Oxytocin production banned for private players from July 1
New Delhi, June 27: The government, which has banned the import of oxytocin formulations and restricted its manufacture to the public sector only from July 1, on Wednesday said state-run Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL) will produce it for domestic use.
"The oxytocin formulations meant for domestic consumption will be supplied by the manufacturer, i.e. KAPL, to the registered hospitals and clinics in public and private sector directly," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement.
"All the registered hospitals and clinics in public and private sector in the country are advised to contact KAPL and place their orders with the company as the drug will not be available with retail chemists or any other manufacturer," it added.
The decision taken under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 is aimed to check misuse of oxytocin, a reproductive hormone found in mammals that increases the contraction of the uterus during labour and stimulates ejection of milk into the ducts of the breasts.
The hormone, sometimes referred to as the 'love hormone', was being widely misused across the country to make vegetables look fresher and bigger, and to make cattle produce more milk thereby harming both humans and animals.
The ministry, in an earlier statement in April, said the manufacture of oxytocin formulations for export purposes can be done by both public and private sector provided all the products carried barcodes.
The manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), the part of the drug that produces its effect, of oxytocin will supply the API only to the public sector manufacturers in case of domestic use but also to private sector in case of export purpose, the ministry had said.
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BMTC collects over Rs 19 lakh as fine from those travelling without tickets, occupying ladies seat
Bengaluru (PTI): The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has collected over Rs 19 lakh as a penalty from 10,069 passengers who were penalised for travelling without tickets and occupying seats exclusively reserved for ladies in the last three months, officials said on Thursday.
The checking staff of BMTC have intensified checking of buses operated in and around Bengaluru City to detect ticketless travelling by passengers, they said.
According to BMTC, during the months of August, September and October, the checking staff checked 57,219 trips and penalised 8,891 ticketless passengers by collecting Rs 17,96,030 as penalty and 5,268 cases were booked against conductors for their dereliction of duty.
During the same period, they have also penalised 1,178 male passengers for occupying seats exclusively reserved for lady passengers and imposed fines by collecting Rs 1,17,800 in accordance with the KMV (Karnataka Motor Vehicle) Rules of the MV Act of 1988.
"In total, during the months of August, September and October, 10,069 passengers were penalised and Rs 19,13,830 was collected," the BTMC officials stated.
