KANNUR l sunday l January 04, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION NCC to train 10,000 cadets to deal with cyber attacks special hubs for training in the offing NCC has also planned to train one lakh cadets as first responders in the wake of natural disasters, Director General, NCC, Lt Gen Virendra Vats said at a press conference on the NCC’s Republic Day Camp 2026 in New Delhi. NCC has started work on raising four to five hubs across the country where select cadets can be trained on drone and counter-drone aspects National Cadet Corps will train a group of 10,000 ‘cyber warriors’ who can contribute to bolstering India’s digital defence mechanism cadets to be linked to national database ■ These cadets will be known as Yuva Apda Mitras, and they will be trained and linked with the national database, so that the services can be used by the nation in case of need in future, Vats said ■ NCC plans to increase its strength from 17 lakh to 20 lakh in a phased manner, and is looking to achieve this goal by 2028 40% of the ncc’s total current strength comprises girls 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 U.S. snatches maduro Venezuela President, wife being taken to America in dramatic coup; US will run it for now A G E N C I E S @ Caracas SC order on Khalid’s bail tomorrow S U C H IT R A K A LYA N M O H A NTY @ New Delhi The Supreme Court will on Monday pronounce its order on the bail petitions of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and five others in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. They were booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the masterminds of the riots. A two-judge bench comprising just i c e s A ra v i n d Kumar and N V Anjaria had res e r v e d their verdict on December 10. The verdict comes in the wake of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani writing a note to Khalid, recalling his words on ‘bitterness’ and the importance of not letting it “consume one’s self ”. Parallelly eight American , lawmakers wrote to Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra on December 30, urging a fair and timely trial for Khalid and others in accordance with international law and bail for the duration of the court’s proceedings. A videograb of a blaze in Caracas on Saturday; US President Donald Trump releases the first photograph of Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima en route to the US | X/AP The United States hit Venezuela with a ‘large-scale strike’ early Saturday and said President Nicolas Maduro and his wife had been captured and shipped out of the country after months of intense pressure on the leftist government in an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack. Later in the evening, Trump, in a televised address, said the US is going to “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. He said no US servicemen were killed in the operation and the US is “ready” to stage a second “and much larger” attack on the country if needed. Further, American oil firms will head into Venezuela to tap its massive crude re- ripple effect kkr drop bangladesh player, focus shifts to T20 World Cup ties E x p ress Ne w s ser v i ce @ Chennai Amidst the rising criticism over signing Bangladesh seamer Mustafizur Rahman, Kolkata Knight Riders released the player from their IPL 2026 squad following instructions from the cricket board. On Friday Shah Rukh , Khan and his franchise came under severe attack from certain quarters for buying the Bangaldeshi bowler. The BCCI on Saturday said that it has instructed the franchise to release the Bangladesh player citing current situation in the country . What seems to be even more interesting is that Bangladesh would be playing four matches in India — three in Kokata, one in Mumbai — during the T20 World Cup starting next month. Bangladesh Cricket Board has already called for an emergency meeting on Saturday night. If the matches do get affected, then the entire World Cup schedule might have to be rejigged. Pakistan, which re- fused to play in India because of security reasons, will play in Sri Lanka. As for KKR, it confirmed “that the BCCI/ IPL, as the regulator of the IPL, has instructed it to release Mustafizur from the squad ahead of upcoming IPL season. The release has been carried out following due process and consultations.” KKR had signed Rahman for `9.2 crore in the auction last month — the only Bangladeshi player to get picked — but had come under criticism on social media and from political parties owing to tur moil there. Shortly after BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said that they have asked KKR to release Rahman, the franchise confirmed the development. The BCCI said that KKR would allowed a replacement. “Due to the recent developments that are going on all across, BCCI has instructed the franchise KKR to release one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh,” Saikia told a news agency . serves, he said. The legal authority for the strike and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand was not immediately clear. The surreal American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the US invasion of Panama that led to the seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 exactly 36 years ago. In a series of fast-moving events, Caracas was rocked by seven explosions, accompanied avoid travel, says mea advisory The Ministry of External Affairs urged Indians to avoid all non-essential travel to Venezuela. It asked Indian nationals to contact +58-412-9584288 in case of an emergency by the sound of attack helicopters, around 2 am local time (11.30 am IST). The strikes, which targeted a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, continued for nearly an hour. Maduro’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations, calling it an ‘imperialist attack’ and urging citizens to take to the streets. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York. Before Saturday’s capture, Maduro appeared on state television on Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas. The strike came after the Trump administration spent months increasing pressure on Maduro, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, accused of carrying drugs. Russia and China, leading Venezuela allies, condemned the “armed aggression” and demanded clarity about Maduro’s fate. “Such hegemonic behaviour by US violates international law...infringes upon Venezuela’s sovereignty, and threatens peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean. China firmly opposes it,” the P9 foreign ministry said.  WITH THIS ISSUE PLUS 12 PAGES In five years, more tigers died outside protected reserves J i t e n d ra C h o u be y @ New Delhi INDIA’s tiger conservation success story has a flip side. More big cats are dying outside protected reserves than inside them. In all, around 51% of 725 recorded fatalities in the last five years occurred outside tiger reserves, driven by the fact that about 30% of the country’s tigers now roam freely outside notified protected areas, exposing them to risks like human conflict, road accidents, electrocution and poisoning. A senior officer with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) pointed to severe staffing shortages. “We’re stretched thin in the field. Our forensic labs are understaffed too, which delays sample analysis and slows our response. That’s partly why poachers aren’t caught and prosecuted quickly enough.” The rising number of tiger deaths outside protected areas prompted the Environment Ministry to launch a pilot to manage human-tiger conflicts across 10 states, with an allocation of `88 crore. “This doesn’t address the core issue of staff shortage,” said the officer. Kerala Inc hits fast lane Homegrown big guns lining up IPOs worth `12k cr R A J E S H A B R A H A M @Kochi Kerala’s marquee homegrown companies are lining up a fresh wave of initial public offerings (IPOs), in what is shaping up to be a major shot in the arm for the state’s business sector. From vertical SaaS and gold loans to spices, diagnostics and real estate, a new league of enterprises from Kerala is preparing to tap the capital markets to power their next phase of growth. A clutch of companies — IBS Software, Synthite Industries, DentCare, Indel Money and Veega, IPO Pipeline Company Amount (Kcr) Year IBS Software 4,500 2027 Indel Money 3,000 2029 Synthite Industries 1,500+ 2028/29 DentCare 1,000 2030 250 2025 Veegaland Developers land Developers — is lining up public issues over the next one to five years, which are together ex- Crisis and Opportunity pected to mop up `10,000-12,000 crore, say company executives and market sources. Also warming up for the market are Agappe Diagnostics and SFO Technologies (NeST Group), both targeting listings in the next couple of years. At the front of the pack is IBS Software, widely regarded as India’s largest vertical software as a service (SaaS) company in the travel and aviation technology space. The proposed IPO — pegged at around `4,500 crore ($500 mn) — could rank among the largest SaaS company listings from India. While the company had earlier explored a New York listing, the mood in domestic markets has tur ned decisively favourable. “With Indian markets delivering stronger valuations than many overseas exchanges, an India listing can’t also be ruled out,” said an investment banker familiar with the discussions. The company, in which Apax Funds holds a significant minority stake, was last valued at around $1.5 billion, following the 2023 transaction in which Apax bought out Blackstone’s holding.  ● More on P2 Pre-election jolt to LDF as Antony Raju convicted E x p ress Ne w s S er v i ce @T’Puram In a major loss of face for the ruling LDF just months before the assembly elections, its MLA from Thiruvananthapuram and former minister, Antony Raju, was on Saturday handed a three-year jail sentence for tampering with evidence in a 35-year-old drug seizure case. In the wake of the ruling by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Nedumangad, Raju stands disqualified as MLA, and will be barred from contesting elections for six years after his prison term ends. However, the MLA, the second accused in the evidence tampering case, will not go behind bars soon as the court has granted him one-month bail to appeal the verdict. Former court clerk Jose, the first accused, was also handed a three-year sentence under IPC 201 (disappearance of evidence), besides a fine of `10,000. The duo was also sentenced to three years in jail under IPC Section 193 (furnishing false evidence), two years under Section 465 (forgery), and six months under IPC 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy). Jose was handed another one-year jail term and fined `5,000. All sentences will run concurrently . The verdict comes 19 years after the chargesheet was filed against Raju, a legislator of Janathipathya Kerala Con- Antony Raju arrives at JFCM court in Nedumangad. Following his conviction, he stands disqualified as MLA | EXPRESS 35-year trail 1990: Australian man Andrew Salvatore caught with narcotics hidden in pocket of his underwear at T’Puram airport 1991: Salvatore acquitted by HC as underwear kept as evidence is found not of his size 1994: Vigilance case accuses Raju, Salvatore’s junior counsel, of disappearance of evidence 2006: Chargesheet filed against Raju, others for evidence tampering 2023: HC quashes criminal proceedings against accused 2024: SC restores criminal proceedings against Raju gress, an LDF ally. The case dates back to 1990 when Raju was a junior lawyer appearing in a drug case involving an Australian national, Andrew Salvatore. He is accused of tampering with Salvatore’s underwear, which was seized as material ● More on P2 evidence.  Will fight conviction legally, says MLA Speaking to reporters after his conviction earlier in the day, Raju said the case was part of a political conspiracy. “The court’s findings prove even innocent can be punished. I will fight it legally,” he said. However, he offered no comment after the court handed out sentences later.