HC poser to govt on doctors’ plea against vax order

HC poser to govt on doctors’ plea against vax order

New Delhi:  22.10.2021

Delhi High Court on Thursday sought response of Delhi government on a plea by two doctors challenging its order prohibiting healthcare, frontline workers and teachers from attending their offices on failure to get even first dose of Covid-19 vaccine by October 15. The doctors, working in a government hospital, claimed that it violates their fundamental right right to earn a livelihood and right to attend office. Justice Rekha Palli, who issued notice to the Delhi government and sought its reply on the petition, listed the matter for further hearing on February 3. PTI

Govt employees to get concession if buying e-vehicles

Govt employees to get concession if buying e-vehicles

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chandigarh:22.10.2021

The Haryana government has decided to give a special concession to its employees on the purchase of their first e-vehicle. In addition, financial assistance of up to Rs 5 crore will be given for research and development in the field of e-mobility to any state-, national- or international-level institute in the state.

Sharing the details, deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, who also holds the portfolio of industries and commerce department, shared this information on Thursday after a meeting on ‘Haryana Electric Vehicle Policy-2021’ with senior officers of various departments.

He claimed the government was working to ensure that the policy being formulated for e-vehicle in Haryana would be the best policy in the country.

He said that for the formation of the policy, three rounds of discussions had been held with the officials and, on Thursday, the final consultations were held. The policy would be released in the next one month, he added.

The electric vehicle policy would be focusing on the manufacturers, user drivers and people setting up charging stations, in which special exemptions would be given to them, he said, adding that the state government was emphasising on promoting two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheeler e-vehicles.

He said while e-vehicles would be given exemption at the time of registration in the policy, the commercial vehicles converted from petrol or diesel to electric would also be given concession.

‘FCRA tightened to stop funds transfer biz’

‘FCRA tightened to stop funds transfer biz’

22.10.2021

New Delhi:

The Union government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that no NGO had a fundamental right to receive funds from abroad and argued that the provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to stop the NGOs from making chain-transfers of foreign funds a business. In its response affidavit, the Centre said the amended section 7 only restricts transfer of foreign contributions

US-vaccinated couple gets Mum rail passes

US-vaccinated couple gets Mum rail passes

Richa.Pinto@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:22.10.2021

Hours after TOI reported that a senior citizen couple vaccinated in the US was being denied railway passes — as their vaccination status does not show on Co-Win — the authorities swung into action and handed the couple their passes on medical grounds.

A relieved Angela Fernandes, 65, and her husband Cajetan, 71, went to Borivli station booking office on Thursday afternoon, paid and collected the passes.

The couple had got the Moderna vaccine in January this year in California. They had gone there to meet their son in February 2020, but got stuck as the pandemic raged.

Thanking TOI, Angela said: “Around 9am, we got a call from a senior railway officer who enquired about the matter in detail. He asked us what would be a convenient time for us to go to the station and said he would speak to the officer concerned.”

The couple needed railway passes to travel to a hospital in Wadala regularly for treatment. “It was a genuine issue and we issued them passes on medical grounds,” said Western Railways CPRO Sumit Thakur.

Kolar teacher eats rat-kill laddoos by mistake, dies in hospital

Kolar teacher eats rat-kill laddoos by mistake, dies in hospital

Bhopal:22.10.2021

A 57-year-old private school teacher mistakenly consumed sweets laced with rat-kill powder, kept by his family members on the kitchen stand in Kolar y on September 18. When his condition started deteriorating, his family members rushed him to hospital where he died while undergoing treatment two days later. Acting on information, Kolar police registered a case and started investigation. Investigation officer ASI Rajendra Ken said that deceased Gajraj Singh Tomar, 57, a resident of Rajharsh Colony. The sweets were prepared to kill rats in the house, said police. TNN

Colon cancer lower in India due to veg-rich diet: IISER study

Colon cancer lower in India due to veg-rich diet: IISER study

Ramendra.Singh@timesgroup.com

Bhopal:22.10.2021

Gut associated problems such as inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, colon cancer and such others have a much lower incidence in India compared to the western countries due to consumption of plant-based diets rich in complex polysaccharides that provide a supportive growth environment for good bacteria in the gut.

Researchers of IISER (Bhopal) in their study have concluded this which was recently published in a prestigious high-impact international publication journal “Biofilms and Microbiomes”. Incidentally, it is the biggest gut metagenome study ever done in the country so far.

The research team was led by Dr Vineet K. Sharma, associate professor, Department of Biological Sciences, IISER Bhopal, and comprised Vishnu Prasoodanan PK, Shruti Mahajan, Dr Ashok K Sharma, Dr Darshan B Dhakan, Dr Abhijit Maji and collaborator Dr Joy Scaria.

Associate professor, Vineet Sharma said that by studying the largest gut metagenome of 200 samples from healthy individuals from six diverse geographical regions of India, the IISER team has shown that the bacterium Prevotella copri is the most abundant in Indian human gut which can constitute upto 70% of the total gut bacteria despite the diversity in the choice of meals, preparation-styles, and usage of spices across India.

“A unique and comprehensive Prevotella Genome Database (PGD) and Prevotella Gene Catalogue (PGC) was constructed in this study by including 2,204 genomes and 2.9 million genes to study this bacterium,” said Dr Sharma. Researchers have also identified the presence of an array of genes encoding plant-polysaccharide metabolising enzymes as clusters in this bacterium. “The other non-western countries that also consume plant-based fibres in diet such as Madagascar, Peru and Tanzania also mimicked the results from India, whereas the western populations (USA, Netherlands, Spain and Italy) consuming diets rich in protein and fat and poor in plant-based fibres had poor abundance of this bacteria,” claimed Dr Sharma.

Another important outcome of this study is the presence of inflammation associated with Prevotella species in western populations possibly due to transmission of Prevotella bacteria from mouth to gut that makes them more susceptible for Prevotella-associated gut inflammatory diseases.

These findings emphasize the role of high fibres for a healthy gut microbiome and provide leads for designing new prebiotics and probiotics for the Indian and western populations.

Samples were collected from six different locations to capture the maximum diversity in the gut metagenome of the Indian sub-population, including Madhya Pradesh, Delhi-NCR , Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar and Kerala.

IISER research is the biggest gut metagenome study ever done in India

NGOs have no basic right to get foreign funds: Centre

NGOs have no basic right to get foreign funds: Centre

FCRA Update To Ensure Money Goes To Stated Use

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:22.10.2021

The Union government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that no NGO had a fundamental right to receive funds from abroad and argued that the provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to stop the NGOs from making chain-transfers of foreign funds a business.

In its response affidavit to petitions by several NGOs alleging that the new provisions would stifle their funds and consequently impede their social work, the Centre said the amended section 7 only restricts transfer of foreign contributions to other persons/NGOs once received in India. “An NGO has to utilise it for the purposes for which it has been given a certificate of registration or prior permission by government and there is no discrimination against any NGO in receipt of foreign contribution from any foreign donors,” it said.

On the difficulty posed to thousands of NGOs spread across India by an amendment mandating opening of bank account only in main branch of SBI in New Delhi for receipt of foreign contributions, the Centre said, “Prohibition on transfer of foreign contribution, receipt of foreign contribution in the main branch of SBI in New Delhi and obtaining Aadhaar number, etc of the office bearers, key functionaries and members would improve compliance mechanism, enhance transparency and accountability in the receipt and utilisation of foreign contribution and would not impinge on any fundamental rights of the petitioners. It is directly relatable to activities/programmes detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, public order and interests of general public and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

It said, “There exists no fundamental right under which any right, legal or otherwise, can be said to include the purported right to receive foreign contributions. Parliament, representing the will of the people, has enacted the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.”