fridAY Embattled jensen huang finally resigns as AI biggie Nvidia’s CEO 13 Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of US AI giant Nvidia on Thursday, the company said, after revelations that he had two extramarital affairs november, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard ukraine peace Putin rules out compromise The Russian president indicated on Thursday that his country will not compromise on its demands to end the Ukraine offensive, but offered a short-term ceasefire Page 9 caps 33 years at helm of AI behemoth A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l 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 reported to him, came to light PAGES 12 13% the value by which Nvidia shares fell in trading on Thursday Special session likely for ‘Focus on success stories’ women quota, delimitation Govt plans reconvening House between Nov 20 and Dec first week RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ 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. BJP expects victory margin of 15-18 votes 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 Asked if 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 Gu- Organised crime, narco trafficking top agenda of Shah meet with cops E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday chaired a security review meeting at the Delhi Police Headquarters, directing senior officers to strengthen measures against organised crime, narcotics trafficking, illegal arms supply and other illicit activities. Sources said that he asked the police top brass to develop Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in dealing with such crimes and coordinate with their counterparts of adjoining cities of NCR. The meeting was attended by Lieutenant-Governor TS Sandhu, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and other senior officials. Source in Delhi Police confirmed that the discussions took place around strengthening law and order, improving policing strategies and developing an effective approach to tackle criminal networks and related security challenges. With Chhath Puja approaching, Shah reviewed crowd management arrangements for the celebrations, which will continue until November 16. Lakhs of devotees are expected to visit more than 1,400 designated ghats across the city, making adequate deployment of per- Home Minister Amit Shah with Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar sonnel, as effective crowd regulation will be key priorities. The meeting comes less than a month after Shah’s previous security review at the police headquarters on October 24, when he was briefed on measures to combat drug trafficking, organised crime and traffic congestion, besides steps to strengthen women’s safety Be. fore the October 24 meeting, Shah had visited the police HQ on August 30, 2022. Sandhu seperately visited Rajinder Nagar police station to interact with police personnel, who were deployed on Diwali duty. He extended festive greetings to the personnel and acknowledged their contribution to ensuring public safety . jarat, 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 doublestandard 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.” 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: i n d r anee l d a s @ Chennai 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 PI TA D E 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 inflation 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 The heat is on 5.54% 6.09% * 4.38% 4.45% 4.83% 3.48% 3.93% M ay June April * Provisional estimate  J u ly Statistics and Programme Implementation on Thursday, food inflation climbed to 8.94% in October from 7.74% in the previous month. Higher prices of food and Aug Oct Sep | Source: MoSPI 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 cul- mination of pressures that had been building for months,” said Dipti Deshpande, principal economist at Crisil. Higher inflation was not restricted to food; the hospitality 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. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Faridabad The accused who shot dead a senior executive of a Singapore company in Faridabad on Nove m b e r 6 o n D h a n t e r a s screamed “Diwali Mubarak ho” after the firing. This and other chilling details have become public after the CCTV footage of the building where the two fought went viral on social media on Thursday . Paramjeet Dhankar, 42, a former senior vice-president at Tech Mahindra, was shot dead by his neighbour Monu Sharma over a dispute about parking cars and movement of a pet dog. The victim had come to In- A screengrab of Dhankar (L) and Sharma arguing in the parking area of the building dia on November 5 to celebrate Diwali and attend his nephew’s wedding. Dhankar lived on the first floor the building, while Sharma lived on the third. The footage, which carries clear audio, shows Sharma initially spoke with Dhankar politely calling him “Bhaiya” and , “Dhankar sahib”, and asking him to come downstairs. Dhankar went downstairs to the stilt parking along with his son, where the accused was present. The footage shows wearing a cap, carrying a backpack and with his right hand in the pocket. As the conversation progressed, Sharma was heard stating that he did not want to talk to him. Later, he pulled out a gun from his pocket and started firing at Dhankar, who bled but managed to run towards the main road, but Sharma followed him. Dhankar then caught hold of the accused in order to prevent him from firing further, but Sharma freed himself and fired at Dhankar THE last time archaeologists went properly looking for submerged ruins of Lord Krishna’s kingdom Dwarka was in 2007. Nineteen years on, the Archaeological Survey of India is preparing to send divers back into the Arabian Sea. Fresh explorations at major pilgrimage sites Dwarka and Bet Dwarka in Devbhoomi Dwarka district of Gujarat, aiming to uncover submerged led last year’s onshore and offshore expeditions. “The exploration may start in December. The extent of activities will depend on sanctions and availability of people. The final analysis of the site will be completed this time,” Behind the fresh attempt The fresh attempt to study underwater archaeology off Dwarka and Bet Dwarka assumes significance as in February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went scuba diving off the Panchkui beach to perform prayers near the ancient, submerged remnants of the ancient city again and then shouted, “Diwali mubarak ho!” Sharma also kept abusing Dhankar throughout the chase. The video shows that Sharma fired at Dhankar’s son as well when he tried to intervene. Later, Sharma fled in his car, but was arrested by the Crime Branch of the Haryana Police. After the initial investigation, the Haryana Police said Dhankar had sustained nine bullet injuries. Some reports suggested that Sharma has a puppy which def, ecated in the silt parking area, to which the Dhankars did not take kindly. The two families reportedly fought over petty issues in the past as well. Express Read ASI set to approve deep dive for exploration at Dwarka, Bet Dwarka historical and cultural remnants, could begin by December, subject to ASI’s approval. A team of underwater archaeology experts is expected to work with Professor Alok Tripathi, ASI’s former additional Director-General, who 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 le gendary 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. Faridabad killer shouts ‘Diwali Mubarak’ as he pumps bullets sacred city Pa r v e z Su ltan @ New Delhi Usha’s ‘ice’ play to stay in the IOA polls game said a source privy to the matter. The long gap says something about the discipline itself. Underwater archaeology in India remains nascent. Since 1981, the ASI has managed limited fieldwork on only 11 occasions, at sites including Mahabalipuram and Kaveripattinam in Tamil Nadu, Arikamedu in Puducherry, Loktak Lake in Manipur and Elephanta in Maharashtra. The 2007 work at Dwarka found the area densely layered with successive structures. As per ASI, the excavation yielded terracotta objects, beads, fragmented bangles, copper rings, iron ingots and pottery . Prof Tripathi’s team resumed limited excavation work last November near the ‘56 Seedhi’ steps by Gomti Ghat. With no open space around the Dwarkadheesh Temple, the excavation was confined to a small area. This time, space shouldn’t be a constraint. Ragging at Banswara medical college in Raj Reports of ragging and sexual harassment of first-year MBBS students have emerged from the Government Medical College in Banswara, Rajasthan. The National Medical Commission has sought a report from the college. Terrorists abduct, kill 2 SPOs in Kishtwar in J&K Two Special Police Officers (SPOs) of the J&K Police, who went missing on Wednesday while travelling to an Army post in Kishtwar, were found shot dead in Dachhan forest on Thursday. P7