similar situations. UAE, another team with a few Pakistan origin players, are yet to hear about the fate of the visas of several of their players. “We have submitted the names but haven’t heard anything,” a team source told this daily Apart from UAE and US . (these two teams are yet to announce the final 15), other teams that have players with Pakistani roots may include Netherlands, Italy, Oman and England. In 2024, Shoaib Bashir, the England off-spinner had to miss the first Test due to delay in visa. Former Aussie opener Usman Khwaja faced the same issue in 2023. P11