BJP claims 13 seats out of 27 in Rajasthan local body by-elections
Jaipur, June 15: Rajasthan's ruling BJP on Thursday captured 13 seats out of 27 in local body by-elections held recently in 17 districts of the state.
The by-elections were held for one zila parishad seat, 17 seats of panchayat samitis and 9 seats of nagar palika/parishad.
The BJP nabbed 11 seats of panchayat samitis and two seats of nagar palika.
On the other hand, Congress managed to win 11 seat, while independent candidates claimed one panchayat samiti and one nagar palika seat.
BJP state General Secretary Bhajan Lal Sharma told here that this comes as a proud moment when BJP's vote share as well as seats have gone higher in these elections.
However, state Congress President Sachin Pilot expressed his happiness on the fact that urban voters in these elections have voted for Congress, saying his party claimed five seats in urban units while BJP could capture only two whicj proves that city youth and women have rejected the government owing to its "anti-people" policies.
Congress' state Vice President Archana Sharma said that this is a new trend shedding light on the changing mindset of voters in urban Rajasthan who are now preferring Congress over BJP.
However, BJP's Sharma said that they should discuss the results of rural seats too where their share has declined and his party's share has gone up. "Also, their claims of garnering more urban voters doesn't gain ground as our vote share has gone up," he added.
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.
