Thursday Baker awarded for designing new proteins 10 October, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard us justice dept proposes ways to break up Google The Department of Justice move on Tuesday came after the technology juggernaut was found to be running an illegal monopoly. Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 Baker designed a new protein in 2003 and his research group has since produced several new proteins, including those that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors. “David Baker has succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins,” the Nobel Committee said in its statement| P9 David Baker David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were honoured for their work in predicting and even designing the structure of proteins Shiv Sena (UBT), AAP, TMC lead the attack, say grand old party’s arrogance led to defeat 28 December 1937 — 9 October 2024 tata, ratan Gurb i r S i n g h @ Mumbai INDIA’s best known industrialist and chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, 86, passed away at South Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital late on Wednesday night leaving a vacuum in the formidable $100 billion Tata Group. Confir ming persistent speculation that the ailing cor porate leader had breathed his last, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran announced: “It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have Express read 8 acquitted in 37-yr-old Sati glorification case A special court in Jaipur on Wednesday acquitted eight accused in a 37-year-old case of glorification of Sati, and gave them “the benefit of doubt”, a lawyer said. The special court has acquitted 25 others in the case in 2004. Four accused are still on the run and some of them have died. Lynching of DySP: Life term for all 10 convicts In an 11-year-old case of lynching of an officer in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police in Kunda assembly segment of Pratapgarh, the special CBI court of Lucknow awarded life sentence to all 10 people who were held guilty October 4. The court also slapped a fine of `19,500 on each convict. shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation.” Paying condolences to the industrialist, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X said: “He provided stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious business houses.” As late as on Monday, when he was admitted to hospital, Ratan Tata took to X to scotch speculation about his ill health saying he was going in for a routine medical check-up. Ratan Tata started his career in the Tata Group in 1961 managing operations on the shop floor of Tata Continued on: P10 Steel.  THE Congress on Wednesday came under fire from its INDIA bloc allies who squarely blamed the grand old party for the poll debacle in Haryana, with several leaders accusing it of being ‘arrogant, overconfident and entitled’ and giving less space to its regional allies. Launching a scathing attack, the Shiv Sena (UBT) attributed the Congress’s poor show to the ‘overconfidence and arrogance’ of the party’s state leadership. In an editorial of Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana, it asked the Congress leadership to introspect and learn from its mistakes. The jibe comes at a time when Congress and the alliance partners are engaged in seatsharing talks ahead of the Maharashtra elections, scheduled for later this year. “The INDIA alliance could not win in Haryana because the Congress felt they would win TM Krishna’s MS misogyny S Gurumurthy calls out the conferring of the ‘Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subbulakshmi Award’ on TM Krishna despite the latter’s misogynistic tirade against MS, who Nehru said was the Queen of Music Page 7 Congress leaders Pawan Khera, Ashok Gehlot, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and others after meeting the Election Commission of India | Parveen Negi on their own and they did not need any other partner in power. If they had shared seats with the SP, AAP or other smaller parties, the results would have been different,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut. The Congress’ Haryana unit had unit refused to accommodate the AAP and the SP though , senior leader Rahul Gandhi was in favour of it. The party suffered another setback as its Uttar Pradesh ally Samajwadi Par ty on Wednesday released a list of six candidates for the upcoming Assembly bypolls. Sources said that Congress leaders were upset about the SP’s unilateral move as it came in the middle of ongoing talks. Meanwhile, leaders of AAP and TMC were unsparing towards the Congress. AAP leaders also ruled out any truck with the Congress in Delhi assembly elections, scheduled for early next year. Taking potshots at Congress, AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha penned a poem on ‘X’: “If you had cared about my wishes, it would have been a different matter, If you had taken care of our desires, it would have been a different evening. Today he too must be regretting leaving me, If we had walked together it would have been something else.” Several Opposition leaders, including Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir ally Omar Abdullah, the Left parties, and Bihar ally RJD, targeted the Congress and asked it to introspect and change its strategies. “Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat,” Abdullah said. TMC MP Saket Gokhale said that the attitude of not accommodating regional parties even in places where they felt they were winning, led to the shocking electoral setback. After results, 3 independents back BJP R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R & H ar p reet B aj w a @ New Delhi/Chandigarh With the BJP set to form government for the third time in Haryana, all the three Independent MLAs—Savitri Jindal, Devender Kadyan and Rajesh Joon —on Wednesday extended support to the saffron party, taking its tally from 48 to 51 in the assembly . Savitri Jindal, the Independent candidate from Hisar and richest woman of the country, said that for the development she has decided to support the BJP government. She met Union Minister Dhar mendra Pradhan in Delhi. Haryana BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli said that independent MLAs Devender Kadyan from Ganaur and Rajesh Joon from Bahadurgarh have extended support to the party . Joon said, “I am impressed by BJP policies. For the development of my constituency, I’ve decided to support BJP.” Demis Hassabis Trio win Nobel chemistry Prize for work on protein structure Knives out for Cong from INDIA bloc allies after Haryana debacle P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi John Jumper Kadyan, a BJP rebel who contested as an independent, defeated Kuldip Sharma of Congress from Ganaur. Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi met Nayab Singh Saini in New Delhi and expressed hopes that he would take the state further on the development path. “I am confident that Haryana’s role is going to become more important in the realisation of a developed India,” Modi said. Saini also met Home Minister Amit Shah. P8 2000 when Hassabis and Jumper first used AI to predict protein structure RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for 10th time in a row B enn K o c hu v ee d an @ Mumbai The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%, for the 10th time in a row, but changed its stance to ‘neutral’ that may lead to a cut in the forthcoming policies. According to analysts, the change in stance is the first step towards a rate cut and signals the beginning of the easing cycle as early as December. However, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, who completes his five-year term in December, refused to accept the policy stance change is a pivot. “The prevailing and expected inflationgrowth balance has created conditions for a shift in the monetary policy stance as there is greater confidence on last mile of disinflation,” he said. The banking Shaktikanta Das regulator also retained the retail inflation projection at 4.5% for 2024-25, with Das stressing the central bank will have to closely monitor the price situation and keep the ‘inflation horse’ under tight leash lest it may bolt again. RBI maintained status quo despite the US Federal Reserve lowering the benchmark rates by 50 basis points last month. The central banks of some developed nations have also reduced their interest rates. This was the first meeting after the RBI’s monetary policy committee was reconstituted last month. The three newly appointed external members are Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya and Nagesh Kumar. Buzz on appointment of Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav as Mann’s chief advisor H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh WITH Delhi assembly elections expected within four months, the Aam Aadmi Party wants to clean up its act in Punjab and present it as a model of good governance. That perhaps is why it is purging Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s trusted core in a hurry . The buzz in the corridors of power is that AAP heavyweight Bibhav Kumar, who was party convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s trusted lieutenant, could be planted in the Punjab Chief Minister’s Of fice as Mann’s chief advisor. There were also claims that the terms of appointment of a chief advisor were cleared by the Punjab cabinet, which met on Tuesday . If Bibhav indeed becomes the chief advisor, he could be calling the shots, given his proximity to Kejriwal. For the record, the official spokesperson of the Punjab government dismissed all talk of Bibhav’s appointment in the Punjab CMO as false and social media gossip. Bibhav is out on bail in the Swati Maliwal assault case. The development came as two more close aides of Mann — Director, Media Relations (Overseas), Baltej Pannu and Bhagwant Mann Bibhav Kumar Director, Social Media, Manpreet Kaur were shown the door. A former journalist, Pannu was hired by the Punjab State Media Society and he had joined the CMO in July 2022. As for Kaur, she had joined just one-and-a-half months ago. Two other aides of Mann— Director, Communications, Navneet Wadhwa and Onkar Singh, Officer on Special Duty to the CM—had put in their papers earlier. In all, the axe has fallen on four of Mann’s trusted soldiers. In a related development, the Punjab government on Wednesday appointed K A P Sinha as the new chief secretary A 1992. batch IAS officer, he replaced Anurag Verma. Last week, Verma was called to Delhi for a meeting with the AAP top brass. Sinha is the fourth chief secretary of the state ever since the AAP wrested power in Punjab two-and-a-half years ago. AP 50-run knock Smriti Mandhana (left) celebrates her fifty runs during ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 match between India and Sri Lanka at Dubai Int’l Stadium, on Wednesday | P11 In pursuit of spiritual path, Raj mining Drama over Atishi’s ‘eviction’ from official house baron donates 3K acres to Magadi mutt due procedure A nu p Verma @ New Delhi The never-ending political tussle between Delhi’s AAP government and the Lieutenant Governor has a new flashpoint: the chief minister’s official residence. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi’s office on Wednesday alleged that her official residence at 6, Flagstaff Road was forcibly vacated by Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena on orders from the BJP . “For the first time in the history of the country, the Chief Minister’s residence was vacated. On the instructions of the BJP, L-G forcibly removed CM A man carrying goods on a cart leaves the residence of Delhi CM | PTI Atishi’s belongings from the CM residence. The L-G is preparing to allot the CM residence to a big BJP leader. The BJP, which has been out of power in Delhi for 27 years, is now trying to occupy the CM residence,” the Chief Minister’s Office alleged in the statement. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, “Despite official correspondence, the CM residence had not been allotted to Atishi, who is the rightful allottee as CM of Delhi. Although a temporary office was set up at the residence and meetings were held, the staff was later evacuated, and it was declared that the office would not operate from there.” Sources at the L-G’s office, however, said the owner of the CM’s residence is the Public Works Department, which takes possession of the resi- dence after it is vacated, makes inventory of goods kept there, and then, allots it to the next chief minister. “This house has not been allotted to CM Atishi yet and her allotted residence is still 17 AB Mathura Road. CM Atishi herself kept her belongings in that house without allotment and then removed it herself. This bungalow will be allotted to the CM immediately after duly preparing the inventory,” the sources said. The BJP claimed that the bungalow was not handed over to the Public Works Department and its keys were still with Kejriwal. E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Bengaluru PB Oswal Jain, a mining baron from Rajasthan, has donated around 3,000 acres of land in various parts of Karnataka to Palanahalli Mutt at Magadi in Ramanagara district. Dr Siddaraju Swamiji of the mutt said, “PB Oswal Jain has donated 3,000 acres of land to the mutt as per legal procedures. The pieces of land are under two companies registered in Tumakuru. Mining is being done there. Income from mining will be used for mainte- nance of the mutt, construction of schools, colleges, hospitals, cowsheds, temples and welfare projects.” A senior member of the mutt told this newspaper that properties owned by Jain were transferred to the mutt a month ago. The properties are in Shivasandra, Gubbi, and Schools, hospitals The land is under two companies registered in Tumakuru. Income from mining will be used for maintenance of the mutt, construction of schools, colleges, hospitals, cowsheds, and temples. Chitradurga. Coal and minerals are being extracted from the land in these places. Jain, who is on a spiritual path, made this donation to the mutt, he said. He said that Jain, 78, has been associated with the mutt for the past 25 years. Jain has a son, who is settled abroad, and a daughter, who is a chartered accountant in Rajasthan. He divided his inherited property between his children 20 years ago. The land donated to the mutt isn’t inherited, but earned by him, he said. Jain, who came to Karnataka 30 years ago, said, “I took a Jain vow and donated my property to the mutt to follow the spiritual path.”