Biggest lesson from Haryana is never be overconfident in elections: Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi (PTI): With the BJP racing ahead in Haryana as per the early trends, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the "biggest lesson" of the poll results is that one should never be "overconfident" in the elections.
The BJP looks forward to a comfortable win in Haryana, leading in 50 of the 90 assembly seats.
"Let us see what the results are in Haryana. The biggest lesson of this is that one should never be overconfident in the elections," said Kejriwal addressing a gathering of the AAP municipal councillors.
"No election should be taken lightly. Each election and each seat is tough," he added.
The AAP failed to reach a pre-poll alliance in Haryana with the Congress due to disagreement over number of seats to be contested by it.
It independently contested 89 of the total 90 seats in the state after its demand for being given 9 seats was turned down by the Congress.
The AAP candidates were trailing on almost all the seats behind their BJP and Congress opponents.
Kejriwal had earlier during the poll campaign in Haryana asserted that no government would be formed in the state without the AAP's support.
He asked the party councillors to work hard for the Delhi Assembly polls due in February next year and ensure that the garbage was properly collected and disposed of from their wards.
"You will have the most important role in this (Delhi) election. We will win the elections just if you ensure there is proper garbage collection and disposal from your areas which is a very basic thing," said the former Delhi chief minister.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
