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NHRC notices to Health Secretary, Drug Controller on fatal drug trials
Centre offers to intervene
BJP, Congress agree to let Parliament run
House panel recommends 36 changes in Sibal’s proposals
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Over 40 mines operating in Goa sans mandatory permits:
PAC
Bomb recovered from Assam train
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Tribune Impact
New Delhi, August 12 The commission also said it would take up the case of six girls who allegedly died during the clinical trial of anti-cervical cancer HPV vaccine in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh last year. As reported in these columns, girls aged nine to 14 died during the trials which were suspended after a government inquiry in 2010 detected lapses in clearance of the project conducted by America NGO PATH. Today, the NHRC relied on the Tribune report on how unregulated the $400 million clinical trial sector was and posed specific queries to the Union Health Secretary, Director General of the India Council for Medical Research and the DCGI. “What are the regulations for conducting drug trials and setting up ethics committees in hospitals to ensure patients’ safety and what guidelines must the ethics committees follow to monitor drug trials after the DCGI clears a proposal?” the full bench of NHRC asked in its notices. The bench also sought details of safeguards to ensure proper working of the ethics committees and whether the DCGI had enough infrastructure to cope with the applications for approval of drug trials. The Tribune had reported that over 1,800 trials were on and compensation had been so far awarded in only 22 cases involving drug trial-related deaths. “What studies are you undertaking to detect lapses in case of deaths during drug trials and whether there is any uniform policy for compensating victims or their next of kin,” asked the NHRC, demanding information on the nature of drugs being tested in India. “It is reported that many drugs being tested are not even of specific relevance to us and could have been tested anywhere. Equally shocking is the fact that the rules under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act entirely trust trial investigators on reasons attributed for the death of subjects. This is resulting in gross under reporting of actual deaths,” noted the commission, referring to The Tribune report which highlighted evidence of weak monitoring of requests from companies interested in trials. “If the contents of the news report are true, these raise serious issues of human rights violations of victims, who are put to risk without their consent or with their consent but without the understanding of its complications,” the NHRC recorded. Cell to monitor bonded labour
The NHRC has set up a cell to monitor progress in the bonded and child labour cases taken up with different public authorities. The decision was taken as it was felt that focused attention will be needed to coordinate with the departments concerned on the issue. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act was enacted in 1976.
COMMISSION'S POSER
What are the regulations for conducting drug trials and setting up ethics committees in hospitals to ensure patients' safety and what guidelines must the ethics committees follow to monitor drug trials after the DCGI clears a proposal? — NHRC Bench
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Victimisation of Gujarat IPS officers
New Delhi, August 12 It all started when Union Home Minister P Chidambaram this morning expressed concern over Gujarat government's action against senior IPS officers - Sanjiv Bhatt, Rajneesh Rai and Rahul Sharma - and made a point about how civil service rules allow the Centre to intervene. The three officers, in separate incidents, have alleged that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in Gujarat was targeting them for ‘not toeing the line’. "It is a matter of concern," Chidambaram told reporters in response to a query on if the Centre was concerned with the tug-of-war between the police officers of Gujarat and the state government over the 2002 riots. Asked if the Centre could intervene to resolve the crisis, Chidambaram said, "Rules do provide for central government to take certain decisions at certain stages, but that stage has to be invoked by officer concerned. If the officer concerned invokes the rule, we will look into it certainly." Sources said according to rules, the Home Ministry is the cadre-controlling authority for IPS officers. In the recent past, the Home Ministry intervened when the SAD-BJP government in Punjab ‘arrested’ former Punjab DGP SS Virk over alleged political differences. Virk, a meritorious officer who was awarded the Padma Shri - later went on to become DGP of Maharashtra. The Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to defend Modi and claimed the police officers were acting as ‘Congress workers’. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said: "We take a strong view on Chidambaram's statement on Gujarat police officers. The Home Minister is destroying the federal structure. The Central Government is acting as big brother.” Jaitley went on to allege: “These police officers were actively conspiring with some civil society groups and were in touch with some state Congress leaders to de-stabilise the state government.” He said, “It is a state matter and the BJP has serious objections on the statement. If policemen break discipline, the state government can take action. If there is unnecessary interference by the Government of India, the BJP will raise the issue seriously." BJP spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Husain said that the Congress had used some of its pet NGOs to “harass and embarrass” the Modi government. When that failed, it has adopted this new tactic. HC rejects IPS officer’s petition
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today rejected IPS officer Rahul Sharma’s petition seeking details of the grounds on which he was served a show-cause notice by the state government in February this year over providing phone call records related to the 2002 riots.
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BJP, Congress agree to let Parliament run
New Delhi, August 12 The breakthrough, after days of disruption, was achieved this morning when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal meet senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Yashwant Sinha for 40 minutes in Advani’s chamber in Parliament. Bansal told mediapersons, “We sought their cooperation and they have offered it. Any discussion they want under appropriate rules, we will be okay with that.” Bansal refuted the claims of the Left that the Congress and the BJP had reached a compromise. In the past three weeks, the Congress has gone the extra mile to tell the BJP that getting through the legislative work was important especially after the winter session was washed out in bitterness. Later in the evening, Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, talking informally to newsmen said, “Yes, they (Mukherjee and Bansal) came to Advani’s room to discuss informally the business in the coming weeks. There is a lot of government business pending and the government is keen to get the pending business cleared.” On the whole, the main Opposition seemed agreeable to get most the government business passed without much hitch. In fact, many of the pending Bills are those that were introduced in the NDA’s time, but are still pending passage, sources said. After the BJP failed to give reasons for stalling proceedings of Parliament on August 8, 9 and 10 and allowing the government to postpone the discussion on Sports Minister Ajay Maken’s statement, which the party had specially demanded, it seems to have sobered down.
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Accreditation of Colleges
New Delhi, August 12 The panel’s nod to the legislation is however not total as it has red-flagged its key provisions, including the HRD Ministry’s proposal to mandate accreditation of institutions before they start admissions and another of empowering the Centre to exempt any institute, citing “public interest”. The panel has made 36 recommendations. The development poses a challenge to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal who last year faced problems in the Rajya Sabha after his colleagues blocked the Educational Tribunals Bill following the ministry’s failure to accept parliamentary panel’s suggestions. Even this time, reconciliation of viewpoints would be difficult, with the standing committee in its report to Parliament today rejecting the ministry’s most ambitious proposal on compulsory accreditation of colleges before they begin admissions. The panel wants modifications to mandate accreditation only after two batches have passed out. “Accreditation before admissions is unrealistic. No institution can be assessed for quality unless some batches have passed out,” Congress MP Oscar Fernandes-led committee said. The committee has further sought that Clause 49 of the Bill which allows the Centre to exempt any class of HEIs in public interest be dropped or qualified with explanations as to when would such a discretion be used. Rapping the ministry for lack of consultations on a law that seeks to establish the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority (NARA) with statutory powers to recognise and regulate accreditation agencies, the committee has questioned its wisdom in exempting agricultural educational institutions from the law when medical and law colleges were covered. “Such exemption is discriminatory. Agricultural institutions must be covered,” the panel suggested, seeking provisions to prevent purely private societies from being appointed as accreditation agencies. Another major objection of the committee pertains to provisions which make even Governors of states liable for punishment under the law which proposes up to two years’ imprisonment and up to Rs 10 lakh fine or both for offences. The said clause reads, “Where an offence has been committed by a society or trust and it is proved that it has been committed with the consent of Governors, V-Cs… such Governors …would be liable to be punished.” “Governors must be excluded as they enjoy constitutional protection,” the committee recommends, further questioning the Bill which proposes Cabinet Secretary as chairman of the Selection Committee, which will appoint NARA members. Someone with domain knowledge must head the selection panel, the parliamentary committee says. The panel also wants modifications in the broad-based NARA, proposed as a five-member panel. “Five members are inadequate considering the powers of NARA,” the panel says.
Poor response to accreditation
Accreditation has so far been a voluntary process and has evoked a pathetic response. Out of the 504 universities, only 161 are accredited. Out of the 31,000 colleges, 4,371; and out of the 17,000 technical programmes, only 35% are accredited
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Over 40 mines operating in Goa sans mandatory permits: PAC
Panaji, August 12 The Manohar Parrikar, leader of PAC, has garnered the estimate of 70 mines in Sattari, Sanguem and Quepem talukas. A total of 41 operated without permission under various forest laws for they were operating close to green areas. They had failed to get mandatory NOC under Forest Clearance Act and the Air and Water Pollution Control Act. The documents indicate that they did not receive certificate from Chief Wildlife wardens either. The Committee has also come across several mines that have exceeded its permissible limit of ore extraction. A senior PAC member said that during last three years almost 98 lakh metric tones of Iron Ore was illegally consigned abroad from these mines, evading royalty to the state government. A rough estimate of the data collected from State Forest department and State Mines and Geology department has revealed that almost 30 percent of the ore was illegally extracted in the state. "That means almost 15 million metric tones of ore is extracted illegally through various mining leases," a senior member said. — PTI
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Bomb recovered from Assam train
Guwahati, August 12 Goalpara district SP Luis Aind said an improvised explosive device
(IED) weighing about 5 kg was recovered along with detonators and a battery from a passenger’s bag from a sleeper coach of the
Puri-bound train at Pancharatna railway station at around 5.30 am during a search operation conducted by a joint team of the Railway Protection Force
(RPF), the Assam Police, the CRPF and the Army. A person identified as Kumud Goyari has been arrested in this connection. The train left Kamakhaya station in Guwahati at 3.30 am. The SP said the search operation was conducted on the basis of a specific intelligence input. “We have already been alerted by the state police headquarters about various militant groups trying to trigger blasts in the run-up to the Independence Day,” he said. Another powerful IED weighing about 3 kg was seized from a house at Hatimura under the Dudhnoi police station of Goalpara district during a search operation by the security forces today. The house owner, Dholaram
Rabha, who was suspected to be a militant of either local extremist groups Rabha Viper Army or the Garo National Liberation Army, was arrested. Meanwhile, the NF Railway has resorted to massive cancellation, short-termination of a large number of passenger trains in view of its decision to suspend night running of trains during August 13 to 16 because of security concerns.
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Jaya’s plea rejected in assets’ case