HYDERABAD l Sunday l January 04, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l LATE CITY EDITION NCC to train 10,000 cadets to deal with cyber attacks National Cadet Corps will train a group of 10,000 ‘cyber warriors’ who can contribute to bolstering India’s digital defence mechanism special hubs for training in the offing cadets to be linked to national database 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 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 ■ These cadets will be known as Yuva Apda Mitras, and they will be 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 New York in dramatic coup; US will run it for now AGEN C IES @ Caracas A videograb of a blaze in Caracas on Saturday after US bombing; and President Trump releases the first photograph of Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima en route the US | X/AP The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and whisked him out of the country in a brazen and surreal military operation early Saturday that plucked a sitting leader from office. President Donald Trump said US will “run” Venezuela until a political transition takes shape, and he would tap Venezuela’s gigantic oil reserves to sell to other countries. The action marked the culmination of an escalating Trump administration pressure campaign on the South American country that consisted of months of strikes on boats that officials said were smuggling drugs to the US. Behind the scenes, US officials tracked Maduro’s behavioral habits, including what he ate and where he slept, in pre- paring for the stunning regime change. The ‘extraction’ in Caracas, codenamed ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’, took months of rehearsal and more than 150 US aircraft, including F-18, F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, B-1 bombers and drones, top US General Dan Caine said. In a series of fast-moving events, Caracas was rocked by seven explosions, accompanied by sound of attack helicopters, 2 am local time (11.30 am IST). The strikes, which targeted a 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 emergerncy ripple effect kkr drop bangladesh player, focus shifts to T20 World Cup ties E x p r e s s N e w s s e r v i c e @ 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 Bangladeshi bowler. The BCCI on Saturday said that it has instructed the franchise to release the Bangladesh player citing the current s i t u at i o n i n t h e country . What seems to be even more interesting is that Bangladesh would be playing four matches in India — three in Kolkata, 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 the 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 turmoil 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 be 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 . major military base and an airbase, among other sites, continued for nearly an hour. Trump described Maduro as being “highly guarded” in a presidential palace that was “like a fortress.” Maduro had nearly made it to a safe room inside it, Trump told reporters, although “he was unable to close it.” American forces were armed with “massive blowtorches,” which they would have used to cut through steel walls had Maduro locked himself in the room, Trump said. “It had a safety space, where it’s solid steel all around,” Trump said. “He didn’t get that space closed. He got bumrushed so fast that he didn’t get into that. We were prepared.” Trump said Maduro and his wife were flown by helicopter to a US warship and would go to New York to face charges. He later posted on Truth Social a photo of Maduro in a gray sweatsuit, protective headphones and blindfold. Trump scotched any expectation that Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado herself should emerge as Venezuela’s new leader. She doesn’t have “support or respect” there, he said. Trump indicated he could work with Maduro’s deputy, vice president Delcy Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”  P9 TG will draw 70 tmcft from Jurala, stop us if you can: CM M a n da Rav i n d e r R e d dy @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday said the state would draw 70 tmcft water from the Jurala project for the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) if the Union gover nment failed to grant permission to use 45 tmcft initially from minor irrigation savings. “I swear in the name of God that I will not do injustice to Telangana. If the Union government does not permit the utilisation of 45 tmcft initially for PRLIS from minor irrigation savings, we will draw 70 tmcft from the Jurala project. I will see who comes to stop it, whether it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, or former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy he said. ,” The chief minister added, “If anyone questions my integrity and commitment to Telangana, I will not only skin them but also cut their tongue. We will not compromise on Telangana’s development and water rights. We will not bow to anyone. We Crisis and Opportunity WITH THIS ISSUE PLUS 12 PAGES Top Maoists Sukka, Raji Reddy surrender C h i t h a l u r i R e v a n t h @ Hyderabad People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion commander Badse Sukka alias Deva and Maoist Telangana state committee member Kankanala Raji Reddy alias Venkatesh, along with 18 other CPI (Maoist) underground cadres, surrendered with 48 firearms before the Telangana police on Saturday . Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy said the strength of the PLGA had come down from over 400 cadres to 66. With Raji Reddy’s surrender, the Maoist Telangana state committee now has only one member. “This surrender sounds the death-knell to the PLGA and the Telangana state committee of the CPI (Maoist). The surrendered cadres walked out with the arms dumps of the PLGA, including those associated with Hidma and Badse Sukka alias Deva,” the DGP said. The surrendered cadres handed over 48 weapons, including two LMGs, one USmade Colt rifle, one Israel-made Tavor rifle, eight AK-47s, 10 INSAS rifles, eight SLRs, four BGLs, 11 single-shot weapons, two grenades and one air gun. They also surrendered 2,206 rounds of ammunition, including 19 “helicopter shots”.  continued on p5 In five years, more tigers died outside protected reserves J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi INDIA’s tiger conservation success story has a flip side. More big cats are dying outside protected reserves than inside them. Latest data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) shows that of 166 tiger deaths in 2025 in India. 88 deaths or 53 per cent were recorded outside a protected tiger reserve. (see table). 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 ti- gers now roam freely outside notified protected areas and exposing them to risks like human conflict, road accidents, electrocution and poisoning. A senior NTCA officer, who asked not to be named, 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 backlog tells the story. While 24 tigers were confirmed killed by poachers in 2019, five Tiger deaths outside protected forest areas Total % of total Year Mortality Outside mortality outside 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 166 126 182 122 129 88 65 100 52 64 53.01 51.58 54.94 42.62 49.61 cases from that year remain under investigation. The pending cases have shot up: from 37 in 2020 to 58 in 2021, 51 in 2022, 64 in 2023, 67 in 2024, and 140 in 2025. The latest State of Tiger report confirms one in five staff positions remain empty across tiger reserves. Some locations are missing 40% or more of required protection personnel. Twenty reserves reported inadequate anti-poaching staff. 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 pilot scheme doesn’t address the core issue of staff shortage,” said the officer. 75% of tigers in india India hosts 75% of the world’s tiger populace. As per All India Tiger Estimation 2022, India’s tiger population is 3,682. India has 58 tiger reserves House adopts two-point resolution on river waters n Mahbubnagar district is drought-prone and has high levels As of migration, earlier governments planned the Palamuru– Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. After the formation of Telangana, there has been no progress in the works, while project costs and estimates have risen over the past 10 years. Taking these factors into account, this House adopted a resolution urging the Union government to grant all clearances and permissions for PRLIS (90 tmcft) n Until disputes between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are resolved, no permissions should be granted for the Polavaram– Banakacherla link, Nallamalasagar, or any other project involving the diversion of Godavari water will protect the rights and interests of Telangana.” Following a short discussion on Krishna water in the Assembly the House unanimous, ly adopted a two-point resolution introduced by Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy urging the Centre to grant all required permissions to PRLIS and not to accord approval to the proposed Polavaram–Nallamalasagar project of Andhra Pradesh. Speaking during the debate, Revanth said retired engineers and the Engineering Staff College of India had recommended lifting 2.8 tmcft per day for 25 days, totalling 70 tmcft, from the Jurala INSIDE Home officials get an earful over sketchy affidavit on police powers I P3 AP MLA Adi Narayana Reddy’s son, Sudheer Reddy, detained for consuming ganja I P5 project for PRLIS, but the recommendation was ignored by former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Revanth said the project could have been completed at an estimated cost of `35,000 crore if Jurala had been retained as the source point. “Instead, KCR shifted the source from Jurala to Srisailam, leaving the head and opting for the tail. This increased the number of shift pumps, lifts and stages. If designed with Jurala as the source, the cost of pumps and lifts would have been `5,185 crore. After shifting to Srisailam, it rose to `10,335 crore,” he said, adding that while PRLIS was designed to lift and store 90 tmcft, reservoir capacity was planned only for 70 tmcft.  continued on p4 SC order on bail petitions of Delhi riots conspiracy case accused and activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others tomorrow | P8