TIRUCHY l Thursday l February 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION IT stocks crash after AI tool that automates core work unveiled 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 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 ■ 5.49% 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 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 Appointment of TN V-Cs: SC bins HC’s stay order S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the May 2025 order of the Madras High Court that stayed the operation of 10 amendments passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly to make the state government, instead of governor, the appointing authority of vice-chancellors of various state universities. Questioning the manner in which a HC’s vacation bench acted in a “tearing hurry” to stay the laws, a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi quashed the HC’s interim order and directed the matter to be listed before a bench presided by CJ of the Madras HC. The SC — while questioning as to why the vacation bench examined the constitutionality of university statutes — passed the order after hearing the petitions filed by TN against the HC order. The state had also filed a petition seeking to transfer the matter from the HC to the apex court. The bench, which requested the HC to decide the matter within six weeks, also recorded the state’s submission that no appointments will be made till the HC gives its verdict on the issue. The 10 bills had come into force following the ‘deemed assent’ given by the SC in the TN governor’s case. In May, a Madras HC vacation bench comprising Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayan stayed the amendments after hearing a PIL filed by advocate K Venkatachalapathy seeking to declare all the amendments as null and void.  P5 INDIGO under lens of Competition Commission 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 Lok Sabha impasse Mamata argues in SC, 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 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. THE Supreme Cour t 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 Banerjee’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 Rahul’s ‘traitor’ jibe at Bittu sparks political firestorm PREETHA NAIR & HARPREET B A J W A @ New Delhi / Chandigarh 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 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 A sharp war of words between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu snowballed into a political storm on Wednesday with the BJP urging Lok Sabha Speaker to take action against Rahul. The face-off took place outside Parliament’s Makar Dwar, where Rahul was standing with the suspended opposition MPs, who were protesting on the stairs. While walking past the protesting MPs, Bittu said, “They are sitting here as if they have won a war.” Responding to the comment, Rahul said, “The thing is, here is a traitor walking right by. Take a look at the face. How he looks.” Rahul then extended his hand towards Bittu and said, “Hello brother, my traitor friend. Don’t worry, you will come back to the Congress.” Bittu refused to shake hands, saying: “Desh ke dushman (enemies of the country),” pointing at Rahul. Rahul Gandhi exchanges words with MoS Ravneet Singh Bittu (R) | PTI Bittu is not just an MP or a member of a Sikh family. his grandfather -- Sardar Beant Singh -- fell to an assassin’s bullet. And you call him a traitor. This is completely unacceptable Hardeep Singh Puri A former close aide of Gandhi, Bittu had switched to the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Later in a video statement, Bittu asked why Rahul didn’t say such a thing to other MPs, but only to a Sikh? “I am the grandson of a martyr (ex-Punjab CM Beant Singh, who was assassinated by militants in 1995) and as E x press N ews S er v ice @ Madurai CM: TN gives more but no funds for state in budget Union govt confirms bird flu among crows in TN US to create trading bloc of critical minerals Villupuram: CM M K Stalin criticised the centre for ignoring Tamil Nadu in the Union Budget 2026, saying the speech did not even include a reference to Tamil or a Thirukkural verse. Despite TN contributing substantial revenue to the centre, the budget offered no benefits to TN, he said | P5 Chennai: Amid reports of high number of deaths of crows in some places in Chennai, the centre has confirmed the presence of a highly pathogenic bird flu or avian influenza (H5N1) in crows in TN. An expert said that 1,500 crows may have died in Chennai in the last few weeks | P2 Washington: The Trump administration wants to create a critical minerals trading bloc with its allies that will use tariffs to maintain price floors and defend against China’s tactic of flooding the market to undermine any potential competitors, Vice President J D Vance said | P9 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 U . P. s h o c k e r Lens on Korean online games as 3 minor sisters die by suicide @ Ghaziabad/Lucknow In a shocking incident, three sisters, aged 16, 14 and 12, allegedly addicted to a Korean taskbased online game, died by suicide in Ghaziabad in the wee hours of Wednesday . All three jumped from a bal- cony of their ninth-floor 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 long as I was in the Congress, it was fine. But, now that I am with the BJP he is giving me , such names,” he said. Stepping up the attack, the BJP fielded its Sikh leaders, including Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, to accuse the Congress of harbouring the same “antiSikh mentality” that was on display at the height of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Defending Rahul, Congress MP Sukhpla Singh Khaira said the word “my traitor friend” used by Rahul was to address Bittu as an individual who ditched the party in testing times. “It is by no means an insult to the Sikh community .” The ‘traitor jibe’ evoked sharp reactions in Punjab, which will go to polls next year. Ashwani Sharma, working president of BJP in Punjab, said Rahul is trying to cover up his failures by using abusive language. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said Bittu was a traitor as he betrayed the Congress. 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 Loan waiver, free LPG in EPS’s poll sops E x press N ews S er v ice @ Chennai AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday announced the party’s second set of poll promises, adding to the five already made on the birth anniversary of party founder MGR on January 7. The key promises are full waiver of students’ educational loans, hike in monthly social security pension for vulnerable groups from `1,200 to `2,000, and three free LPG cylinders per year to all rice ration card holders. AIADMK will also offer interest-free loans for minority women and waive off loans taken by PwD from cooperative banks, he said. EPS also promised `10 lakh to the families of jallikattu players who die during the sport, `2 lakh for injured, `5 lakh subsidy for organising approved jallikattu events, and scrapping of online system for bull registration. He reiterated that, if voted to power, his gover nment will manage the state’s finances and implement welfare measures by increasing the state’s revenue.  P4 No proof, CBI closes theft case against Ajithkumar who died in police torture express read N itin R awat & N amita B ajpai pti 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 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. 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 health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050) The CBI on Wednesday informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that it has closed the theft case filed against B Ajithkumar (29), a temple guard of Madapuram Badrakali Amman temple in Sivaganga, who was allegedly tortured to death by a special police team during interrogation in the case in June 2025. Sources said the case was closed as there was no evidence to prove that Ajithkumar committed the theft. The HC also asked CBI as to why action can’t be initiated against JP Nikitha, whose complaint was the root cause for the custodial death of the victim. The CBI standing counsel said the theft case was closed and a report would be filed when Justice S Srimathy inquired if the allegation of theft against the deceased was true. Shocked to hear that the victim was beaten to death over nothing, Justice Srimathy criticised the police and complainant Nikitha. The judge was hearing a batch of bail petitions filed by four of the 10 policemen accused in the case — constables S Raja, G Prabhu, A Ananth and S Sankaramanikandan. She questioned why these many policemen targeted and assaulted the deceased and if there was any previous enmity between them. The CBI counsel replied that there was no previous enmity and the policemen were part of a special team led by the seventh accused, former Manamadurai DSP N Shanmugasundaram. It was a case of police excess, he added. Regarding action against Nikitha, he said he has posed this question to the agency and they would answer it in the report. Lamenting over the fate of the deceased, the judge said she is not inclined to grant bail. P5