tirupati l thursday l february 20, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur 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 gender Rekha for new govt 64% routed via USAID; $20.1 mn allocated to spur democratic participation Pope has pneumonia in both lungs Major sector-wise U.S. assistance to India from 2021-24 (in million USD) Sector 190 130 81 462 5.5 8.7 11 17 42.2 8 6.3 9 10 33.3 Education 1.9 5.6 6.3 7.5 21.3 Social protection 3.4 6.1 7.3 9.5 26.3 Environmental policy and administrative management Energy generation, renewable sources —technologies, policy 200 110 280 160 250 250 210 230 550 410 390 240 14 11 9.17 15 (in million USD) India Pakistan Bangladesh China 3,629.7 Total foreign assistance by country during the Biden govt Come to rescue of Andhra chilli farmers, Naidu writes to Centre S v i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Pope Francis, who was hospitalised last week for bronchitis, has developed pneumonia in both of his lungs, the Vatican said late on Tuesday 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total 61 Health & population U.S. foreign assistance by country between 2021-24 2024 through USAID. Elon Musk, involved in the White House’s efforts to reduce Under the Joe Biden adminis- the size of the federal governtration, the US provided $720 ment, had previously called the million in assistance to India USAID “a criminal organizaover the past four years, with tion” and claimed that Trump 64% allocated to health initia- had agreed to shut it down. tives, mostly managed by the Sanjeev Sanyal, the governnow-defunct USAID, and $20.1 ment’s economic advisor, had million for democratic partici- accused USAID of playing a sepation and civil society — a sec- cret role in influencing policy tor that is currently in the health and social sparking political consector. “Those controversy in India over cerned about USAID’s analysis interference in Indian spending on voter turnout, according to an elections should be analysis of US governequally concer ned ment data by this about USAID’s tentanewspaper. cles in India’s medical Ranked between 4th system and social poliand 5th among 15 South cies. USAID effectively and Central Asian ran India’s National countries, India’s share Family Health Survey of US assistance over from the 1990s till it the past four years was was stopped two years Why are we 35% less than Pakiago,” he said. giving USD 21 stan’s $970 million, and Musk’s figure of $21 significantly higher million to India? million spent on the InThey got a lot of than China’s $49.7 mildian elections aligns money there lion during the same with the US data on Donald Trump period. However, in money earmarked for South Asia, Banglademocratic participadesh received $1.89 billion, tion and civil society efforts in nearly 162% more than India. India. However, in 2022, India received In the 2024 election year, the $20 million more than Paki- US allocated $5.5 million tostan, totalling $250 million in ward voter turnout initiatives, aid, primarily due to post-COV- with an additional $6.1 million ID initiatives. spent in 2023 under the same The health sector received a category. Over the past four total of $462 million in the past years, the total commitment for four years for various pro- democratic participation was grammes, including fighting $20.1 million, of which $13.25 H I V- A I D S a d m i n i s t e r e d million was disbursed. First-time Delhi MLA was corporator for two terms 2023 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 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-general 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. J aya n t h J a c o b & J i t e n d r a C h o ube y @ New Delhi 2022 A R SHAD K HAN @ New Delhi Bulk of aid went to US health initiatives 2021 Fresh 25% tariff may hit Indian pharma Cos Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who went to the national capital on Wednesday evening to attend the swearingin ceremony of Delhi Chief Minister on Thursday is likely , to meet Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and urge him to come to the rescue of chilli farmers in Andhra Pradesh. In fact, prior to leaving for Delhi, he wrote a letter to Chouhan, urging the Centre to take immediate measures to imple- ment the Price Deficiency Payment (PDP) under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for red chillies. Naidu appealed to the Centre to implement the PDP for red chillies by fixing the Market Intervention Price (MIP) under the MIS, based on the cost of cultivation as per the recommendations of Swaminathan Committee, and constitute a committee under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Agriculture/Horticulture/ Co-operation ) to finalise P4 PDP . `13,600 per quintal at Guntur yard The peak arrivals of red chillies have started, and the present price at the Market Yard in Guntur for special variety is `13,600 per quintal, and the common variety is priced at `11,500 We act on our own on HC Bench: Court E x p re s s Ne w s Ser v i c e @ Vijayawada The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday made it clear that there was no necessity to abide by the request of the State government pertaining to setting up of the HC Bench in Kurnool. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Cheemalapati Ravi, asserted that the judiciary acts on its own. It made critical remarks against the State government, while hearing the PIL filed by advocates Tandava Yogesh and Turaga Sai Surya challenging the State government’s decision to establish the HC Bench in Kurnool. The Chief Justice said a committee was formed to examine the possibility for setting up the Bench in Kurnool, and told the petitioners to wait until it submitted its report. “A decision on setting up the Bench in Kurnool will be taken with due consideration of all the judges in full court meeting, and objections on the committee report can be challenged further,” it said. Further, the court posted the matter to May . It may be recalled that the Chief Secretary, and the Principal Secretary (Law) wrote letters to the High Court in last November on setting up of the Bench, and Law Minister NMD Farooq too announced that the HC committee would be visiting Kurnool to find a suitable place for it. The court found fault with the petitioners for filing a PIL when the committee is yet to submit its report on the issue. ‘Govt can’t press for HC Bench’ The advocate, who filed the PIL, said the government cannot intervene in the matters of judiciary, and its letter seeking the setting up of Bench in Kurnool, questions the integrity of HC R A J E SH K U MA R THA K U R @ 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 before becoming councillor. “She was found suitable for the post of CM, as the right candidate must have the respect of all MLAs. Rekha Gupta after being elected the BJP’s new chief minister of Delhi | Parveen Negi 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. MUDA case: Siddu, wife get clean chit 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 notice said further probe will be conducted into allegations of MUDA providing compensatory plots in the ratio of 50:50 from 2016 to 2024 and an additional final report will be submitted to the High Court.
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