vijayawada l thursday l october 10, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Trio win Nobel chemistry Prize for work on protein structure David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were honoured for their work in predicting and even designing the structure of proteins David Baker John Jumper Demis Hassabis Baker awarded for designing new proteins Using AI to predict protein structure Baker designed a new protein in 2003 and his research group has since produced several new proteins, including those that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors. “David Baker has succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins,” the Nobel Committee said in its statement | P11 ■ ■ Hassabis and Jumper created an artificial intelligence model that has been able to predict the complex structure of over 200 million proteins The shape of proteins is key as it determines their function. Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said the two solved a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures 2020 when Hassabis and Jumper first used AI to predict protein structure 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 TCS to open IT facility in Steel City Knives out for Cong from allies after Haryana rout E x pre s s N e w s Ser v i c e Shiv Sena (UBT), AAP, TMC blame GOP’s arrogance for defeat In a new milestone for the IT sector in Andhra Pradesh, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has finalised the setting up of an IT facility in Visakhapatnam that will house up to 10,000 employees. The announcement comes following a meeting between Minister for IT, Communications, and HRD Nara Lokesh and Chairman of the Board of Tata Sons Natarajan Chandrasekaran at the Tata Group headquarters in Mumbai on Tuesday . It may be pointed out that HCL, another tech giant, had recently announced its plans to invest in the Steel City. Lulu Group, Brookfield, Oberoi, and Suzlon Ene r g y h ave also expressed their interest in investing in the State. Expressing happiness over Tata Group coming forward to set up an IT centre in Visakhapatnam, Lokesh said, “We are committed to offering a best-inclass investment climate to corporates driven by our motto of ‘speed of doing business’. This investment by TCS is an important milestone as we work to make AP as India’s No. 1 State to do business.” Later in the day Chief Minis, ter N Chandrababu Naidu congratulated his son and IT minister Nara Lokesh for getting TCS to Visakhapatnam. He praised Lokesh for taking steps in the direction of creating 20 lakh jobs in the State over next five years. P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi @ Vijayawada 28 December 1937 — 9 October 2024 tata, ratan G u rbir Sin g h @ Mumbai INDIA’s best known industrialist and chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, 86, passed away at South Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital late on Wednesday night leaving a vacuum in the formidable $100 billion Tata Group. Confir ming persistent speculation that the ailing cor porate leader had breathed his last, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran announced: “It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have RBI keeps repo rates unchanged B enn K o c h u v ee d an @ Mumbai The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%, for the 10th time in a row, but changed its stance to ‘neutral’ that may lead to a cut in the forthcoming policies. According to analysts, the change in stance is the first step towards a rate cut and signals the beginning of the easing cycle as early as December. However, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, who completes his five-year term in December, refused to accept the policy stance change is a pivot. “The prevailing and expected inflationgrowth balance has created conditions for a shift in the Shaktikanta Das m o n e t a r y p o l i c y stance as there is greater confidence on last mile of disinflation,” he said. The banking regulator also retained the retail inflation projection at 4.5% for 2024-25, with Das stressing the central bank will have to closely monitor the price situation and keep the ‘inflation horse’ under tight leash lest it may bolt again. RBI maintained status quo despite the US Federal Reserve lowering the benchmark rates by 50 basis points last month. The central banks of some developed nations have also reduced their interest rates. shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation.” Paying condolences to the industrialist, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X said: “He provided stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious business houses.” As late as on Monday, when he was admitted to hospital, Ratan Tata took to X to scotch speculation about his ill health saying he was going in for a routine medical check-up. Ratan Tata started his career in the Tata Group in 1961 managing operations on the shop floor of Tata Continued on: P12 Steel.  THE Congress on Wednesday came under fire from its INDIA bloc allies who squarely blamed the grand old party for the poll debacle in Haryana, with several leaders accusing it of being ‘arrogant, overconfident and entitled’ and giving less space to its regional allies. Launching a scathing attack, the Shiv Sena (UBT) attributed the Congress’s poor show to the ‘overconfidence and arrogance’ of the party’s state leadership. In an editorial of Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana, it asked the Congress leadership to introspect and learn from its mistakes. The jibe comes at a time when Congress and the alliance partners are engaged in seat-sharing talks ahead of the Maharashtra elections, scheduled for later this year. “The INDI alliance could not win in Haryana because the Congress felt they would win on their own and they did not need any other partner in power. If they had shared seats with the SP, AAP or other smaller parties, the results would have been different,” Collect 24-page Dasara booklet Maa Durgadevi with this edition Express read Naidu congratulates PM on Haryana win Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday dialled Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him on the BJP’s victory in the Haryana Assembly polls for the third time in a row. He observed that the BJP’s win in Haryana was a positive sign for the NDA | P4 Oct 11 is last date to apply for liquor licence Congress leaders Pawan Khera, Ashok Gehlot, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and others after meeting the Election Commission of India | Parveen Negi said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut. The Congress’ Haryana unit had unit refused to accommodate the AAP and the SP though , senior leader Rahul Gandhi was in favour of it. The party suffered another setback as its Uttar Pradesh ally Samajwadi Party on Wednesday released a list of six candidates for the upcoming Assembly bypolls. Sources said Congress leaders were upset about the SP’s unilateral move as it came in the middle of ongoing talks. Meanwhile, leaders of AAP and TMC were unsparing towards the Congress. AAP leaders also ruled out any truck with the Congress in Delhi assembly elections, scheduled for early next year. Taking potshots at Congress, AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha penned a poem on X: “If you had cared about my wishes, it would have been a different matter, If you had taken care of our desires, it would have been a different evening. Today he too must be regretting leaving me, If we had walked together it would have been something else.” Several Opposition leaders including Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir ally Omar Abdullah, the Left parties, and Bihar ally RJD targeted the Congress. TMC MP Saket Gokhale said the attitude of not accommodating regional parties even in places where they felt they were winning, led to the shocking electoral setback. Vijayawada: A total of 57,325 applications for liquor shop licences were received by the Prohibition and Excise Department netting `1,146.6 crore towards fees. The government has extended the last date to by two days to October 11 from October 9 | P4 TM Krishna’s MS misogyny S Gurumurthy calls out the conferring of the ‘Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subbulakshmi Award’ on TM Krishna despite the latter’s misogynistic tirade against MS, who Nehru said was the Queen of Music Page 9