Medicine Nobel for work on immune system chennai l Tuesday l October 07, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Mary E Brunkow Institute for Systems Biology, seattle, USA Fred Ramsdell Sonoma Biotherapeutics, San Francisco, USA Shimon Sakaguchi Osaka University, Osaka, JAPAN Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Dr Shimon Sakaguchi on Monday won the Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering how the body regulates T-cells to prevent autoimmune attacks on healthy tissues. Brunkow, 64, is with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Ramsdell, 64, is with Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, and Sakaguchi, 74, is a distinguished professor at Osaka University in Japan | P11 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 Fire in ICU of Jaipur’s SMS hospital kills eight patients Two-phase Bihar polls on Nov 6 & 11 rajesh asnani @ Jaipur AS Bihar gears up for a twophase election on November 6 and 11, it will decide the fate of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of opposition, which is eying to return to power in the state. For the ruling NDA, led by the BJP and JD(U), retaining power is about setting the tone for 2029 LS polls. While the grand alliance is yet to announce its seat-sharing formula, the polls are seen as a test of unity for the main players Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and EIGHT patients, including three women, on critical care support, reportedly died after a fire ripped through the neurology ICU at Jaipur’s state-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital late Sunday night. The blaze — at Rajasthan’s largest government hospital — erupted in the storeroom near the ICU. A short circuit in the ICU storeroom, which contained medical papers, equipment, and blood sample tubes, is believed to have triggered the fire. Within minutes, the flames spread rapidly through the ward, with thick smoke filling the corridors. Eleven patients were being treated in the ICU at the time of the deadly blaze, hospital authorities said. Walls blackened with smoke and soot, equipment twisted out of shape in the heat, and shattered glass told the tale of the horrors that unfolded shortly after the fire breaking out. Family members held a protest and alleged that authorities were negligent, ignoring warnings and fleeing instead of rescuing the ailing and sick. Hospital Superintendent Dr Sushil Bhati and trauma centre in charge Dr Anurag Dhakad were suspended. The fire safety contractor’s tender has also been cancelled. The state government has announced `10 lakh in compensation to the next of the kin of the deceased. PK factor looms as Oppn hopes for a comeback; NDA aims to continue momentum of victory P R E E T H A N A I R & R A J E S H K u m ar t H A K U R @ New Delhi the Congress. The uneasy rela- tensive Revision of electoral rolls tionship between the two may that cut the number of electors deepen as Congress is looking to from 7.89 crore to 7.43 crore. They bargain for some ‘winsee it as a potential tool nable seats’. The Conof disenfranchisement gress contested 70 seats of economically backin 2020 but won only 19. ward, migrants, MusThe party is expected lims, Dalits, and other to contest 60-65 seats to marginalised groups accommodate alliance who support them. partners, said a leader. In that context, the The RJD contested 144 Election Commission seats and won 75, while of India’s actions will the CPI(ML) contested be under intense scruCEC Gyanesh Kumar 19 and won 12. tiny and the Bihar elecAccording to Opposition lead- tion will be a test of its credibilers, another factor that will dent ity The elections will also reveal . their prospects is the Special In- whether Opposition’s main plank Jury decides RNG award winners, announcement on November 28 E x press N e w s S er v ice @ New Delhi Winners of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman ( R NGS S) 2025 were on Monday decided at a meeting of the external and internal jury chaired by , author and for mer diplomat Pavan Varma, author Githa Hariharan and economist and member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Sanjeev Sanyal. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony in Delhi on November 28. The RNGSS is named in honour of Ramnath Goenka, a doyen of the Indian print industry and visionary of The New Indian Express (TNIE) Group. Authors Ruskin Bond and Perumal Murug an (fo r Lif etime Achievement), Devika Rege (Fiction) and Anirudh Kanisetti (NonFiction) have been past winners. For the third edition of the RNGSS, the team at TNIE began work on the longlist in July Several sug. gestions and submissions came in from senior editors of various centres across the country from New Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha. In addition, publishers shared their recommendations. Books released between July 2024 and June 2025 were considered for nomination. Cutting down longlists into half meant putting the spotlight on books of the moment, books that should matter, giving authors and ideas a platform, a time of excitement and goal setting for us and our readers. The 2025 edition of RNGSS will be given under four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Debut, and Lifetime Achievement.  Continued on: P9 of BJP’s alleged ‘vote theft’ resonated with the Bihar voters. The NDA hopes to win riding on ‘20 years of development’ and welfare programmes. Retaining Bihar is crucial for the ruling alliance because a defeat could weaken its march to the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. As for JDU chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, a victory would cement his legacy while a defeat could end his relevance. M e a n wh i l e, t h e e n t r a n t Prashant Kishor’s party is expected to leave a dent on the Opposition vote banks especially the upper caste and the young. express read SC: No injunction against Balaji becoming minister New Delhi: The SC on Monday rejected ex-TN minister V Senthil Balaji’s plea seeking expunction of the court’s remarks that forced him to resign. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, said the SC’s April order was not an injunction against him becoming minister, but a warning | P7 Stampede: TVK moves HC, seeks action on officers Chennai: The TVK on Monday filed a petition in Madras HC asking the court to direct the home secretary to take disciplinary action against the Karur collector, SP and DSP for the stampede that claimed 41 lives. Officials who are bound to ensure proper crowd management failed in their duty, the petition said | P4 Appalling bid to attack CJI, Modi calls it reprehensible S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi In an appalling incident, a 71-year-old advocate attempted to hurl a shoe at Chief Justice of India B R Gavai in the court room on Monday, drawing national outrage and prompting the Bar Council of India to suspend his license. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the CJI and called the attack reprehensible. “... (it) has angered every Indian. There is no place for such reprehensible acts in our society,” Modi posted on X. He also praised the CJI for staying calm. Soon after the incident, the police arrested the accused, identified as Rakesh Kishore. He was heard in the courtroom yelling, “India will not tolB R Gavai, CJI erate any disrespect towards Sanatana Dharma.” Kishore was apparently unhappy with the recent remarks made by the CJI during a PIL seeking restoration of a Lord Vishnu idol in the Khajuraho Temple complex. For his part, the CJI defused the situation with grace and continued the day’s hearing. Later in the day , he did not press charges and let Kishore leave.  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