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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (January 31, 2026 - February 6, 2026) February 6, 2026 18 India T he deputy chief minister of India’s wealthiest state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, died onWednesday, along with four other people on board, when his charter aircraft went down in flames, the aviation regulator said. Pawar, who hailed from a top political family, was en route to his home region to canvass in local body elec- tions, media said. Two of his staff and two crew were also aboard the VSRVentures-operated Learjet 45 aircraft, the directorate general of civil aviation said. “No person on board has survived,” it added in an initial statement. VK Singh, the director of VSRVentures, told broadcast- er India Today that the plane crashed during its approach to the city of Baramati, but the cause was not clear. “The aircraft is 100% safe,” he said. “The crew was fairly experienced.” Video images showed smoke billowing from some of the burning wreckage of the plane, scattered across an open field. “At first it was on fire, after that there were four or five more explosions,” an unidentified witness told the ANI news agency, after seeing the plane crash and explode. But the flames were too fierce to pull anyone out, he added. Pawar backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the state government, leading a faction that split in 2023 from the opposition Nationalist Congress Party. In a post on X, Modi said Pawar’s death was “shocking and saddening”. Media said Pawar’s aircraft, travelling from the fi- nancial capital of Mumbai, tried to make an emergency landing in the family stronghold of Baramati, 250 km (155 miles) away, where he was set to canvass in the elections. Reuters holds a minority stake in ANI. -Reuters -NEW DELHI/BANGKOK/SINGAPORE T wo cases of the deadly Nipah virus in India have prompted authorities in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia to step up airport screening in an effort to prevent the infection from spreading. The virus, which is carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, can cause fever and brain inflammation and has a fatality rate of between 40% and 75%. Although it can spread from person to person, transmission is not easy and typically requires prolonged contact with an infected individual. It more commonly spreads to humans from infected bats, or fruit contaminated by them. The infections were confirmed in India in late Decem- ber. Small-scale outbreaks are not unusual and virologists said the risk to the general population remained low. Several vaccines are in development but are still undergo- ing testing. “While vigilance is warranted, there is no evidence to suggest a broader public health threat at this stage,” said Efstathios Giotis, lecturer in molecular virology at the University of Essex in Britain. INDIAN HEALTH WORKERS INFECTED The two people infected in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal in late December were health workers and both are under treatment at a local hospital, a district health officer told Reuters. Authorities have identified and traced 196 contacts linked to the two cases with none showing symptoms and all testing negative for the virus, the Indian health minis- try said in a statement late on Tuesday. “Speculative and incorrect figures regarding Nipah virus disease cases are being circulated,” the statement said. “Enhanced surveillance, laboratory testing, and field investigations were undertaken …which ensured timely containment of the cases.” Reports of the infections put authorities on alert in neighbouring Southeast Asian nations as well as Nepal and Hong Kong. TEMPERATURE SCREENING AT SINGAPORE AIRPORT Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency said on Wednesday that it will set up temperature screening at its airport for flights arriving from areas affected by the infections in India. “We are also reaching out to our counterparts in South Asia, to better understand the situation. Work is ongo- ing to establish a global platform for countries to report genome sequencing of detected cases,” the agency said in a statement. A Hong Kong airport authority spokesperson said it was facilitating enhanced health screening measures enforced by the health department at Hong Kong Inter- national Airport, including temperature check at gates for passengers arriving from India. DESIGNATED AIRCRAFT PARKING IN THAILAND Thailand earlier this week tightened airport screening measures, with neighbouring Malaysia following suit. Thailand has assigned designated parking bays for air- craft arriving from areas with Nipah infections, its health ministry said, while passengers must complete health declarations before clearing immigration. Malaysia’s health ministry said it was boosting pre- paredness through health screening at international ports of entry, particularly for arrivals from countries deemed at risk. China’s disease control authority said on Tuesday that no Nipah infections had been detected in the country but there were risks of imported cases, state broadcaster CCTV said. Nepal, which shares a busy border with India, said it was on “high alert” and had tightened screening for travellers. NIPAH NOT NEW TO INDIA Nipah was first identified just over 25 years ago during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singa- pore, although scientists believe it has circulated in flying foxes, or fruit bats, for thousands of years. TheWHO classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen because there are no licensed vaccines or treatments, its high fatality rate, and the fear that the virus could mutate and become more transmissible. India regularly reports sporadic infections, particularly in the southern state of Kerala, regarded as one of the world’s highest-risk regions for Nipah. The virus has been linked to dozens of deaths there since it first emerged in the state in 2018. Bangladesh also reports cases regularly. As of December 2025, there have been 750 confirmed Nipah infections globally, with 415 deaths, according to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is funding a vaccine trial to help stop Nipah. TheWest Bengal cases are the state’s first in nearly two decades, following five fatal infections in 2007, local media reported. -Reuters Deputy Chief Minister Of Maharashtra Among Five Dead In Air Charter Crash Nipah Virus Fears Trigger Airport Checks Across Asia After India Confirms Two Cases By Sakshi Dayal By Rishika Sadam and Jatindra Dash PHOTO:REUTERS/FRANCIS MASCARENHAS PHOTO:SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT OFFICE /HANDOUTVIA REUTERS Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) politician Ajit Pawar is seen before the swearing-in ceremony of Shiv Sena party leader Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of Maharashtra in Mumbai, India, November 28, 2019. Airport health authorities wearing protective masks monitor passen- gers from international flights arriving at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, January 25, 2026, following the imple- mentation of health screening measures for passengers arriving from West Bengal, India, amid reports of a Nipah virus outbreak.