Another 'fake' doctor surfaces in MP; he served in BJP medical cell in Jabalpur; FIR filed
Jabalpur, Apr 7 (PTI): An FIR of cheating has been registered against an alleged bogus doctor, who also served as co-convenor of BJP Jabalpur district medical cell, after a complaint that he worked in a government hospital here on the basis of a fake Ayush degree, police said on Monday.
The case against him was registered two days (April 5) before Monday's arrest of a "fake" cardiologist who practised at Damoh Missionary Hospital in Madhya Pradesh. As per a complaint filed with the National Human Rights Commission, seven heart patients treated by him have died.
Police filed the FIR against the bogus doctor following a court order in Jabalpur district.
"An FIR of cheating has been registered against Shubham Awasthi, who has been accused of using a fake Ayush degree and working in government-run Seth Govind Das Jabalpur district hospital ( formerly known as Victoria Hospital). The case was registered on basis of the court order," Civil Lines Police Station Inspector Nehru Singh Khandate told PTI.
The case is under investigation, he added.
When contacted, BJP Jabalpur city chief Ratnesh Sonkar asserted action will be taken against Awasthi as per party guidelines after they get official confirmation of the case.
"After coming to know about the incident this morning via a media report I have personally sought authentic details of the case. The BJP doesn't tolerate such things... 1001 per cent action will be taken," he insisted.
The ruling party admitted the bogus physician was associated with it, but was removed from his post two years ago.
"Yes, he was BJP Jabalpur district medical cell co-convenor. He was relieved from the post two years ago following some accusations against him," MP BJP co-convenor of medical cell and dentist Ashwini Trivedi informed.
When contacted, the complainant in the case, Shailendra Bari, said, "I learnt about Shubham Awasthi working in the district hospital as a bogus ayurvedic doctor (with Ayush) degree for one year in 2020-21 from my friend who was admitted to the hospital.
"My friend, who is no more, heard some doctors talking about a black sheep in their flock. Thereafter, I sought his educational documents under the Right to Information Act (RTI)," he added.
After getting to know of this development, Awasthi (40) resigned from the hospital, Bari said.
"On receipt of Awasthi's educational documents, I applied under the RTI to the university and government ayurvedic college to know the duration of his studies. Both the university and the college replied no such student had been to their institute," Bari said.
He said he later lodged a police complaint, but no action was taken.
"Later, I filed a complaint in the district court for action against Awasthi," Bari said.
The court of Judicial Magistrate First Class on February 14 directed the Civil Lines police station to take up investigation into the matter, he added.
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
