HYDERABAD  TUESDAY  OCTOBER 03, 2023  `9.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION MEDICINE NOBEL GOES TO 2 WHOSE DISCOVERIES LED TO COVID VACCINES Weissman and Karikó VACCINE DEVELOPMENT FOR PANDEMIC HAILED Hungarian-born American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman were cited for contributing ‘to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,’ according to the panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm. The mRNA vaccines can be used to develop other shots in the future | P9 Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against coronavirus 13TH WOMAN TO GET BIG MEDICINE HONOUR ■ ■ Injecting lab-grown mRNA into the body triggers immune response that destroys it. Karikó and Weissman found a tiny modification to the RNA that made it stealthy enough to slip past immune defences Karikó, 68, is the 13th woman to win the prize in medicine. She was a senior VP at BioNTech, which partnered Pfizer to make COVID-19 vax $1 million IS THE CASH AWARD FROM A BEQUEST LEFT BY ALFRED NOBEL 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 Bihar BC head count at 63% R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi TS govt sets up second PRC EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad THE State government on Monday constituted the second Pay Revision Commission (PRC) and announced 5% interim relief (IR) to the government employees. Former Finance Secretary N Siva Sankar is the chairman of the second PRC and former IAS officer B Ramaiah has been appointed as a member. The State government constituted the first PRC in 2018 under the chairmanship of CR Biswal. It submitted the report in December 2020. Later, the government announced a 30% fitment to over 9 lakh government employees and pensioners with monetary benefit from April 2020 and a notional benefit from July 2018. This time, the State government has announced its decision to bring around 70,000 Anganwadi teachers under the PRC as well. The State government announced the highest-ever fitment of 43% to government employees in 2014 while implementing the 10th PRC constituted in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. The PRC is expected to submit its report in six months. The State government has issued two Government Orders (GOs) for this purpose. One GO pertains to the establishment of the new PRC, while the other GO grants a 5% IR to employees. Welcoming the State government’s decision, Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers (TNGO) Association State president M Rajender said they were hoping that they would get a good fitment, like in the past. CONTINUED ON P4 PM MODI TO DECLARE MORE SOPS FOR TS TODAY Two days after announcing the National Turmeric Board, the PM will lay its foundation stone in Nizamabad and launch rly projects | P4 Thebigpicture TOTAL POPULATION: 13.07 CR Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs): 36% Other Backward Classes (OBCs) 27.13% 10 CASTES WITH HIGHEST POPULATION CASTE PERCENTAGE(%) POPULATION Yadav 14.27 1.86 CRORE Dushad 5.31 69.43 LAKH Chamar 5.25 68.69 LAKH Koiris 4.2 55.06 LAKH Brahmin 3.65 47.81 LAKH Rajput 3.45 45.10 LAKH Mushar 3.08 2.87 37.62 LAKH Bania 2.3 Muslim 17.7% (2,31,49,925) 40.35 LAKH Kurmi Religion-wise Hindu 82% (10,71,92,958) Christian 0.0576% (75,238) 30.26 LAKH Kayasth 0.60 7.857 LAKH 2 DAYS, 2 RESIGNATIONS DCC chief quits, says no justice for BCs in Cong while ignoring Rohith. TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy had IN a major setback to the Con- confirmed two tickets for the gress ahead of Assembly elec- MLA and his son even before he tions, Malkajgiri District Con- had joined the party g ress Committee (DCC) As Sridhar and Thirupathi president Nandikanti Sridhar, a Reddy were DCC presidents, BC community leader, resigned the party cadre is likely to join from his primary membership them and support rival parties and post in the party on Mon- in the upcoming polls. On Sunday He is the second DCC presi- day, Sridhar held a private . dent to resign in two days after meeting with hundreds of parMedak DCC chief K Thirupathi ty workers. The exit of these Reddy quit citing the two leaders puts a spottickets to MLA Mynamlight on the party givpally Hanumantha Rao ing tickets to parachute and his 25-year-old son leaders and sidelining Rohith, reportedly from BC leaders. Malkajgiri and Medak In the resignation letsegments. ter addressed to AICC While Sridhar said president Mallikarjun BCs wouldn’t get jusKharge, Sridhar said, “I tice in the Congress, Nandikanti Sridhar have been told that ConThirupathi Reddy acgress is considering cused the party of ill-treatment giving tickets to newly joined to the loyal leaders. In their res- leaders from BRS, Mynampally ignation letters, the leaders Hanumantha Rao and his son. stressed that Mynampally had This is injustice. With utmost foisted cases against them and regret, I have learnt that BC Congress workers during his community candidates will not term as ruling party MLA. get justice in Congress.” Mynampally recently quit His resignation comes despite the BRS and joined the Con- Rahul Gandhi promising an gress after the pink party gave MLC post after the party comes him one ticket for himself to power. E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad BIHAR’S backward castes on Monday got an authentic number for the first time — 63% — with the state’s caste ‘survey’ report being made public. In the process, Bihar became the first state to share the findings of its gamechanger caste census. It is expected to set off caste assertion of a kind that has the potential to overshadow the Hindutva and nationalism cards the BJP is preparing to use during the next general elections in 2024. While the population of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) is 36%, that of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) is 27.13%, the census revealed. The state has a total population of 13.07 crore. A visibly elated Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sidestepped queries about whether the survey would prove to be Mandal 2.0, triggering demands for revised quotas for different castes in proportion to their population. “It would not be proper for me to go into such details right now. Let me share the findings with all parties tomorrow. After that, our focus will be on making policies targeted at castes that may be deemed to be in need of greater assistance. The survey will benefit all castes, without exception,” he said. Yadavs (14.27%) unsurprisingly constitute the biggest caste group amongst the OBCs. They form the EXPRESS READ NIA raids 62 locations in TS and AP Hyderabad: The NIA on Monday apprehended a State Executive Committee member of Pragathiseela Karmika Samakya (PKS) during simultaneous raids across 62 locations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as part of the probe into the Munchingiputtu Maoist case | P5 5-year-old dies in Hyd, ‘strict’ teacher blamed Hyderabad: The death of a five-year-old student at a private school at Ramanthapur sparked a protest on Monday, with angry parents blaming corporal punishment meted out by one of the teachers for the boy’s death. The student, Hemanth, was the son of daily wage labourers | P2 PRESSING NEED Hyderabad’s homeless require more shelters R E N U K A K A L PA N A @ Hyderabad “BE the change you wish to see in the world,” famously advised Mahatma Gandhi. In keeping with this philosophy and to gain a first-hand understanding of the challenges faced by the homeless population, the Campaign for Citizens Shelters Network (C4CS) organised ‘Under the Stars’ on the nights of October 1 and 2. During this, citizens were invited to join hands with members of various social campaigns to spend time with homeless individuals. Together, they dined and shared their time with the homeless at Nampally Metro Station, coinciding with the eve of Gandhi’s birth anniversary . A man sleeping near the Nampally Metro Station | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN In the city, there exists a pressing need for 150 shelters to accommodate the homeless, but regrettably, only 12 such shelters are currently available. Among these, only three are designated for women, leaving nine for men. This dispari- ty underscores the acute shortage of safe and secure shelter options for homeless individuals, particularly those who work during the day and have no place to call home at night, the organisers said. This dire situation is particularly pronounced in Nampally and Secunderabad, where a significant number of homeless people have been residing for years without adequate shelter. Sayed Feroz, convenor of the Narasraya Shramil Sanghatana (NSS), said, “Recently, a women’s shelter in Buddhanagar was closed as the building has been allocated to a police station. We are hopeful that it will be reopened soon.” CONTINUED ON P5 Only 3 shelters for homeless women in Hyderabad For homeless women, the situation becomes even more precarious, as we cannot predict what they may encounter during the night Sayed Feroz, NSS convenor primary votebank of ruling RJD, which alone with the support of the Muslim population comprising 17.70%, ruled the state for 15 years in a row through the MY (MuslimYadav) formula from 2005 and are back in power after Nitish’s somersault from the BJP and his JD(U) leading the grand anti-BJP alliance. RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav is Nitish’s deputy . RJD president Lalu Yadav said the survey will set the tone for ‘a nationwide caste census which will be undertaken when we form the next government at the Centre’. The Scheduled Castes comprise 19.65% (2,56,89,820) of the state’s population while the total head count of Scheduled Tribes is 1.68% (21,99,361). The population of upper castes under the unreserved category stands at 15.5%, which has already triggered calls for revisiting the 10% EWS (Economically Weaker Section) quota carved out by the Modi government at the Centre. The break-up of the four upper castes in the state is Bhumihar 3.66% (47,81,280), Rajput 3.45% (45,10,733), Brahmin 3.66% (47,81,280) and Kaystha 0.6% (7,85,771). The survey was approved by state cabinet on June 2 last year with a budgetary allocation of `500 crore. The Opposition BJP in Bihar termed the report an eyewash, as it did not capture the economic profile of the people. Engineer among 3 IS suspects held in Delhi U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE Delhi Police Special Cell arrested three suspected ISIS terrorists, including one who is on the most wanted list of the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and carrying a reward of `3 lakh on his head. The suspected terrorist, identified as Shahnawaz Alam alias Abdullah alias Md Ibrahim alias Prince (31), an engineer by profession, was hiding in Delhi after fleeing from Pune, the police said on Monday The other two were identified as Moham. mad Rizwan Ashraf (28) and Md Arshad Warsi (29). Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) HGS Dhaliwal said the arrested persons were taking instructions from their handlers in Pakistan and were planning to carry out terror activities in India. CONTINUED ON P7