SAMBALPUR l thursday l february 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION IT stocks crash after AI tool that automates core work unveiled Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of AI startup Anthropic Traditional software biz faces disruption US-based AI company Anthropic unveiled its new AI tool, Cowork, last month. What sent the IT stocks into a tailspin on Wednesday was a new plugin for this tool that automates tasks across legal, sales, marketing, and data analysis. This could cut the need for custom-built software and human expertise, reducing dependence on traditional IT companies | P10 Sentiment turned sharply negative on Wednesday after a US start-up unveiled a new plug-in for its AI tool that could disrupt traditional IT businesses Infosys falls the most among large cos ■ ■ Shares of Infosys plunged 7.19%, that of Tata Consultancy Services 6.95%, HCL Technologies 4.22% and LTIMindtree 5.51% on the BSE In the US market, the Nasdaq Composite index tanked 1.43% on Tuesday and was down 1.25% in early trading on Wednesday. Shares of major firms like Nvidia Corp and Alphabet Inc registered declines 5.49% how much the BSE IT index tumbled on Wednesday CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Lok Sabha impasse Mamata argues in Supreme Court, questions SIR forces cancellation of Modi’s address S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Cong insisted on Rahul Gandhi completing his speech, suspension of BJP MP Dubey THE Supreme Court on Wednesday witnessed dramatic scenes as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared in person to make submissions in a case challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. Banerjee, who holds a law degree and had briefly practised as a lawyer, alleged her state was being targeted and people were being bulldozed. “We are not getting justice,” she told a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi. Banerjee, who was represented by senior advocates Shyam Divan and Kapil Sibal, sought five minutes to personally advance submissions. The CJI granted her 15 minutes. “They (EC) are targeting Bengal. We have given everything to ECI... all kinds of documents, but got no justice. I am a very less important person. But please protect people’s rights,” Banerjee told the bench with folded hands. She alleged that the names of women who take their husbands’ surnames after marriage or shift to their in-laws’ houses are deleted, citing mismatches. The bench took note of Baner- Rahul’s ‘traitor’ jibe at Bittu sparks political firestorm asked why Rahul didn’t say such a thing to other MPs, but only to a Sikh? “I am the grandson of a martyr (exA sharp war of words between Con- Punjab CM Beant Singh, who was asgress leader Rahul Gandhi and Union sassinated by militants in 1995) and as minister Ravneet Singh Bittu snow- long as I was in the Congress, it was balled into a political storm on fine. But, now that I am with the BJP, Wednesday with the BJP urging Lok he is giving me such names,” he Sabha Speaker to take action against said. Rahul. Stepping up the attack, the The face-off took place BJP fielded its Sikh leaders, outside Parliament’s Makar including Union minister Dwar, where Rahul was Hardeep Singh Puri and Delstanding with the suspended Bittu is not just an hi minister Manjinder Singh opposition MPs, who were MP or a member of Sirsa, to accuse the Congress protesting on the stairs. of harbouring the same “ana Sikh family. his While walking past the ti-Sikh mentality” that was grandfather -Sardar Beant protesting MPs, Bittu said, on display at the height of Singh -- fell to an “They are sitting here as if the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. assassin’s bullet. they have won a war.” Defending Rahul, ConAnd you call him a Responding to the comgress MP Sukhpla Singh traitor. This is ment, Rahul said, “The thing Khaira said the word “my completely is, here is a traitor walking traitor friend” used by Raunacceptable right by. Take a look at the hul was to address Bittu as Hardeep Singh Puri face. How he looks.” an individual who ditched Rahul then extended his the party in testing times. “It hand towards Bittu and said, “Hello is by no means an insult to the Sikh brother, my traitor friend. Don’t wor- community .” ry, you will come back to the The ‘traitor jibe’ evoked sharp reacCongress.” tions in Punjab, which will go to polls Bittu refused to shake hands, say- next year. Ashwani Sharma, working ing: “Desh ke dushman (enemies of president of BJP in Punjab, said Rathe country),” pointing at Rahul. hul is trying to cover up his failures A former close aide of Gandhi, Bit- by using abusive language. Punjab tu had switched to the BJP ahead of Congress president Amarinder Singh the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Raja Warring said Bittu was a traitor Later in a video statement, Bittu as he betrayed the Congress. PREETHA NAIR & HARPREET BAJWA @ New Delhi / Chandigarh Opposition MPs seeking to gherao the Treasury benches in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI P reetha N air @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled reply to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address could not take place on Wednesday, as the Opposition stepped up its attack on the government for blocking Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech and suspension of eight MPs. As soon as the House convened at 5 pm after three adjournments, women MPs from the Opposition marched towards the Treasury benches holding banners which read “Do what is right.” Modi was not present in the House when the Opposition members made their way to the Treasury benches protesting against the suspension of MPs and former Army Chief M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir. BJP MP Sandhya Rai, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for the day in a few minutes. In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “PM Modi won’t come to Parliament because he is scared and doesn’t want to face the truth.” Later, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge called a meeting of the floor leaders in both Houses. It was decided that floor leaders of all Opposition parties will meet on Thursday morning to chalk out strategy ahead. “How can the PM speak when the LOP was not allowed to speak? What was the PM going to reply to?” said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh. Though Speaker Om Birla convened a meeting of the Opposition leaders at 4 pm ahead of the PM’s scheduled speech, it failed to break the logjam. The Opposition put forward two demands — the suspension of BJP’s Nishikant Dubey and to allow Rahul to speak in the House. The meeting was attended by Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and K C Venugopal among others. The leaders conveyed to the Speaker that if the government does not yield, the Opposition will disrupt the PM’s speech. Earlier, a row erupted when Dubey began his speech by referring to books such as Edwina and Nehru and Mitrokhin Archive among others and made remarks targeting former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Modi gave the message (to the then Army Chief MM Naravane), do what you think is right (on LAC). Meaning he shed responsibility Rahul Gandhi, LS Leader of Opposition Fire-fighting by Speaker Speaker Om Birla convened a meeting of the Opposition at 4 pm ahead of the PM’s scheduled speech, but it failed to break the logjam N itin R awat & N amita B ajpai @ Ghaziabad/Lucknow In a shocking incident, three sisters, aged 16, 14 and 12, allegedly addicted to a Korean task-based online game, died by suicide in Ghaziabad in the wee hours of Wednesday . All three jumped from a balcony of their ninthfloor apartment around 2 am. Aged 12, 14 and 16, the trio lived with their father Chetan Kumar, a forex trader. While the eldest was born to Kumar’s first wife, the younger two were born to his second wife, who also lived with the family At the time of the incident, Kumar and his wife . were sleeping with their son. The girls were resting in another room. According to the family, they heard a noise and rushed to the girls’ room. “We saw the room was locked. We broke open the door and found the girls were not there. We ran downstairs and saw them lying on the ground,” a family member said. “Papa, sorry We cannot leave Korea. Korea is our . life, Korea is our soul, and you cannot separate us from it,” their suicide note read. Police said the three were addicted to an online Korean game called ‘Love Game’ and had not been attending school for the past 2-3 years. “Because of this, when their family members restricted their mobile usage, they took the extreme step,” a senior police officer said. (Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on helpline 104 or Tele MANAS 14416) INDIGO The Competition Commission ordered a detailed probe against IndiGo for unfair business practices, nearly two months after the airline cancelled thousands of flights, causing hardships to passengers | P10 New beginning Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla felicitates new Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh after his swearing-in ceremony, in Imphal, on Wednesday; and (inset) deputy chief ministers L Dikho (tip) and Nemcha Kipgen | PTI | P8 Caravan Tourism Van-tastic! Odisha launches home-on-wheels for wanderlust S pan d an N ayak @ Bhubaneswar Imagine hitting the road on a luxury van - a home-on-wheels - and driving it all the way on your own will. As night falls, park it by a beach, a forest, on top of a hill or any scenic, dreamy place you have driven to and go to bed in it. Luxury travel in Odisha has just shifted gears with entry of caravan tourism. Travel no longer revolves around taking flight, train, cars or even bus to your destination and living in hotel rooms. The freedom, adventure and thrill is in with caravans put on offer to the travellers by the state government. In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the state, deputy chief minister and Tourism minister Pravati Parida, flagged off three luxury cara- Lens on Korean online games as three minor sisters die by suicide under lens of Competition Commission Rule 349 As Dubey kept listing books about the Gandhi family, the chair disallowed it citing Rule 349, which bars reading from any book except in connection with the business of the House jee’s submission and said genuine persons must remain on electoral rolls. Referring to the EC as a ‘WhatsApp Commission’ that passes instructions through the instant messaging app, Banerjee alleged that “the SIR process is only for deletion, not inclusion”. Questioning the rationale for conducting SIR in her state, she asked how can a process that usually takes two years be done in three months. Opposing the submissions of Banerjee, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, said the West Deputy CM Pravati Parida flagging off the caravan vehicles launched by Sand Pebbles Tour ‘N’ Travels in collaboration with department of Tourism at Dhauli on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on Wednesday | DEBADATTA MALLICK vans at Dhauli on Wednesday The . caravan project will cover popular tourist destinations across the state like Talsari, Hirakud-Debrigarh, Similipal, Pentha-Bhitar- kanika, Mangalajodi-BalugaonChilika, Jiranga-Mahendragiri, Baliput-Satkosia, Daringbadi and Deomali-Putsil-Kolab, spanning coastal, wildlife, hill and eco-tour- ism circuits. Parida said, with the initiative, Odisha aims to attract more domestic and international visitors and position itself as a forward-looking, tourist-friendly destination offering innovative and immersive travel experiences. “Caravan tourism will add a new dimension to Odisha’s travel landscape. This initiative is designed to attract travellers seeking adventure and eco-friendly experiences, while simultaneously supporting local tourism economies. It will promote offbeat destinations, reduce travel fatigue, and encourage longer stays across the state. The initiative will also generate new opportunities in hospitality, transport, and allied services,” she said.  Continued on P5 Bengal government was not cooperative. “We wrote to the state government so many times to give grade-two officers to be appointed as EROs (electoral registration officers). Only 80 officers were given.” During the hearing, Banerjee’s counsel Divan sought a direction from the court to the ECI to upload the reasons for each voter discrepancy, so that people know why they are not on the list. The SC bench issued notices and sought replies to the petition by February 9 from the EC and chief electoral officer of West Bengal. 11-yr-old steps out of school to relieve himself, found dead in pit A sish M ehta @ Bhubaneswar An 11-year-old boy, who stepped out of his school to relieve himself, was found dead in a water pit metres away from the campus, in Nayagarh d i s t r i c t o n We d n e s d ay morning. Bholanath Mallick, a Class-V student of Belpada primary school within Gania police limits of the district, went missing since Tuesday afternoon after having the mid-day meal. Police investigation revealed that the minor boy was last seen at 1.30 pm when he left the school’s premises to answer the nature’s call. The school has two functional toilets, but he did not use them. As Bholanath did not return after the school hours, his father Bijay Mallick lodged a complaint with Gania police station. A case of kidnapping was registered. The locals and his family continued an overnight search but to no avail. On Wednesday morning, residents spotted a slipper floating in a pit near the school a n d a l e r t e d t h e p o l i c e. Bholanath’s body was fished out and sent to a hospital for postmortem. The deceased was a native of Belpada Patna Continued on P5 village.