FEATURE STORY
Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned with immediate effect following mounting pressure over two extramarital affairs, including one with a Chinese businesswoman under U.S. investigation for suspected espionage. CFO Colette Kress has been named interim CEO and Harvey C. Jones appointed first-ever board chair, as Nvidia shares plunged 13% in opening Wall Street trade, pushing its market value below $4 trillion.
Celebrated British actor Sir Patrick Stewart has passed away at the age of 86. Rising from a childhood marked by domestic hardship and going completely bald by age 19, Stewart built a formidable career with the Royal Shakespeare Company before capturing global stardom as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor X in the X-Men franchise. Knighted in 2010, the Yorkshire-born legend proved that classical discipline and character can redefine modern popular culture.
Septuagenarian CPI(M) whole-timer Bipul Dasgupta has emerged as the face of peaceful resistance in West Bengal after standing ground with folded hands against a mob attempting to tear down a Left book stall in Nagerbazar during Durga Puja. The incident, set against a broader ideological row over the festival’s nomenclature, drew widespread condemnation from civil society as well as senior saffron figures including State Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta and the RSS, prompting a large solidarity march from Kolkata’s College Street on October 29.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of tapping his mobile phone, claiming the device holds proof supporting his political allegations while renewing his challenge for a one-on-one public debate. BJP leaders, including Kerala unit chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar, dismissed the surveillance allegation as baseless and urged the Leader of the Opposition to raise his arguments inside Parliament
Dalal Street snapped its nine-session winning streak on Friday the 13th as benchmark indices succumbed to profit-booking, surging retail inflation, and a rebound in global crude oil prices. The BSE Sensex fell 318.56 points to settle at 81,592.45, while the Nifty 50 slipped 155.05 points to 25,144.30. With October CPI breaching the RBI’s 6% upper tolerance limit at 6.09% and Brent crude rising past $95 amid stalled US-Iran diplomacy, rate-sensitive realty, auto, and banking stocks led the decline.
Technology entrepreneur and self-described maverick artist Sramana Mitra has unveiled her debut solo exhibition, Prithibi, in Kolkata. Blending the lyrical restraint learned in childhood from mentor Ramananda Bandyopadhyay with visual impressions gathered across New England, the American West, and Europe, Mitra’s watercolors, pastels, and abstractions offer a serene counterpoint to a noisy, excess-driven world.