Image Credit: TimesContent.com (TOI Archive)

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday shared a poem in support of jailed activist Umar Khalid after the Supreme Court denied him bail in a case linked to the 2020 north-east Delhi riots.Moitra posted the poem on X, titled “You will rise, Umar Khalid”, writing, “You Will Rise, Umar Khalid. You may write me (Umar Khalid) down in history, With your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirt,But still, like dust, I’ll rise…You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I’ll rise.”

The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in a case involving an alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots. The court, however, granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd. Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.Following the court’s decision, a group of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students reportedly raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on campus.The action drew sharp criticism from political leaders. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “The offspring of Sharjeel Imam were born at JNU. We will crush such wicked intentions, which stand with the country’s traitors, with those who speak the language of breaking the country.”BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala also condemned the slogans, calling Congress and Left parties an “anti-India urban naxal gang”, and added, “This shows that they are an anti-India urban naxal gang which always keeps people like Umar and Sharjeel and their vote bank above national security…Be it Congress or Left or their ecosystem in JNU, they always stand with anti-India elements.”Delhi home minister Ashish Sood described the alleged sloganeering at JNU as “unfortunate” and “condemnable”, saying, “This kind of sloganeering after rejection of the bail plea of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam is unfortunate and condemnable. Sharjeel Imam talked about cutting off the Chicken’s Neck corridor to separate Northeast India. Umar Khalid raised slogans of ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’. I consider this treason.“

AMD CEO Lisa Su recently spoke about the impact of AI on hiring. Speaking at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas, US, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su said that artificial intelligence has now slowed down the hiring process at the chipmaker. She emphasised that AMD is actively expanding its workforce and is prioritising the candidates who are ‘AI forward’. “We’re actually not hiring fewer people,” Su told CNBC’s Jon Fortt. “Frankly, we’re growing very significantly as a company, so we actually are hiring lots of people, but we’re hiring different people. We’re hiring people who are AI forward.”AMD is known for designing graphic processing units (GPUs) that help in training AI workloads, placing the company at the center of the global AI race. While, chipset maker Nvidia is dominating the AI chip market presently with more than 90% share, AMD is also aggressively positioning itself as s challenger and is incorporating AI into how it builds, designs, manufactures and tests chips.n Su stressed that candidates who ‘truly embrace’ AI are the ones being prioritised in hiring. This practice reflects on the company’s shift forward embedding AI across its operations.

‘AI is augmenting our capabilities’

Su also pushed back against the concerns that the adoption of AI could lead to job cuts. Instead she believes that AI helps in increasing productivity. “AI is augmenting our capabilities. It’s not replacing people, it’s actually just augmenting our productivity in terms of the number of products we can bring up at any given time.”As of December 2024, AMD employed roughly 28,000 people worldwide, according to SEC filings. Su said the company continues to grow “very significantly,” underscoring that AI is reshaping the type of talent AMD seeks rather than reducing overall headcount.

What Lisa Su said about the AI revolution

Last year, Su mentioned that she believes in AGI but not that AI will surpass human intelligence, and she isn’t concerned about doomsday scenarios. She sees technology’s value as dependent on the people who create and guide it, and thinks AI isn’t “great” yet. For her, AI becomes great when it can solve complicated problems. She higlighted that current AI agents mostly handle mundane tasks.“I think there are two directions AI goes. One is pure productivity, you know, how do I remove some of, let’s call it, the menial work that people do, so that they can work on more interesting things? That’s one aspect of it, and we’re using that. But the other aspect of it is when AI can solve really hard problems. It can take what would’ve taken us 10 years to figure out and do that in six months. I think about a world where it normally takes us three years to design a chip, and what does that look like if I could do that in six months?” she added.Comparing the AI revolution with the Internet revolution, Su noted: “The internet is not a bad comparison, but I think AI is much more than the internet. Because, if you think about it, the internet was a lot about moving traffic. AI is more about something foundational in terms of productivity. Sometimes people compare it to the Industrial Revolution, and that’s not a bad comparison, actually.”

Delhi demolition drive: MCD carries out action near Faiz-e-Elahi mosque following HC order; 5 cops injured in stone pelting

NEW DELHI: At least five police personnel were injured on Wednesday after incidents of stone-pelting were reported during an early-morning demolition drive carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) at an encroached area near Faiz-e-Elahi Masjid in Turkman Gate, close to Ramlila Maidan.The action, which began around 1am, it was undertaken in compliance with directions of the Delhi high court, according to an official statement from Delhi Police.

Demolition drive at Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque near Turkman Gate in Delhi on Wednesday. Image Credit: Tarun Rawat/TNN

To ensure law and order during the exercise, Delhi Police put in place elaborate security arrangements. The area was divided into nine zones, each overseen by an additional deputy commissioner of police, with personnel deployed at all sensitive points. Officials said the planning aimed to prevent any disruption and ensure the court-mandated action proceeded smoothly. Ahead of the demolition, police and civic authorities held multiple coordination meetings with members of the Aman Committee and local stakeholders as part of confidence-building measures to maintain peace in the area. Despite these precautions, officials said a brief disturbance occurred when a few individuals allegedly resorted to stone-pelting during the operation. The situation was swiftly brought under control with what police described as “measured and minimal use of force,” preventing any escalation. Joint commissioner of police (central range) Madhur Verma said normalcy was restored quickly. “A few miscreants attempted to create a disturbance by indulging in stone pelting. The situation was promptly controlled through minimal force,” he said. DCP Nidhin Valsan confirmed that four to five police personnel sustained minor injuries during the incident. “The action is still ongoing. MCD is carrying out demolition as per the High Court’s orders on encroached land. Stones were pelted at the police during the night, and minimal force was used to push back the crowd. Overall, the process remained smooth,” he said, adding that CCTV, ground and body-camera footage would be examined to identify those involved and initiate legal action. Around 17 bulldozers were pressed into service to clear the unauthorised structures, officials said. Delhi Police reiterated its commitment to maintaining law and order while implementing judicial directives in a lawful and sensitive manner. Meanwhile, a separate demolition drive was carried out earlier this week in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district, where the Municipal Corporation razed an illegal G+3 structure near Mahakal Chowk. Officials said the building had been constructed without mandatory permissions. Ujjain municipal corporation assistant commissioner Deepak Sharma said a notice had been served on the owner, Noor Jahan, wife of Ghulam Mohammad, but construction continued despite the matter being taken to court and no stay being granted. “Since the construction did not stop, action was taken with the support of the police administration to demolish the unauthorised structure,” he said. Police personnel were deployed at the Ujjain site as well, with traffic diversions put in place to ensure smooth movement during the demolition.(With agency inputs)

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Venezuela’s interim authorities would transfer between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, with the crude to be sold at market prices and the proceeds controlled by the US government.“I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” he added.Trump said he had directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to “execute this plan, immediately,” adding that the oil “will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.”CNN said it had reached out to the White House for further details. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the network that the oil had already been produced and stored in barrels, with most of it currently on vessels that would now be diverted to US Gulf Coast facilities for refining.While the volume announced appears substantial, the United States consumed just over 20 million barrels of oil per day over the past month. Analysts said the transfer may have a limited impact on fuel prices. In 2022, former President Joe Biden released around 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which lowered petrol prices by between 13 cents and 31 cents per gallon over four months, according to a Treasury Department analysis.Oil markets reacted modestly to Trump’s announcement, with US crude prices falling by about $1 a barrel, or just under 2%, to $56.At current prices, the sale of up to 50 million barrels could generate significant revenue. Venezuelan oil is trading at around $55 per barrel, meaning the total value could range between $1.65 billion and $2.75 billion if sold at market rates.Venezuela has accumulated large crude stockpiles since the United States imposed an oil embargo late last year. However, transferring such volumes to the US could significantly reduce the country’s reserves. The oil is expected to come from a mix of onshore storage and seized tankers previously transporting Venezuelan crude.The country has around 48 million barrels of onshore storage capacity, which was close to full, according to Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. Industry estimates suggest seized tankers were carrying between 15 million and 22 million barrels of oil.The timeline for the transfer remains unclear. The senior administration official told CNN that the handover would likely be rapid because Venezuela’s crude is very heavy and cannot be stored for extended periods.

NEW DELHI/ LUCKNOW: About 2.9 crore voters, making up 18.7% of UP’s 15.4 crore-strong electorate at the launch of the state’s SIR exercise on Nov 4 last year, have been struck off the draft rolls published on Tuesday.These voters have time till February 6 to file claims and objections to get their names restored in the final rolls, to be published on March 6. “After the door-to-door enumeration drive across 75 districts and 403 assembly constituencies, 12.5 crore out of 15.4 crore voters were retained,” chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa said.Based on the district-wise draft voter lists, the percentage of overall deletions in 22 of UP’s 75 districts exceeded the state average of 18.7%. Rinwa said 1.3 crore, or 8.4% of voters, were found to have permanently shifted from the state. Another 25.5 lakh, constituting over 1.6% of the electorate, were enrolled at two places. A total of 79.5 lakh (5.1%) voters couldn’t be traced while 46.2 lakh (almost 3%) were dead. Over 7.7 lakh (0.5%) voters didn’t return filled-in enumeration forms.

Those Left Out Have Till Feb 6 To File Objection

Lucknow reported the highest percentage of deletions at 30%, followed by Ghaziabad (28.8%), Balrampur (26%) and Kanpur Nagar (25.5%).

Lalitpur had the least deletions at 9.9%, with Hamirpur (10.8%) and Mahoba (12.4%) just behind.“Over 1 crore (8%) out of 12.5 crore voters either couldn’t trace their lineage on the rolls or their names weren’t in the 2003 SIR list. Such voters have been put in the ‘unmapped’ category and will be issued notices in the next 31 days. These voters will have to submit one of 12 documents listed in the notice,” Rinwa said.During the enumeration phase, over 15.7 lakh people submitted Form 6, meant for enrolment of new voters. These names, if valid, will be part of the final rolls.

Can File Claims Till Feb 6; Final List To Be Out On March 6

In Lucknow, around 5.3 lakh of the 12 lakh names deleted from the draft rolls were of voters who opted to shift to their native places while 4.2 lakh couldn’t be traced.An official said the high rate of “permanently shifted voters” – at 8.4%, almost double of Bihar’s 4.6% – wasn’t a surprise. He cited a Down to Earth survey in 2021 that pegged the migration rate for UP at around 28.4%, twice as much as Bihar’s 14.2%.The original December 4 deadline for completion of enumeration extended twice – first till December 11 and then December 26 – after it was found that a large number of voters were excluded from the draft rolls.“The publication date of draft rolls was fixed as December 31, but fieldwork and ECI instructions to rationalise polling stations led to a delay,” Rinwa said. Authorities will process claims and objections till February 27.

Smoke at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Venezuela (AP photo)

US forces killed at least 55 Venezuelan and Cuban military and security personnel during the raid that led to the capture and ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to official tolls released by Caracas and Havana on Tuesday.Venezuela’s military confirmed for the first time that 23 of its service members were killed in Saturday’s US attacks. Authorities have not yet released an official figure for civilian casualties. Cuba said 32 members of its armed forces and interior ministry security personnel deployed in Caracas died in the operation.The Cuban casualties ranged in age from 26 to 67 and included two colonels and one lieutenant colonel. Venezuelan defence minister Vladimir Padrino López said many of the Cuban personnel killed were believed to be part of Maduro’s security detail, which was largely wiped out during the assault.The operation began with bombing raids on military targets and ended with US special forces landing by helicopter to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from a compound. Both were flown to New York, where they appeared in court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday urged Washington to ensure Maduro receives a “fair trial”.Within hours of the court appearance, Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president. US President Donald Trump said he was willing to work with Rodríguez provided she met his demands to allow US companies access to Venezuela’s oil reserves.Rodríguez now faces the challenge of navigating US pressure while keeping Maduro loyalists within the security establishment on her side. She has sought to project unity with hardliners in the former administration, including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Padrino López, both of whom have retained their posts.Concerns over repression persisted as a journalists’ union reported that 14 journalists and media workers, most of them from foreign outlets, were detained while covering Rodríguez’s inauguration at parliament on Monday. Two other foreign media journalists were detained near the Colombian border. All were later released.Opposition leader María Corina Machado criticised Rodríguez in an interview with Fox News, saying she could not be trusted. “Delcy Rodriguez as you know is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narcotrafficking,” Machado said. “She’s the main ally and liaison with Russia, China, Iran, certainly not an individual that could be trusted by international investors.”Trump has publicly backed Rodríguez so far but warned she would face consequences if she failed to follow Washington’s agenda. He described Maduro on Tuesday as a “violent guy” who “killed millions of people” and claimed, “They have a torture chamber in the middle of Caracas that they are closing up.”Under Venezuela’s constitution, once Maduro is formally declared absent, elections must be held within 30 days. Machado said she was confident of victory in such a vote. “In free and fair elections, we will win by over 90 percent of the votes, I have no doubt about it,” she told Fox News.She pledged to “turn Venezuela into the energy hub of the Americas”, “dismantle all these criminal structures” and “bring millions of Venezuelans that have been forced to flee our country back home”. Machado also said she would give her Nobel prize to Trump, though she added that she has not spoken to the US president since October 10.