belagavi l saturday l december 13, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION type 2 diabetes wonder drug ozempic makes india debut Ozempic is now available in India as 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg and 1 mg in ‘FlexTouch Pen’ - an easy-to-use, once-weekly pen device, at `2,200 per week popular as a weight loss drug GLOBALLY pricing remains competitive, says md Danish pharma major Novo Nordisk’s type 2 diabetes injection Ozempic is also popular globally for its weight-loss benefits. A prescribed Ozempic injection would start with a 0.25 mg dose for four weeks at a total cost of `8,800. This is the company’s second medicine with semaglutide as the active ingredient to be launched in India after its weight-loss drug Wegovy ■ ■ On its pricing, Novo Nordisk India Managing Director Vikrant Shrotriya said, “It remains competitive to offer Ozermpic at a price like this” One reason for Ozempic being launched late in India was to do with uninterrupted supplies, Shrotriya said, adding that the injection would be directly imported from Denmark, where it is produced 11.4% of indians are living with diabetes as per world health organization 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 Other big-ticket Cabinet decisions `12K cr for Census okayed Opening nuclear sector The Union Cabinet approved `11,718 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2027, which would include the caste enumeration for the first time. The Census will be conducted in two phases — house-listing and housing census from April to September, 2026; and population enumeration in February 2027. This will be the first digital census, minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said | P9 The Cabinet is also learnt to have approved a bill that seeks to open up the civil nuclear power sector for private participation. Called the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, the proposed legislation aims to help the country achieve its target of 100 giga watts of atomic energy capacity by 2047. Cabinet clears 100% FDI in insurance P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi THE Union Cabinet on Friday approved a proposal to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance firms from 74% to 100%, and usher in a set of structural reforms to strengthen the sector. The move is expected to draw substantial foreign capital, increase competition, and improve customer services across India’s insurance market. The government is likely to introduce the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in Parliament on Monday a senior finance min, istry official confirmed. By lifting the cap, the government aims to attract long-term global investors and deepen the sector’s capital base. “A more open market is expected to foster greater competition, leading to innovative product development, superior customer service standards, and the adoption of global best practices and technology,” said Narendra Ganpule, partner and insurance industry leader, Grant Thornton Bharat. The Centre expects that the higher ownership limit will unlock fresh global capital, enabling companies to scale operations, expand distribution, develop new products and enhance service standards. The government believes higher investment and competition will help extend insurance coverage to a wider population. Greater competition could also create jobs and improve efficiency . To give effect to the changes, amendments to the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999, and the Insurance Act, 1938 will be introduced as part of the comprehensive legislative exercise. Alok Rungta, MD and CEO, Generali Central Life Insurance, said raising the FDI limit may open doors for potential new players. Single regulator to replace UGC, AICTE & NCTE RA J E S H K U M AR T H A K U R @ New Delhi THE Union Cabinet on Friday cleared a proposal to set up a single higher education regulator to replace multiple bodies such as the University Grants Commission (UGC). Sources said the government is likely to present a bill in the ongoing Parliament session, which concludes on December 19. The bill—previously called the Higher Education Commission of India Bill—has been renamed the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill. The move is in line with the National Education Policy which moots , a new unified body to subsume UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). However, medical and law colleges will remain outside the new regulator’s scope, sources said. An official told this paper that the unified regulator is expected to have three major functions: regulation, accreditation and the setting of professional standards. Funding—considered the fourth pillar—is not expected to come under the regulator at this stage, with financial autonomy proposed to remain with the administrative ministry . Mekedatu: Govt gets serious, sets up team to implement it E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ B e n g a l u r u The state government has constituted a team headed by the director of Karnataka Engineering Research Station (KERS) for the speedy implementation of the Mekedatu Balanced Watershed Project. The move comes after the recent Supreme Court order that favoured Karnataka. The project office will be set up in Ramanagara of Bengaluru South district. It will have 30 officials, including an executive engineer. A meeting on Mekedatu held on November 18 and chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar decided to set up the office of superintending engineer to expedite the project No India on US silicon supply chain grp J aya n th J a c o b @ New Delhi A new US-led strategic initiative, named Pax Silica, which aims to build a secure, prosperous, and innovationdriven global silicon supply chain, has been launched without the inclusion of India amidst crucial trade negotiations between the two countries. The US State Department defined the initiative as focused on the entire silicon supply chain, “from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufac- COng DKS denies show of strength charges Denying allegations of orchestrating a show of strength amid the leadership rumblings, DK Shivakumar said all 140 Cong MLAs, including the CM, belong to one group-- Congress | P4 Biker dies in hit-and-run, IMD forecast ex-min’s SUV confiscated Severe cold wave to E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @Bengaluru In a hit-and-run, a 27-year-old two-wheeler rider died on the spot after colliding head-on with an SUV that is linked to former minister HM Revanna, who is now the chairman of the Guarantee Implementation Committee. T h e i n c i d e n t o c c u r re d around 10.30 pm on Thursday near Gudemaranahalli tollbooth in Magadi taluk. Revanna’s son R Shashank, his wife, child and father-in-law were in the SUV . The victim’s family alleged that after the accident, the SUV fled from the spot and was stopped after a chase of almost 5 km. Claiming to park the vehicle to the side, the driver is said to have again fled from the spot with the SUV . Revanna said his son was not driving the SUV and the vehicle was not stopped as as his daughter-in-law, grandchild and another person were in the vehicle. The deceased, Rajesh, was a resident of Belagumba village in Magadi taluk and employed with a private company in the city. He was returning home when the accident occurred. “It is a hit-and-run case. Details of the person driving the SUV is yet to be ascertained,” Bengaluru South district Superintendent of Police R Srinivas Gowda said.  P7 grip North Karnataka I n d r a S @Bengaluru Parts of North Karnataka will experience conditions of ‘severe cold wave’ according to a forecast from the India Metrological Department, Bengaluru (IMD). The south interior parts of Karnataka, too, are poised to experience cold wave conditions. And temperature in Bengaluru is expected to dip as winter progresses. The IMD, Bengaluru, on Friday issued a severe cold wave warning for the next few days across several North Interior Karnataka districts - Bidar, Belagavi, Bagalkote, Dharwad, Gadag, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadgir. A cold wave alert is also in place for South Interior Karnataka districts such as Koppal, Ballari, Vijayanagara, Haveri, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Chikkaballapura and Kolar. CONTINUED ON: P6 d r a m a t ic t u r n Vinesh is back, training in Bengaluru f i r o z mi r z a @ Chennai In a dramatic turnaround of events, one of India’s most decorated wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat has announced her intention to come out of retirement on Friday She has posted on X . that the fire is still burning and she would take one final shot at an Olympic medal at LA 28 Games. Though the announcement seemed sudden, the wrestler had hinted comeback when she moved to Bengaluru with her just-born child for training. Vinesh along with her hus- band Somvir Rathee welcomed a baby boy into the family in July and soon after she started fitness sessions at Pratap Sports School, Kharkhoda in Sonepat, Haryana. Om Prakash Dahiya, Vinesh’s childhood coach, said his ward has already moved to Bengaluru to train. “She is already in Bengaluru. Once again, the goal is to win an Olympic medal. She is accompanied by a woman there as she needs someone to take care of her son and training,” Dahiya said. As always, Olympic Gold work. However, for the finance department approval for staffing and office building, it has been decided to give the responsibility to the KERS director, stated a release from the DCM’s office. The Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd (CNNL) will take steps to set up the Mekedatu project office. The office team will function under the CNNL director and administrative expenses too will be borne by CNNL. The CNNL director has been instructed to hand over all relevant documents to the KERS director, the GO said. Last month, the Supreme Court refused to entertain two applications filed by Tamil Nadu against Karnataka’s move to construct a new reservoir at Mekedatu. Quest is supporting her. Vinesh, multiple World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medallist, suffered heartbreaks at Olympics not once but thrice. But the road to glory will not be easy. Vinesh, who contested and won from Haryana’s Julana constituency during the Assembly elections last year, has to star t from the scratch. She was an Indian Railway employee but resigned before joining politics.  P15 turing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and logistics.” The inaugural Pax Silica Summit will have Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, the UAE and Australia. The US State Department emphasised the group’s critical role, and said: “Together, these countries are home to the most important companies and investors powering the global AI supply chain.” The objective of Pax Silica is clearly strategic at a time when building alternative to Chinese-led supply chains on critical minerals and emerging technologies are in focus. The alliance seeks “to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence, and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.” The initiative, which responds to “increasing risks from coercive dependencies” and a collective desire to secure all strategic “stacks” of the technology supply chain — including software, foundation models, semiconductors, and mineral refining --signals a concerted effort to establish a trusted economic order for the AI era. Red flag on ‘birth tourism’ The US Embassy in India issued a warning to touristvisa applicants on what it called “birth tourism”. It said consular officers will immediately deny B-1/B-2 tourist visas if they suspected it