HYDERABAD l Thursday l October 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late cITY EDITION duo wins Chemistry Nobel for solving ‘mirror image mystery’ France’s Henri Kagan and Japan’s Kenso Soai on Wednesday won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for untangling the mirror images in molecules Henri B Kagan Kenso Soai Making the preferred variant of a molecule Their discovery shaped modern medicine 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 | P9 ■ ■ A drug must contain only 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 “Rate cuts are off the table for the time being, and any furTHE Reserve Bank of India on ther action will be a hike or a Wednesday joined other central pause, depending on the evolvbanks in biting the rate-hike ing macroeconomic outlook,” bullet, delivering its first repo RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra rate hike since February 2023. told reporters. RBI’s Monetary Policy ComThe MPC, however, sent a mittee (MPC) raised the key mixed signal by raising its policy rate by 25 basis points growth forecast by 40 basis points (bps) to 5.5%, immediately rais- to 7.1% for the current financial ing the interest burden year while increasing on borrowers. its inflation projection At its policy meeting by 20 bps to 5.2%. held between October 5 The rate hike comes and October 7, the MPC amid rising inflation signalled that higher risks and global macrinterest rates are here oeconomic pressures, to stay for some time, including the threat of changing its policy a drought and elevated stance from ‘neutral’ to bond yields. Typically , Sanjay Malhotra ‘calibrated tightening’. central banks raise inThis, analysts say is a , terest rates to contain signal that two or three more inflation by moderating demand, hikes could be in the offing, de- which in turn slows economic pending on inflation and other activity . macroeconomic conditions. “The duration and extent of RBI’s action sent stocks low- the rate hike cycle would be er by 0.6-0.76%, while the rupee contingent on the actual breached the 97-per-dollar mark growth-inflation developments for the first time since June and and outlook, extent of broadenclosed at a five-month low of ing of price pressures and sec96.78. Bond yields hardened by ond-round effects of the supply 5-7 basis points to 7.25%. shock,” Malhotra said.  P10 B E N N K OCHUV E E DA N @ Mumbai 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 Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and TMC MP Derek O’Brien are stopped by Delhi Police on Wednesday evening Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls on veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI cops stop CM Flash stir adds to ‘We will do it’ Delhijoining protest from Says Modi on pressure on CEC Viksit Bharat, adds E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad 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 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 the FIR against him for Tuesday’s eight-hour sitin, 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 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. The show of Opposition unity was marked by the absence of the Samajwadi Party How. ever, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “In the future, you might hear about a meeting over tea. We could all sit down and eat samosas too... Diplomacy will continue.” As for the Cockroach Janta Party it will launch its protest at , Jantar Mantar on October 10. RA J E SH K UMAR THA K U r @ New Delhi Split verdict recall: SC to examine plea 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 be referred to a larger Constitution Bench | P7 As I said yesterday, those who have done this work are traitors and we will take action against them. I am telling you Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign. We will not stop till he resigns Rahul Gandhi Leader of Opposition 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. He was addressing the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sabha’ at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here 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, he said, “Those who tried to defeat me showed me humility. Those who tried to pull me down showed me resilience. Those who challenged me showed me the power of determination.” He said India is now advancing across multiple sectors. “The Indian Tricolour flies high in technology, sports and industry Indian pi. lots are being talked about across the globe today A day will come when the world discuss. es “Made in India” aircraft. These goals will be realised only if we formulate visionary policies and strive with the utmost dedication. This is not the time for rest; it is a time to move forward,” Modi declared. 71.23L Telangana electors back on rolls after notice E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad As many as 71,23,526 electors have been found eligible for inclusion in Telangana’s final electoral roll following the disposal of notices issued over logical discrepancies and non-mapping issues under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The claims and objections phase ended on Wednesday . According to the latest status released by the state Chief Electoral Officer, 92,88,181 notices were identified for generation, of which 92,88,180 have been generated.  CONTINUED ON P4 Situation in numbers 71,23,526 Electors found eligible 92,88,181 Notices identified 92,88,180 Notices generated 91,92,625 Notices delivered Notices pending delivery 95,555 Disposal of Nov 5 notices/claims to continue till Nov 9 Final electoral roll to be published f i r o z m i r z a @ Chennai In a setback to the Indian wrestling contingent, the US Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday refused visas to nine out of 16 athletes to compete at the U23 World Championships. 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 visa as she could not furnish her salary and bank account details. The championship will 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 Wednesday The second lot comprising . 14 wrestlers will visit the Embassy on Thursday . Concerned with the development, 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 La, lovic 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 TNIE. A WFI official also confirmed that USA Wrestling also got in touch with the federation. A total of 30 wrestlers (10 each in men’s Greco-Roman, freestyle and women’s wrestling) were selected to compete in the competition. If things go as planned, they will be accompanied by coaches, medical staff and referees for the event. The wrestlers denied visas are Samarth Gajanan Mhakave, Dheeraj Kumar Malik, Sachin Kumar, Nikhil, Hardeep, Parveen, Ahilya Shatrughn Shinde, Neha Sharma and Neha.  P11 pic: uww No US visas to 9 ‘underage’ wrestlers 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 Delhi Police on Wednesday stopped Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy as he was on his way to express solidarity with Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Speaking outside the Barakhamba police station after Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders were arrested, Revanth condemned the arrests and demanded that the SIR be scrapped and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign. “We will continue our fight under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” he said, alleging that the arrests reflected the intolerance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.  CONTINUED ON P4