villupuram 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 `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 PUSHPITA DEY @ 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 ESH KUMAR THAKUR @ 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 . TN fastest-growing economy among large states, says RBI E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Tamil Nadu has emerged as the fastest-growing economy among large states in the country with a new report , released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pointing to a sharp acceleration in its growth momentum and a widening lead over its regional peers. According to the Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2024-25 released on Thursday the state’s Gross , State Domestic Product (GSDP) at current prices rose to `31.19 lakh crore in 2024-25 from `26.89 lakh crore in the previous year, a nominal growth of No India on US silicon supply chain grp 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 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- 17 lakh more women to get `1,000 CM Stalin on Friday inaugurated the second phase of Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam, increasing the total number of women beneficiaries under the scheme to 1.34 crore | P4 No proof to show stone pillar was deepathoon, TN tells HC J e g a d e e s w a r i Pa n d i a n @ Madurai A state archaeology department team recently inspected the stone pillar in Thiruparankundram hilltop | express The Tamil Nadu government on Friday told the Madurai bench of the Madras HC that there was no evidence before the single judge to show that the stone pillar atop the Thiruparankundram hill was indeed a lamp pillar (deepathoon) used for the purpose of lighting the Karthigai Deepam. Advocate General PS Raman, representing the Madurai collector, made the argument before a bench of Justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan which was hearing a batch of appeals filed against the order passed by Justice G R Swaminathan on December 1, directing the execu- tive officer of the Thiruparankundram Subramaniya Swamy temple to light the Karthigai Deepam on the said deepathoon, along with the usual places, from this year. The dispute gives rise to a fundamental question of whether there is really a ‘deepathoon’ on the hilltop, Raman argued. Taking the HC through the judgments of various courts on the issue, Raman said the Karthigai Deepam has been lit on the Uchipillaiyar Kovil Mandapam for the past 100 years. There was no proof before the single judge to show that the stone pillar, near the Sikandar Badusha Dargah on the hilltop, was a deepathoon and that the deepam has been traditionally lit on it, he contended.  P5 d r a m a t ic t u r n Vinesh is back, training in Bengaluru f i r o z m i 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 16%. This is the steepest rise recorded among major state economies and marks the third consecutive year in which Tamil Nadu has outpaced most of its industrial competitors. The RBI data reaffirm Maharashtra’s position as the country’s largest state economy at `45.31 lakh crore, followed by Tamil Nadu (`31.19 lakh crore), Uttar Pradesh (`29.78 lakh crore), Karnataka (`28.83 lakh crore) and Gujarat (`26.72 lakh crore). Tamil Nadu’s latest expansion has widened its lead over Uttar Pradesh by about `1.4 lakh crore and over Karnataka by nearly `2.35 lakh crore.  P5 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.  P13 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 | P9