Chhattisgarh used poor quality drugs - Raipur

The state-owned Chhattisgarh Medical Services Corporation (CGMSC) is in the eye of a storm over alleged procurement of drugs that failed quality tests in different laboratories in India. The role of CGMSC, the central drug procurement agency of the state government, has come under the scanner after the tragic deaths of 14 poor young women following tubectomies performed in free health camps in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district, allegedly due to spurious drugs.

Enquiries revealed that three samples of a drug used for sanitisation of surgical equipment and the operation theatre had failed quality tests in seven different private laboratories. But the officials concerned continued to procure the drug, ignoring the adverse reports of the laboratories.

Incidentally, the drug has been purchased from private manufacturing units. “CGMSC procured the sanitisation drug, worth around Rs 2 crore, in the current financial year. The drug has now been withdrawn from government hospitals in the state and dumped in warehouses of CGMSC following the exposure of irregularities in its procurement,” a senior officer in the state government told this newspaper here on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

Shockingly, multi-vitamin capsules procured from private agencies in a similar manner by CGMSC have quietly been withdrawn from government hospitals following complaints about their quality from some doctors.

Senior officers in the state health department were tight-lipped on the issue. Earlier, the exposure of alleged favour shown by the state government to controversial drug firm Mahawar Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd, which allegedly supplied drugs to the tragedy-hit sterilisation camps, had rocked the state.

The licence of the firm was cancelled eight times earlier for manufacturing substandard drugs, but still the company managed to get a “good manufacturing practice award” in 2014 from the state government.



Source : The Asian Age , 21st Nov 2014

Modi govt appoints three new secretaries - Ahmedabad

The Narendra Modi government issued an order for appointment of secretaries in the corporate affairs, overseas Indian affairs and shipping ministries late on Monday night.

Rajive Kumar, special secretary (petroleum), was appointed as the shipping secretary in place of Viswapati Trivedi, who will retire this month.

Anjuly Chib Duggal, special secretary (expenditure), was shifted and given the portfolio of special secretary (corporate affairs). She will assume the role after incumbent Nawed Masood's retirement in February next year.

Another appointment was that of Sunil Soni, director general, Bureau of Indian Standards. He was given the role of special secretary (overseas Indian affairs), and will take over after the retirement of incumbent Prem Narain in December.

All the three officers are from the 1981 IAS batch .

The government also created new posts of special secretaries in the ministries of corporate affairs and overseas Indian affairs in the process.

Persons appointed in the roles will take over as secretaries of their respective ministries following the retirement of the incumbents.

So far, six IAS officers from the 1981 batch have been appointed as secretaries in various ministries.

Earlier, Gujarat cadre IAS officer Hasmukh Adhia was appointed as secretary (financial services), while Anuj Bishnoi was given the charge of secretary (water resources).

Anil Swarup, from the same batch, was made secretary (coal) in the last round of bureaucratic reshuffle.



Source : Hindustan Times , 25th Nov 2014

Samsung leads Indian tablet market: IDC

After a lull following Bureau of India Standards (BIS) compliance requirements, it appears that the Indian tablet market is finally witnessing signs of revival.


According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the India tablet market reported the strongest year to date growth in Q3 2014, fuelled by festive buying and strengthening commercial demand. Tablet market shipments in India witnessed a strong quarter-on-quarter growth of 10% making it a 0.94 million units market.


The country is still an Android-dominated market with Samsung taking the lead at a 22.2% market share, followed by Micromax at 10.9% and iBall at 10.6%. Apple's iOS-powered iPad has a market share of 6.7% while other players have a combined market share of 41.4%. 

                            The country is still an Android-dominated market with Samsung taking the lead at a 22.2% market share.

IDC informs that Samsung continues to lead the market by a wide gap to its next competitor and the brand fared well on the higher screen sized tablets. Micromax retained its second spot but saw a decline of 15% in Q3 against Q2 2014.

Windows based tablets priced under $200 are expected to accelerate the adoption rate, albeit from a low base, as per the research firm. It also observed that phablets are eating up the market share of small screen tablets.

"Due to continuous onslaught from the "Phablets" (which IDC defines as 5.5 inches -6.99 inches screen size smartphones), small screen tablets are taking a hit and there is more uptake on tablets which are screen sized between 8-9 inches. This has however led to an overall improvement of the average selling price for the category," says Kiran Kumar, research manager, client devices, IDC India.

IDC forecasts that for 2015, commercial segment is likely to grow in comparison to a stable consumer market and government projects and government aided education projects should remain key to the growth in the commercial tablets.

"We are likely to see increased activity by PC OEMs in the tablets space with a focus on the 7 inch and 8 inch form factor," adds Tanvi Mann, Market Analyst, IDC India.

Source : TOI , 28th Nov 2014

LED technology global expo at Pragati Maidan Dec 5-7 - New Delhi

Global trade fairs organisers Messe Frankfurt's Indian arm Wednesday announced that an international exhibition on LED (light emitting diode) lighting and technologies will be held Dec 5-7 at the capital's Pragati Maidan exposition venue.

"More than 200 exhibitors from India, China, Taiwan, Finland and Korea will be participating," Messe Frankfurt said in a press release here.

"With an increased environment consciousness and an urge to reduce carbon footprints, government and industries are looking towards LED lighting as an ideal source," it added.

The union power ministry last month launched a business model enabling the sale of LED bulbs to households at Rs.10 against the market price of Rs.400.

"The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) together with the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), which is a joint venture of four central public sector undertakings in the power sector, have worked with electricity distribution companies (discoms) to develop a business model under which EESL procures LED bulbs in bulk and sells them to households at Rs.10," an official release here said.

"The discoms then repay EESL, over a period of five to eight years from the savings that accrue due to use of this energy efficient lighting technology," it added.

The ministry has already decided that all below poverty line households at the time of electrification under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyuthikaran Yojana (RGGVY) would be provided LED technology.

LEDs are emerging as the most energy-efficient source of lighting as they use one-tenth of the energy of a normal incandescent bulb and half as much energy as a Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) to produce the same amount of light.

The first LED lamp made in India, in 2010, was sold for Rs.1,200. 



Source : Zee News , 26th Nov 2014

Workshop on Lab Accreditation from December 1 - Kocchi

QIndia Consulting Services, a provider of quality training and consultancy services, will conduct a four-day training programme on ‘Laboratory Accreditation and Internal Quality Audit as per ISO-15189:2012’, at Hotel Abad Plaza, Kochi, from December 1 to 4.

The programme is aimed at imparting training to participants to better understand the requirements of ISO-15189. It will also help the participants effectively implement ISO-15189 in laboratories, particularly the revised requirement. It will also take the participants through the techniques of internal auditing and teach them how to apply the same while conducting an effective gap analysis and internal audit.

The training programme is intended for all quality managers and other senior laboratory personnel who are likely to discharge the responsibilities of quality managers, including technical managers of accredited laboratories and laboratories preparing for accreditation.

The sessions at the training workshop will be led by Dr A S Kanagasabapathy and Basudev Bhattacharya. Kanagasabapathy is former HoD (Clinical Biochemistry) at the Christian Medical College, Vellore; convener of the QC Committee of the Association of Clinical Biochemists of India; and member of the Clinical Chemistry Trainee Advisory Council Board of ‘Clinical Chemistry’, the official journal of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry. Basudev Bhattacharya is an expert in the field of calibration and measurement uncertainty. He has been serving as quality practitioner and measurement management system initiator.  For details and registration, contact Dr T A Varkey on 0484-2320330, 4016565, 4011470, or 9447031471.


Source : The New Indian Express , 25th Nov 2014

Huge resource gap hits wildlife protection in India - Coimbatore

Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Head of TRAFFIC (India) – an international wildlife trade monitoring network – observed that there was a huge gap in terms of available resources and requirement in the Forest Department that was badly hitting wildlife protection across the country.

He told The Hindu that the shortage was primarily due to the lesser importance that this department attracted from the Governments compared to other uniformed services such as the police and the paramilitary forces.

He was here to organise the workshop on ‘Strengthening Wildlife Law Enforcement and Conservation in India’.

Mismatch

“There is a mismatch in the availability of resources and the requirement,” he said.

He said that the estimated shortage of manpower and funds was in the range of 50 to 60 per cent.

With poaching on the rise, he said that more funds should be allotted to the Forest Department to recruit more personnel, equipping them with the state-of-the-art gadgets and better training with a scientific perspective.

Unlike other uniformed services where recruitments took place at regular intervals, in many States there was no recruitment in the Forest Department for years, the senior IFS officer claimed. “More young blood should be brought into the department. We cannot expect aged personnel to stay awake and maintain vigil besides running behind poachers,” he added.

Mr. Niraj said that a forest watcher or a guard had to monitor several square kilometres. The personnel, who were very poorly equipped, faced the threat of getting killed by poachers. “The fund allocation for modernisation is grossly inadequate,” he said.

Mr. Niraj pointed out that there were only two forensic laboratories in India - the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun – that had facilities for conducting wildlife forensics trials.

He said that this had resulted in delay in conducting forensic trials and disposal of wildlife offences.

“More such forensic laboratories exclusively for wildlife should be established in the regional level – for a cluster of States,” he said.

While there was a loud call for protecting the environment, the wildlife expert said that this would not be possible till the Governments gave more importance to the Forest Department.

He said that the Governments should fix five-year goals and allot funds to achieve them.


Source : The Hindu , 23rd Nov 2014

Intertek’s Boxborough, MA Laboratory Receives IECEE Accreditation for IEC 60601-1-2 4th Edition EMC Testing

Intertek, a leading provider of quality and safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world, announced its Boxborough, MA, laboratory is the first lab in North America to receive accreditation to conduct electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing to the IEC 60601-1-2 4^th Edition standard for medical products by the IECEE. This accreditation allows Intertek to be on the forefront of helping to offer safe medical equipment and medical systems to the industry and consumers on a global level.

As electronic devices continue to become more commonplace in everyday life, medical devices that may be sensitive to EMC output from these devices need to be built to withstand potential interference (immunity). Increases in this immunity was a key update in the new 4^th edition of IEC 60601-1-2, as required immunity levels rose in several areas, including the range of testing for radiated immunity (up to 2.7GHz), magnetic immunity (up to 30A/m), and conducted immunity (up to 6V in ISM bands). These changes address increasing global and local EMC levels, helping to ensure the safe creation, development, and operation of medical devices in any location.

Intertek can provide testing to this level of EMC immunity due in part to its expertise in testing to military and aerospace standards, particularly MIL-STD-461F. This standard includes requirements for the control of electromagnetic interference with military-level equipment, and with experience in such testing, Intertek has the benefit of utilizing its large amplifier equipment that is able to emit EMC at the necessary testing levels.

“This is a substantial change in the IEC standard for Medical device EMC testing,” said John Quigley, Vice President of Quality, Intertek. “We had the unique combination of expertise and equipment to gain IECEE accreditation quickly and begin helping our clients get their products to market faster.” 

As medical device manufacturers prepare to meet the new requirements for this standard update, Intertek can assist with knowledge and information on how to be prepared for compliance. Intertek’s Boxborough laboratory also recently gained approval from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) for expanded testing and certification services regarding medical devices, helping to offer a one-stop shop for testing needs in the medical industry.

For more information about Intertek’s services in general, or for particular specs of the new testing capabilities in Boxborough, contact Derek Silva at derek.silva@intertek.com.

About Intertek

Intertek is a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide. From auditing and inspection, to testing, training, advisory, quality assurance and certification, Intertek adds value for its customers by helping improve the quality and safety of their products, assets and processes. With a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 36,000 people in more than 100 countries, Intertek supports companies’ success in the global marketplace, by helping customers to meet end users’ expectations for safety, sustainability, performance, integrity and desirability in virtually any market worldwide. Visit www.intertek.com

Source : Sys.Con , 19th Nov 2014