EU standards on hygiene may hit dairy industry
The government is concerned over a recent directive of the European Union (EU) proposing a ban on import of milk and milk products from countries which do not comply with stringent animal health and hygiene norms laid down by the EU. Top officials fear that such a ban, expected to …
New drug for relapsing malaria to enter market
A new drug to treat patients who have recurring malaria attacks is in the offing, and is reported to be safer than the one currently in use. The Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) in Lucknow has completed clinical trials of a new chemically synthesised anti-malaria drug that has evoked interest …
New drug suppresses delayed rejection of tranaplants
Organ transplants often fail because the body tries hard to oust the foreign tissue. Now, a Stanford scientist reports that an experimental drug halts an insidious form of organ rejection that until now has been impossible to treat. The study, conducted in monkeys. measured the effects of the drug rapamycin …
Bavarian abortion law voided
Germany's most conservative state, Bavaria, was ordered to fall in line with the rest of the country and allow abortion clincs. The constitutional court declared that a law in the southern and strongly Roman Catholic state that forbids specialized clinics was unconstitutional.
Forest dept. sitting over dam projects
Minister : The public Works Minister, Mr Duraj Murugan, today charged that the Forest department had been sitting over various reservoir projects. Contending that the Forest authorities were not allowing PWD officials to enter the forest areas for preliminary assessment as some of the projects envisaged submergence of certain forest …
Researchers launch test to tell BSE from scrapie
UK scientists claim to have developed a practical test for BSE, or mad cow disease, in sheep. The test could prove important in determining whether the country's flocks have also become contaminated with the illness. Sheep have long been known to suffer from scrapie, a spongiform disease similar to BSE. …
Indonesian forest fires create ozone-busting cloud
Vast forest fires in Indonesia last year have produced a large cloud of an ozone-destroying chemical, an international team of researchers claims. The agricultural fungicide methyl bromide has been targeted under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on ozone- depleting substances. In 1997 industrialised countries agreed to stop using methyl bromide by …
Approval and orphan status for thalidomide
US regulators have approved thalidomide, the much maligned drug banned for causing birth defects, for testing as a cancer treatment. New Jersey-based Celgene has been cleared to test Thalomid, the company's version of thalidomide, against multiple myeloma, the most common form of bone marrow cancer. The company can conduct clinical …
1993 Nobel Prize for Medicine under cloud
This year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has created an uproar in scientific circles as at least two scientists have protested that their work has been ignored by the Nobel Committee while selecting the winners. The controversy is relevant to India, as one of the two scientists who have been denied …
Scheme to improve health of mothers
Mr Manoranjan Kalia, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab, inaugurated a state-level awareness generation workshop on re-productive and child health today. The newly launched country- wide five-year project envisages a package of health services aimed at not only improving the reproductive health of mothers but also ensuring the better health …
10 die of water-borne diseases
At least 10 persons,including women and children (according to official sources eight) have died in the past one week from diarrhoea and vomiting. Official sources said that a diarrhoea epidemic struck the town often comtamination of the drinking water supply with sewerage leading to the hospitalisation of more than 200 …
Water 'might have to be imported'
The Centre today expressed concern over the continuous depletion of the water table and the progress of recharging water in several states. The Union Minister of State for Rural Areas and Employment, Mr BabaGouda Patil, cautioned if remedial measures were not taken to recharge water, the country would have to …
Investigation reveals 412 more orphans used as guinea pigs in South Korea
A scandal involving a local pharmaceutical company's illegal human testing of an epidemic hemorrhagic fever vaccine on orphans,involved 412 more cases than previously announced, a lawmaker has claimed. Rep.Kim Hong-shin, a lawmaker of the opposition Grand National Party, contended Monday during the National Assembly's inspection of the operation of the …
Cuba's help sought to fight dengue
The Malaysian Health Ministry will liaise with Cuba in an effort to find a new formula and approach to fight dengue, Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said. He said the ministry decided to share Cuba's experience after several preventive measures taken by Malaysia still failed to provide effective steps to …
Cholera under control, claims MCD
Municipal Authorities in the Capital said at least three-four cases of cholera are being reported everyday, though, they claimed, there is nothing alarming about it. According to Municiapal Health Officer (MHO) Dr K N Tiwari, there has been a decline in cholera cases this year as compared to earlier years …
Tamil Nadu govt reduces cost of Tirupur water supply project
Tamil Nadu governemnt has persuaded Mahindra & Mahindra and US-based Bechtel to reduce the costs for the Tiruppur Water project. Bechtel and Mahindra & Mahindra are Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractors for the project.The EPC contractors have settled for a price of Rs 850 crore as against the initial price …
LPG vehicles make their pitch at British show
Getting your car to run on Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) does not just help your purse, it is doing your bit for the environment also. That is the message from automakers and engineers here championing dual fuel vehicles - that can run on petrol and LPG.
New Mars images show lava flow plates and active dunes
The latest images from NASA's Global Surveyor spacecraft show giant plates of solidified volcanic lava, and evidence for active dunes near the planet's north pole with sands that have hopped or rolled across the surface in recent months.
Inducing a heart attack can improve blood circulation,says study
Doctors have induced heart attacks to treat a heart condition that impedes normal blood circulation and formerly required open heart surgery, a new study says. This new procedure decreases or even eliminates the symptoms of patients suffering from obstructive mycardiograpy, says the report published on Tuesday in Circulation magazine.
