Morning Digest: Ajit Pawar to be laid to rest in Baramati today, DoPT report says 66% sanitation workers in Central govt from SC, ST, OBC groups, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on January 29, 2026

The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will be held with full State honours on Thursday (January 29, 2026) at 11 a.m. at Vidya Pratishthan in Baramati, Pune. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the State cabinet will be present at the funeral. Leaders cutting across the political spectrum will be present, the Nationalist Congress Party said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said that “a massive armada” is heading towards Iran and is ready to “fulfil its mission”, adding that time is running out for the Islamic Republic to make a deal on its nuclear programme. In response, Tehran said that if attacked, it would retaliate “like never before”.

More than 66% of Group C safai karmacharis employed across the central government come from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), or Other Backward Classes (OBC) backgrounds, data on reservations from the Department of Personnel and Training’s (DoPT) latest annual report for the year 2024-25 showed.

The aircraft involved in Wednesday’s (January 28, 2026) crash at Baramati was attempting a second landing amid poor visibility at an airstrip that, despite witnessing frequent VIP movement, is primarily used for flight training. The facility is equipped only with a rudimentary Air Traffic Control (ATC) set-up operated by a flying school, and lacks a dedicated meteorologist and navigational aids to transmit cues to the cockpit.

Ruling party leaders in Tamil Nadu made a fervent plea that 88% of voters excluded from the draft electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the name of logical discrepancies and mapping had not received hearing notices, compelling the Supreme Court to schedule an urgent session on January 29, 2026 with the Election Commission of India present for giving an explanation.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 28, 2026) agreed to give a short date of hearing in petitions seeking an independent, judicially-monitored probe into the reasons behind the Air India Flight 171 crash at the Ahmedabad Airport, killing 12 crew members and 229 passengers on June 12, last year.