Bengaluru, Feb 21: The Karnataka government has sought assistance from the Union Health Minister in countering the menace of sale of drugs which have failed tests and further appealed to ensure steps to withdraw contaminated drugs from market all across India.

Minister for Health Dinesh Gundu Rao wrote a letter on Friday to the Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda in this regard.

“I am writing to bring to your attention the repeated instances of sale within Karnataka of contaminated injectable drugs manufactured in other states.

“Between January 1 and February 16, nine injectable drugs manufactured in other states failed sterility testing in our state government laboratories. The details of drugs, along with batch numbers, are provided in the annexure to this letter,” Minister Rao stated.

This list does not include numerous injectables manufactured by Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals based in West Bengal, whose contaminated injectables caused the deaths of five young mothers in Ballari district of Karnataka, Rao said.

“While I am instructing my department to take adequate steps to ensure these drugs are no longer sold within Karnataka, it is highly likely that other contaminated drugs manufactured by these companies are being sold in other states in India. Injectables, as you are aware, are used in acute care and therefore are high risk to patients.

“Given the ‘life or death’ consequences for patients being administered these contaminated drugs, I request you to use your good offices to ensure that all products sold by these companies are withdrawn from the market across India and that these companies are not allowed to sell any more drugs until they are inspected by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP),” Rao urged.

Minister Rao further requested, “In addition, I also request you to create a system for all states and central laboratories to share alerts with each other regarding drugs which have failed quality testing, especially those failures which could potentially cause serious adverse events for patients.”

He further suggested, “In addition to sharing alerts with each other there should also be a legal requirement to share sales records from the manufacturer to enable seizure of the contaminated drugs from the supply chain before they are dispensed to patients.

“Lastly, we need a system to alert doctors, pharmacists and patients about the drugs that are failing testing in our respective testing laboratories. My department would be glad to assist in this regard.”

Rao has ended the letter stating that he is anticipating a positive response in this regard.

New Delhi, Feb 21: Delhi’s newly sworn-in Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta, has hit back at the Opposition over questions on women’s security and governance. She accused previous administrations of neglecting Delhi’s development and engaging in corruption.

Responding to the Opposition’s queries on when security measures for women would be implemented, CM Gupta said, “These are the same people who ruled Delhi for years, riddled with corruption cases. Now they fear that when the first CAG report is presented in the Assembly, many hidden details will be exposed.”

She criticised the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for their long tenures in power, saying, “Congress ruled for 15 years, AAP for 13 years, yet they pushed Delhi backwards. Now they question us within just one day of taking office. It was our government that held a Cabinet meeting on the very first day, and we implemented the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which was stopped by Kejriwal. Under the leadership of PM Modi, we will give the people of Delhi what they truly deserve.”

“Our agenda is clear, we will work under the leadership of PM Modi and fulfil every promise made to the people of Delhi with 100 per cent commitment,” she added.

Regarding Delhi’s infrastructure, CM Gupta emphasised her government’s commitment to improving road conditions and essential services.

“In the coming days, we will hold meetings with PWD and Jal Board officials to address road construction and repair potholes that Delhi’s citizens have long suffered from,” she said.

Taking another swipe at the Opposition, she added, “The Opposition’s job is to raise questions, but what did they do when they were in power? They should focus on their own party, as many of their leaders are on the verge of switching sides.”

CM Gupta’s administration is set to implement key reforms in the national Capital.

Mumbai: Astronomers worldwide are closely monitoring Asteroid 2024 YR4, dubbed the “city killer,” since its discovery in December last year. The asteroid, estimated to be between 130 to 300 feet wide, about the size of a large office building, currently has a 1.5% (or 1 in 67) chance of striking Earth during a close flyby on December 22, 2032. Given that the impact probability exceeds the critical threshold of 1%, global space agencies, including NASA, are keeping a vigilant eye on its trajectory.

A simulation of the potential impact corridor of Asteroid 2024 YR4, based on NASA’s assessment and reported by Scientific American, suggests a path stretching from the eastern Pacific Ocean to South Asia. The corridor includes densely populated cities such as Bogotá (Colombia), Lagos (Nigeria), and Mumbai (India). There is also a very slim chance that the asteroid might hit the Moon.

If the asteroid collides with Earth, the consequences could be devastating. Whether it disintegrates in the atmosphere or impacts the surface, the immediate effects could resemble a hydrogen bomb explosion, potentially annihilating any city in its path.

However, scientists remain optimistic as the odds of a collision are decreasing daily. Bruce Betts, Chief Scientist at the Planetary Society, told the New York Post that the probability of impact might drop to zero within the next few months or years, similar to the trajectory of the asteroid Apophis. “At some point in the next months to few years, the probability will go to zero,” Betts said.

Efforts Made To Ascertain Exact Path Of Asteroid

Despite this optimism, astronomers are not taking any chances. NASA is collaborating with international counterparts, including the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Roscosmos (Russia) and the European Space Agency (ESA), to refine the asteroid’s predicted path.

A dedicated team of astronomers plans to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to obtain more precise estimates of the asteroid’s size and trajectory. Observations are scheduled for early March and again in early May, just before the asteroid moves out of sight until its orbit brings it back near Earth in 2028.