New Delhi, September 14
With medical errors continuing to pose 100 times greater risk to human lives than encounters in the nuclear power industry, India today woke up to urgency of patient safety, announcing a policy in this regard.

For five years from today, AIIMS, the leading tertiary care provider, with help from the WHO, will train medical professionals across all medical colleges and hospitals in India to handle patients, causing minimum injury.

At the heart of the policy, announced in the capital by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today, has been the realisation that India would be much more vulnerable to medical errors, given high mortality and morbidity on this account in the developed world as well.

In the US, the annual preventable deaths due to medical errors number 98,000. Mortality data for Canada and Australia is 24,000 and 18,000 respectively.

In the UK, 8.5 lakh medical incidents annually harm patients admitted to the National Health Service. Globally, healthcare errors impact one in every 10 patients across the world, inviting an “endemic concern” tag from the WHO, which, in 2004, had to launch a Global Patient Safety Challenge.

India, by launching the initiative today, took the first step towards making hospitals safer. Strangely, however, there is no data on the number of annual preventable deaths due to medical errors in India, with the Health Minister admitting today that reporting in the country was poor, not just in this sphere but also in areas of polio and universal immunisation.

For now, AIIMS would set up a Patient Safety Cell on its premises. “This cell will network with other medical colleges. We began today with the first workshop in which 11 colleges were represented from Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Over two years, we will cover 80 more colleges; the rest will be handled over the remaining three years,” Dr SK Gupta, head, Department of Hospital Administration at AIIMS today told The Tribune.

Azad today said a culture of safe hospital environment and institution-based accountability must be promoted.

New Delhi, September 14
Picture this: Judges, murder convicts, notorious politicians, policemen, criminal lawyers and actors living under the same roof, breathing the same air for days on end. It’s about to happen. Not in a courtroom, but on a TV reality show.

To be titled “The Real Boss”, it will be aired soon on STAR Plus and aims to reveal the truth behind real criminal cases, says Supreme Court lawyer Mithilesh Kumar Pandey who is the brain behind it.

“It will be the mother of all reality shows in India. A thriller which will reveal pure facts about many high profile criminal cases,” Pandey said.

The concept is similar to the show “Bigg Boss”, which sees celebrities from various walks of life staying together till all but one is voted out.

“The participants will exchange their experiences and express their views. They will reveal their darkest secrets. They will lead a normal life in front of the camera for a period of three months,” said Pandey, adding he has already signed a contract with STAR Plus.

The duration of each episode will be half-an-hour and could be extended to one hour.

Besides Pandey himself, participants will include criminal lawyers Ram Jethmalani and KTS Tulsi; convicted politicians Raja Bhaiya and Pappu Yadav; Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav; former Central Bureau of Investigation director Joginder Singh; retired apex court judge BP Singh; and former Patna High Court judge Nagender Rai.

Among others who have consented to be on the show are Geeta Gawli, daughter of mobboss-turned-politician Arun Gawli, Bihar politician Sadhu Yadav; Samajwadi party leader Abu Azmi; Bhojpuri actors Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tiwari and southern actress Nagma.

“The house where these participants will stay will be very stylish and modern. It will have a very contemporary gym for the contestants. The movements of the contestants will be tracked 24X7 by around 30 cameras,” Pandey said.

“You can expect exchanges of hot words and sharing of experiences about fake encounters, malpractices in politics to win elections among other things,” Pandey said. He has already completed shooting the promos of participants.

Pandey says he has been working on the project for a couple of years.

“I wanted to bring out the stories of real life heroes before the general public. This will help the masses understand the problems these people face during their time. The psychology, the trauma, the tension and all other human emotions will be relived by our participants,” he added.

Pandey says the money collected from the show will be used for the welfare of 400 children selected from across India. These children will then be taught by the NGO Citizen Watch and Resources Development Society. — IANS 

Hyderabad, September 14
Riding on sympathy factor, the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh has retained Tekkali Assembly seat in Srikakulam district for which byelection was held on September 10, a week after the death of former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy in a helicopter crash.

The ruling party won the seat by an increased margin of 7,173 votes as against a slender margin of 1,835 votes in the April election. The Congress candidate, K. Bharathi, defeated her nearest TDP rival K Atchan Naidu. Bharathi is the widow of K. Revathapathi whose death had necessitated the bypoll.

The Congress candidate polled 59,250 votes while TDP candidate bagged 52,077 votes and PRP ended up a poor third with 17,858 votes.

Despite the sympathy factor, the TDP has, in fact, bagged more votes this time. It got 52,077 compared to 45,625 in the last elections. The PRP suffered a major loss with its votes declining from 36,000 to 17,858.

YSR’s son and Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had made an appeal to the voters through electronic media to ensure resounding victory for Congress.

“This victory reflects the people’s continued faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and endorsement of welfare schemes introduced by YSR,” Jagan, a serious contender for Chief Minister’s post, said reacting to the election result.

Dehradun, September 14
The ruling BJP today won the Vikasnagar byelection in Dehradun district and in the process got a majority in the state Assembly. The party now has 36 legislators in the 70-member House. The party also enjoys the support of three members of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), a regional political outfit, and two Independents.

BJP candidate Kuldip Kumar defeated his nearest Congress rival Nav Prabhat by 596 votes. Kuldip Kumar, a first-timer got 24,934 votes, while former Uttarakhand Urban Development and Forest Minister Nav Prabhat polled 24,338. Munna Singh Chauhan, Independent, who resigned the Vikasnagar Assembly seat, stood third with 14,744 votes.

It is the second consecutive win for the BJP in the Assembly byelections after it lost all five Lok Sabha seats in the general elections held in May. Shortly after the Lok Sabha poll debacle, the BJP had won the Kapkot byelection in Bageshwar district in May 2009.

The Kapkot Assembly segment had fallen vacant following the election of former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari to the Rajya Sabha.

The Vikasnagar byelection was necessitated following the resignation of sitting BJP legislator Munna Singh Chauhan from the party as well as from the legislature. Munna Singh had joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to contest the Lok Sabha election from the Tehri Garhwal parliamentary seat unsuccessfully.

New Delhi, September 14
New Delhi is not surprised over Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf’s confession that the military aid given to his country by the US was misused to strengthen defence forces against India, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has said.

“We know Pakistan has been misusing US aid for years. I am not surprised by Musharraf’s statement. This confirms India’s stand on the misuse of aid,” Tharoor said. He was of the view that Washington must monitor the aid being given to Pakistan more carefully so that it was not misused to bolster its conventional military aid.

Official sources, meanwhile, said Musharraf’s admission that he had violated the rules governing the use of the military aid in the best interest of Pakistan has only vindicated New Delhi’s contention that Pakistan was diverting the aid being given to it not only by the US but other major world powers as well to fight terror.

This is the first time a top Pakistani leader, who was at the helm of affairs in the neighbouring country until last August, has admitted the misuse of aid. The Pakistan government has, however, denied any such misuse.

Mumbai, September 14
Calling upon the party workers to connect afresh with the aam aadmi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today called upon the people of Maharashtra to return the party to power in the October 13 assembly elections.

In Mumbai to inaugurate the renovated office of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Sonia recalled the deep bonds the city shared with the party. “The Congress always aimed to serve the poor and provide justice to the common man,” she told party workers.

Recollecting the Gandhi family’s ties with the city, she thanked the people of the city for voting for the Congress in a big way during the Lok Sabha elections. “Mumbai and Maharashtra have long relations. The Congress was born here....late prime minister Rajiv Gandhiji presented his vision of the 21st century for India in Mumbai,” she said.

Sonia whose party has been insisting on an austerity drive in the government flew to Mumbai in economy class. She was accompanied by Defence Minister AK Antony who is in charge of Maharashtra.

Also present on the occasion were state Congress president Manikrao Thakre, Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president Kripa Shankar Singh, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Narayan Rane and sitting MLAs.

New Service, September 14
The austerity message by the Congress High Command cannot get any clearer than this.

After Home Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi decided to fly in economy class while travelling to Mumbai for a day-long visit on Monday.

Sonia Gandhi’s decision to travel in economy class assumes significance considering she had been instrumental in launching the austerity drive in the party in the wake of drought in various parts of the country. The party high command had recently asked all UPA ministers to adhere to austerity measures.

Sources said complete care was taken for her security. At least two rows of seats were reserved for the Congress president and her security personnel in the aircraft. Considering security concerns, Sonia usually travels by a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF). At times she also travels by a chartered plane since the IAF trip cannot be raised for her but only for ministers authorised to travel on defence aircraft. When she travels by an IAF aircraft, the minister on whose name the trip is raised always accompanies her.

Congress sources say while today’s trip was cleared by her security, in future she would travel by a chartered flight if the SPG recommends it. For the time being she intends travelling as much as possible in the economy class to practise austerity that she has been preaching. The Congress President has also suspended her Iftaar party.

Meanwhile, sources said Unique Identification Authority of India head Nandan Nilekani is joining politicians on the austerity path. He is likely to shift to the modest Karnataka Bhavan while he awaits his official accommodation, which he is entitled to with a Cabinet status in the government.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has also issued an order to stop holding Railway Board meetings in star hotels while Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh have announced support for austerity measures.

Sources say Union Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath cancelled her tour to New York, while Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad contributed to the austerity drive by asking officials to cut down on foreign and domestic travel. 

Lucknow, September 14
The existing four-lane highway between Delhi and Agra would soon be the state’s first thoroughfare to be converted into a six-lane route. This was announced by Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways RPN Singh here today.

Singh, who was in the state capital to attend a high level meeting to review the progress of the highways coming up in UP, said of the four major expressways coming up in the country one would be in UP. It would connect Delhi to Meerut, he said, adding that a feasibility report for it is under preparation. The other three highways are from Dhanbad to Kolkata, Surat to Vadodra and Bangalore to Chennai.