|
|
|
|
|
Sex tests: MCI told to cancel licences of 93 docs
India joins select club, gets N-powered sub Nerpa
India tells Norway to settle kids’ custody issue
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
AEC ex-chief bats for thorium-based energy
Plea to keep legal education out of Bill
Shoe hurled at Rahul Gandhi
Convergence of MPLADS with MGNREGA okayed
5 more infants die in Bengal hospital; toll 23
Explosives seized in Assam
Provide night shelters to homeless, SC tells eight northern states
Severe cold wave likely to abate
Plot to abduct Sachin: 8-yr jail for 6 HuJI men
|
|
Sex tests: MCI told to cancel licences of 93 docs
New Delhi, January 23 During the 16 years that the Act has been around, only 15 convicted doctors have lost their licences, indicating laxity on part of the system to create a deterrent; only 1,040 court cases have been filed and only 93 convictions secured. The Ministry of Health now plans to get serious about tackling the problem and has approved mass overhaul of the existing Act to correct the skewed child sex ratio. Soon gazette notifications will be issued to ban the use of mobile ultrasound machines outside hospital premises and do away with a provision in the Act that currently allows "any experienced doctor with six months training" to register an ultrasound facility and work there. "We will amend the Act so that no one can register as a sonologist simply on the basis of undefined "experience" which the Act lists. Also the provision of six-month training is being misused. Shops have come up that offer a day's training and give a six-month certificate. Now, only professional radiologists will be able to set up ultrasound facilities and only state government approved institutes will award training," Ministry officials said on the eve of National Girl Child Day, observed to mark the day in 1966 when Indira Gandhi became the first woman PM of India. The ministry will also add to the PNDT Act a new rule to monitor the disposal and sale of secondhand, condemned and reassembled ultrasound machines. "The state governments have been asked to conduct a survey of such unregistered machines. There are too many of these in the system and we have no idea," officials admitted. Another major deterrent on the way is - enhancement of registration fee for genetic counselling centres, genetic labs, untrasound clinics and bodies registered under Rule 5 of the PNDT Act from Rs 3,000 to Rs 25,000; fee for hospitals, nursing homes and imaging centres will be raised from Rs 4,000 to Rs 35,000. These changes stand approved by the Central Supervisory Board (CSB) set up under the PNDT Act for its effective implementation, and follow Census 2011 findings on child sex ratio that dipped from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011. The Health Ministry said it had done a great deal by reconstituting the CSB and strengthening the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee under the Act to conduct rapid raids on centres to check if these were complying with the law. Only in the last quarter, 43,961 bodies were registered under the Act and 869 machines sealed. But the fact of the matter is - in 16 years, only 93 convictions of doctors could be secured under this law and the MCI proceeded against only 15 out of those.
Govt keen on using active tracker
NEW DELHI: The government is keen to use technology to prevent sex selection and has commissioned a study to determine the effectiveness of a unique indigenously developed ultrasound-tracking technology called Active Tracker, developed by a Maharashtra-based firm and piloted successfully in Kolhapur. The technology, which involves embedding each ultrasound machine with a device that captures and stores images of each sonography test conducted on a pregnant woman, enabled Kolhapur district administration to improve the reporting of ultrasounds by 34 per cent. Punjab is in the process of installing the technology in 1,300 devices at 1,200 ultrasound centres. But now, the Ministry of Health has become interested in determining the efficacy of Active Tracker to explore the possibility of a nationwide scale up for the correction of sex-ratio imbalance. But now, the Ministry of Health has become interested in determining the efficacy of Active Tracker to explore the possibility of a nationwide scale up for the correction of sex-ratio imbalance. The ministry has commissioned a study to the Norwegian India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) to review the device and the Kolhapur model.
|
|
India joins select club, gets N-powered sub Nerpa
New Delhi, January 23 The submarine is on a 10-year lease to India under $ 900 million contract. The ceremony to name the submarine was conducted in the Far Eastern Primorye Territory. Russian submariners trained their Indian colleagues to handle Nerpa in the Pacific Ocean. The submarine is on its way to India and is expected to be here in the next few weeks, sources said The vessel has the capacity to carry four 533mm torpedoes and four 650mm torpedos. Though the Russians, under the Missile Technology Control Regime, cannot give any N-tipped missiles with the submarine, India has its own missiles which match the size of the torpedo tubes available on Nerpa. The DRDO has already mimicked an under-water launch of a missile that could be fitted onto the indigenously produced INS Arihant. After the US, Russia, France, Britain and China, India will become the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world. Significantly for India, it will be almost after a gap of two decades that the Indian Navy will operate a nuclear-powered submarine. The country had earlier leased a submarine from Russia that was returned. The submarine’s total displacement is 12,770 tonnes while its maximum speed is 30 knots. It can plunge into depths of 600 metres while its endurance to remain under water is 100 days. The under-water endurance of nuclear submarine is what makes it so potent. Diesel-electric powered submarines — which the Indian Navy uses — have to surface every 3-4 days to ‘breathe’. The Nerpa will have a crew of 73. Reports from Moscow said that Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajai Malhotra attended the event, besides United Shipbuilding Corporation head Roman Trotsenko, Eastern Military District commander Admiral Konstantin Sidenko and other officials.
|
||
|
India tells Norway to settle kids’ custody issue
New Delhi, January 23 External Affairs Minister S M Krishna called Norway’s Charge d’affaires Aslak Brun to his residence to discuss the issue and later spoke to his Norwegian counterpart. Talking to reporters, he said he has come to the conclusion after the talks that a reasonable settlement could be worked out. "This (settlement) has to be worked out with the family of the children," Krishna said when asked if any other solution to the issue was acceptable to the Indian government. Three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya, children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, an NRI couple living in Stavanger, Norway, were taken under protective care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services) in May on the grounds that they were not looked after properly by their parents. Barnevarne has placed them in foster parental care as per the directive of the local Norwegian court, mandated under Norwegian laws. Asked about the couple’s visa that is likely to end in early March, Krishna said Norway was willing to accommodate the Indian government to the extent possible within the limits of jurisdiction. "If there are visa issues, I think it can be worked out," he said. India has over the last two months issued a couple of strong demarche to Norway on its decision to separate the two Indian children from their NRI parents and conveyed that it felt it was "an extreme step and unjustified".
|
||
|
AEC ex-chief bats for thorium-based energy
Bangalore, January 23 Anil Kakodkar, former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman, disclosed this in a lecture at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) here yesterday. Kakodkar, who was asked by journalists about the probable sites for setting up the reactor, claimed no location had been identified as yet. Addressing faculty members and students at the IISc faculty hall, Kakodkar said in the developed countries population had stabilised and so had their energy requirements. India’s population was expected to stabilise at 1.6 billion sometime in the future, he said and added that in that scenario the country would require to supply per capita 5000 KW of energy. Only solar energy and thorium-based energy could take care of the energy requirement of that scale for a considerably long period, Kakodkar said. One advantage of the thorium-based nuclear plants was that the waste could be recycled and re-used. On the propaganda against nuclear reactors, he said nuclear reactors could not burst and cause a Hiroshima-like situation in the neighbourhood. He added that the theory that exposure to radiation could cause serious damage to a human body and could cause cancer was “questionable”. Kakodkar said various studies had been conducted and it was found out that the ordinary level of radiation did not cause ailment to humans. He said images of deformed children periodically published in the media saying their deformity had been caused by radiation had been found to be untrue.
|
||
|
Plea to keep legal education out of Bill
New Delhi, January 23 Taking legal education away from the BCI, which was regulating it now, and bringing it under a super regulator of the HRD ministry would have an adverse impact on the autonomy of the council and the universities providing such education, the memorandum said. BCI chairman Ashok Parija told reporters that the council and its state bodies were committed to opposing the controversial clauses of the Bill. Office bearers of the council and the state units had a meeting and resolved to prevent the government from interfering with the autonomy of the legal profession and the Advocates Act, he said. Lekh Raj Sharma, Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, said there was no way the advocates would allow the government to tinker with the Advocates Act or facilitate the entry of foreign law firms into India.
|
||
|
Shoe hurled at Rahul Gandhi
Dehradun, January 23 The shoe fell 10 metres short of the Congress general secretary, Dehradun SSP G N Goswami said. The youth, identified as Kuldip, was immediately taken into custody, Goswami said. As the security personnel and Congress supporters grabbed Kuldip, Rahul was heard saying, "Don't hit him". The shoe-hurling incident on Rahul came two days after a similar attack on Team Anna here.
|
||
|
Convergence of MPLADS with MGNREGA okayed
New Delhi, January 23 According to officials, Srikant Kumar Jena, Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, took the decision after he received several representations in this regard. “MPs may recommend under MPLADS, works from out of the shelf of MGNREGA projects approved by the Zilla Panchayat for the year when recommendation is being made and should have been sanctioned by the District Programme Coordinator which constitutes the approved Annual Work Plan under MGNREGA of the district. The MPLADS funds shall be used in respect of material component only,” an official statement today said. Once a work is recommended for MGNREGA, MPs will not be authorised to withdraw it. In case of request of withdrawal of MPLADS funds, a no objection certificate from MGNREGA will be required. All guidelines of MGNREGA will be followed for convergence works under MPLADS. Gram Panchayat will be nominated as the implementing agency by the District Planning Committee (DPC), which will provide adequate technical support to the gram panchayat to implement the works. A joint plaque indicating the cost, contribution from MPLADS/ MGNREGA, commencement, completion and inauguration and the name of the MP sponsoring the work will be put up at the site.
|
||
|
5 more infants die in Bengal hospital; toll 23
Kolkata, January 23 Hospital sources said the five babies died between 8 pm yesterday and noon. They said a decision was taken to increase the number of beds in the newborn care unit to 22 from 15, besides raising the number of beds in the neo-natal care unit and the number of child specialists. Hospital principal Debasish Bhattacharya said that most of the crib deaths were cases referred from areas outside Malda with bronchopneumonia, septicaemia and premature low-birth weight. He said that the hospital was overburdened with patients two-and-a-half times than the total number of beds. — PTI
|
||
|
Explosives seized in Assam
Hajo (Assam), January 23 A joint police, CRPF and Forest Department operation on a tip-off in Amranga hill area of Shanpara village seized 38 detonators and 50 kg ammonium nitrate concealed under stones in the truck, a senior police officer said. "Some implements for breaking stones were also seized along with explosives," Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Mrinal Deka said. The driver of the truck could produce no document to support the carriage of explosives, Deka said. — PTI
|
||
|
Provide night shelters to homeless, SC tells eight northern states
New Delhi, January 23 A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra asked the Collectors and District Magistrates in these states to immediately make necessary arrangements and send their reports to their respective Chief Secretaries, who in turn would file affidavits within three weeks. The other states that have been directed to provide temporary shelters with basic amenities such as drinking water, toilets and health care are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Rajasthan. Haryana’s Additional Advocate General Manjit Singh Dalal filed an affidavit, stating that as many as 51 night shelters were operational in the state with necessary facilities. Upon this, the Bench directed its monitoring committee to have a joint inspection of the shelters along with state officials within two weeks and submit its report within a fortnight thereafter. The Bench pointed out that providing night shelters was the states’ “core obligation” as the SC had expanded the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution that guaranteed right to life and liberty. “Over the years, this court has added significant meaning and depth to Article 21,” the Bench pointed out. Under the expanded scope, it was the duty of the states to protect the lives of people falling under various categories - poor, vulnerable, weak and helpless, the Bench clarified.
|
||
|
Severe cold wave likely to abate
New Delhi, January 23 According to IMD Director S C Bhan, a fresh western disturbance will affect the western Himalayan region and the adjoining plains from January 24 onwards, leading to abatement of cold wave conditions. “Minimum temperatures would rise by 2 -3° C over parts of northwest and the adjoining central India during the next two days leading to abatement of cold wave and ground frost conditions. Maximum temperatures would also rise by 2-3° C over many parts of the region during the next couple of days,” he said. The area would also get some respite from dense fog - the cause of widespread disruption in the road, rail and air traffic in the past week. However, shallow fog would occur in the morning hours over some parts during the next one to two days. “The northwest can expect comfortably cool days ahead. Temperatures will increase till January 26 and will go down around January 27, 28 and 29. Hilly areas will experience snowfall around January 25 and 26. After the western disturbance moves away on January 27, there will be fall in temperatures. However, weather conditions may not be too severe. February, by and large, is expected to be comfortable. Largely, 2010-11 will register as a classical winter with no deviations from the normal”, Bhan said.
|
||
|
Plot to abduct Sachin: 8-yr jail for 6 HuJI men
New Delhi, January 23 While upholding the trial court's 2010 judgment, a Bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and SP Garg modified the order on their sentence and reduced the life term awarded to them to eight years on the ground of parity. The HC reduced the sentence, acceding to the pleas of the HuJI militants that three other key accused, who had earlier confessed to their crime, were awarded 8 years' jail term in 2007 under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act. The court's verdict came on appeals by three Pakistani convicts Tariq Mehmood, Arshad Khan and Ishaq Ahmed and their three Indian accomplices, Ghulam Mohammed Dar, Ghulam Qadir Bhat and Mufti Mohammed Israr, who had been convicted under the provisions of the POTA, the IPC and the Arms Act. — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The government today directed the board of governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to cancel licences of all 93 doctors convicted for sex determination of foetuses under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act, 1996.
