CBI granted consent to probe bribe allegations by Satya Pal Malik: J&K LG
Jammu, March 25: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday said that the CBI has been given consent to probe allegations made by former J&K governor Satya Pal Malik of being offered bribe to clear two files when he was in office.
He said that the probe will make "everything crystal clear".
Malik had in October last year claimed that he was offered Rs 300 crore in bribe to clear a file each belonging to "Ambani" and an "RSS-affiliated man" during his tenure.
At present the Meghalaya governor, Malik said that he cancelled the deals, and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting his decision by saying there is no need to compromise on corruption.
"If someone sitting on such a high post has said anything, then it needs to be probed. We have sent our consent to CBI to probe both allegations, Sinha told reporters at a press conference here.
Sinha said that he considered the allegations and decided that truth needs to come out.
Malik in his allegation last year had said that he was offered a bribe of Rs 150 crore each for clearing two files, one of them related to Ambani and other to a former minister in the previous Mehbooba Mufti-led (PDP-BJP coalition) government.
He had also alleged that the minister was also said to be someone very close to the prime minister .
I was informed by secretaries in both the departments that there is a scandal involved and I accordingly cancelled both the deals. The secretaries said to me 'you will get Rs 150 crore each for clearing the files' but I told them that I had come with five kurta-pajamas and would leave with that only," Malik had said at an event in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is reported to have initiated a probe into the allegations of the former J&K governor.
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Karnataka launches drug monitoring portal for NSQ detection, NDPS misuse
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday launched a monitoring portal for the detection of NSQ drugs and the prevention of misuse of NDPS, aimed at strengthening surveillance, transparency and accountability in public health.
To effectively monitor and control the movement of such drugs, the Food Safety and Drug Administration department has developed the portal to track Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) drug batches available with stockists and retailers, officials said.
Through this system, identified NSQ batches will be automatically locked, preventing any further sale or transaction of those products. The portal also provides real-time information to the department regarding available stock, stock-in-hand details and quantities returned to suppliers, ensuring better monitoring, transparency and public safety, they said.
Addressing a press conference here, the health minister said the main objective is that whenever any medicine is found to be not of proper quality or not up to standard, action needs to be taken.
He said that earlier, when samples were collected and tested, if a medicine was found to be substandard, it would already have reached the market - distributors, retailers, pharmacies and others.
"There was no system to recall those medicines. We could only try to stop future supplies, but we had no control over medicines that had already entered the market, even if we knew they were of poor quality. As a result, such medicines could still be purchased and sold to the public," Rao said.
Officials noted that the Food Safety and Drug Administration department has recalled medicines worth Rs 1.85 crore in the year 2025-26.
"Today, we are launching this portal... Whenever any drug is newly identified as substandard, we will immediately upload that information on the portal. The portal is integrated with databases of wholesalers and stockists," the minister said.
According to him, the moment a batch is declared substandard and uploaded, messages are instantly sent to all wholesalers and retailers. Wholesalers have been linked to this system. Once the information is updated, further sale of that batch will automatically stop.
"Whether it is in warehouses, distribution chains or stockists' inventories, the stock will be frozen automatically. They will not be able to sell those medicines further," he said.
Around 15,000 stockists and wholesalers are currently part of this system, the health minister said, adding that in the next stage, "We will bring in about 45,000 retailers and pharmacists into the database. For now, at the wholesale and stockist level, this system will completely block the sale of such medicines. Those batches will have to be returned, and the companies concerned will be held responsible. The recall process will happen in real time".
"Once testing and verification are completed and the drug is proven substandard, we can instantly alert the entire state. Every stock point holding that batch will be frozen immediately. Even if someone wishes to continue selling it, they will not be able to do so. The process will stop automatically," he said.
Stressing that this is a major reform and a very positive step, Rao said, "As far as I know, no other state in the country has introduced such a system. Karnataka is introducing it today." Apart from this, the minister said the portal will also help in monitoring narcotic and psychotropic drugs regulated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Earlier, when pharmacies sold such medicines, they only had to maintain physical records containing the patient's name, the doctor's details and the prescription. Irregularities would come to light only during inspections conducted at pharmacies.
Under the new system, Rao said that pharmacies selling narcotic or psychotropic drugs will have to upload all details onto the portal. "This means we will have data on where and how much is being sold, who is purchasing these medicines, whether excessive quantities are being sold under one person's name, or whether a particular doctor is prescribing unusually high amounts," he said.
Rao said the data can be analysed to identify suspicious patterns or unusual sales of such medicines.
"If certain doctors are issuing too many such prescriptions, we can monitor them closely. Likewise, if any pharmacy is selling unusually high quantities of these medicines, we can inspect them and take action," he added.
