Jan 11 News Live: Iranian president vows to listen to protesters but warns against rioters
Catch all the important news updates from India and across the world
Here is the top, trending news of Sunday, January 11, 2026, including Indian politics, states' politics, geopolitics, federal issues, economics, development issues, sports, entertainment and so on.
Read updates below.
Live Updates
- 11 Jan 2026 5:46 PM IST
Singer-actor Prashant Tamang of Indian Idol fame dies of cardiac arrest at 43
Indian Idol 3 winner Prashant Tamang, who was recently praised for his role as a cold-blooded assassin in Paatal Lok 2, died on Sunday (January 11) following a cardiac arrest. He was only 43.
Tamang’s close friend, singer Mahesh Sewa, told PTI that the singer-actor died at his residence in Janak Puri.
"He (Tamang) passed away this morning around 9 am due to cardiac arrest at his residence in Delhi. He was taken to the hospital by his family but the doctors declared him dead on arrival. I'm shocked by his untimely demise. I spoke to him a few days ago and he was hale and hearty," he said.
"His body is still at the hospital. The family is yet to decide whether to perform the funeral in Delhi or Darjeeling," he added.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:46 PM IST
Iranian president vows to listen to protesters but warns against rioters
Iran’s president says officials will listen to protesters, but rioters are trying to “destroy the entire society” as demonstrations sweep across the Islamic Republic.
The comments from Masoud Pezeshkian represent a hardening tone from the reformist leader, who so far has been unable to assuage the public, as anger over the country's ailing economy exploded into a direct challenge to the nation's theocracy.
“People have concerns, we should sit with them and if it is our duty, we should resolve their concerns,” Pezeshkian said. “But the higher duty is not to allow a group of rioters to come and destroy the entire society.”Iranian state television aired an interview with the president on Sunday. It had suggested it would be aired Saturday, but ended up not airing it. - 11 Jan 2026 5:45 PM IST
UP government plans regular Tamil classes in schools, colleges
Regular Tamil language classes are set to be introduced in schools and colleges in Uttar Pradesh as part of efforts to strengthen cultural and linguistic exchange between different parts of the country, according to officials in the know.
Colleges plan daily Tamil classes
The initiative aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kashi Tamil Sangamam vision, which aims to promote deeper cultural connections between Tamil Nadu and Kashi (Varanasi). In his December 28 episode of Mann Ki Baat, the Prime Minister highlighted the example of Payal Patel, a student of Government Queen’s College, praising her for learning Tamil in a short span of time.
Inspired by the Prime Minister’s remarks and the broader cultural outreach programme, Government Queen’s College is planning to introduce daily evening Tamil language classes. The move has received official backing, with the District Inspector of Schools directing the college to conduct the classes, Principal Sumit Kumar confirmed to news agency PTI.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:43 PM IST
Will seek legal advice on disqualifying Mamkootathil as MLA: Kerala Speaker
Following the arrest of Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in connection with a fresh sexual assault complaint, Kerala Assembly Speaker AN Shamseer on Sunday (January 11) indicated stern action against the MLA, and said legal advice would be sought on initiating disqualification proceedings against him.
Speaking to reporters, Shamseer said the continuation of the expelled Congress legislator in the MLA post, despite repeated allegations, would send a wrong message to society.
He added that it was the first time such grave allegations had been raised against a legislator and that the matter would be referred to the Privilege and Ethics Committee.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:42 PM IST
‘My heart is with you’: Reza Pahlavi urges Iran protesters to go on as toll reaches 116
Even as the situation gets volatile in Iran, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah, has appealed to anti-government protesters to continue demonstrations against the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-led regime, saying the sustained street protests have significantly weakened the state’s security apparatus.
Pahlavi, in an X post, has called the protester “my compatriots,” and claimed that the prolonged protest is weakening Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime.
"Reliable reports have reached me indicating that the Islamic Republic is facing a severe shortage of mercenaries to confront the millions of people in the streets, and so far many armed and security forces have left their workplaces or disobeyed orders to suppress the people. What remains for Khamenei is a minority of violent mercenaries who, like their criminal leader, are non-Iranian and anti-Iranian, and consider you - the great nation of Iran - their enemy. Know that they will face consequences for their actions," Pahlavi has said on X.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:40 PM IST
Amit Shah seeks probe by neutral agency into Sabarimala gold theft case
Slamming the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the gold theft at Sabarimala temple, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (January 11) sought a probe into the case by a neutral investigation agency.
After inaugurating the BJP’s Mission 2026 programme for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala and addressing the party’s newly elected representatives of local bodies, he said those who failed to protect the properties of Sabarimala cannot safeguard the faith of the people.
He asserted that only the BJP can safeguard the faith of believers in Kerala.
According to him, the theft of gold at Sabarimala was not just the concern of the people of Kerala but of devotees across the country.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:39 PM IST
Siddaramaiah denies power struggle over chief minister chair
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday (January 11) dismissed speculations over a fight for the top administrative chair and accused the media of creating the alleged tug of war between him and his deputy, D K Shivakumar. He also said he would meet state Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to explain the recently passed Hate Speech Bill, even as the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to urge the latter not to give it his assent.
Speaking to reporters in Mangaluru, where he reached on Saturday (January 10) for some events, the veteran Congress leader said, "There is no fight, you (media) create it. Where is the fight? Unnecessarily, you ask such questions."
Siddaramaiah, who recently eclipsed his predecessor Devaraj Urs to become Karnataka's longest-serving chief minister, was responding to a question on a social media post by the BJP claiming that the tussle over the chair would resume in the ruling party after the Sankranti festival.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:37 PM IST
Delhi: Elderly couple duped of Rs 14.85 crore, kept under ‘digital arrest’ for 17 days
An elderly doctor couple in Delhi has been cheated of Rs 14.85 crore in a prolonged cyber fraud, in which scammers kept them under what police describe as a “digital arrest” for over two weeks, according to a police complaint.
The couple, Dr Om Taneja and his wife Dr Indira Taneja, spent nearly 48 years in the United States, serving with the United Nations, before returning to India in 2015 after retirement.
Since then, they have been associated with charitable work.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:35 PM IST
PM Modi slams alleged attempts to hide Somnath history, hails Sardar Patel
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (January 11) made strong claims about the history of the Somnath Temple in Gujarat while delivering an address on the occasion of Somnath Swabhiman Parv, a three-day event which kicked off on Thursday (January 8) to remember those Indians who sacrificed their lives while defending the temple over several years. One of the aims of the Parv is to inspire the cultural consciousness of future generations.
It also saw Modi take part in a Shaurya Yatra to honour the lives that were lost while protecting the temple.
The prime minister, who was speaking on the concluding day of the event, said it marked 1,000 years since the first attack on the temple and that the temple’s journey through this time stood as a celebration of India’s existence and self-pride.
- 11 Jan 2026 5:32 PM IST
Rahul Mamkootathil heckled at Kerala hospital after third rape arrest; Cong disowns MLA
Expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who was arrested in connection with a sexual assault case, was heckled and activists of DYFI and Yuva Morcha raised slogans against him, at a government hospital on Sunday (January 11) when he was taken there for medical examination by the police. The court has remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.
Prior to being presented in court, the Palakkad legislator was taken to the hospital after being questioned for several hours at a police camp in the district.
