Medicine Nobel for work on immune system kottayam l tuesday l October 07, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l 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 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 HC orders SIT probe into Sabarimala gold scandal Two-phase Bihar polls on Nov 6 & 11 E x press N e w s S er v ice @ Kochi 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 politically crucial state. For the ruling NDA, led by the BJP and JD(U), it’s not just about retaining power but about setting the tone for the 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 Suspecting fraud and conspiracy in the Sabarimala gold-plating work, the Kerala High Court on Monday ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged scam involving priest-turnedbusinessman Unnikrishnan Potti. According to the court, the  special team should be supervised by the ADGP (Law and order) and carried out by an officer in the rank of SP, after registering a crime. A division bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K V Jayakumar said a full-fledged and impartial investigation is required to identify and bring to book every person culpable in the matter. The responsibility does not rest solely with Unnikrishnan Potti, who sponsored the gold plating, and Smart Creations, Ambattur, Chennai, but also extends to certain officers of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). The communications and records clearly reveal that these officers were privy to the transactions and to the unlawful handing over of gold, in flagrant violation of the provisions contained in the Devaswom Manual, the court said. “Even more alarming is the fact that the gold-plated articles returned after the 2019 plating were not weighed by the officers concerned,” it said.  ● More on P4 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 Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and According to Opposition leadthe Congress. According to ers, another factor that will dent sources, the uneasy relationship their prospects is the Special Inbetween the two may tensive Revision of deepen as Congress is electoral rolls that cut looking to bargain for the number of electors some ‘winnable seats’. from 7.89 crore to 7.24 The Congress contestcrore. They see it as a ed 70 seats in 2020 but potential tool of disenwon only 19, inviting franchisement of ecosharp criticism. The nomically backward, party is expected to migrants, Muslims, contest 60-65 seats to Dalits, and other maraccommodate alliance ginalised groups who CEC Gyanesh Kumar partners, said a leader. support them. The RJD contested 144 seats and The elections will also reveal won 75, while the CPI(ML) con- whether Opposition’s main plank tested 19 and won 12. of BJP’s alleged ‘vote theft’ reso- 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: P7  nated 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 in Bihar politics. 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 cast and the young. express read Fire in ICU of Jaipur hosp kills eight patients Jaipur: 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. P8 State to provide insurance cover for school students T’Puram: In a major initiative, Kerala is all set to provide life insurance coverage to close to 35 lakh school students. An in-principle decision has been made to provide insurance coverage to students from Classes 1 to 10, studying in government, aided, and unaided state syllabus schools. P5 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. Trust an expert who knows when to switch the tune ^ Flexi Cap Fund for agility Scan to know more or contact your MFD/RIA Benefits of investing in Flexi Cap Fund 1 Flexibility to adjust Market Cap allocation 2 Managed by experts with experience across market cycles 3 Flexible approach helps mitigate risk over the long term ^An open ended dynamic equity scheme investing across large cap, mid cap & small cap stocks. 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