THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l tuesday l October 14, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION ECONOMICS NOBEL TO 3 FOR WORK ON innovation-driven GROWTH Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt won Nobel prize in economics for their research explaining how tech drives economic growth Joel Mokyr Philippe Aghion Peter Howitt Understanding sustained economic growth Highlighting the role of technology American-Israeli economic historian Mokyr showed that for innovation to continue, people need more than just proof that something works, they also need to understand how and why it works. Aghion and Howitt studied “creative destruction”, which happens when a better product replaces an older one, causing the older businesses to fall behind ■ Mokyr showed how inventions like smartphones and the internet brought huge benefits, even if they aren’t visible in economic data ■ “Their work shows that we must uphold the mechanisms that underlie creative destruction, so we do not fall back into stagnation,” said John Hassler, chair of the Nobel economics prize committee 1968 When sweden’s central bank established the economics 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 SC orders CBI investigation into Karur stampede, ex-judge to monitor probe Slams HC judge for entertaining plea and ordering SIT, suspends inquiry panel formed by TN S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi A Palestinian prisoner who was released on Monday gestures as he and others disembark from a bus at the Cultural Centre in Ramallah, West Bank; (inset) released Israeli hostage Alon Ohel signals to well wishers | AFP all living israeli hostages, 1,968 Palestine prisoners freed ling the war that began when Hamas militants attacked US President Donald Trump southern Israel on October 7, and several other world lead- 2023, could finally be ending. US President Donald Trump ers on Monday signed a Gaza ceasefire deal during a peace also addressed the Israeli summit in Egypt after Hamas Knesset (Parliament) on Monday where he hailed , freed all 20 living an end to a “painful hostages and Israel nightmare”. “For so released 1,968 Palesmany families across tinian prisoners unthis land, it has been der the US-brokered Their freedom agreement. stands as a tribute years since you’ve known a single day In Tel Aviv, Israeto the courage of lis erupted in cheers their families, the o f t r u e p e a c e, ” as hostages were unwavering peace Trump said. “Not c o n f i r m e d f r e e, efforts of President only for Israelis, but Trump and the also for Palestinians while Palestinians strong resolve of and for many others, in the West Bank Prime Minister the long and painful and Gaza greeted Netanyahu nightmare is finally buses of released Narendra Modi over,” he added. prisoners with Trump was greeted celebrations. The skies are calm, Under the deal, Hawith a standing ovathe guns are silent, mas is also required the sirens are still tion by Israeli lawto return the bodies makers as he entered and the sun rises of 28 hostages who on a Holy Land that the Knesset. died or were killed in is finally at peace While Hamas has captivity . handed over the bodDonald Trump The Israeli miliies of four captives, tary said on Monday it was not immedinight that the bodies of four ately clear when the rest deceased hostages were hand- would be released. ed over to the Red Cross by “Hamas is required to abide Hamas. by the agreement and make Speaking to Israeli lawmak- the necessary efforts to return ers, Prime Minister Benjamin all the bodies,” the Israeli milNetanyahu said he was “com- itary said.  more reports: p9 mitted to this peace,” signalAgencies Fire officer, 2 others die as well collapses amid rescue attempt ‘Beginning of a new era’ “We hope this will mark the beginning of a global partnership to end the era of terror in the region,” Nechemia J Peres, son of Israeli ex-PM Shimon Peres, writes | P7 ‘Hope Israel will abide by deal’ We hope Israel will abide by terms of peace plan, even though it is vague and lacks a clear timeline, writes a Palestinian diplomat Manuel Hassassian | P7 Delhi court frames charges against Lalu Prasad, Rabri & Tejashwi in IRCTC case E x pr e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi LESS than a month before Bihar goes to polls, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and son Tejashwi Yadav were on Monday charged by a Delhi court in the IRCTC hotels-forland scam. The move comes as the party gears up for the twophase Assembly elections on November 6 and 11, potentially adding a legal twist to the poll narrative. Special Judge Vishal Gogne INDIA bloc deal INDIA bloc may announce its seat-sharing deal on Tuesday for the assembly poll in Bihar following a meeting between RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi said that “there existed a prima facie case and grave suspicion regarding the land transfers involved in the matter.” The judge framed common charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating against Rabri Devi and Te- The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a CBI investigation into the Karur stampede in which 41 people died and over 100 were injured during a rally organised by actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on September 27. A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and NV Anjaria said the incident has shaken the nation’s conscience, left an imprint in the minds of the citizens throughout the country, and deserves a fair and impartial investigation. The bench, in its interim order on a plea by the TVK and three others seek- ing an independent probe, also set up a three-member supervisory committee headed by retired SC judge Justice Ajay Rasto gi to monitor the CBI investigation. The committee will include two IPS officers of Tamil Nadu cadre who are not natives of TN. “The officers of the CBI are directed to submit a monthly progress report of the probe to the committee, which may be placed for consideration before this court as and when required. We request that the investigation be completed as expeditiously as possible within the statutory time jashwi Yadav, while Lalu was additionally charged under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.All three leaders pleaded not guilty and sought a trial. The case, being pursued by the CBI, stems from alleged irregularities in granting contracts for two IRCTC hotels in Puri and Ranchi to a private firm, Sujata Hotels Private Limited. CBI alleged that the tender was manipulated, with conditions tweaked to favour the Patna-based private firm. E x pr e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kollam Three persons, including a fire and rescue services officer, died when the wall of a well collapsed during an attempt to rescue a woman at Neduvathoor in Kollam late on Sunday The deceased are Soni S Kumar, 36, . a native of Attingal and a member of the Kottarakkara fire and rescue unit; Archana, 33, a resident of Neduvathoor; and her partner Sivakrishnan, 22, from Kodungalloor, Thrissur. According to police, Archana reportedly jumped into the 90-ft deep well in the compound of her house following a heated argument with Sivakrishnan. After the fire and rescue services unit was called in, Soni entered the well to rescue her, with a rope tied around his waist. While Soni was emerging with Archana, Sivakrishnan, who was leaning against the wall of the well to direct a flashlight, accidentally caused the structure to collapse. The wall caved in, and Sivakrishnan along with the debris fell into the well, trapping all three, the police said. Soni was pulled out immediately as he had a rope tied to him, while Archana and Sivakrishnan were retrieved later from the debris. Despite being rushed to Kottarakara Taluk Hospital with the help of local residents, all three were declared brought dead. Police said Archana and Sivakrishnan had been living together in her house for the past two months. On Sunday night, Sivakrishnan allegedly returned home intoxicated and created a ruckus. When Archana hid the remaining liquor, a quarrel ensued, leading to the tragic sequence of events, ● More on P4 they said.  e x p r e ss r e a d Retail inflation cools to 1.54% New Delhi: India’s retail inflation fell sharply to an eight-year low of 1.54% in September, falling below the lower tolerance limit of the RBI’s 2-6% target band. The fall is primarily driven by lower food prices. Food inflation fell to -2.28%, marking the fourth consecutive month of negative food inflation. P10 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express Ballooning bailouts K r i s h n a K umar K E @ Kochi Despite the rise in operational earnings, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) remains critically dependent on massive, and increasing, financial aid from the state government to stay afloat. Notably, the government has ploughed around `13,000 crore into the corporation over the past nine years, with the bailouts showing little sign of stopping in the near future. On an average, KSRTC receives a sum of `120 crore monthly from aid for transport entity Monthly financial aid: K120 cr Aid during UDF govt (2011-16): K1,466.79 cr During previous LDF govt (2016-21): K5,002.13 cr During current LDF govt (from 2021): K7,829.71 cr the state exchequer, primarily to meet pension and salary payments. And that has helped the transport corporation disburse wages and pension on the first day of the month for the past several months. The government is also extend- (Source: Finance Department) `13,000 cr in 9 yrs: KSRTC running on govt largesse ing additional assistance to help the public entity tide over the poor state of financial affairs, according to a report presented in the seminar ‘Finance Department: Achievements and Future Perspectives’ held as part of the Kerala government’s ‘Vision 2031’ ini- tiative. “The huge, recurring outlay means that, without government support, the KSRTC will be unable to meet its most fundamental obligations to its employees. It indicates a state of negative cash flow where operating revenue is insufficient to cover personnel costs, let alone maintenance or expansion. The corporation can’t survive on the tax paid by the public forever. It’s high time it achieved financial self-sufficiency,” said Dijo Kappen, transport expert and chairperson of the State Public Transport Protection ● More on P4 Committee.  frame,” the bench said. Suspending the Madras HC’s direction to appoint a Special Investigation Team (SIT), and inquiry commission headed by former HC judge Justice Aruna Jagadeesan appointed by the Tamil Nadu government, the top court asked the state to extend full cooperation to the officers of the central agency . Explaining the rationale for ordering the CBI probe in the case, the Supreme Court observed that the comments made by senior TN police officers before the media regarding the Karur stampede may create doubt in the minds of citizens about the impartiality and fairness of the ongoing investigation. The court observed that, according to the petitioners, an investigation undertaken by the same police force whose top officials had publicly exonerated their subordinates by asserting that adequate steps had been taken, would lack the element of fairness and impartiality . It also criticised Justice N Senthilkumar of the Madras High Court for entertaining petitions on the September 27 incident, ordering an SIT probe, and making observations against TVK and its members without making them a party to the case. Hijab row triggers tension, Kochi school shut for 2 days E x pr e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi An unaided school in Kochi, affiliated to the CBSE, was forced to announce a holiday for two days after the parent of a girl student and a group of people allegedly trespassed onto its premises and created a ruckus demanding that his daughter be allowed to wear a hijab. Considering a writ petition filed by the school management, the Kerala High Court ordered that law and order be maintained. According to Heleena Alby princi, pal of St Rita’s Public School in Palluruthy, Ernakulam, the student who was admitted to Class VIII in June 2025 had been attending classes wearing the school uniform for the past four months. But on October 7, the student came to school wearing hijab and when her teacher reminded her of the need to adhere to the uniform, she insisted that it cannot be removed. The teacher summoned the parent who agreed to adhere to school rules. However, the girl was absent for the next two days and came to school wearing the hijab on October 10. She was accompanied by her father and a few others who allegedly manhandled the security personnel and verbally abused the principal, teachers and members of the PTA, the principal said. The school authorities informed that the mid-term examinations, which were slated to start on Monday, would now commence when the school reopens on ● More on P4 Wednesday  .