TUESDAY 07 OCTOBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard MARY E BRUNKOW Institute for Systems Biology, seattle, USA TIBET OVER 200 EVEREST CLIMBERS STUCK THE Delhi HC on Monday ruled that a single Rolex watch, seized from a Dubai-based Indian traveller, cannot automatically be treated as “commercial quantity” under customs law. The court stated that the watch was intended for personal use but upheld the penalties that apply to expensive items beyond a value. The case involved Mahesh Malkani, an Indian citizen residing in Dubai, who arrived at Delhi Airport on March 7, 2024, wearing a Rolex Submariner worth around AED 56,000 (`12.7 lakh). Malkani passed through the Green Channel, meant for passengers with no dutiable items, when customs officials seized the watch, alleging a violation. Officials argued that the high-value item could not be considered for personal use and classified it as a commercial import. However, the HC said wearing a luxury watch while travelling does not automatically constitute a commercial import. While maintaining the redemption fine and penalty, the court granted Malkani an extension till October 31, 2025, to pay the charges and reclaim the watch.  J8.00 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 | P9 PAGES 12 Battle lines drawn for two-phase Bihar elections on November 6, 11 PK factor looms as Oppn hopes for a comeback; NDA aims to continue momentum of victory PREETHA NAIR & RAJESH KUMAR T H A K U R @ New Delhi THE 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 striving to return to power in the politically crucial state after a gap of 20 years. For the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP and JD(U), the election is not just about retaining power but about political strategy and setting the tone for the 2029 general elections. 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 within the INDIA bloc—Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. The uneasy relationship between the two may deepen more in the coming days as Congress is looking to bargain for some ‘winnable seats’. The Congress contested 70 seats in the 2020 assembly elections but won only 19, inviting sharp criticism. The party is expected to contest 60-65 seats to accommodate alliance partners, said a senior leader. The RJD contested 144 seats BIG PURVI CHAMPARAN GOPALGANJ NUMBERS MUZAFFARPUR SARAN VAISHALI Polling in two phases on NOV 6, 11 KAINUR (BHABUA) MADHUBANI SUPAUL SIWAN BUXAR Electors in 18-19 year age group: 14,01,150 Total voters: 7,43,55,976 PASHCHIM CHAMPARAN BHOJPUR ARWAL JAHANA BAD ROHTAS AURANGABAD WHAT’S NEW DARBHANGA SAMASTIPUR GAYA NALANDA SHEIKHPURA NAWADA LAKHISARAI KISHANGANI ARARIA MADHEPURA PURNIA SAHARSA BEGUSARAI PATNA KATIHAR KHAGARIA MUNGER JAMUI BHAGALPUR BANKA LEGEND 1 st Phase 2 nd Phase Voter Information Slip design modified to carry serial number and part number of voter more prominently Presiding officers Counting will enter Mobile deposit of votes voter facility for voters NOV 14 webcasting turnout at polling stations EVMs to at all have on new Not more than electors per polling stations to ensure ECINET colour polling station to photos of constant monitoring of App every reduce crowding candidates poll process two hours 100% 1,200 and won 75, while the CPI(ML) contested 19 seats and won 12. According to Opposition leaders, another critical factor that will dent their prospects is the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls that cut the number of electors from 7.89 crore to 7.43 crore. The Opposition sees it as a potential tool of Fire in ICU ward of Jaipur’s SMS hospital kills 8 patients disenfranchisement of economically backward, migrants, Muslims, Dalits, and other marginalised groups who support them. In that context, the Election Commission of India’s actions will be under intense scrutiny and the election will be a litmus test for its credibility. The elections will also reveal whether Opposition’s main plank of BJP’s alleged ‘vote theft’ resonated with the Bihar voters. Meanwhile, newbie Prashant Kishor’s party is also expected to leave a dent on the Opposition vote banks, especially the upper caste and the youth. The NDA hopes to win on ‘20 years of development’ and welfare programmes for youth and women; a defeat could weaken its march to the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The NDA is banking on both central schemes and lastminute welfare pushes to secure a renewed mandate. JD(U) chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar now faces a direct challenge not just from a resurgent Opposition but from his own electoral fatigue. A victory would cement his legacy while a defeat could end his relevance in Bihar politics and weaken his party’s standing within NDA. The BJP has deeper stakes. A strong performance would reinforce its dominance across eastern India and provide momentum for upcoming battles in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. But a poor showing could deal a psychological blow and embolden the Opposition. SC seeks Centre, Ladakh replies over plea against Wangchuk’s detention R A J E S H A S N A N I @ 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. A short circuit in the ICU storeroom, which contained medical papers, equipment, and blood sample tubes, is believed to have triggered the fire. Within minutes, the flames spread rapidly through the ward, with thick smoke filling the corridors. Eleven patients were being treated in the ICU at the time of the deadly blaze, hospital authorities said. Walls blackened with smoke and soot, equipment twisted out of shape in the heat, and shattered glass told the tale of the horrors that unfolded shortly after when the fire broke out. Family members held a protest and alleged that authorities were negligent, ignoring warnings and fleeing instead of rescuing the ailing and sick. Under fire for lapses, the state  HI E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi NEW DELHI  MAR Dubai flyer’s seized Rolex for ‘personal use,’ says HC A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS SITA PAGE 9 SHIMON SAKAGUCHI Osaka University, Osaka, JAPAN Medicine Nobel for work on immune system SHEOHAR Over 200 hikers are stranded after a blizzard on the Tibetan slopes of Mt Everest, while 350 others have been led to safety by villagers and rescue teams FRED RAMSDELL Sonoma Biotherapeutics, San Francisco, USA ing for the Centre, replied that the ground of detentions was already served to Wangchuk and THE Supreme Court on Monday there is no legal requirement for issued a notice and sought re- the grounds of detention to be sponse from the Centre and the communicated to the wife. He, UT of Ladakh on a plea filed by however, agreed to examine if climate activist Sonam Wang- there is any possibility to serve chuk’s wife Dr Gitanthe copy of grounds to jali Angmo challenging Statehood stir his wife. his detention under the gone haywire O p p o s i n g Wa n g National Security Act chuk’s detention under Wangchuk was (NSA) and seeking his NSA, Sibal sought a diarrested on immediate release. rection from the court September 26 A two-judge bench for immediate interim under the NSA in of Justices Aravind relief on medical the wake of the Kumar and NV Anjargrounds. protests which ia sought detailed reReplying to this, Meerupted in Ladakh sponses from the rehta said that when the over the demand spective governments activist was produced for statehood for and posted the matter for medical examinathe region. He had for further hearing on tion, he stated that he been agitating for October 14. was not on any medicaLadakh statehood. Advocate Kapil Sibal, tion. He, however, clariappearing for Wangfied that if any medical chuk’s wife, told the court that assistance were needed by him, the grounds of his detention they would be given. should be informed to the family . Angmo has filed the writ petiThe renowned climate activist tion, through a habeus corpus was accused of allegedly inciting plea, on Thursday, in the SC una violent protest in Ladakh. der Article 32 of the Indian ConSolicitor General (SG) Tushar stitution and claimed that her Mehta, senior law officer appear- husband’s arrest was illegal. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Patients with their family members evacuated from the state-run Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur after a deadly blaze. Three patients remain critical, officials said | PTI government has removed SMS hospital superintendent Dr Sushil Bhati and Trauma Centre in-charge Dr Anurag Dhakad from their posts. The two were replaced by Dr Mrinal Joshi and Dr B L Yadav. The tender of the fire safety agency was cancelled, and legal proceedings were underway against the company, an official said. T he state gover nment announced `10 lakh in compensation to the next of the kin of the deceased. Expressing grief over the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an X post in Hindi, “The loss of lives due to a fire tragedy at a hospital in Jaipur is saddening. May the injured recover soon.” AICC general secretary and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed shock on the deaths. Appalling bid to attack CJI Gavai in court, PM 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 courtroom 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. It all happened around 11.35 am, when the assailant approached the dais, removed his shoe and tried to throw it towards the judges. Security personnel in the vicinity quickly intervened and foiled the attack. The police later identified him as Rakesh Kishore. He was heard saying in the courtroom, “India will not tolerate any disrespect towards SanaB R Gavai, CJI tana Dharma.” Kishore was unhappy with the recent remarks made by the CJI during a PIL seeking restoration of a Lord Vishnu idol in the Khajuraho Temple complex. The CJI defused the situation with grace and continued the day’s hearing. “I am the last person to be affected by such things. Please continue,” he said. Later in the day Justice Gavai did not press charges , and let Kishore leave with his shoes. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, in a statement, said it was not just an attack on the CJI but on the Constitution, adding no words are enough to condemn such an act. A senior police officer said “Kishore is a resident of the Mayur Vihar area and a registered member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).” P7 $1 BN ELI LILLY PLANS INVESTMENT IN TELANGANA In a boost for Telangana, US pharma major Eli Lilly will invest $1 billion to set up a manufacturing and quality hub in the state to expand its medicine supply capacity | P5 EXPRESS READ Jaishankar warns of ‘tariff volatility’ EAM S Jaishankar on Monday warned of rising global tariff volatility, supply chain risks, and shifting geopolitical dynamics, stressing the need to maintain strategic autonomy and prepare for an increasingly fragmented world order. Speaking at the Aravali Summit at JNU, Jaishankar said the world was witnessing “mega changes” at a scale and speed that surpass even the post-World War II global reordering. | P7 LITERARY HONOUR Jury decides RNG award winners, announcement on November 28 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi WINNERS of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman (RNGSS) 2025 were on Monday decided at a meeting of the external and internal jury, chaired by author and former 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 Murugan (for Lifetime Achievement), Devika Rege (Fiction) and Anirudh Kanisetti (Non-Fiction) have been past winners. For the third edition of the RNGSS, the team at TNIE began work on the longlist in July . Several suggestions 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 be- tween 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. T his year, Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, chairman and managing director of TNIE Group, seeded the idea to combine the Debut fiction and Non-fiction categories into a single Debut category while introducing separate Fiction and Non-Fiction categories for more estab- lished writers. In the shortlist for Debut writers, key to Ramnath Goenka’s vision to encourage new voices and inculcate the habit of reading in the young generation, the books nominated are The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao (Penguin), a rare take on class that’s not projected through an ideological lens; The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian by Neha Dixit (Juggernaut) on the invisibilisation of a woman from the margins, told as a deep profile; Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple (HarperCollins), a new per- spective on the ever-present topic of Partition. In the Non-fiction shortlist are The World After Gaza by Pankaj Mishra (Juggernaut), a lateral enquiry into the IsraelPalestine conflict, being ‘a victim of the victim’; Mujib’s Blunders: The Powers and The Plot Behind His Killing by Manash Ghosh (Niyogi Books), a reflection of the near-present in the past of Bangladesh’s premier leaders; The Remarkable Life of Irawati Karve by Urmilla Deshpande and Thiago Pinto Barbosa (Speaking Tiger), a rare re-telling of the anthropologist and educationist’s remarkable life; and Fallen City: A Double Murder, Political Insanity, and Delhi’s Descent from Grace by Sudeep Chakravarti on the infamous Ranga-Billa case that rocked Delhi five decades ago. In the Fiction shortlist are Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains by Subi Taba (Penguin), a young voice from the Northeast offering a rare view of tribal society; Heart Lamp (Penguin) by the International Booker winner Banu Mushtaq; and The Girl with the Seven Lives by Vikas Swarup (Simon & Schuster), an innovatively structured, kitschy thriller by the globally-bestselling author.