SAMBALPUR  THURSDAY  FEBRUARY 20, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES QUANTUM COMPUTING LEAP WITH NEW CHIP The US tech giant on Wednesday unveiled Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum chip that uses a new type of material called topoconductor POWERFUL QUANTUM COMPUTERS COMING SOON MAJORANA 1 POWERED BY ‘TOPOCONDUCTOR’ The new chip, Majorana 1, will help build quantum computers capable of solving industrial-scale problems in years, not decades, Microsoft said. “Imagine a chip that can fit in the palm of your hand yet is capable of solving problems that even all the computers on Earth today combined could not!” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X ■ ■ To build the new chip, Microsoft developed topoconductor, a breakthrough material. The topoconductor can create an entirely new state of matter – not a solid, liquid or gas but a topological state. This will produce qubits that fast and small, the company said Qubit is the basic unit of information in quantum computing 20 years THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TOOK MICROSOFT TO DEVELOP TOPOCONDUCTORS 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 BJP crosses the gender Bulk of aid went to US health initiatives Rekha on new Delhi CM 64% ROUTED VIA USAID; $20.1 MN ALLOCATED TO SPUR DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION IN THE COUNTRY J AYA N T H J A C O B & J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi MAJOR SECTOR-WISE U.S. ASSISTANCE TO INDIA FROM 2021-24 (IN MILLION USD) SECTOR UNDER the Joe Biden adminisHealth & population tration, the US provided $720 Environmental policy and million in assistance to India administrative management over the past four years, with 64% allocated to health initiaEnergy generation, renewable tives, mostly managed by the sources —technologies, policy now-defunct USAID, and $20.1 Education million for democratic participation and civil society — a secSocial protection tor that is currently sparking political controversy in India over spending on four years for various voter turnout, accordprogrammes, including ing to an analysis of US ANALYSIS fighting HIV-AIDS adgover nment data by ministered through this newspaper. USAID. Ranked between 4th Elon Musk, involved and 5th among 15 South in the White House’s efand Central Asian counforts to reduce the size tries, India’s share of of the federal governUS assistance over the ment, had previously past four years was 35% called the USAID “a less than Pakistan’s criminal organization” $970 million, and signifand claimed that Trump icantly higher than Chihad agreed to shut it Why are we giving USD 21 na’s $49.7 million durdown. ing the same period. million to India? Sanjeev Sanyal, the However, in South Asia, They got a lot of government’s economic money there Bangladesh received advisor, had accused $1.89 billion, nearly USAID of playing a seDonald Trump 162% more than India. cret role in influencing However, in 2022, India received policy in the health and social $20 million more than Pakistan, sector. “Those concerned about totalling $250 million in aid, pri- USAID’s interference in Indian marily due to post-COVID elections should be equally coninitiatives. cerned about USAID’s tentacles The health sector received a in India’s medical system and total of $462 million in the past social policies. USAID effective- 2021 2022 2023 2024 TOTAL 61 190 130 81 462 5.5 8.7 11 17 42.2 8 6.3 9 10 33.3 1.9 5.6 6.3 7.5 21.3 3.4 6.1 7.3 9.5 26.3 ly ran India’s National Family Health Survey from the 1990s till it was stopped two years ago,” he said. Musk’s figure of $21 million spent on the Indian elections aligns with the US data on money earmarked for democratic participation and civil society efforts in India. In the 2024 election year, the US allocated $5.5 million toward voter turnout initiatives, with an additional $6.1 million spent in 2023 under the same category Over the past . four years, the total commitment for democratic participation was $20.1 million, of which $13.25 million was disbursed. “Why are we giving $21 million to India? They have a lot more money They are one of the . highest taxing countries in the world in terms of us; we can hardly get in there because their tariffs are so high,” Trump told reporters. Fresh 25% tariff may hit Indian pharma Cos A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump’s plan to introduce 25% tariff on imports of automobiles, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals could be bad news for India. While the impact on Indian semiconductor sector is expected to be negligible as the industry is still at a nascent stage, the proposed tariffs could inflict pain on Indian pharma firms for whom the US is the largest export market. As for India’s auto industry only 0.2% of , car exports go to the US. However, higher levies on auto parts could deal a blow as the auto components segment grew 7% to $11.1 billion in the first half of FY25, with North America accounting for 31% of exports. Pharma exports to the US reached $8.73 billion in FY24, accounting for 31% of the industry’s total exports, according to the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of CM urges Nepali students to return, assures justice E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar CHIEF Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday requested the Nepali students of KIIT university to return to their campus, assuring them that peace and normalcy will be restored soon. The chief minister, who is currently in Rajasthan, also discussed about the incident with officials of Nepal government and assured them that justice will be done in the case of the deceased girl student. Officials of the Nepal government Sanjeeb Das Sharma and Navin Das Adhikari held a meeting with state Parliamentary Affairs minister Mukesh Mahaling, minister of state for Higher Education Suryabanshi Suraj and chief secretary Manoj Ahuja here over the KIIT unrest and subsequent developments. Besides, Foreign minister of Nepal Lokayukta clean chit to Siddu, wife in MUDA case B K L A K S H M I K A N T H A @ Mysuru LOKAYUKTA Police gave a clean chit to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wife Parvathi and two others in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment scam, citing lack of evidence against them. In a notice sent to complainant Snehamayi Krishna, an RTI activist, Lokayukta police said it conducted an investigation under various Sections of IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988, and the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2011, against Siddaramaiah, Parvathi, Mallikarjuna Swamy (Parvathi’s brother) and land owner Devaraj, but found no evidence to substantiate the charges against them. The Lokayukta will submit its final report to the Karnataka HC. The case pertains to the allotment of 14 sites to Parvathi, Siddaramaiah’s wife, by MUDA. Ministers Suryabanshi Suraj, Mukesh Mahaling and chief secretary Manoj Ahuja discuss with Nepal officials, in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday Arzu Rana Deuba held a telephonic discussion with Suraj. The minister told mediapersons that he informed Deuba about the steps taken by the state government in the case so far. Deuba expressed her satisfaction over the steps taken by the state government, he said. Suraj said the state government has decided to set up a help desk to assist the Nepali students who have returned to KIIT or going to return to the cam- pus. Steps are also being taken to ensure that there is conducive atmosphere in the campus so that the students can concentrate on studies for their examination on February 28, he said. In a post on X, Deuba said, Nepal government is following up on the death of the girl student in the hostel of KIIT and the evolving situation. She spoke to Suraj and urged him to conduct a fair investigation into the death of the student and take legal action against the culprits. She also requested the minister to provide a safe environment for students from her country . Deuba also said the minister informed her that the Odisha government has taken the incident very seriously and a high-level committee has been formed to give justice to the deceased girl student and take action against the culprits. CONTINUED ON P7 India (Pharmexcil) data. Indian drugmakers expect some impact as the industry heavily relies on American demand for growth. Sun Pharma generated 32% of its total revenue from the US in fiscal 2024. Similarly, North America contributed 47% of Dr. Reddy’s total sales and 30% of Cipla’s revenue during the same period. Pharmexcil’s director-g eneral Raja Bhanu said Indian pharma firms supply a substantial proportion of drugs to the US, with four out of 10 of all prescriptions filled in the US being supplied by domestic firms. According to Namit Joshi, chairman of Pharmexcil, no major threat to generics exports is expected. “The competitiveness of Indian exports will ensure the impact of any duty hikes will be low,” he said. At present, there is no import duty on Indian pharmaceuticals in the US. RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi IN a loaded prediction, a senior BJP leader had on Monday told this journalist, “Delhi me vikas ka ek naya ‘rekha’ kichna hai prime minister sahib ko” (The PM has to draw a new line of development in Delhi). The wordplay barely concealed the name of the eventual pick as chief minister-designate Rekha Gupta. “How sure was he about it?” The senior leader was emphatic: “Go, write it on a 100 rupee note.” He recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been urging the party to set an example for Nari Shakti by assigning a woman to lead the national capital in order to make it the Viksit Rajdhani of Viksit Bharat. Gupta’s name was in circulation ever since exit polls predicted a stunning BJP victory . On Wednesday, the BJP Legislative Party elected her as the new chief minister of Delhi. A first-time legislator, Gupta has a strong RSS background. She also earned the respect of party MLAs and has experience in governance. She cut her political teeth as a student leader of the Delhi University Rekha Gupta after being elected the BJP’s new chief minister of Delhi | PARVEEN NEGI before becoming councillor. “She was found suitable for the post of CM, as the right candidate must have the respect of all MLAs. She is also a good listener,” sources said. Gupta’s connect with the people and her performance as general secretary of the party’s Mahila Morcha worked her favour. Other contenders for the role, such as Parvesh Verma, Satish Upadhyay Ashish Sood, Pawan , Sharma, and Shikha Roy have , less legislative experience than Gupta. Also, the Shalimar Bagh MLA enjoys popularity across various communities, including Jats (10% population), Vaishyas (8%) and others. Sources said by giving her the baton, the BJP also sought to send a message to Bihar, where elections are due later this year. Baniyas in Bihar comprise around 30.26 lakh or 2.3% of the state’s population, which gives them clout.