According to the statement released by the hospital, Sonia Gandhi was admitted around 10 p.m. on Monday after she experienced respiratory discomfort. Following a medical evaluation, doctors found that her bronchial asthma had been mildly exacerbated, largely due to the combined effects of cold weather and prevailing air pollution in the national capital.

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Chairman, Dr Ajay Swaroop, said that as a precautionary measure, she was admitted for observation and treatment.

“At present, her condition is absolutely stable. She is responding well to treatment and is being managed with antibiotics and other supportive medications,” the statement said.

The hospital further noted that her health parameters are being closely monitored by the medical team.

“A decision regarding her discharge will be taken by the treating physicians based on her clinical progress and is likely within the next day or two,” the statement said.

The update from the hospital is expected to allay concerns among party leaders and supporters, following reports of her hospitalisation late Monday night.

Sonia Gandhi turned 79 last December.

She attended the 140th Foundation Day of the Congress party on December 28, where a flag-hoisting ceremony took place at Indira Bhavan in New Delhi.

A day before, on December 27, Sonia Gandhi attended the Congress Working Committee’s meeting at Indira Bhavan in New Delhi.

The CWC unanimously pledged to fight the “conspiracy to turn rights into charity,” raising slogans of “Jai Samvidhan – Jai Hind.”

She had also issued a statement in December on the government passing the VB-G RAM G bill in parliament, launching a sharp attack on the Central government, accusing it of dismantling the rights-based legislative framework through its proposed changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and other key laws.

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The episode was recalled in New York Times report on Monday and traces back to testimony Hill delivered to Congress in 2019, when she served as the NSC’s senior director for Russian and European affairs during the first Trump administration.

In that testimony, Hill described what she called strong Russian signaling—much of it in public forums and media—suggesting a linkage between US policy in Venezuela and Russia’s interests in Ukraine.

“The Russians at this particular juncture were signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine,” Hill told lawmakers, referring to a period in early 2019 marked by heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas and Russia’s military support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Hill said the signals emerged as the United States pressed its case in Venezuela, invoking the Monroe Doctrine, while Moscow pointed to what it saw as its own “backyard” in Ukraine.

“You have your Monroe Doctrine. You want us out of your backyard. Well, you know, we have our own version of this. You’re in our backyard in Ukraine,” she told the hearing, summarizing the Russian position conveyed through informal channels and Russian press commentary.

According to Hill’s testimony, the idea of a trade-off was not conveyed through formal diplomatic proposals but surfaced through public statements, commentaries, and media articles. She said the Russians “laid it out in articles,” many of them in Russian, making the linkage apparent to US officials tracking Moscow’s messaging.

Hill told lawmakers that she later traveled to Moscow on an unclassified visit to meet Russian counterparts, including at a think tank, and that the discussions there reinforced the sense that Russian officials were interested in tying Venezuela and Ukraine together in their strategic calculus. “It was also apparent … that the Russian government was interested in having a discussion about Venezuela and Ukraine,” she said.

She emphasised that the matter had been discussed openly enough that questions were raised at a US State Department press briefing about whether she had gone to Russia “to make a trade between Venezuela and Ukraine,” underscoring that the idea was already circulating publicly.

The New York Times report noted that Moscow’s mixed reaction to recent US action in Venezuela has revived memories of that earlier episode, which unfolded years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At the time Hill testified, Russia had deployed personnel and equipment to Venezuela as Washington increased pressure on the Maduro government.

Hill in the testimony said she personally rejected the notion of such a swap during her interactions with Russian officials. She described the episode as part of a broader pattern in which Moscow sought to frame global politics in terms of reciprocal spheres of influence, contrasting that approach with US policy positions.

In her testimony, Hill made clear that her remarks were confined to unclassified information already in the public domain. “I have confined all my answers to the things that have either been in the public discussion,” she told lawmakers when asked about the nature of her disclosures.

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Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran has already held preliminary discussions with potential CEO candidates who have experience in managing large airlines, according to people familiar with the issue.

Current CEO Campbell Wilson, whose contract expires in mid-2027, is also reported to be not interested in continuing with the airline. So the new appointment will, in a sense, be a friendly parting of ways, according to a source.

The main reason that has triggered the move for the change in guard is that Air India is likely to miss the March 31 target fixed for the airline to break even. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad in June 2025 came as a huge setback for Air India and its revival plans.

A query sent to Air India by IANS on the issue of the appointment of a new CEO was not answered until the time of filing this report.

Although the Tata Group has made big investments to modernise the fleet and expand routes, the airline’s turnaround has been facing hurdles due to delays in aircraft deliveries and refurbishments that were planned for older planes in the fleet.

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The report from Systematix Institutional Equities said that profitability will improve due to sustained sequential advances growth, higher fee income and lower credit costs.

The brokerage forecasted growth momentum in advances to sustain, arising from lower interest rates, benefits due to GST rate reduction and higher tax limits.

Further, it predicted net interest margins to see a dip in Q4 but improve from there on as cost of deposits is expected to trend lower with reprising of existing book and normalisation of unsecured segment slippages, resulting in lower credit cost.

“Although the yield on advances (YOA) continues to decline, the positive impact from prior term deposits’ (TD) rate reductions is expected to become evident this quarter onwards. Further, advantages from Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) reductions, should help maintain steady margins,” it said.

Banking system advances expanded 4.5 per cent quarter‑on‑quarter and 11.7 per cent year YoY as of December 12, 2025, according to the RBI data. The report said that the fee income is expected to rise with improvement in advances growth while trading gains may decline as benchmark 10 year ‘G-Sec yields’ improves.

Most banks have reduced rates on both savings accounts and term deposits earlier in the cycle to protect their margins. While the savings account rate cuts had an immediate impact on the cost of funds, the benefits from term deposit rate reduction due to the lagged repricing of existing fixed-rate deposits are expected to become more visible from this quarter onward, the report noted.

Another recent report noted that asset quality is expected to be steady for most banks, except some surge in seasonal agri slippages, the brokerage said, adding, Q3 will likely be characterized by steady recovery trends, which will help cushion credit cost impact.

On January 2, Bank Nifty surged to a fresh all-time high of 60,152.35, driven by continued strength in the banking pack.

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Markets also remained cautious amid mixed global cues following a US military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

At the close of trade, the Nifty ended at 26,250.30, slipping 78.25 points or 0.3 per cent.

“The 26,300–26,350 band now stands as a key overhead resistance; a decisive and sustained breakout above this range could revive bullish momentum and open the path toward 26,500 in the near term,” an analyst said.

“On the downside, a clear break below 26,200 may invite a corrective move toward 26,050–26,000,” according to the analyst.

The Sensex also finished in the red, settling at 85,439.62, down 322.39 points or 0.38 per cent.

Earlier in the day, markets had moved higher, with the Nifty touching a fresh record high of 26,373.20.

However, the gains were short-lived as investors booked profits at higher levels, leading to a pullback in the latter half of the session.

Heavyweight stocks such as HDFC Bank, Infosys, HCLTech, Bajaj Finance and TCS were among the top losers on the Sensex, dragging the benchmark indices lower.

On the other hand, shares of Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement and Axis Bank provided some support and ended the day as top gainers.

The broader market showed a mixed trend. The Nifty Midcap index ended marginally lower by 0.16 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap index declined by 0.53 per cent.

On the sectoral front, technology and oil and gas stocks saw the maximum pressure, with the Nifty IT and Nifty Oil and Gas indices falling around 1 per cent each.

In contrast, real estate stocks outperformed the market, as the Nifty Realty index rose over 2 per cent.

FMCG and consumer durable stocks also ended higher — reflecting continued buying interest in defensive and consumption-driven sectors.

Looking ahead, Q3 earnings will dominate focus and guide near-term market trends, with sentiment remaining moderately positive, market watchers stated.

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Researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia, studied donated human hearts and found that diabetes disrupts how heart cells produce energy, weakens the muscle’s structure, and triggers a buildup of stiff, fibrous tissue that makes it harder for the heart to pump.

These effects were most pronounced in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy– the leading cause of heart failure.

The findings, published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, can help explain why people living with diabetes face a much higher risk of developing heart failure.

“We’ve long seen a correlation between heart disease and type 2 diabetes, but this is the first research to jointly look at diabetes and ischemic heart disease and uncover a unique molecular profile in people with both conditions,” said Dr. Benjamin Hunter, from the School of Medical Sciences.

“Our findings show that diabetes alters how the heart produces energy, maintains its structure under stress, and contracts to pump blood. Using advanced microscopy techniques, we were able to see direct changes to the heart muscle as a result of this, in the form of a build-up of fibrous tissue,” he added.

To better understand how diabetes affects the heart, the researchers studied heart tissue from both transplant recipients and healthy individuals. This direct examination allowed them to see how diabetes influences heart biology in real human patients rather than relying solely on animal models.

The results showed that diabetes is more than a co-morbidity for heart disease. It actively accelerates heart failure by interfering with essential biological processes and reshaping the heart muscle at the microscopic level.

“The metabolic effect of diabetes in the heart is not fully understood in humans,” said Hunter.

In healthy hearts, energy is mainly generated from fats, with glucose and ketones also contributing. Previous research has shown that glucose use increases during heart failure. However, diabetes interferes with this process by reducing how sensitive heart cells are to insulin.

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Pronouncing the judgment, a Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale said that the prosecution material disclosed a prima facie case against Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, thereby attracting the statutory bar to bail under Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

At this juncture, the Justice Kumar-led Bench observed that the prosecution evidence and other material “does not justify their enlargement on bail”, adding that the record suggested their involvement at the level of planning, mobilisation and issuance of strategic directions.

However, the apex court granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed, all of whom have been in custody for more than five years.

The Justice Kumar-led Bench said it was necessary to examine each bail application independently, since the record disclosed that the appellants did not all stand on equal footing with respect to culpability.

“The hierarchy of participation requires the court to assess each application individually,” the Supreme Court said, holding that Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stood on a qualitatively different footing as compared to the other accused.

Earlier, on December 10, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on the batch of special leave petitions (SLPs) challenging the Delhi High Court’s refusal to grant bail to the accused in the 2020 riots “larger conspiracy” case.

Opposing the bail pleas, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police, had contended that the violence was not a spontaneous communal clash but a “well-designed, well-crafted, orchestrated and preplanned” attack on the sovereignty of the nation.

“This was not a spontaneous act of violence; this was an attack against the sovereignty of the nation,” the SG had argued, relying on speeches, WhatsApp chats and other material to claim a “clear and discernible attempt to divide the society on communal lines”.

He had argued that the delay in the trial proceedings was attributable to the accused since they were “not cooperating” and “each of them argued for 4-5 days for opposing framing of charges”.

“Now, in all cases where it’s difficult to defend on facts, the mechanism is to delay the trial and not to go into the merits and say ‘give me bail’. This has become a pattern,” SG Mehta added.

In September 2025, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the bail pleas of Khalid, Imam and several other accused in the case, observing that a prima facie case under the UAPA was made out against them.

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The Meteorological (MeT) Department said that at minus 8.8 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature, Gulmarg witnessed the season’s coldest night.

Srinagar had minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, and Pahalgam minus 4.8 as a minimum temperature.

Jammu city recorded 8.7 degrees Celsius, Katra town 5.6, Batote 2.1, Batote minus 1.3 and Bhaderwah minus 2.1 as the night’s lowest temperature.

Although Gulmarg and Sonamarg received fresh snowfall, a major snowfall has evaded the Valley so far.

With the MeT Department predicting generally dry weather till January 20, the prospect of a major snowfall during the ongoing 40-day period of Chillai Kalan appears bleak.

If the Chillai Kalan passes without a major snowfall, the summer months would witness very low discharge in rivers, streams, springs, lakes and wells of J&K.

These water bodies are sustained during the summer months by the perennial water reservoirs situated in the mountains.

The perennial water reservoirs get replenished by the heavy snowfall during Chillai Kalan, but only as snowfall in February and March doesn’t last long due to the rising temperatures.

Farmers, orchardists and others connected with agriculture are presently worried about the absence of a major snowfall so far in the Valley.

Plains, including Srinagar city, have yet to receive this season’s first snowfall. Cold, dry weather has prompted doctors to sound caution for people, especially those with a history of heart and lung ailments. Such vulnerable people have been advised not to venture out of their homes till the weather gets warmer.

A weak Western Disturbance affected the union territory a few days ago, resulting in snowfall in the upper reaches of Kashmir and light rain in the plains.

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“Modi’s a very good man,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, while on his way back to the White House from West Palm Beach in Florida on Sunday (local time).

“He’s a good guy,” he said while responding to a question.

Trump claimed New Delhi adjusted its policy after understanding Washington’s displeasure over continued Russian energy purchases. “He knew I was not happy and it was important to make me happy,” Trump said, referring to PM Modi.

“They (Indians) wanted to make me happy, basically. (PM) Modi’s a very good man. Yes, he’s a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy. They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on that very quickly,” Trump said in response to a question that was initially being responded to by Senator Lindsey Graham, who was travelling with him on Air Force One.

Graham asserted that the US tariff pressure has already pushed India to significantly reduce its purchases of Russian oil, arguing that the move is weakening Moscow’s ability to sustain its war effort in Ukraine and demonstrating the effectiveness of tariffs as a foreign policy tool.

Speaking to reporters, Graham credited Trump’s 25 per cent tariff imposed on India for buying Russian crude, saying the measure had produced visible results.

“I really do believe what he did with India is the chief reason India is now buying substantially less Russian oil,” he said.

The President warned that tariff pressure could be increased quickly if countries reverse course. “We can raise tariffs on them very quickly,” Trump said, adding that trade leverage remains firmly in US hands.

Graham said his legislation would give the President sweeping authority to impose tariffs on countries continuing to buy discounted Russian energy.

“If you’re buying cheap Russian oil keeping Putin’s war machine going, we’re trying to give the President the ability to make that a hard choice,” Graham said.

Graham said the bill, backed by 85 co-sponsors, would allow tariffs ranging from zero to 500 per cent, entirely at the President’s discretion. He said the approach has already shown results.

“I was at the Indian ambassador’s house about a month ago, and all he wanted to talk about is how they’re buying less Russian oil,” Graham claimed.

“This stuff works,” Graham added.

Trump contrasted his approach with the Biden administration, which he accused of giving away vast sums to Ukraine. “Biden gave $350 billion,” Trump said. “Now we get paid.”

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Aboard Air Force One on his way back to the White House from Mar-a-Lago, Trump was asked about reports of protesters being killed in Iran and his earlier comments that the US was “locked and loaded.”

“We’ll take a look,” Trump said. “We’re watching it very closely.”

Trump drew a clear line around the use of lethal force by Iranian authorities. “If they start killing people as they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” he said.

The president did not specify what form a US response might take, nor did he outline any immediate military or economic measures. Notably, the US has deployed considerable militatry asset in the region.

Trump’s comments in response to a question, however, underscored that Washington is actively tracking developments inside Iran and considering its options. But he gave no timeline or trigger point. “We’re watching it very closely,” he reiterated.

The comments came amid broader remarks by Trump linking instability in several regions to US national security concerns. Throughout the Air Force One exchange, Trump repeatedly framed unrest, drug trafficking, and authoritarian violence as interconnected threats that require decisive responses.

While Trump did not draw direct comparisons during his Iran remarks, his warning followed strong language directed at Venezuela, Cuba, and other countries he described as destabilising forces in their regions.

Trump has previously accused Iran of violently suppressing dissent during past waves of protests and has used economic sanctions and military deterrence as pressure tools. In this exchange, he stopped short of announcing new measures, instead emphasising vigilance and readiness.

“If they start killing people,” Trump said, repeating the condition under which US action could follow.

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