NRDC and CCRAS - Memorandum of Agreement

MOA Signed Between NRDC and CCRAS
Capital Market March 09, 2015 Last Updated at 12:10 IST

National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt of India signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, (CCRAS), an autonomous organisation under the Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for commercialization of the technologies developed at CCRAS. The scope of the MOA also includes providing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) services to CCRAS in India and abroad. CCRAS is an Apex Body in India constituted for the formulation, co-ordination, development and promotion of research in Ayurveda on scientific lines.

The MOA was signed by Chairman and Managing Director, NRDC Dr H.Purushotham and Director General, CCRAS Prof. Abhimanyu Kumar in the presence of Chief, NRDC, Shri A. Pradhan and other senior officers from CCRAS and NRDC.

Speaking on the occasion, CMD, NRDC Dr H.Purushotham, stated that NRDC has already transferred more than 10 technologies developed at CCRAS to more than 50 entrepreneurs/Industry which has helped both the organisations to earn a substantial amount of revenue . He was happy to inform that a number of Ayurvedic Medicines developed at CCRAS and commercialized by NRDC and are available to the public for the treatment of different diseases at an affordable price like Anti Malarial drug, Balrasayan, tonic for children, etc.

Commenting on the signing of the MOA, Prof. Abhimanyu Kumar, Director General, CCRAS appreciated the dedicated efforts made by NRDC for transferring a number of technologies developed at the different laboratories of CCRAS to a number of organisations in India.

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19,676 backlog reserved vacancies

Saturday, March 07, 2015
Backlog Vacancies – 19,676 backlog reserved vacancies of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes

As per data collected till 31.12.2014, during the period 1.4.2012 to 31.12.2014, 19,676 backlog reserved vacancies of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes were filled up in Central Government Departments/attached and subordinate offices, Banks etc.

Government constituted a Committee in July 2013 under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to make an in depth analysis of the reasons for backlog of filling up of reserved vacancies and suggest measures to enhance the employability of reserved category candidates. The Committee submitted its report in May, 2014. Subsequent to the receipt of the recommendations of the Committee, the matter has been examined by this Department. Time bound action has been finalized and intimated to all concerned Departments/ Ministries on 20.11.2014 for implementation. The Action Plan includes study of reasons for non-filling of backlog reserved vacancies; review of prescribed standards, if required; conducting Special Recruitment Drive and conducting pre-recruitment training programmes.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in Prime Minister’s office Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Shri Ravneet Singh, Shri Sankar Prasad Datta and Shri S.P. Muddahanume Gowda in the Lok Sabha today.

Source: PIB News

guidelines for Siddha

Siddha fraternity to demand Ayush ministry to prepare uniform treatment guidelines for Siddha
Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
Saturday, March 07, 2015, 08:00 Hrs [IST]  pharmabizz.com


A group of Siddha graduates and practising physicians from south India is planning to approach the Central Ayush Ministry demanding to prepare a uniform treatment guidelines for the Siddha system of treatment, which is reportedly losing its traditional sheen.

According to the Siddha, specific directive for each stage of treatment, including diagnosis and dispensing of medicines, is necessary to establish the veracity of curing diseases through Siddha therapy. A systematic and scientific form of approach should be the basic factor for application of medications and every step should be well documented for any time reference. Lack of strong uniform guidelines in the national level often underestimates the efficacy of this alternative medical system of this country.

“A uniform treatment directive will not only bring consistency in the application of therapy, but also reduce wastage of medicine, time and out of pocket expenses of the patients. Besides, there should be compulsory updating of the ways of disease management and the practitioners for new treatment protocols, which will enable them to be efficient in the field”, they said.

Their proposals include the demand for improving infrastructure facilities at the healthcare institutions. The siddhars put forward the idea that with a public-private partnership (PPP), government should establish high-tech integrative health centres at regional wise for special disease managements, mainly for AIDS, cancer, infertility, child care, women health, diabetes, respiratory disease, liver disease, and rheumatology.

Today some high efficacy promising drugs are not available in siddha dispensaries. Government should ensure the availability of these drugs which may support the effectiveness of Siddha medicines. For example, the siddhars pointed out that Maan kombu parpam (prepared from deer horn) for cardiac diseases, Mullelithailam (prepared from hedgehog) for bronchial asthma, Udumbunei (prepared from monitor lizard) for neurological diseases, Namathavalaiennai (prepared from green bull frog) for immunobooster in children suffering from primary complex, Perandaparpam (prepared from human skull) for schizophrenia, Oonaansudarthailam (prepared from Chameleon) for epilepsy, Karunkozhi drugs (prepared from Kadaknath black chicken) for hemiplegia, Chippinei (prepared from freshwater mussel) for gouty arthritis, Aamaioduparpam (prepared from turtle shell) for dysentery in children, Kabaadamaathirai (prepared from opium) for diarrhoea etc. are not available in Siddha dispensaries now.

They further said these products have been stopped due to ethical or legal reasons based on Wildlife Act and Narcotic Act. What we use now are just food species which is comparable to over-the-counter drugs. The high efficacy promising drugs should be supplied to Siddha wings, with which physicians can give assurance to patients, a Siddha practitioner commented.

On the side of research, they said the state government should allot money for research in Siddha drugs for epidemic and chronic diseases. Basic medical scientists/centers should be involved to carry out the research activities. Government should also think of establishing research wings in each Siddha Medical College by appointing original medical scientists who can manage the research work.

Ayush Doctor as Abortificient

Ayush doctors may get nod to do abortions
Sushmi Dey,TNN | Mar 4, 2015, 02.39 AM IST

Another key amendment seeks to increase the period for abortion to 24 weeks from the present 20 weeks.

NEW DELHI: Here's something ayurveda gurus like Charak and Susrutha may not have imagined. Modern ayurvedacharayas, homoeopaths and other Ayush doctors may soon be allowed to conduct non-invasive abortions.

The health ministry has worked out changes to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Bill. The revised bill proposes to allow Ayush doctors to conduct non-invasive procedures on women seeking to terminate pregnancy. The draft bill will soon be sent to the Cabinet.

"We have made revisions to the earlier draft and proposed that Ayush doctors who are registered healthcare specialists be allowed to carry out non-invasive procedure, which would mean prescribing medicines etc," a senior health ministry official told TOI.
Another key amendment seeks to increase the period for abortion to 24 weeks from the present 20 weeks.

The government's proposal, originally formulated taking a cue from a study conducted by Population Council, is aimed at increasing access to safe abortion by expanding the number of healthcare providers.

Estimates show around 7 million abortions are conducted in India every year and over 50% of them are said to be illegal.

Initially, the government had decided to allow midwives and Ayush doctors to do even invasive procedures for abortion, but dropped it following mounting objections from allopathic practitioners, particularly Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI).

IMA, a pan India voluntary organization with a membership of 2.5 lakh allopathic practitioners, said even the latest move can put patients at risk as well as allow unethical practices and sex selective abortions.

"MTP is a procedure meant to be conducted by an allopathic doctor only. It is not possible to allow restricted practice. How will the government monitor whether a person is conducting abortion through medicine or doing invasive procedures," says IMA secretary general Dr KK Aggarwal.

According to Dr Aggarwal, abortions by a non-MBBS doctor can lead to critical medical conditions arising out of excessive bleeding or incomplete abortions, which can be difficult to handle.

Ministry officials say FOGSI members were part of the consultations and initially supported the amendments. However, FOGSI has maintained that it changed its position after a thorough discussion.

"Expanding the number and type of providers able to legally perform abortion services, including manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) and medical abortion (MA), could greatly expand women's access to safe abortion and save many lives each year," Population Council said in a note on the issue.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also seems to endorse the government's proposal. A technical and policy guidance for health systems by WHO released in 2012 states, "Abortion care can be safely provided by any properly trained health-care provider, including mid-level providers....(e.g. midwives, nurse practitioners, clinical officers, physician assistants, family welfare visitors, and others) who are trained to provide basic clinical procedures related to reproductive health..."

Traditionally, mid-wives have played a key role in catering to urgent medical needs, especially attending to pregnant women for child delivery or even for abortion, in rural areas and villages that lacked medical facilities. Though with time government health centres and private players reached many such villages, mid-wives continue to exist and attend to many emergencies even today.

The government's proposal to involve Ayush doctors has also found support from the women and child development ministry, National Commission for Women and other women's groups.

AYUSH UPSC 2015

hearing loss because of personal audio

1.1 billion people at risk of hearing loss because of personal audio devices, says WHO PTI, Geneva | Updated: Mar 01, 2015 07:00 IST Some 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe use of personal audio devices, including smartphones, and exposure to damaging levels of sound at nightclubs, bars and sporting events, the WHO has warned. The World Health Organisation also recommends that people should use personal audio devices for no more than one hour a day. Data from studies in middle- and high-income countries analysed by WHO indicate that among teenagers and young adults aged 12-35 years, nearly 50% are exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices and around 40% are exposed to potentially damaging levels of sound at entertainment venues. Unsafe levels of sounds can be, for example, exposure to in excess of 85 decibles (dB) for eight hours or 100dB for 15 minutes. "As they go about their daily lives doing what they enjoy, more and more young people are placing themselves at risk of hearing loss," said Dr Etienne Krug, WHO director for the department for management of non-communicable diseases, disability, violence and injury prevention. "Taking simple preventive actions will allow people to continue to enjoy themselves without putting their hearing at risk," Krug said. WHO recommends that the highest permissible level of noise exposure in the workplace is 85 dB up to a maximum of eight hours per day. Many patrons of nightclubs, bars and sporting events are often exposed to even higher levels of sound, and should therefore considerably reduce the duration of exposure. For example, exposure to noise levels of 100 dB, which is typical in such venues, is safe for no more than 15 minutes. Teenagers and young people can better protect their hearing by keeping the volume down on personal audio devices, wearing earplugs when visiting noisy venues, and using carefully fitted, and, if possible, noise-cancelling earphones/headphones. They can also limit the time spent engaged in noisy activities by taking short listening breaks and restricting the daily use of personal audio devices to less than one hour. With the help of smartphone apps, they can monitor safe listening levels. In addition they should heed the warning signs of hearing loss and get regular hearing check-ups. To mark International Ear Care Day, celebrated each year on March 3, WHO is launching the 'Make Listening Safe' initiative to draw attention to the dangers of unsafe listening and promote safer practices. In collaboration with partners worldwide, WHO will alert young people and their families about the risks of noise-induced hearing loss and advocate towards governments for greater attention to this issue as part of their broader efforts to prevent hearing loss generally.

Allotted Rs 1,214 crore

Health budget dips by 5.7%, AYUSH gets major chunk IANS | Feb 28, 2015, 08.50 PM IST Times of India NEW DELHI: The health budget on Saturday saw a dip of 5.7 per cent with the Narendra Modi government announcing an outlay of Rs 33,152 crore for the sector, giving special emphasis to the promotion and development of AYUSH, the country's traditional methods of medicines. The ministry of ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy (AYUSH) was allotted Rs 1,214 crore. AYUSH till last year was a department under the health ministry, but was carved out as a separate ministry last year by the Modi government which believes in promoting India's ancient methods of treatment. Finance minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the union budget in the Lok Sabha said that the health sector has been allotted Rs 33,152 crore. The budgetary allocation decreased by 5.7 per cent as in the last fiscal it stood at Rs 35,163 crore. The department of health research under the health ministry got a hike of 9.2 per cent with Rs 1,018.17 crore allotted to it compared to last year's Rs.932 crore, whereas the department of health and family welfare got a hike of a mere two per cent as Rs 29,653 crore earmarked this year as compared to Rs 29,042 crore last fiscal. The department of AIDS control also got a hike of just 7.4 per cent. It was allotted Rs 1,397 crore this fiscal compared to Rs 1,300 crore last year. The government also proposed to set up six more AIIMS like institutes in the country to improve the public health system in the country. "In the fiscal year 2015-16, I propose to set up All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Assam," Jaitley said. "Keeping in view the need to augment medical sciences in Bihar, I propose to set up another AIIMS-like institution in these states," he added. With six more AIIMS-like institutes, the number of such super specialty institutes has gone up to 14 in the country. The institutes have been named after the Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), which became functional in 1956 as an autonomous institution through an act of parliament to serve as a nucleus for nurturing excellence in all aspects of health care. With the major budget earmarked to AYUSH, the government said the objective is to develop and promote the Indian systems of medicines in an organised and scientific manner. Terming the budget as balanced, progressive, pragmatic and pro-people, Health and Family Welfare minister JP Nadda said "the budget will lead to all around social and economic development that is inclusive and outcome oriented". He said "the resolve to support the health sector in a big way has been shown by the outlay for health in the budget of Rs 33,150 crore". "Moreover, announcement of five AIIMS in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam and Tamil Nadu and AIIMS-like institute in Bihar will provide a quantum jump in healthcare in these states and the neighbouring areas," he added. He assured that the ministry will implement these in the shortest possible time. The announcements of various mechanisms in expanding the healthcare insurance to the needy is a laudable step towards making healthcare affordable and accessible to all, he added.