Accused of Racism, Manipal’s Rashmi Samant quits as Oxford Students’ Union President-Elect
London/ Bengaluru: According to a Times of India report, Manipal based Rashmi Samant, who became the first Indian woman to be elected president of the Oxford University Students’ Union had to inadvertently quit after her past social media post was accused of carrying ‘racist’ and ‘insensitive’ references to the Holocaust.
Rashmi, who did her schooling in Manipal, Udupi, is the daughter of Vathsala Samant, a homemaker, and businessman Dinesh Samant. According to Oxford University, she had received 1,966 of the 3,708 votes cast for SU President securing a landslide victory.
However, the victory was short-lived due to the ‘racism’ controversy, which emerged in the background of her win. Following the circulation of her past problematic social media post, Rashmi issued an apology through an open letter which read, “Every student who has been hurt by my actions or words and seek a chance to gain your trust in me again.”
She further said, “I fully acknowledge my shortcomings over the years and the past few days in my capacity as President-elect.”
'I come to you with an apology and a willingness to learn. I earnestly seek your help in making amends for my mistakes.'
Despite her apology, as calls for her resignation continued, in a Facebook post on Tuesday Rashmi Samant announced that she had decided to step down as President-Elect.
'In light of the recent events surrounding my election to the Presidency of the Oxford SU, I believe it is best for me to step down from the role. It has been an honour to be your President-Elect,' she posted.
Speaking to the TOI reporters from Heathrow airport before boarding a flight back home to India on Wednesday, she said, “Instagram was my campaign page so it got sent to everyone. You had to scroll down really far to see the posts. I don’t know who found them. I don’t want to judge others because I know how much it hurts to be judged”, she expressed.
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Govt, private hospitals asked to maintain stocks of anti-rabies vaccine at all times
New Delhi (PTI): The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued a public notice directing all government and private hospitals to maintain mandatory stocks of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) and rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) at all times.
The Commission referred to the November 7 Supreme Court order which issued stringent and time-bound directions to all states and Union Territories (UTs) and the central government to secure educational institutions, hospitals, sports complexes, bus stands/ depots and railway stations from stray dog ingress.
Major highlights of the order include identification and securing of premises of government and private educational institutions (schools, colleges, hostels), hospitals and medical facilities, sports complexes/ stadiums, bus stands/ lSBT (Inter-State Bus Terminal) and railway stations through fencing, boundary walls, gates and similar structural and administrative measures within eight weeks.
According to the order, each institution must designate a nodal officer responsible for cleanliness, prevent dog ingress, maintain liaison with municipal authorities, display the details of the nodal officer prominently and notify the municipal body.
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It also called for mandated quarterly inspections to ensure no dog habitats exist within or near these premises and to immediately remove any stray dog found inside the institution.
"All government and private hospitals must maintain mandatory stock of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) and immunoglobulin (RIG) at all times," the public notice said.
"All medical colleges/ institutions are, therefore, requested to take necessary actions as per the directives of the Supreme Court," the notice stated.
The NMC also enclosed the letter sent by Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava addressed to all secretaries of the government of India and all chief secretaries of states and UTs highlighting the court's order.
