Netflix pulls ‘Gooskhor Pandat’ content The Centre on Wednesday asked Netflix to remove teaser and other promotional content of the film from social media amid backlash over its title. The film’s title triggered outrage, with many saying it portrays a particular community in bad light. Producer Neeraj Pandey clarified saying it does not target any caste, religion or community BHUBANESWAR l saturday l February 07, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Growing LS rift could hamper rest of session Opposition parties likely to disrupt Budget discussions set to resume from Monday P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi WITH the ties between the government and the Opposition at a near breaking point, uncertainty hangs over the remaining days of the first phase of the Budget Session in the Lok Sabha. Opposition parties have signalled that protests will be intensified as there has been no conciliatory move from the government, fuelling fears of further disruptions to discussion on the Union Budget 2026-27 in the week ahead. The flashpoints are the government’s refusal to allow Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to speak in the Lok Sabha on former Army chief General Naravane’s book and the suspension of eight Opposition MPs for alle ged unruly behaviour. The divide deepened after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp attack on the Congress and other Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Speaker Birla’s remark that he had ‘credible information’ about some MPs planning an ‘unprecedented action’ against the PM added fuel to the fire, with Opposition leaders strongly objecting to the allegation. The Lok Sabha is scheduled to resume discussion on the Oppn members staging a protest in the Well raising slogans against the government in the Lok Sabha on Friday Budget on February 9, 10 and 11, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to reply on February 11. However, Opposition leaders have made it clear the debate may not proceed as scheduled. Although the Budget discussions were to begin on February 5, proceedings were stalled due to pandemonium. The first phase of the Budget Session is scheduled to conclude on February 13. After a recess, Parliament will reconvene for the second phase from March 9 to April 2. Congress chief whip Kodikunnil Suresh told this paper that the government had shown little inclination to engage with the Opposition. “It is the government’s responsibility to reach out to the Opposition and resolve differences. No such effort has been made. On Wednesday, our leaders met the Speaker and placed demands, but there has been no response,” he said. RBI to pay up to `25K to digital fraud victims B e nn K o c h u v e e d a n @ Mumbai WITH digital frauds becoming commonplace, the Reserve Bank of India decided to cast a safety net around banking customers by paying 70% of small value money or up to `25,000 lost in fraudulent transactions, RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday This . is a once in a lifetime arrangement without asking questions provided that no malafide intent. The customer would not even be asked if he shared the OTP with the fraudster. The remaining 30% loss will be equally shared by the customer (15%) and the bank to ensure all parties have skin in the game, Malhotra said. Repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, policy stance neutral The Reserve Bank-led rate-setting panel on Friday opted for continuity in the final monetary policy review of the current fiscal, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, while retaining the neutral policy stance. RBI said lower rates are here to stay for long | P10 This was among the measures the RBI announced for better customer protection and digital payments safety as part of fresh regul at i o n s, i n cl u d i n g s t r i c t e r guidelines on mis-selling, loan recovery and customer liability “A , . discussion paper will soon be released to ensure stronger digital payment security measures,” Malhotra said. According to official RBI data, banks reported 13,469 fraud cases related to card and internet-based transactions during fiscal 2025, involving losses of `520 crore. “Even if the customer has shared the OTP and if the fraud was first time, the customer is eligible for compensation, minus 15% of the total loss,” the governor clarified. When asked where would the money for this compensation come from, deputy governor Swaminathan J said the compensation money will be from the depositor education fund of the central bank. The governor said 65% of digital frauds are worth less than `55,000. Top Maoist couple with `1.10 cr bounty, 17 cadres lay down arms Powerplay: Vaibhav gives English lessons A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai In a major success for state police and a huge blow to the CPI (Maoist), at least 19 cadres, including a most-wanted couple carrying a cumulative reward of `1.10 crore on their heads, surrendered in Rayagada and Kandhamal districts on Friday . Niranjan Rout alias Nikhil and his wife Ankita alias Rashmita Lenka, both state committee members of the CPI (Maoist), surrendered along with 13 others before the Rayagada police. The group belonged to the Bansadhara-Ghumusar-Nagabali (BGN) division of the banned outfit. Addressing mediapersons, DGP YB Khurania said the couple had a cash reward of `55 lakh each. Nikhil hails from Jagatsinghpur district, while Ankita is a native of Tangi in Cuttack district. Nikhil was active in the bordering areas of Rayagada, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts since the last two decades. He had reportedly come in contact with some Naxal sympathisers after 1999 Super Cyclone and joined the CONTINUED ON P5 banned outfit since then. Right after losing the Asia Cup to Pakistan, the entire India U-19 team was tremendous pressure. For a boy of 14, that pressure seemed like a mountain. Despite magical debut in international cricket, questions were raised about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s ability to play in crunch games. The only way he could have stopped those doubters was through his knocks. And that came on Friday at the final of the U19 World Cup. Sooryavanshi, playing like a man in a boy’s match, struck one of the greatest 100s in agegroup cricket to help India win their sixth Under-19 World Cup. A day before the seniors start U19 World Cup Vaibhav Sooryavanshi with trophy | BCCI their campaign to defend the T20 World Cup at home, Sooryavanshi & Co produced a powerpacked batting performance against England in the final at Harare. Unperturbed by the grand stage, the young 14-something smashed the ball all around the park with elan. What seemed most astonishing is the way he could middle the ball with such consummate ease and regularity. When the carnage was finally done, he had made a record-breaking 80ball 175, 150 of those coming in boundaries (15x4, 15x6). England tried gamely but fell 100 runs short. On a sun-kissed day , India, who opted to bat first, needed to make hay as England had several batting match-winners in their ranks. They needn’t have worried as their principal batter, Sooryavanshi, already exposed to senior cricket in all three formats, tore into the English attack. No other team has dominated the U19 World Cup as India has done. This is the sixth time InP11 dia won the title.