KOZHIKODE l thursday l october 08, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION duo wins chemistry Nobel for solving ‘mirror image mystery’ Henri B Kagan Kenso Soai Making the preferred variant of a molecule Molecules exist as two mirrored variants. But in living organisms, only one variant is found. While nature produces only the variant it requires, scientists have failed to create a specific version and have always ended up with an equal mix of both. Kagan and Soai discovered a solution to this puzzle, which has transformed modern medicine France’s Henri Kagan and Japan’s Kenso Soai on Wednesday won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for untangling the mirror images in molecules Their Discovery shaped modern medicine ■ ■ A drug must only contain the variant of the molecule as its target to have the desired effect. The mirror version could even cause harm In 1986, Kagan discovered how to create a “greater excess” of one of the mirror images. Soai then succeeded in designing a chemical reaction that created only the chosen version of a molecule Literature Nobel prize to be announced today 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 Borrowing costs to go up as RBI raises repo rate Key policy rate raised by 25 basis points to 5.5%; first increase since February 2023 marks beginning of rate-hike season stance from ‘neutral’ to ‘calibrated tightening’. This means more THE Reserve Bank of India on rate hikes are likely . Wednesday joined other R B I ’s a c t i o n s e n t central banks in biting the stocks lower by 0.6rate-hike bullet, delivering 0.76%, while the rupee its first repo rate hike breached the 97-per-dolsince February 2023. RBI’s lar mark for the first Monetary Policy Committime since June and tee (MPC) raised the key closed at a five-month policy rate by 25 basis low of 96.78. Bond yields points (bps) to 5.5%, imme- Sanjay Malhotra, hardened by 5-7 basis RBI Governor diately raising the interest points to 7.25%. burden on borrowers. “Rate cuts are off the The MPC signalled that higher table for the time being, and any interest rates are here to stay for further action will be a hike or a now and changed its policy pause, depending on the evolving B E N N K OCH U V E E DA N @ Mumbai 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.25 6.25 6.25 5.75 5.50 Repo rate history 5.25 Figures in % 6.00 6.00 5.50 5.50 5.50 5.25 5.25 5.25 5.25 5.00 7 Dec 2022 8 Feb 2023 8 June 9 Oct 2023 2024 6 Dec 2024 7 Feb 9 April 6 June 2025 2025 2025 macroeconomic outlook,” said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra. The hike was Malhotra’s first since he assumed office in De- 6 Aug 2025 5 Dec 2025 6 Feb 5 June 2026 2026 5 Aug 2026 7 Oct 2026 cember 2024. During his tenure, RBI has delivered six rate cuts totalling 125 bps. The MPC has raised its growth forecast by 40 basis points to 7.1% for the current financial year and increased its inflation projection by 20 bps to 5.2%. The rate hike comes amid rising inflation risks and global macroeconomic pressures, including the threat of a drought and elevated bond yields. Typically central banks raise rates to , contain inflation by moderating demand, which in turn slows economic activity . “The duration and the extent of the rate hike cycle would be contingent on the actual growthinflation developments and outlook,” Malhotra said. Keralam’s better health infra can’t be ‘handicap’ to set up AIIMS: HC E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other INDIA bloc members lie on the road with a copy of the Constitution in New Delhi on Wednesday | Parveen Negi Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani at the latter’s residence, in New Delhi | PTI Flash stir adds to ‘We will do it’ pressure on CEC Says PM on Viksit Bharat, adds criticism a motivator P r ee t h a N a i r & U d aya n K i s h o r e @ New Delhi Split verdict recall: SC to examine petition THE face-off between the INDIA bloc and the Chief Election Commissioner spilled onto New Delhi’s streets for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as police forcibly , detained Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition MPs for the third time in two days. This came after a flash protest demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. After an hour-long standoff, police carried Rahul Gandhi into a bus and forcibly removed Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who lay on the road holding a copy of the Constitution. The siblings and other detained leaders were released later. Rahul said the Opposition’s protest would continue until Kumar resigned, calling it a fight to protect the “most sacred thing” in the country. Later asked about FIR against him for Tuesday’s eight-hour sit-in, he said, “I have 45 FIRs against me. My target is that there should be 100 FIRs against me. Every FIR against me is a medal for me.” The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a plea seeking recall of its split verdict on whether challenges to the 2023 law governing the appointment of the CEC and Election Commissioners should go to a larger Constitution bench | P7 The protest followed a luncheon for INDIA bloc leaders hosted by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge at a restaurant on Janpath in central Delhi. The leaders then boarded buses to head to Jantar Mantar, where heavy security had been deployed. When police stopped their buses on Ashoka Road, Rahul and other leaders got out and staged a sit-in, triggering a confrontation with security personnel. As police bodily removed Rahul and put him in the police bus, some Congress leaders climbed atop the bus and bonnet. A large posse of women personnel removed Priyanka and others and took them away in buses. As for Cockroach Janta Party, it will launch its protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10. RA J E SH K U MAR THA K U r @ New Delhi Injecting fresh momentum into the Viksit Bharat vision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday coined a new slogan, ‘We will do it’, and called on citizens to work hard to help achieve the goal of becoming a developed country by 2047. The prime minister was addressing the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sabha’ held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi to mark his 25 years as the head of a government. “The dream we are seeing today in 2026 of a developed India will surely come true. There is no reason for India to stop now. A hundred years ago, we were even less than 40 crore; today we are more , than 140 crore. The 140 crore citizens together will build a developed India by 2047, and we certainly will. We Will Do It,” Modi said. He repeated the new phrase 19 times during his 50-minute address. “Viksit Bharat by 2047: we will do it. Top 3 economy: We will do it. Self-reliant India: we will do it. Global manufacturing hub: we will do it. Hosting the Olympics: we will do it. Forging ahead in space exploration: we will do it,” he said with the crowd echoing him. Modi said criticism has always motivated him to perform better. Taking a swipe at the Opposition, Modi said, “Those who tried to defeat me showed me humility Those who . tried to pull me down showed me resilience...” He said India is now advancing across multiple sectors. “The Tricolour flies high in technology, sports and industry Indian pilots are being talked . about across the globe today A day will come when . the world discusses “Made in India” aircraft. These goals will be realised only if we formulate visionary policies and strive with the utmost dedication,” he declared. Aged 20 or under & unemployed? No U.S. visa to nine wrestlers f i r o z m i r z a @ Chennai In a big setback to the Indian wrestling contingent scheduled to compete at the U23 World Championships, the US Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday refused visas to nine out of 16 athletes. The wrestlers appeared for the visa interviews but were declined visas as their age was 20 or below and all of them, except one, were unemployed. The one woman wrestler, who recently got a job with the Indian Railways, was also denied visas as she could not furnish her salary and bank account details. The championship is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas from October 12 to 18. A total of 24 members from the Indian contingent including 16 wrestlers appeared in the first round of interviews at the US Embassy on press clusive UWW assured us that wrestlers will get the visas — Sanjay Kumar Singh, WFI president I will speak to the WFI & then speak on the issue — Nenad Lalovic, UWW president Wednesday The second lot comprising . 14 wrestlers will visit the Embassy on Thursday Concerned with the devel. opment, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) mailed the US Embassy and copied it to the USA Wrestling and United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body When apprised . of the issue by this daily UWW chief , Nenad Lalovic said he would speak to the WFI in this regard. Later in the day, Lalovic made a call to the WFI president Sanjay Kumar Singh. “We got a call from the UWW president. We have written to him, seeking intervention from the UWW and USA Wrestling in this matter. He assured us that our wrestlers will participate in the event,” Sanjay Kumar told this daily Meanwhile, a WFI official also . confirmed that USA Wrestling also got in touch with the federation. The wrestlers, who were denied visas, are Samarth Gajanan Mhakave, Dheeraj Kumar Malik, Sachin Kumar, Nikhil, Hardeep, Parveen, Ahilya Shatrughn Shinde, Neha Sharma and P11 Neha.  The Kerala High Court observed on Wednesday that the state’s comparatively better healthcare infrastructure cannot be a “handi c ap ” wh e n i t c o m e s t o establishing an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), questioning the Centre’s stand that no in-principle approval had been granted for the project. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V M said Keralam “deserves an AIIMS” and questioned whether the state’s relatively good healthcare facilities could disqualify it from consideration. It also observed that Keralam could be considered on a priority basis, given its population density and the possibility that existing government hospitals may not be sufficient to meet the medical needs of the poor and the needy . The court made these observations while considering a batch of petitions seeking the establishment of an AIIMS ● More on P4 in Keralam.  EXPRESS READ Keralam to get up to 300 MW from NTPC T’Puram: In a move that could offer some respite to Keralam amid its power crunch, the state will get up to 300 MW of electricity from NTPC’s Sinnar thermal power project in Maharashtra at D5.18 per unit. P4 MEA steps in to release 69 Indians from Russia New Delhi: India is continuing efforts to secure the release of 69 Indians who remain with the Russian armed forces, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has said. P7