NEWS TODAY 13 & 14.12.2024

 

HC orders removal of MP Nursing Registration Council chief & secy over college affiliations

HC orders removal of MP Nursing Registration Council chief & secy over college affiliations 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  14.12.2024  BHOPAL

Bhopal : A division bench of MP high court on Friday ordered the removal of chairman of MP Nursing Registration Council (MPNRC), Jiten Chandra Shukla and secretary, Anita Chand stating that they were themselves involved in the nursing college affiliations in one way or the other and their appointment on the key positions in MPNRC was unacceptable. 

Taking exception to the reply of the state govt that director, medical education has constituted a three-member committee to examine the complaints against Chand despite the court's oral order to remove her and Shukla from the post, the bench of Justice Sanjay Dwivedi and Justice A K Paliwal, seized of a petition over a large number of fake nursing colleges operating in MP, asked the principal secretary, medical education, to remove the two officials in question forthwith and also directed the office of advocate general to forward a copy of the order to the chief secretary for compliance. 

Petitioner in the case, president of Law Students' Association, Vishal Baghel, has moved two applications seeking removal of Chand and Shukla levelling specific charges against them about their involvement in the scam relating to recognition to fake nursing colleges in the state in large numbers and prayed the court to order their removal from the key positions in MPNRC as they can influence the evidence regarding the scam. Anita Chand was a member of the inspection committee which had submitted a false report on March 4, 2022 on the basis of which RKS Nursing college in Bhopal was given recognition though it was later cancelled, he said. Similarly, the application for removal of Jiten Chandra Shukla said that he was the director of MPNRC when several irregularities were committed in granting recognition to the nursing colleges. 

After hearing these applications, the court directed the respondents to submit their reply  explaining as to why such persons have been placed on important posts of registrar and chairman, MPNRC and orally instructed for their removal. The court, however, noted that instead of doing so, the respondents showed a copy of order dated Dec 2, 2024 issued by the directorate medical education, wherein, a committee consisting of three members had been constituted to inspect and submit a report after analysing the complaints made against Anita Chand and inspecting the nursing colleges. The judges while stating that they were not satisfied with the constitution of the committee by the director with the approval of commissioner, public health & medical education and said, "We cannot allow such officers who were involved in the earlier process of granting recognition to hold such important posts in as much as there is every likelihood that such officers would, not only try to save their skin but also of other functionaries, try to tamper with the material. “We despise such effort and find that it is nothing but an attempt to foil the endeavours made by the court for obviating the irregularities and illegalities in the process of granting recognition.

In view of the above, we direct the principal secretary of the public health and medical education to forthwith remove Anita Chand from the post of registrar and Dr Jiten Chandra Shukla from the post of chairman of MPNRC and instead appoint some responsible officers, having unblemished service career, in their place," said the order.

Pushpa, Too!

Pushpa, Too! 

Police case against Allu Arjun a worrying trend 

14.12.2024   TOI  AHAMEDABAD 

For Telangana police to charge Telugu superstar Allu Arjun with culpable homicide was ridiculous. For a trial court to send him to judicial custody for 14 days was miscarriage of justice. Thankfully better sense prevailed as HC granted the actor interim bail. The case as it stands is that a woman died and a child was critically hurt in a stampede that occurred when Allu Arjun attended the opening of his blockbuster Pushpa 2. The theatre and the actor’s team say they informed police ahead of his visit. Police say they denied him permission but that he even held a ‘roadshow’. The woman’s spouse filed a complaint basis which police shot off the FIR. Whatever the case’s merits, and however it gets decided, police neglected their obligation to manage crowds. The high-profile arrest ensured the case takes a life of its own and police can escape accountability. Film audiences in most of southern India are known to break into a frenzy at starstudded movie openings, even without the presence of their idols. Even if Allu Arjun were not present, the opening of Pushpa 2 was a hugely anticipated event and large crowds were expected at the busy Hyderabad location where Sandhya theatre is. 

Crowd control is police work. Period. Had there been no casualty, this would have been just another ‘stampede-like situation’, tucked away and forgotten in police records. As is seen repeatedly in several such situations countrywide where expert crowd control is required, police fail hopelessly to control the situation – ill-equipped, ill-trained, and in several cases, it’s simply dereliction of duty. Police have dangerously become trigger-happy with FIRs on serious charges in their need to protect their own shortcomings. India-wide, ordinary people, especially women, the poor and marginalised struggle to file cases against harms done to them. But simultaneously, police forces find it all too easy to harass citizens, high-profile and ordinary, via weak cases but stringent provisions, sometimes to please political masters and otherwise to deflect attention and accountability. 

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Dead man talking? Police make Sanand man witness in own death

Dead man talking? Police make Sanand man witness in own death

Ashish.Chauhan@timesofindia.com 14.12.2024 

Ahmedabad : Can a dead man testify in a case involving his own death and perhaps even produce evidence of his own fatality? It seems the Sanand police think so.

 When Poonam Senva died after being knocked off his bike by a truck, the police, in the case's FIR, named him as the witness of his own death. The 26-year-old from Sanand's Khoraj village was riding his motorcycle on the Viramgam Sanand highway on the night of Dec 8 when he was hit by a truck near Madhavnagar crossroads. The FIR registered before PSI NR Tarar, based on Poonam's elder brother Baldev, states, “The truck driver drove his vehicle with speed and negligence and rammed into the motorcycle of Poonam Senva. In the accident, 'sahed' (witness) Poonam Senva suffered critical injuries and succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital in Sanand.” Sanand police filed a case against the truck driver, charging him with causing death by negligent and rash driving under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Motor Vehicles Act. This is not the first instance of dead people or things being wrongly attributed in cases related to deaths. 

A motorcycle and a bovine named in two recent deaths’ Sources said that it often happens that those who die an accidental death, for example, by falling into a pit while riding a two-wheeler, are named accused in their own deaths, mainly because it is too much of a task to probe deeper to find the actual reason or culprit. Recently, a motorcycle and a bovine were named for two deaths in separate cases. In Sep 2023, Kheda police named an unknown bovine as an accused in the FIR filed at Nadiad (West) police station after failing to identify the cattle owner, the sources said. In another case recorded in Oct 2022, a man, according to a police complaint with Kheda town police, took the blame for an accident involving him and his cousin after hitting a stray bovine. His cousin died in the accident. In this case too, cops slacked in efforts to find the stray bovine's owner, the sources said. 

A simple pill could soon cure diabetes, scientists reveal etimes.in

A simple pill could soon cure diabetes, scientists reveal etimes.in | Dec 13, 2024, 10.43 PM IST

Diabetes, a chronic disease that needs to be managed with medication and lifestyle changes, affects about 830 million people worldwide and is one of the fastest-growing illnesses globally. A groundbreaking breakthrough in diabetes research may soon transform its treatment for millions worldwide. Scientists are working on a revolutionary pill that could cure diabetes by addressing the root causes of the disease.

Researchers at Mount Sinai have moved one step forward in making this pill a reality which can reprogram the body to make insulin-producing cells again.

Diabetes develops when beta cells in the pancreas are not able to produce insulin, an essential hormone for blood sugar management. In both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, patients report a significant reduction in active insulin-producing beta cells. Until now, the medications are used to manage diabetes symptoms, but now researchers are looking for ways to replenish and revive these crucial beta cells that can start producing insulin again.

How Harmine can help regenerate insulin-producing cells

Back in 2015, the researchers at Mount Sinai identified harmine, a drug belonging to DYRK1A inhibitors, the compound capable of activating insulin-producing human beta cell regeneration.

Building on their earlier findings, the research team made significant progress in 2019 and 2020, discovering that harmine could work in synergy with GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide and exenatide to boost beta cell regeneration.

By July 2024, their studies revealed groundbreaking results: harmine alone increased human beta cell mass by 300%, and when paired with a GLP-1 receptor agonist like Ozempic, that growth skyrocketed to an impressive 700%.

In an exciting discovery, researchers found that alpha cells, another kind of pancreatic cell which are found in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, could potentially be transformed into insulin-producing beta cells.

“This is an exciting finding that shows harmine-family drugs may be able to induce lineage conversion in human pancreatic islets,” says Dr. Esra Karakose, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the study’s corresponding author, in a statement. “It may mean that people with all forms of diabetes have a large potential ‘reservoir’ for future beta cells, just waiting to be activated by drugs like harmine.”

How the experiment was carried out

Using single-cell RNA sequencing technology, researchers examined the genetic activity of more than 109,881 individual cells from human pancreatic islets donated by four adults. This advanced technique provided detailed insights, revealing that "cycling alpha cells" might have the ability to convert into insulin-producing beta cells. Since alpha cells are the most abundant cell type in pancreatic islets, they could become a crucial source for generating new beta cells if the transformation process can be effectively managed.

The Mount Sinai team is now set to move to human trials.

“A simple pill, perhaps together with a GLP1RA like semaglutide, is affordable and scalable to the millions of people with diabetes,” says Dr. Andrew F. Stewart, director of the Mount Sinai Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism Institute.

The study was published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

MBBS paper leaks real: Top MUHS officials

MBBS paper leaks real: Top MUHS officials 

Ranjan Dasgupta & Santosh Sonawane TNN 12.12.2024 

Nashik : The question paper leaks of pharmacology I and pathology II in the ongoing MBBS examination were genuine, top officials in Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) admitted on Wednesday. Over 7,900 students are appearing for the examination, and the two question papers leaked were meant for second-year MBBS students. MUHS came to know about the pharmacology I paper leak on Dec 2 after the exam was over. In the case of pathology II, the varsity learned about the leak hours before the exam began on Dec 9, and a new set of question papers was mailed to all the 50 centres. Printouts were handed over to the examinees instead of the original set of the question papers. “In both these cases, we were informed by students about the leaks. They mailed us screenshots of the questions that went viral on social media. They must have been distressed that the question paper was leaked and immediately informed us,” a senior MUHS official said. 

The varsity has decided to mail the question paper to the exam centres on the day of the exam for remaining exams, including the pharmacology I exam, which will be held again on Dec 19. The university has already lodged complaints against unidentified persons with Nashik city police about the leaks. It has also formed a probe team to ascertain who were involved in the leaks. MUHS insiders did not rule out the possibility of tampering with envelopes that had question papers sent to centres in private vehicles, which could have led to the leaks. “The tampering could have either taken place during transportation or at the exam centres...MUHS has asked the exam centre in-charges to return the envelopes... Experts will examine if there was any tampering,” the official said. 

MUHS vice-chancellor Lt Gen Dr Madhuri Kanitkar (retd) did not speak much on the issue. “The university has taken the paper leak issue seriously. The matter is being investigated both by the police and the university. We will go all out to find out how and who were involved in this

illegal activity,” she told TOI. Nashik city police commissioner Sandeep Karnik said their probe is progressing in the right direction

AIIMS doctors extract 9.2kg tumour from an ovarian cancer patient

AIIMS doctors extract 9.2kg tumour from an ovarian cancer patient 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 12.12.2024

New Delhi : Doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) successfully performed a surgery to remove a 9.2-kg tumour from a 49-year-old woman with ovarian cancer, which is expected to increase her life expectancy remarkably. Without the surgical intervention, the patient would have survived about six months. Professor MD Ray of the department of onco surgery at AIIMS, explained that extracting a tumour of this size presented significant difficulties as multiple organs are affected, particularly the gastrointestinal and urinary systems. He said that the patient recovered well, with an anticipated survival extension of at least 10 years. After the Dec 2 surgery, she went home on Dec 9. 

Initially diagnosed with stage one granular cell tumor (GCT), a rare, slow-growing ovarian tumour originating from sex cord stromal cells, the woman underwent staging laparotomy in Dec 2011 at AIIMS Delhi's gynaecology department. Post-operative assessment confirmed stage I disease. After being under observation, the patient discontinued follow-up for five years. In 2016, she returned to the medical oncology clinic with symptomatic recurrence. A tumour mass excision was attempted in 2017 in the gynaecology department but remained incomplete due to complications. She then received six cycles of Paclit XL and Carbon Platinum chemotherapy, achieving 18 months of progression-free survival. Follow-up imaging revealed small abdominal and pelvic deposits, leading to conservative management under observation. The patient again discontinued follow-up for three years after the initial recurrence. She subsequently came to the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH), AIIMS's facility, in Oct 2024, displaying severe symptoms including a substantial abdominal mass, pain, constipation, post-meal vomiting, dependence on a liquid diet and substantial weight reduction of 15 kg over three months. 

Dr Ray stressed that whilst some cancer patients discontinue follow-up care, consistent monitoring remains essential for disease management. The medical team noted several complications: poor performance status (scale two), severe anaemia (6 grams per decilitre haemoglobin), reduced albumin (2.8 grams per decilitre), and compression of vital structures including the urinary bladder, sigmoid colon and ureters. For such an advanced condition, chemotherapy and radiotherapy would serve only as palliative care. This treatment option would have been viable if the patient received care at a distant facility. However, in this recurring case, surgery remained the only potentially curative option. Such procedures are exclusively available at specialised hospitals with comprehensive oncological facilities and complete medical teams, including anaesthesia specialists. Dr Ray highlighted that patients should not consider any complex abdominal procedures, including those involving abdominal masses, relapses or recurring conditions, as inoperable.