Singapore's Indian-origin ex-minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam wins presidential election
Singapore (PTI): Tharman Shanmugaratnam, an Indian-origin Singapore-born economist, registered a landslide victory in Singapore's presidential election on Friday, winning over 70 per cent of votes in the country's first contested presidential polls since 2011.
The 66-year-old former senior minister bagged 70.4 per cent (1,746,427 votes) of the 2.48 million votes cast, while his Chinese-origin rivals Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian received 15.72 per cent and 13.88 per cent respectively, the Elections Department said.
The result was announced by Returning Officer Tan Meng Dui at past midnight, making Tharman Singapore's third Indian-origin president.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Tharman, who served as Singapore's Deputy prime minister from 2011 to 2019, on winning the presidential election.
"Singaporeans have chosen Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam to be our next president by a decisive margin. As head of state, he will represent us at home and abroad, and exercise custodial powers, including over the reserves and key appointments," he said.
Lee noted that in Friday's election, both voters and candidates showed a greater understanding of the roles and duties of the president, which bodes well for Singapore.
"I have every confidence that he will carry out his duties as president with distinction," he said.
Earlier speaking at Taman Jurong Food Centre where his supporters had gathered, Tharman said he is "truly humbled by the strong endorsement" Singaporeans have given him.
"I'm humbled by this vote - it is not just a vote for me, it is a vote for Singapore's future, a future of optimism and solidarity. That's what it really is. My campaign was one of optimism and solidarity, and I believe that's what Singaporeans want," he said.
"I will honour the trust that Singaporeans have placed in me and respect all Singaporeans including those who did not vote for me," Tharman said.
Prime Minister Lee's People's Action Party (PAP) had backed Tharman in the election.
Lee said he congratulated Tharman for his resounding victory to assure him of his government's full cooperation.
"Tharman has also declared his intention to work closely with the Government. As head of state, the president has to be a unifying figure that all Singaporeans can look up to and identify with," Lee said.
Tharman formally launched his presidential campaign in July with a pledge to evolve the country's culture to keep it a "shining spot" in the world.
He joined politics in 2001 and has served in the public sector and ministerial positions with the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) for over two decades.
Over 2.7 million voters cast their ballots. The voters started casting their ballots at 8 AM when polling stations opened. The polls closed at 8 PM (local time).
Incumbent President Madam Halimah Yacob's six-year term will end on September 13. She is the country's eighth and first female president.
This was Singapore's first contested presidential election since 2011.
Singapore in the past has had two Indian-origin presidents.
Sellapan Ramanathan, popularly known as S R Nathan, a Singaporean politician and civil servant of Tamil descent served as the president of Singapore. In 2009, Nathan defeated Benjamin Sheares to become Singapore's longest-serving president.
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985. Born in 1923 in Malacca, Malaysia, Nair was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala.
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'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.
