US secretary of war Pete Hegseth (AP)

US secretary of war Pete Hegseth said Washington’s midnight military operation in Venezuela on Saturday, which also led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife was the “exact opposite” of the 2003 Iraq invasion and would not result in prolonged conflict or American casualties.Addressing concerns of Americans about past US interventions, particularly the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led to significant loss of life and resources.Hegseth said, “The operation in Venezuela marked a complete departure from past military engagements, focusing on achieving objectives without putting American troops at risk,” he said.It’s the exact opposite. We spent decades and decades and spent, purchased in blood and got nothing economically in return. And President Trump flips the script.” Hegseth told CBS Evening News. “Through strategic action, we can ensure that we have access to additional wealth and resources, enabling a country to unleash that without having to spend American blood,” he added.The joint operation involving intelligence agencies and US law enforcement, carried out in Caracas, was described as “bold and audacious” but carefully planned. “This was a bold and audacious move, but it was thought through. It was well orchestrated. Our military had time to set it up. He provided the resources, and then he took that bold stroke and through it we flipped that very dynamic and Americans will benefit,” Hegseth said.Maduro and Flores who were flown out of the country have been indicted on charges of alleged “drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies” in the Southern District of New York and will face trial, Trump said.Trump on Saturday outlined the US plan for Venezuela following the operation. “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We want peace, justice and liberty for the great people of Venezuela,” he said. He added, “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”

File photo: US President Donald Trump (Picture credit: AP)

US President Donald Trump capped his holiday break with an unprecedented military operation in Venezuela, ordering a surprise raid that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro early on Saturday. The dramatic action came at the end of a winter stay at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, marked by a striking mix of geopolitics, social events and personal pursuits.According to Reuters, Trump spent the days leading up to the operation engaged in activities that appeared far removed from an imminent military mission. On Thursday night, he posted a series of messages on his Truth Social platform, none referring to Venezuela. He warned that the US was “locked and loaded” to support protesters in Iran if they were attacked, shared an image of a bald eagle allegedly killed by a windmill, and assured followers that he was in “PERFECT HEALTH”.Less than 24 hours before the Venezuela strike, Trump was seen inspecting marble and onyx at an Italian stone importer in Lake Worth Beach for a proposed White House ballroom. The visit drew attention as the presidential limousine travelled through a commercial area far from the usual scenes of executive power. A White House official later said Trump was buying the stone at his own expense, without offering further details, as per Reuters.Since arriving at Mar-a-Lago in mid-December, Trump’s schedule has blended high-level diplomacy with social engagements, including meetings with foreign leaders and a black-tie New Year’s Eve gala attended by Palm Beach elites. Supporters describe this as proof of his ability to juggle multiple priorities. Critics, however, argue that he often appears distracted by personal interests even as his administration prepares for major actions, such as a strike on a foreign government.On New Year’s Eve, while US military assets were already positioned for the operation against Maduro, Trump posted sarcastically about George and Amal Clooney, both of whom have criticised him, receiving French citizenship.Later that night, during the Mar-a-Lago gala, he invited artist Vanessa Horabuena on stage to paint an image of Jesus Christ, which was auctioned for $2.75 million. Trump said the proceeds would go to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.The marble purchase was linked to Trump’s long-standing interest in architecture, particularly his plan for a new White House ballroom, estimated to cost $400 million. “I’m doing a magnificent, big, beautiful ballroom that the country’s wanted,” Trump said last week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Reuters.The Venezuela operation, codenamed “Operation Absolute Resolve”, involved pre-dawn strikes in Caracas and led to the capture of Maduro and his wife, who now face charges in New York. The legality of the action has been questioned by critics, while India’s external affairs ministry has urged restraint and dialogue.Within hours of a golf outing and a meeting with the US ambassador to China on Friday night, the plan to seize Maduro was put into action, indicating the sharp contrasts that have defined Trump’s holiday routine.

One of America’s biggest investor Michael Burry has warned the country on Nvidia. Michael Burry is the same investor who hit headlines with his correct prediction on 2008 housing crisis in the US and the ensuing global economic slowdown. According to Burry, China’s rapidly accelerating power-generation buildout gives it a structural edge in artificial intelligence race if the industry continues relying on increasingly energy-intensive chips. Burry said that Nvidia has a “death grip” on AI development in the US, citing its extensive investments and agreements with many major AI companies and startups.In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, Burry said that America is on the wrong path if its AI strategy continues to rely on increasingly energy-intensive Nvidia Corp chips. “Power hungry Nvidia chips are not the way forward,” he wrote. He shared a chart that showed China’s installed electricity generation capacity that has surged far beyond that of America and Europe since the early 2000s. “It is not just the total power advantage,” Burry wrote. “It is the slope.”

Why Nvidia, according to Michael Burry, is hurting America

Michael Burry shared ‘Why China will win AI in one chart’. He wrote: Power hungry Nvidia chips are not the way forward for the US. It is not just the total power advantage. It is the slope. In a follow-up post, Burry argued that Nvidia’s dominant role in AI computing across the US has locked the industry into a path of higher power consumption. “Nvidia’s development roadmap is essentially a power consumption roadmap,” he stated, adding that innovation has increasingly become about “how to power and to cool bigger, hotter silicon.” He said that efficiency improvements have failed to keep pace with the sheer growth in computing being deployed, pushing electricity needs ever higher.Burry contrasted this to China’s infrastructure push. “U.S. transmission grid development is actually decelerating due to permitting issues, while China is building transmission at will to match power output,” he said.That mismatch, he warned, leaves U.S. companies investing heavily in an AI arms race they are “structurally positioned to lose” if power-hungry scaling remains the dominant strategy.Burry said that the U.S. must pivot away from brute-force approaches centered on massive data centers and instead focus on more efficient designs. “The U.S. needs to get away from bigger and bigger power-hungry chips and innovate with AI-tuned ASICs like nobody’s business,” he wrote.

Michael Burry is betting against AI

In its quarterly 13-F filing released in November, Burry’s Scion Asset Management revealed that it has acquired put options, which secure the right to sell an asset at a given price by a certain date, on a pair of AI heavyweights: Nvidia (NVDA) and Palantir (PLTR). According to the filing, Scion now owns the right to sell 5 million Palantir shares and 1 million Nvidia shares, which at the time of filing had a combined value of just shy of $1.1 billion.Responding to the news in an interview to CNBC, Palantir CEO Alex Karp called the idea of shorting Palantir and Nvidia “bats— crazy,” as they are two of the only companies “making all the money” in the AI sector. “Alex Karp blasts ‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry as ‘bats— crazy’ for bets against Palantir, Nvidia.” Karp said that those engaging in shorts of Palantir, like Burry, may be engaging in “market manipulation.“

Mustafizur Rahman (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Sunday announced a 15-member squad, with Litton Das named captain, for next month’s T20 World Cup, hours after it was instructed by the country’s sports ministry to seek the shifting of the team’s league games from India to Sri Lanka.The BCB has been told by the sports ministry to request the relocation of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup league matches from India to Sri Lanka due to “concerns about players’ safety” following Mustafizur Rahman’s ouster from the IPL on BCCI instructions.

Bangladesh’s four league games are scheduled against West Indies (February 7), Italy (February 9) and England (February 14) in Kolkata, followed by their final match against Nepal (February 17) in Mumbai. The T20 showpiece will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.Das continues as captain, while pacer Taskin Ahmed returned to the side after missing the recent Ireland series. Ahmed will partner Mustafizur Rahman — who was also, as expected, named in the squad — in the pace department.“The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced the national squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March,” the BCB said on ‘X’.Following the BCCI’s diktat, Shah Rukh Khan co-owned IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday released Rahman, who was bought for Rs 9.20 crore after a bidding war at last month’s auction in Abu Dhabi.The development prompted Bangladesh government advisor Asif Nazrul to instruct the BCB to ask the Jay Shah-led ICC to shift Bangladesh’s four league games to Sri Lanka. However, a BCCI source insisted that such a move is next to impossible with just a month remaining before the tournament.Although the BCCI did not explicitly cite the current political situation in Bangladesh for seeking Rahman’s release, it said the decision was triggered by “what’s been happening all around.”BANGLADESH SQUAD:Litton Das (Captain), Mohammed Saif Hassan (Vice Captain), Tanzid Hasan, Mohammad Parvez Hossain Emon, Tawhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Qazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Md Shaifuddin, Shoriful Islam

Deepa Mehta is one of the most celebrated screenwriter-directors in the industry. From giving cinema the trilogy of elements, ‘Fire,’ ‘Earth,’ and ‘Water,’ she entertained the audience with ‘Bollywood Hollywood.’ The movie recently completed 11 years, and to celebrate the milestone, Deep Mehta, in an exclusive conversation, shares some interesting insights. She told us, “I wrote it in two months only.” She added, “I wanted to write and film something that would make me laugh. This seemed like just the medicine I needed.”

Deepa Mehta on the cast of ‘Bollywood Hollywood’

The film had an ensemble cast, and talking about them, Deepa said, “Rahul Khanna and Lisa Ray were perfect for the roles of NRIs. I also cast Moushumi Chatterjee, who had a prominent role in ‘Water’ as Rahul Khanna’s mother.” She continued, “One of my favourite actors, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, who was in both ‘Fire’ and 1947 ‘Earth,’ played Lisa Ray’s father.”

Deepa Mehta unveils it was never a story on Bollywood per se

Further speaking about the plot, she mentioned, “The film is about the ironies that rule the lives of NRIs, as we’re known. Though Indians abroad are physically distanced from their homeland, they remain emotionally attached to their country, hence the title ‘Bollywood/Hollywood.’ The greatest irony, of course, is that Indian cinema has become increasingly Westernised in tone and appearance.”She further emphasised that the movie was not about Bollywood per se and added, “It’s about the dreams and emotions of ordinary NRIs, with lots of beautiful songs composed by Sandeep Chowta.” “This one stands away from my other films. It is light and fun. I am normally known as a serious filmmaker,” she concluded.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued a detailed notice outlining strict instructions for the conduct of Practical Examinations/ projects/ internal assessments for Classes 10 and 12 for the 2025-26 academic session.The notice applies to all CBSE-affiliated schools and is a continuation of the Board’s earlier circular on practical examinations. As per the notice, practical exams will begin from January 1 and end on January 14, 2026.

What schools must ensure before practical exams

CBSE has directed schools to make all arrangements well in advance to avoid last-minute issues. Schools must ensure that:

Infrastructure, labs and examiners

Schools are required to ensure that:

Note: CBSE has clearly stated that only Board-appointed external examiners are allowed. Any practical exam conducted using an unauthorised examiner will be treated as null and void.

Special arrangements for Children with special needs

The Board has instructed schools to make suitable arrangements for Children With Special Needs (CWSN) so that they can participate in practical examinations, projects and internal assessments comfortably.

Attendance, marks and daily uploading

According to the notice:

CBSE has warned schools to be extremely careful while uploading marks. If marks are incorrectly uploaded, the result may not be rectified later.

Strict rules on marks awarding

The Board has laid down clear rules regarding evaluation:

Practical answer books for the 2026 examination will include an undertaking stating that the maximum marks awarded have been checked and given after following all instructions.

No exemptions for sports participation

CBSE has clarified that students participating in sports at national or international level will not be exempted from appearing in practical, project or internal assessments. No separate practical exams will be conducted for them.

Practical exam window and monitoring

The Board has fixed the practical examination window from January 1 to February 14, 2026.

Revised remuneration for examiners

CBSE has also announced that it has enhanced remuneration rates for functionaries involved in practical examinations, effective from the 2025-26 session. The revised rates are provided in the official appendix of the circular.

Final reminder from CBSE

CBSE has cautioned that if schools fail to follow Board directions, it reserves the right to cancel practical examinations conducted at the school.The Board has urged schools to maintain academic integrity and ensure a fair, smooth and transparent practical examination process for all students.Schools and students are advised to read the complete notice here to avoid any issues during the practical examination process.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday offered a first glimpse of the upcoming Vande Bharat sleeper train, describing it as a new-generation service designed to significantly improve comfort on overnight journeys. The minister, while reviewing the new train, said that focus was towards upgrading amenities to make long-distance rail travel smoother and more passenger-friendly.

He highlighted several upgrades in the sleeper version of the Vande Bharat train, including an enhanced suspension system across the coaches and the driver’s cabin.

The train is equipped with new semi-automatic couplers to minimise jerks while travelling, CCTV cameras, redesigned seats, and modern washrooms aimed at reducing water wastage.

A new pantry layout has also been introduced, while berths have been provided for staff on duty.

Minister Vaishnaw said the broader focus of these improvements is to position the railways as a reliable and comfortable mode of transport for middle- and low-income families, especially on long-distance routes.The showcase comes ahead of the launch of the first Vande Bharat sleeper train, which will be taking place later this month. PM Narendra Modi is expected to flag off the service in the second half of January 2026. The Vande Bharat sleeper is a fully air-conditioned train set developed by Indian Railways specifically for long-distance and overnight journeys.According to the minister, two Vande Bharat sleeper train sets are already ready and have completed successful trial runs. These trains are designed to operate on routes spanning 1,200 to 1,500 kilometres. The first service will run between Guwahati and Kolkata, with the route covering Howrah and Kamakhya.Each Vande Bharat sleeper train will have 16 coaches, comprising 11 AC three-tier coaches, four AC two-tier coaches and one AC first-class coach. The total passenger capacity of the train is 823. Vaishnaw said that eight more Vande Bharat sleeper trains will be rolled out over the next six months, taking the total number to 12 by the end of the year.Indian Railways said that the new service will benefit several districts along the route. In Assam, Kamrup Metropolitan and Bongaigaon will be covered, while in West Bengal the train will serve Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Maldah, Murshidabad, Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly and Howrah.Fares for the Vande Bharat sleeper train will start at Rs 2,300 for a one-way journey between Guwahati and Kolkata. The AC three-tier fare has been fixed at Rs 2,300, AC two-tier at Rs 3,000 and AC first class at Rs 3,600.Furthermore, advancements have also been made on the route for first bullet train in India, which is expected to be launched by 15 August, 2027.