Extract: Gynaecologists and obstetricians across the country can now exhale in relief: the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) has recommended to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that the ban on the retail sale of the life-saving drug, oxytocin, may be lifted. The DTAB recommendation has brought immense …
Read More »Monthly Archives: August 2018
New SOP for those left out
Extract: RGI Sailesh told The Hindu that the SOP would ensure that filing claims and objections was a fair and credible process. “There may be many applicants who may not understand the process and the required documentation. So we have to see that every person has the right information and …
Read More »Adultery law violates dignity of woman: SC
Extract: A five-judge Constitution bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra made the observation while hearing a case challenging the validity of the penal law which makes adultery an offence punishable only for the male and not the consenting women. Source: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/adultery-law-violates-dignity-of-woman-sc/article24587075.ece
Read More »Yoga classes a must in all colleges, universities
Extract: Starting this academic year, it will be mandatory for all colleges and universities across the State to ensure that yoga is taught in their institutions. This will apply to private colleges too. “Currently, only some universities have courses in yoga. But we want all higher education institutions in the …
Read More »Following a Meteor.
An unusually bright meteor was seen at 7-15 P.M. yesterday [August 1, in Calcutta]. Its direction as observed from the eastern end of the Curzon Gardens was nearly S.S.W. and it appeared to fall vertically first coming into view at an altitude of about 50 degrees, increasing in brilliancy until …
Read More »Reconsider the ban
A clampdown on the sale of oxytocin will have severe public health consequences The Union Health Ministry’s ban on the retail sale and private manufacture of oxytocin, expected to kick off on September 1, is an extremely ill-thought-out one. The drug, a synthetic version of a human hormone, is a …
Read More »Prudent increase
The RBI’s decision to raise benchmark rates spotlights concerns about inflation The decision by the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee to raise benchmark interest rates again by 25 basis points is a prudent one. This is the second successive rate increase in as many months, a response to …
Read More »Polio jitters
The polio endgame is proving to be challenging. On June 29, 28 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were paralysed by the circulating vaccine-derived polio virus Type 2 (cVDPV). The World Health Organisation (WHO) has assessed the overall public health risk at the “national level to be …
Read More »River of effluents
On why the Clean Ganga project has a long way to go It is a registered trust that runs the ‘Namami Gange’ mission — India’s most ambitious endeavour to clean the Ganga river. The NMCG has a Rs. 20,000-crore, centrally-funded, non-lapsable corpus and consists of nearly 288 projects. The NMCG’s …
Read More »Misadventures in education
Two recent legislative interventions are short-sighted The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has attracted much attention in recent weeks for two reasons. First, it put out for public consultation the draft Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, which seeks to replace the University Grants Commission. In response, it …
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