Health

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) Transforming research labs into startup hubs can help drive India’s knowledge powerhouse, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, on Wednesday.Speaking at the Grand Finale of the Golden Jubilee Milestone Observation Program of CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) at Thiruvananthapuram, the Minister called for an innovation-driven economy with larger participation of the private sector."India’s transformation from a technology importer to an innovation-driven exporter is being powered by institutions like the CSIR-NIIST, which combine scientific research with sustainability and entrepreneurship,” he said.Marking 50 years of the institute’s establishment, Singh inaugurated the new Golden Jub...

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) India on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to boost global cooperation and benchmarks in the regulation of herbal medicine at the 16th Annual Meeting of the World Health Organization – International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (WHO-IRCH).A delegation led by Dr. Raghu Arackal, Advisor (Ayurveda) and Deputy Director General (I/c), Ministry of Ayush, presented the Workshop Report on “Efficacy and Intended Use of Herbal Medicines (Working Group-3)”. It highlighted India’s evolving regulatory framework and evidence-based policy initiatives in traditional medicine. On the opening day of the meeting, being held in Indonesia’s Jakarta from October 14 to 16, Arackal delivered a presentation on the status of herbal medicines in India, highlighting recent in...

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) In a bid to tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistance, researchers at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela have used extracts from medicinal plants to produce potent antibacterial agents that are environmentally safe and effective.The overuse of traditional antibiotics has resulted in the rise of “superbugs” that have become resistant to these treatments.The study, published in the Surfaces and Interphases journal, used an eco-friendly approach and produced zinc oxide nanoparticles -- known to damage bacterial cells and disrupt their normal functions.However, instead of using harsh chemicals, the team used extracts from leaves and petals of Marigold, Mango, and Eucalyptus to reduce zinc salts into zinc oxide nanocrystals with adsorbed phytocompo...

New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) -- greenhouse gases (GHG) -- are rising over Delhi and Mumbai over the last few years, according to a study led by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on Wednesday.The study comes as Delhi is again experiencing 'poor' air quality with an air quality index (AQI) of 201. On Tuesday, the AQI stood at 211. Delhi AQI is expected to reach 346, categorised as very poor, by Friday evening.Mumbai also saw a dip in air quality after the monsoon withdrawal. Last week, the city’s overall AQI averaged 153, based on readings from 25 of the 30 continuous air quality monitoring stations in the city.Using remote sensing data, IIT B researchers Prof. Manoranjan Sahu and Adarsh Alagade measured GHG such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and me...

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) Loneliness and social isolation can raise the risk of death from cancer as well as from all causes among those with the disease, according to a study.In a pooled data analysis of 13 studies involving over 15 lakh patients, a team of Canadian researchers led by those from the University of Toronto found that loneliness is relatively common among people with cancer.The potential impact of loneliness on death from cancer was reported for 2,142,338 patients in nine studies, and pooled data analysis showed that it was associated with an 11 per cent heightened risk of death from the disease, after adjusting for small study sizes."These findings collectively suggest that loneliness and social isolation may influence cancer outcomes beyond traditional biological and treatm...

Shimla, Oct 14 (IANS) In a shocking incident, the son of former BJP MP from Shimla, Virender Kashyap, has been booked for allegedly raping a woman on the pretext of marrying her in Himachal Pradesh's Solan, the police said on Tuesday.The accused, Brijeshwar Kashyap, is a dentist by profession. Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh told the media that a case under Sections 69 (sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means, etc.) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 has been registered against the accused and investigation is underway. He said the police received a complaint from the woman, who alleged that the accused had had physical relations with her by luring her on the pretext of marriage. She further alleged that when she asked him to marry her, th...

New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Developing a culture of health literacy and self-care in youth may help prevent the early onset of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension obesity and cancers, in India, said public health experts here on Tuesday.The experts spoke at the third International Conference on Public Health and Nutrition (ICPHN 2025), organised by non-profit Sukarya.Dr. Zoya Ali Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner, Nutrition and Adolescent Health, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, underscored the national mission’s focus on preventive health and behavioural change."We are witnessing a paradigm shift. Our effort is not just to treat illness but to prevent the early onset of non-communicable diseases by creating a culture of health literacy and self-care among young people,” Ri...

New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) One in three people worldwide is living with conditions that affect their brain, while 11 million lives are lost every year due to neurological disorders, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday.Stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, idiopathic epilepsy, neurological complications linked to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorders, and cancers of the nervous system were identified as the top 10 neurological conditions contributing to death and disability.The report stated that while these neurological conditions now affect more than 40 per cent of the global population, less than one in three countries around the world has a national policy to address t...

New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) The new antibiotic EVG7 has demonstrated the ability to fight the dangerous gut bacterium C. difficile with only a minimal dose, a new study showed.C. difficile is a persistent intestinal bacterium that can cause severe illness, particularly in older people and those with weakened health.The bacterium produces a toxin that leads to severe diarrhoea. Current treatments are not always effective, as the infection often returns."With existing antibiotics, C. difficile sometimes reappears just weeks after treatment," said researcher and lead author Elma Mons, from the varsity."This happens partly because the bacterium leaves behind spores, which can develop into new bacteria, causing the infection to return," Mons said.The team investigated the effect of a low dose of E...

Bengaluru, Oct 14 (IANS) IT bellwether Infosys on Tuesday said it has awarded a 1.2 billion pounds, 15-year contract by the UK’s NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to deliver the Future NHS Workforce Solution in England and Wales.Infosys said it will develop a cutting-edge, data-driven workforce management solution that will replace the current Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system and continue to pay 1.9 million NHS employees in England and Wales over 55 billion pounds in payroll annually.“Delivering the Future NHS Workforce Solution is a critical step in supporting the ambitions of the 10-Year Health Plan. The solution will go far beyond simply replacing ESR -- it will be a strategic enabler for building a workforce that is fit for the future,” said Michael Brodie, Chief Executive, ...