India is "on the move": Venkaiah Naidu tells diaspora in Malawi
Lilongwe, Nov 5 : India is "on the move" and global organisations like the World Bank and the IMF have appreciated the country's economic progress, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said, as he addressed the Indian community in Malawi.
Naidu reached here on Sunday on the last leg of his six-day three-nation tour to Africa, which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
"India is on the move. It is not Naidu which says so but World Bank and IMF also say so," the Vice President said while addressing the Indian community here.
Not only banks but rating agency Moody's has also given good ratings to India, Naidu said, adding this is a happy news for the country.
Citing the success of the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Naidu said in October the GST collection crossed a record Rs one lakh crore.
"That is how transformation is happening...One tax one slab throughout the country, that is the ultimate aim," he said.
India, one of the fastest growing major economies in the world, is on the course to become a 5 trillion economy by 2025, he said, adding that the India story, as it is unfolding today, is a promising one.
Naidu quoted the World Bank's 'Doing Business 2019' report which stated that India that had advanced to 77th place in the global ranking and is now the region's top-ranked economy.
"Starting a business was made easier through consolidation of multiple application forms and introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST)," the report stated.
Some people were sceptical of Jan Dhan accounts and demonetisation but these moves have achieved their purpose, Naidu said.
Praising the Indian community, the Vice President said, "I am happy to note that you have made significant contribution to find a place of leadership, in the economic activities of the country. Some of you have attained positions of excellence, in your respective professions."
The Indian community enjoys a reputation of being peace-loving community and has been able to assimilate well with the locals, he added.
According to the Indian Embassy here, there are about 8,500 Malawians of Indian origin who predominantly originated from Gujarat and are concentrated in major cities like Lilongwe, Blantyre, Limbe, Zomba and Mzuzu.
The number of Indian nationals (NRIs) in the African country at present is about 2,500. Most of them hail from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They are primarily engaged in trading, agriculture and agro business, pharmaceutical and hospitality.
Earlier, on his arrival at the Lilongwe airport, Naidu was received by Malawi's Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Dr Emmanuel Fabian, Education Minister Bright Msaka and High Commissioner of India to Malawi Suresh Kumar Menon.
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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.
