kollam l saturday l december 13, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l 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 J2,200 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 I8,800. 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 Minimum punishment for maximum crime 20-year jail for all six convicts, including Pulsar Suni, in 2017 actor assault case This is the least possible punishment for gang rape; prosecution ‘disappointed’ P R A M D A S @ Kochi Holding that the 2017 actor abduction and rape case did not warrant the maximum sentence, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Friday sentenced all six convicts, including Pulsar Suni, to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of `50,000 each — the minimum punishment for gang rape. The court slapped another 20-year RI and `50,000 fine each for the criminal conspiracy carried out to commit the crime. Judge Honey M Varghese stated both the sentences will run concurrently, meaning the convicts will spend only 20 years in prison. The period already spent in custody during the trial will be set off against the sentence. The prosecution vehemently argued for life imprisonment for all the accused, particularly Suni, but the court held that this was not a case warranting the maximum sentence. All six convicts will now be shifted to Viyyur Central Jail in Thrissur. “The acts of the accused against the survivor are a blow to the supreme dignity of the woman,” the court observed. The 1711-page judgment noted that while awarding the sentence, a court must consider the impact of the crime on the victim as well as on society Sentencing, it said, must be bal. anced to ensure justice to both society and the accused. The court must take into account the nature of the offence, the possibility of reforming the accused, and the objectives of punishment. It should not be guided by emotions or act with bias while imposing the sentence. At the same time, the court cannot ignore the fact that the acts of the accused violated the woman’s Vinesh training in B’luru as she takes big step towards LA28 f i r o z m i r z a @ Chennai In a dramatic turn 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 the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Though the announcement seemed sudden, the wrestler had hinted her comeback when she moved to Bengaluru with her just-born child for training. Vinesh along with her husband Somvir Rathee welcomed a baby boy into family in July. Soon after, she started fitness sessions at Pratap Sports School, Kharkhoda in Sonepat, Haryana. Om Prakash Dahiya, Vinesh’s childhood coach, said: “She is already in Bengaluru for training. Once again, the goal is to win an Olympic meda.” As always, Olympic Gold Quest is supporting her. Vinesh, multiple World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medallist, suffered heartbreaks at the Olympics not once but thrice. Now, she has to earn her berth first in district and then state squad before making it to the Haryana team for the next nationals in 2026. Jail term Remaining period of punishment each accused must undergo N S Sunil aka Pulsar Suni (37): 12 years, 4 months Martin Antony (32): 15 years, 4 months B Manikandan (38): 15 years, 5 months V P Vijeesh (38): 15 years H Salim aka Vadival Salim (32): 18 years, one month Pradeep (31): 16 years, 7 months *Age in brackets The convicts in the actor abduction and rape case being taken to Viyyur Central jail from the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Friday | T P Sooraj dignity subjected her to fear, humili, ation, helplessness, and caused psychological trauma, it said. However, the court also took into account the age of the accused, their family circumstances, and the argument that, apart from the first accused, none of the others have any prior criminal background. All the convicts are under 40 years of age. The observations made by the Supreme Court in Nirbhaya case were cited as relevant, particularly regarding how crimes against women affect not just the individual but the progress of society as a whole, it said. The court directed that `5 lakh be paid to the survivor once the fine The prosecution argued for life imprisonment for all the convicts, particularly Suni, but the court held this was not a case warranting maximum sentence imposed is realised. A gold ring seized during the probe should be returned to the survivor. Materials containing explicit content shall be sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for permanent destruction. The laboratory shall file a detailed destruction report, which must be preserved as a permanent record, with all details entered in the register maintained for recording items containing sexually explicit content. The pen drive containing visuals of the attack, currently in the custody of the investigation officer, shall be handled with due diligence, keeping in mind the survivor’s privacy, the court added. P6 Other big-ticket Cabinet decisions L12k cr for Census okayed The Union Cabinet approved I11,718 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2027, which would include the caste enumeration for the first time. The Census will be held in 2 phases — house-listing and housing census from April to Sept, 2026; and population enumeration in February 2027. This will be the first digital census, minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said | P9 Opening nuclear sector 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 Bill, the proposed legislation aims to help the country achieve target of 100 giga watts of atomic energy capacity by 2047. Cabinet clears 100% FDI in insurance P U S H P ITA 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 ministry 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. Single regulator to replace UGC, AICTE & NCTE R A J E S H K U M A R THA 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. India not in new U.S. silicon supply chain group J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi A new US-led strategic initiative, named Pax Silica, which aims to build a secure, prosperous, and innovation-driven global silicon supply chain, has been launched without the inclusion of India amidst crucial trade negotiations between the two countries. Donald Trump’s State Department defined the initiative as focused on the entire silicon supply chain, “from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, 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. EXPRESS READ LSG elections: Counting of votes today T’Puram: The results of the local body elections held in two phases in Kerala will be declared on Saturday. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), the counting will commence at 8am. This time, the state logged its lowest voter turnout in LSG polls in 15 years, slipping to 73.68% which was 2.27% points below the previous pandemic-year polling in 2020 | P7 SC stays Kerala HC order on Munambam land New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Kerala High Court’s finding that over 400 acres of land in Munambam in Ernakulam district is not waqf property and ordered status quo on the dispute over the holdings of over 600 families. A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court , comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, however, clarified that it has not stayed the inquiry by the C N Ramachandran Nair commission | P7