kalaburagi l Friday l January 16, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION x brings in measures to prevent inappropriate editing using grok Elon Musk has introduced technological measures to prevent its AI platform, Grok, from creating inappropriate or obscene content ONLY PAID SUBSCRIBERS CAN have EDIT option Restrictions for explicit material apply to all users, including paid subscribers. However, the platform said that image creation and the ability to edit images via Grok are now only available to paid users. The Indian government warned X, asking it to comply with the IT Act, 2000. Countries like Brazil, Malaysia, and Australia have initiated inquiries. ■ Accounts seeking Child Sexual Exploitation materials will be 600 Child sexual abuse content banned ■ Action will be taken against high-priority violative content, including Child Sexual Abuse Material and non-consensual nudity reported to to law enforcement authorities as necessary. This does not change its existing safety protocols, X said in a statement | P12 accounts deleted and 3,500 pieces of obscene content removed 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 Apex court issues notice to Didi Agency moves top court alleging obstruction during its raids on TMC’s political consultant S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suffered a setback in the Supreme Court on Thursday when it issued notice to her and senior state officials on the petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its raids on I-PAC, Trinamool Congress’s political consultant. The court asked Banerjee, along with DGP Rajeev Kumar and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma, among others, to respond within two weeks. The bench, headed by Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and also comprising Justice Vipul Pancholi, used strong words about the clashes between Central and state agencies, saying that if the court did not examine the issue, it could create lawlessness. “We are of the prima facie view that the present petition has raised a serious issue relating to the investigation by the ED or other Central agencies and interference by state agencies. There would be lawlessness in the country if the court doesn’t examine the issues raised by the ED,” it said. The court also stayed the FIRs registered by the state against ED officials. The ED petition alleged interference by the West Bengal government and its agencies in the raids the probe agency had launched against I-PAC and its director Pratik Jain. The SC also issued notices to the Centre along with asking the state government to preserve the CCTV footage of the premises searched in the January 8 raids. The ED had first filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court on January 9, but a large number of people gathered in the courtroom, creating commotion. It prompted the court to adjourn the matter. The Supreme Court took a strong view of the unmanageable crowd, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “I have placed on record WhatsApp chats of the law wing of the party in power. This was not spontaneous, and they were instructed by the legal cell of the party to go there.” Justice Mishra then remarked, “Come everyone? As if it’s Jantar Mantar!” Through a fresh plea filed, the ED sought the suspension of top officials of West Bengal police, including Kumar, alleging that they aided Banerjee in the obstruction of investigation and evidence theft. Banerjee’s counsel Kapil Sibal, however, argued that the ED wanted to obtain access to information pertaining to the Trinamool Congress strategy for the upcoming election, which was in the I-PAC premises, as the political consultancy is the campaign partner of the party Sibal said that Banerjee . went to the I-PAC office after receiving information that certain unauthorised persons had entered Jain’s office. He added she went there as the head of the party, and not as the chief minister. P9 express read FIR against YouTuber for filming in tiger reserve Demonstration erupts in Berlin in support of the ongoing protests in Iran | PTI BMC: Exit polls predict win for BJP-Shiv Sena Kumbarwada: The forest department has filed an FIR against a ‘YouTuber’ for trespassing, making videos using a drone and posting them on social media at Pathegudi in Kumbarwada in Kali Tiger Reserve | P6 Mumbai: All exit polls predicted a clear sweep for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, which took place on Thursday, and a defeat of the Shiv Sena (UBT)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena | P10 India readies evacuation of nationals from Iran Recalled midair, AI The Indian embassy in Tehran has intensified efforts to The government has begun contact Indian students and drawing up contingency plans other nationals to assess who to bring back Indian nationals wishes to return. Officials said stranded in Iran amid mount- the exercise is being carried ing safety concerns as unrest out largely through physical continues in large parts of the outreach, as internet services country sources said. “In view remain suspended in several , of the evolving situation in areas and telecommunication Iran, the External Affairs Min- networks are unreliable. istry is making preparations to Evacuation planning is befacilitate the return ing complicated by of Indian nationals disruptions to air First batch who wish to travel travel. Air India ready back to India,” sourchas cancelled three es said. Students from US-bound flights Students from GoGolestan University, and warned of poslestan University, along with Shahid sible delays on along with a small Beheshti University of s o m e E u r o p e number from Shahid Medical Sciences and bound services afBeheshti University Tehran University of ter Iran shut its of Medical Sciences Medical Sciences, are airspace for four and Tehran Universi- expected to form the hours. Iranian airty of Medical Scienc- first evacuation batch space has since es, are expected to been reopened. form the first evacuation batch. The situation has drawn poSources said the first group of litical attention in India, with evacuees could be flown out as J&K CM Omar Abdullah talkearly as Friday subject to secu- ing to External Affairs Minis, rity clearances and the availa- ter S Jaishankar. “I was asbility of flight routes. sured that all steps are being “All students have been regis- taken to safeguard the interests tered, the Indian embassy has of our students,” he said. collected their details and passIran, however, has sought to ports, and the first batch has downplay the crisis. Iran’s Ambeen told to remain ready by 8 bassador to India Mohammad am,” the Jammu and Kashmir Fathali said the situation in the Students Association said. country is “under control”. J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi flight engine sucks in baggage container S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi In a rare and alarming incident at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Thursday morning, an Air India Airbus A350900 faced a double setback—engine damage after ingesting a cargo container, just hours after being rerouted midair due to the sudden closure of Iranian airspace. Flight AI101, bound for New York with 240 passengers on board, took off at 3:13 am but was forced to return to Delhi after Iran closed its airspace for four hours. The aircraft landed safely at 5:47 am, only to encounter another misfortune while taxiing toward the apron. According to DGCA sources, Engine No. 2 ingested a cargo container, causing damage. All the passengers were safe, but for AI101, Thursday proved to be a day of unexpected turbulence—first in the skies over Iran, and then on the taxiway of Delhi airport. Investigations indicate that ground handling company Bird Worldwide Flight Services was moving containers near Bay 242 when one toppled onto the taxiway after a dolly wheel came off. Though the operator quickly cleared nearby equipment, the container remained there and was sucked into the engine intake. Air India described the incident as a “foreign object strike in foggy conditions” and added that the aircraft has been safely positioned at stand 244. Repairs and a detailed probe are underway , and the airline warned of potential disruptions on select long-haul A350 routes. ‘Surat sarees’ death knell for DB Pur weavers A s h w i n i M S r i pa d @Doddaballapur (Bengaluru Rural) For over a century thousands , of weavers in and around Bengaluru Rural district’s Doddaballapur who depended solely on weaving silk for their livelihood, have now reached a dead end. Shifting from handlooms to power looms, and from pure silk to semi-silk, they are struggling with an identity crisis as Gujarat-based mill owners produce Surat sarees mimicking Doddaballapur silk sarees, but at a much lower price. This has pushed traditional Doddaballapur sarees out of the market. As a result, many of the 40,000 loom owners in and around Doddaballapur town are now forced to take up piecemeal works for others, earning a daily wage of just Rs 100 to Rs 200. The century-old weaving tradition was started by Devanga weavers community, whose population is considerably large in Doddaballapur, on handlooms. The silk sarees woven here were even exported. In 1948, the town got its power connection and the weavers slowly moved to power looms, enjoying high demand. Sarees would weigh 850gm to 1 kilo, with heavy zari borders, mostly preferred for weddings and auspicious occasions. These sarees were sold at Dharmavaram in Andhra Pradesh, besides Tamil Nadu and Telangana. At weaver KC Dwarakish’s house, four looms greet visitors as they enter. “Our day begins at 6.30am and continues until 8.30pm. We are the owners as per records, be it the house, electricity bills, or power looms, all are in our names. Unlike earlier, we no longer weave sarees and sell them directly. Instead, we take up piecemeal work from agents. They provide raw material and we weave as per their instructions,” he says. P4 KC Dwarakish weaves 20 metres of cloth a day with one of his looms. He has four looms at his residence | Shashidhar Byrappa SC to Election Commission Publish names taken out of draft Kerala rolls SUCHITRA K ALYA N M OHA N TY @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make public the names of people excluded from the draft electoral rolls published after the special intensive revision (SIR) process in Kerala, so that affected voters can raise objections. The SC also asked the poll panel to consider extending the deadline for filing objections, preferably by two weeks. A Bench headed by CJI Surya Kant was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR exercise in Kerala. The petitioners contended that the revision process, as carried out, risks disenfranchising a large number of voters due to technical errors and the absence of a robust grievance redressal mechanism. During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioners submitted that nearly 24 lakh names had been deleted from the draft rolls.It was argued that while voters are required to file objections against deletions, the list of excluded voters has not been made available, denying them a chance to contest the removal of their names. “They have to list objections, but the list of those persons deleted is not available. Now people have to go back and file objections stating why have you deleted me… that opportunity is missing for us,” a lawyer said. Taking note of the submissions, the SC directed that the names of excluded voters, if not already displayed, must be exhibited at public offices in villages, and uploaded on official websites. “Meanwhile, having regard to the difficulty being experienced by the people at large, the ECI may consider the desirability of extending the date,” the court said. The petitioners said that several voters were wrongly marked as deceased or shown as residing outside the state. The lack of transparency , they argued, has caused hardship, particularly in rural areas. The Bench was told that the ECI had earlier extended the deadline for submission of enumeration forms from December 4 to 11, and then to December 18, after the cour t’s observations. The petitioners include the State of Kerala and senior political leaders. HC: Don’t carry out devpt work at Roerich Estate E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru THE Karnataka High Court directed the state government to ensure that no development activities are carried out on the ground towards the eco tourism and cultural hub at the Svetoslav Roerich and Devika Rani Roerich Estate at Tataguni on Kanakapura Road in the city . A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha passed the interim order after hearing the public interest litigation filed by RR Nagar I Care Trust, represented by its founder-trustee Niveditha Sunkad. The state government sought two weeks to file a statement of objections to the petition.