The ceaseless battle over the 2010 law has made it difficult to address the high cost of American health care.
from Health Care https://ift.tt/2I7qptq
via IFTTT
Body 2:
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
My fight is with BJP in Bengaluru Central, not Prakash Raj: Congress’ Rizwan Arshad
Congress candidate from Bengaluru Central Rizwan Arshad speaks to TNM on his chances against BJP’s two-time MP PC Mohan, on Prakash Raj splitting his votes and more.
An MLC since 2016, 39-year-old Rizwan Arshad is hoping he will be second-time lucky in 2019. Despite losing to BJP’s sitting MP PC Mohan in Bengaluru Central in 2014 by a margin of 1,30,000 votes, Rizwan has been handed a Congress ticket once again. But the former Youth Congress President of Karnataka is confident that he’ll emerge victorious this time around against PC Mohan, who is looking for a third straight win. While he has the support of the JD(S) with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda expected to campaign for him, Rizwan still faces a tri-cornered contest in Bengaluru Central, with poll debutante and popular multilingual actor Prakash Raj throwing his hat into the ring. TNM spoke to Rizwan Arshad on his poll battle ahead. Excerpts from the interview: Why should people vote for Rizwan Arshad? From the day I lost last time, till today, I am in the constituency with the people on ground and going around doing my bit. I have made a lot of connections and reached out to people. And today the support I enjoy is because of the consistent efforts in the last five years. I have met a lot of citizen groups, I have taken up issues for them and tried to move things in the government although I was not an elected member. My contribution has been continuous. Last one year, I have been able to sanction Rs 10 crore for Mahadevpura from the RDPR Ministry. I have also got new bus routes in different constituencies when nobody was listening. My contribution has been quite noticeable and I had the commitment to reach out to people. Experts say you are at a disadvantage because of Prakash Raj, that he will split your votes, helping the BJP further There is no question of Congress votes getting split. I am not saying he should not be in politics. Everyone has their space. But here as far as this election, my fight is with the BJP. I am not concentrating on him. What will stop people from giving PC Mohan another chance when in 2014 he won with a bigger margin than in 2009? The people of Bengaluru want a vocal voice in their MP and want him to take up issues for the city in Delhi and play the role of a catalyst. Bengaluru needs a dynamic MP. On the contrary, the elected MP was not as active as people wanted him to be. If you have to point to one thing that PC Mohan has done that you would have done differently, what would it be? You have an unscientific body like the BBMP governing the city, and until you reform and decentralise the BBMP the city will remain like this. The BJP has unfortunately not allowed it to happen. We (Congress) have passed the BIll, the Governor had to give assent to it. But it was the BJP who forced the Governor to send it to the President and it is pending before him. When he knows that a centralised BBMP will not be able to give justice to the eastern and southern part of the Bengaluru. Why does not he convince his own party on this? We need an MP who has a certain vision for the Bengaluru city. That commitment and vision can move things around. Just doing routine work won't help and our MP has been doing the same routine work. What is the out of the box solution you are offering? I have asked the Mayor to have a separate reserve fund for the comprehensive development of the IT corridor since Bengaluru is known as the Silicon Valley of Asia. Next year, this fund will be as much as Rs 500 crores, where we will also infuse CSR funds. So there are a lot of things that can be done. So, I want to ask what is the out of the box solution that the MP has made? What is your stand on the elevated corridor? My personal stand is we need huge infrastructure because for the vehicular population of our size we need another five times kilometrage of roads. But at the same time, we need citizen participation and experts’ advice. If I happen to become an MP, I will make sure that the citizens and experts sit alongside the government and work together. And whatever the decision is taken it will be done with logic and scientific basis keeping in mind the best interests of the city. What is the impact of the Congress-JD(S) alliance on BJP? The JD(S) has enough strength in certain parts of the state. You have seen during the bye-elections when we came together, with what margins we won the four out of five seats. So, I am very confident that we will win at least 20 out of the 28 seats in the state.
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2UwGI9C
via IFTTT
Why this Bengaluru hospital is challenging Centre’s price cap on anti-cancer drugs
The HealthCare Global (HCG) Enterprises hospital has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court opposing the Centre’s move.
Image for representation
In early March, the government announced that it would be capping the costs of certain anti-cancer drugs in order to make them more affordable for those who require these medicines. However, Bengaluru-based HealthCare Global (HCG) Enterprises hospital has recently filed a petition opposing this move. BS Ajaikumar, CEO of HCG stated that capping the price of the drugs will lead to decreased quality of care. A petition has been filed by the hospital with the Karnataka High Court, challenging the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority’s (NPPA) order to reduce the cost of almost 400 anti-cancer drugs. “There is Ayushman Bharat scheme for patients who can’t afford healthcare. Then there are government-run generic drugstores. So who is the government trying to help?” the CEO questioned, according to the Economic Times. HCG in its petition has stated that the NPPA is pretending to be a supporter of improving public healthcare services. What is the controversy surrounding the reduction in prices of anti-cancer drugs? On March 8, the central government introduced a cap of 30% on trade margins of 42 anti-cancer drugs. This meant that those drugs listed under the capped ones would be priced at a cheaper rate than what they were being sold for previously. However, following this announcement, several NGOs working in the health sector and the All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) raised important questions about the effectiveness of slashing the prices on the drugs listed by the NPPA. "High prices of several drugs in the cancer segment may be linked to patent barriers and monopolies. In these cases, we do not recommend the exclusive use of trade margin capping to bring down prices but rather the application of various policy tools to increase competition and bring about true affordability,” the AIDAN reportedly stated. It was further noted that several of the drugs which are used to treat cancers were not affected by this new pricing policy. When TNM reached out to the legal representatives of HCG, they declined to provide any information pertaining to the cases and said that they would make announcements on Friday, April 6.
Body 2:
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2WKIelZ
via IFTTT
Ex-IAS officer and former Karnataka Chief Secy Ratna Prabha joins BJP
An IAS officer of 1981 batch, K Ratna Prabha was appointed the third woman Chief Secretary in the state.
Ending months of speculation, former Karnataka Chief Secretary and retired IAS officer K Ratna Prabha joined the BJP on Wednesday in the presence of BJP State President BS Yeddyurappa, in Kalaburgi. Speaking to news agency ANI, Ratna said, “I have decided to join BJP as the Prime Minister has been striving to develop the country in a unique manner. I wanted to do service to the nation and I felt this was one party apt for me to fulfil my desires to work for the people.” Rumours of Ratna joining the BJP had started soon after her retirement in June 2018 and until now, she had refused the possibility of a political entry. As recently as late February, she had denied those rumours. An IAS officer of 1981 batch, Ratna was appointed as the third woman Chief Secretary in the state in November 2017, ahead of the elections by then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Ratna was due to retire in March, but got a three-month extension. Since talks of another three-month extension did not materialise, she retired in June 2018 after 37 years in service in the state. Incidentally, when Subhash Chandra Khuntia was made the Chief Secretary in 2016, thus bringing him back from central deputation, BS Yeddyurappa had criticised Siddaramaiah for not considering Ratna for the post. Why BJP inducted Ratna Prabha According to political analysts, the move to induct Ratna Prabha into the BJP was aimed at storming the Congress bastion in north-west Karnataka. During her time as the Additional Chief Secretary, Ratna, who is also a Dalit, played a vital role in paving the way for the legislation that gives reservations in promotions to SC/ST state government employees. Apart from her service in administration, she is known to be a promoter of entrepreneurship. She had also conducted the 'Invest Karnataka Summit' in 2016 and won the Woman of the Year award from the American Biographical Institute Inc, USA, for two successive years, in 1999 and 2000. She is also popular across the state, especially in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, having served many positions there, including as the first woman District Collector of Raichur.
Body 2:
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2uEVehh
via IFTTT
Third time lucky? Cong picks Vinay Kulkarni, who lost two elections in a row, for Dharwad
Ex-Minister Vinay Kulkarni lost the 2018 Assembly elections from Dharwad Assembly as well as the 2014 LS elections.
After much deliberation, the Congress High Command finally announced on Wednesday morning that former MLA and minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, Vinay Kulkarni will be the party’s candidate for the Dharwad seat. Thursday, April 4 is last day for filing nominations for the 14 seats heading for elections on April 23. Ahead of Wednesday's announcement, Kulkarni had been part of a hectic lobbying process. He now faces the herculean task of undoing the damage caused by his defeat in 2014 against BJP stalwart Prahlad Joshi. Joshi, who has held the seat from 2009 to 2014, had won by a margin of over 1 lakh votes in 2014, with Kulkarni finishing a distant second. Incidentally, Kulkarni lost the 2018 Assembly elections from Dharwad Assembly constituency by a margin of over 20,000 votes, with BJP’s Amrut Desai finishing first. Kulkarni is a Lingayat, the dominant population in the region. According to political analysts, the move was made in hopes of consolidating minority and OBC votes for the Congress. Kulkarni secured the ticket ahead of the likes of Shakir Sanadi, Sadanand Danganavar and Srinivas Mane. While Sanadi is the district chief of the party and a known face since his Youth Congress days, Sadanand is the chairman of North West Karnataka Road Transportation Corporation. Srinivas is currently a MLC who is part of the district Congress unit. Sadanand is also reportedly close to KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao. While the Congress deliberated, an impatient Kulkarni had even threatened to contest as an independent if the party refused to grant him a ticket, according to political circles. Recently Kulkarni was in the news after it was found that his father-in-law, Gangappa Shintri, was the part owner of the Dharwad building which collapsed killing 19. While the party went with the previous time’s candidate in Dharwad, it announced that Davangere district president and a novice in electoral politics, HB Manjappa will contest against the incumbent BJP MP GM Siddeshwara. The party’s initial choice, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha Shamanur Shivashankarappa, denied the ticket, and instead sought a ticket for his son SS Mallikarjun.
Body 2:
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2FX5ech
via IFTTT
Bengaluru businessman jumps to death after killing wife and pet dog
The man has been identified as 58-year-old Atul Upadhay and his wife as 53-year-old Mamata.
On Tuesday morning, the security guard at a gated community in Sadashivanagar heard a loud thud, around 10.30 am. He found a man and a labrador lying in a pool of blood. Later, the man's wife was also found dead in their apartment. Reports identified the man as 58-year-old Atul Upadhay and his wife, 53-year-old Mamata. The couple, who were residents of the gated community, did not have any children. The incident took place after their nephew and a law student, Rishab, who was residing with them, left home at 9 am. While Atul ran a travel and tourism business, his wife was a homemaker, reported Deccan Herald. Atul was the CEO of a travel agency called NockNock Analytics, which had an office in Nandidurg Road. The security guards alerted the Sadashivanagar Police Station. According to the police, Atul killed Mamata, by hitting her with dumbbells following an argument, which left her dead instantly. He then threw their pet dog off the terrace before he jumped from the terrace. “We found Atul’s wife dead in a pool of blood in the hall of their flat and a bloodstained dumbbell next to her,” a police officer told The Times of India. The police also found a death note alongside Atul’s body. The note reportedly said that his wife’s terminal cancer, which had no cure, was the reason behind the drastic step. “Cancer is a dangerous disease. This is better than cancer. This is not selfishness,” the note read, according to police. The police have informed Mamata’s US-based sister about the incident. Meanwhile, both the bodies have been kept at MS Ramaiah Hospital. The police will conduct post-mortem procedures once the relatives arrive. If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Sahai: 24-hour helpline numbers: 080- 65000111, 080-65000222
Body 2:
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2K0rdTo
via IFTTT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)