bhubaneswar l friday l november 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION Embattled jensen huang finally resigns as AI biggie Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of US AI giant Nvidia on Thursday, the company said, after revelations he had two extramarital affairs caps 33 years at helm of U.S. AI behemoth CFO Colette Kress named interim CEO The departure marks the end of a 33-year run at the helm of the AI giant he co-founded in 1993. Nvidia board said Huang had stepped down as president, chief executive, and board member, effective immediately. Huang faced growing calls to resign after his twin affairs with an alleged Chinese spy and an Nvidia employee who reports to him, came to light ■ ■ Chief financial officer Colette Kress (L) will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor, Nvidia said Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump pitched former Apple CEO Tim Cook’s name. “A Legend replaces a Legend!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Cook stepped down as Apple CEO in August | P10 13% How much Nvidia shares fell in early trading on Thursday 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 Buzz on special session ‘Focus on success stories’ by December first week Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his annual ‘Diwali Milan’ address at the BJP HQ in Delhi on Thursday, urged the media to highlight India’s achievements, asserting that positive coverage of progress would help accelerate the country’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047. He also expressed confidence that India would achieve its goal of becoming a developed nation with the collective support of the media and the people. Here are some of the salient points: 361 votes needed to pass Constitution amend bill on women quota RA J ES H K U M AR T H A K U R BJP expects victory margin of 15-18 votes @ New Delhi THE BJP-led NDA government is considering convening a special session of Parliament after November 20 or by the first week of December to secure the passage of a Constitution amendment bill aimed at implementing 33% quota for women in Parliament and state legislatures. BJP sources on Thursday said the government is confident it will get the numbers to pass the legislation. The government also proposes to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats allocated to every state by 50%, to a maximum of 850 seats in total, to address concerns of southern states over population-based delimitation, while operationalising the women’s reservation law before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. An earlier effort to pass the legislation on April 17 came a cropper. The proposed special sitting is likely to last two days and may be convened as an extension of the Monsoon Session, which has not been prorogued. Asked if The government appears confident of mustering the numbers required to pass the bill with a margin of 15-18 votes possibly through deals with parties outside the NDA and/or abstentions any Opposition party had agreed, in principle, to support the bill, a senior BJP leader said: “Supporting someone doesn’t just mean being physically by their side; even if some people are in Opposition, they can offer support.” The government needs 361 votes to secure a two-thirds majority to pass a Constitution amendment bill in the 543-member Lok Sabha, which has three vacancies. Its efforts to push the legislation through Parliament come against the backdrop of the Assembly polls in seven states in 2027. Its successful passage could provide an additional political advantage to the NDA, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat, where women voters are likely to play a key role. Some BJP leaders said the NDA stands to gain irrespective of the outcome of the proposed special sitting. “If they (Opposition) continue obstructing the path to secure passage for a Constitution amendment bill... we will take this double-standard on women’s rights to the court of the people in the coming Assembly elections,” said a senior BJP leader. The monsoon session hasn’t been prorogued since 91 days, surpassing the record of 87 days in 2008. An extended sitting of an existing session requires a minimum two days’ notice; convening a new session requires 14 days’ notice. In his pushback, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said home minister Amit Shah’s “bulldozer” will not work. Referring to the buzz as Shah’s “delimitation plantation”, he pointed to the ‘15-18 margin’ and said on X: “He said the same thing seven months earlier but on April 17th faced a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha by a decisive margin.” 2047 deadline Service to nation Growth gallop Fight drugs “I’ve a request for media. Communication is the strongest tool in 21st century and we need to tell ‘India story’ to the world. Deadline is very important in the world of news. We also have a deadline for making India ‘developed nation’ by 2047,” the prime minister said “I would also urge the country’s media to work on stories about India’s successes and help them reach more people. This would be a tremendous service to the nation on your part... There were earlier slogans of Garibi Hatao. But poverty has been removed by this government” “Who would have thought that India would make history by landing near the moon’s South Pole? Who would have thought India would become the world’s second-largest mobile phone producer? In 12 years, India’s solar generation capacity went by 50-fold” “I have interacted with the media and seen it evolve from the days of press releases to Instagram reels. Nothing is considered impossible in the world of news... Now we must also raise awareness about drug addiction in the same way. We must get our youth out of all this” Retail inflation breaches RBI’s limit P U S H P I TA DE Y @ New Delhi RETAIL inflation soared to a two-year high of 6.09% in October primarily driven by high food prices, breaching the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s upper tolerance limit of 6%. The reading is the highest since October 2024, when the Consumer Price Index-based infla- tion stood at 6.21%. The impact of elevated food prices was visible more in rural areas where inflation hit 6.63% against 5.41% in urban. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Thursday food , inflation climbed to 8.94% in October from 7.74% in the previous month. Higher prices of The heat is on 4.38% 4.45% 3.48% 3.93% M ay June April * Provisional estimate  J u ly 4.83% Aug 5.54% 6.09% * Oct Sep | Source: MoSPI food and beverage including cereals, sugar, milk and other essential food items have jacked up household expenses. “October’s inflation print was less a surprise than a culmination of pressures that had been building for months,” said Dipti Deshpande, principal economist at Crisil. Higher inflation was not restricted to food; the hospitality 5-state manhunt ends with caretaker’s arrest in Vadodara Su d a r s a n M a h a r a n a @ Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar police went on a manhunt across six cities in five states over the past week before pinning down 40-year-old Balabhadra Maharana from Gujarat’s Vadodara district on Wednesday for the murder of Kunjalata Nanda, wife of a divisional forest officer. Maharana was the 76-year-old woman’s caretaker for over five months. On the night of November 3, he allegedly strangled Kunjalata and assaulted her with a blunt object, inflicting fatal injuries. He then decamped with cash and gold jewellery, the total value of which is yet to be ascertained. The murder took express read Underwater exploration of Dwarka by Dec New Delhi: The last time archaeologists went properly looking for submerged ruins of Lord Krishna’s kingdom Dwarka was in 2007. Nineteen years on, fresh explorations at major pilgrimage sites Dwarka and Bet Dwarka in Devbhoomi Dwarka district of Gujarat, could begin by December, subject to ASI’s approval | P5 HC denies Filipino woman custody of 2-yr-old daughter Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has declined to hand over a two-year-old girl to her Filipino mother and reposed faith in the care of grandparents observing that uprooting the child from her settled environment could have a cascading effect on her development | P2 place in Budhanagar area under Laxmisagar police limits. Maharana, a native of Tangi in Khurda district, was intercepted while travelling by bus towards Delhi in Vadodara. Police tracked him using his mobile phone location. The accused was brought to Odisha on transit remand on Thursday and will be produced before a court, said Police Commissioner S Dev Datta Singh. Following the brutal murder, police had constituted three special teams to trace the accused. CCTV footage and human intelligence were used to track his movements as he repeatedly changed locations to evade arrest. Police Commissioner Singh said Maharana was traced to Puri on November 4, before moving to Kolkata on November 6. He subsequently travelled to Ranchi, Panipat on November 9 and then Surat in Gujarat. “He then travelled towards Delhi before moving towards Vadodara. A team led by SI Subhasmita Muduli of Laxmisagar police station, with assistance from Gujarat police, intercepted and apprehended him in Vadodara district while he was heading towards Delhi again by bus,” said Singh. Police recovered `20,600 in cash, two mobile phones, an Airtel SIM card, a gold locket, a gold ring, a pair of earrings, a small diary and relevant documents from his pos- session. Singh said Maharana was travelling alone when he was arrested. However, police are investigating whether anyone else was involved in the crime. Maharana had been working as a caretaker at Kunjalata’s residence for over five months. He was engaged by a relative who worked as a domestic help at the elderly woman’s son’s residence for more than seven years. The accused was also staying on the top floor of the victim’s house. Taking advantage of the fact that the elderly woman was alone at home on November 3 night, he allegedly killed her and fled with the valuables on a two-wheeler. sector also witnessed a significant rise. Inflation in restaurants and accommodation services rose by 10.06% in October, while transport inflation stood at 5.84%. In its October monetary policy, the RBI had raised the repo rate by 25 bps. With the headline inflation breaching RBI’s tolerance band, economists expect another rate hike. Usha’s ‘ice’ play to stay in the IOA polls game i n d r a n e e l d a s @ Chennai The Indian Olympic Association election has taken yet another intriguing turn. Its current president PT Usha is refusing to leave the battlefield without a fight. As per the provisional electoral college, she has entered her name from the Ice Hockey Association of India and would be in line to contest for the president’s post again. This will put her directly against those, including some National Sports Federations and a certain section of the sports ministry that was rallying behind some of the Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit representatives. This can be seen as a direct defiance to whatever had transpired during the SOM election where Usha lost after four female SOMs grouped together to defeat her. World championships medallist Anju Bobby George, London Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal, former India archer Dola Banerjee and former hockey captain Rani Rampal came together against Usha after last-minute withdrawal dynamics that put her in a corner. There were allegations against multiple people, including IOA executive committee members. Some even alleged sports ministry interference. The latest episode has given the election a new twist. Usha, who until now was seen out of the presidential race, may get a new lease of life. She had apparently written to the International Olympic Committee as well about the ‘unfair manner’ in which the SOM was conducted. This also means that she is challenging everyone who has gone against her until now. The legendary athlete coming through a vague organisation like ice hockey itself is interesting. Now, it needs to be seen how she maneuvers her votes this time.