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New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
Here's a handy guide to keep feet of captive elephants healthy
COIMBATORE: The health of captive elephants is expected to improve with the launch of new guidelines focused on foot health on Tuesday. The guide 'Healthy Feet, Healthy Elephants' has been prepared by the Project Elephant and the Elephant Cell at the Wildlife Institute of India. It has included recommendations from an expert committee on maintaining captive elephants in a hygienic atmosphere. Foot problems are among the leading causes of morbidity in captive elephants. Their feet are particularly vulnerable to a range of ailments that can significantly impact their health, comfort, and longevity. Limited movement, altered foraging behaviour and exposure to artificial substrates are prime factors. Abscesses, cracks, foot rot, arthritis, and even fatal infections are often found in captive elephants. The guide will provide a deep understanding of the biological and anatomical basis of the elephant feet, diet, and impact of substrate on foot health. It offers practical, hands-on instructions for foot inspection, trimming, treatment and prevention. The document also helps the budding veterinarians to do quick reference and is a training resource that encourages regular, preventive foot care. "One of the most important aspects of an elephant is its foot. For an elephant, the foot is as important as the heart, and the new guidelines will be useful for the veterinarians, temple authorities, and private owners to take care of the animals," said Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, who released the guide during the World Elephant Day 2025 celebration in Coimbatore on Tuesday. Dr N Kalaivanan, Forest Veterinary Officer at the Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve and one of the contributors to the guide, said "In humans, cattle, and most other wild animals, the digits (fingers and toes) are separated. If one gets infected, it can affect the entire leg. But in elephants, the digits are structured together to support their massive weight. Elephants actually stand on their toes, and an average adult weighs between 4,000 and 4,500 kilograms. They also use their feet to communicate by stomping the ground, sending seismic signals that other elephants can detect up to a kilometer away. Remarkably, they can even sense seismic waves from earthquakes occurring as far as 100 km away.
The Print
2 hours ago
- The Print
Health Ministry launches SHRESTH index to strengthen state drug regulatory systems
The initiative, proposed by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), aims to improve the performance of state drug regulatory authorities, ensuring that drug safety and quality standards are consistently met, the ministry said in a statement. The index was launched on Tuesday by Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava virtually in the presence of Drug Controller General of India Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi. New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) The Union Health Ministry has launched the State Health Regulatory Excellence Index, a first-of-its-kind national initiative to benchmark and strengthen state drug regulatory systems through a transparent and data-driven framework. In a meeting attended virtually by the health secretaries, principal health secretaries and the drugs controllers from states and Union Territories, Srivastava reiterated that the health of all citizens begins with the safety, quality, and efficacy of the medicines they consume. Ensuring their quality is the government's commitment, she said. 'Our federal structure is designed to regulate a complex and globally significant pharmaceutical industry. The only way forward is cooperative action to ensure medicines made in India are trusted everywhere, starting with every citizen in India,' the Union health secretary said. Srivastava highlighted the crucial role played by states and Union Territories in ensuring quality manufacturing and distribution in India and the need for recognising and supporting their best practices and growth. 'States have strong regulatory certification. State Health Regulatory Excellence Index (SHRESTH) is a virtual gap assessment tool for states to assess their current position and help towards maturity certification,' she added. Highlighting India's achievement of WHO ML3 status for vaccines, Srivastava stressed the next step is to elevate medicines to the same global standard, advancing international harmonisation and reinforcing India's role as the 'pharmacy of the world'. Several upcoming initiatives were also outlined, including the extension of the Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) dashboard to all states, the proposed symposium on Drug Regulatory Systems, and the expansion of joint training and audits. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Raghuvanshi highlighted that states will be divided into two categories — manufacturing and primarily distribution — and will be ranked accordingly on the SHRESTH index. SHRESTH will have 27 indices for Manufacturing States across five key themes — human resources, infrastructure, licensing activities, surveillance activities and responsiveness — and 23 indices for primarily distribution states. States will submit the data on predefined metrics to CDSCO, which will be collected by the 25th day of every month, and these metrics will be scored on the first day of next month and shared with all states and Union Territories, Dr Raghuvanshi said. PTI PLB NSD NSD This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
New Indian Express
4 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Meet Giriraj Ratan Chandak, the scientist-cum-startup founder who serves through science
Tell us about your startup: what does it do, and what kind of impact are you hoping to make? I have had a deeply satisfying career at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. Yet, for a physician and scientist, the journey never truly ends. I realised there were many unfinished goals I still wished to pursue. To carry that vision forward, I founded a startup called Lightening Lives LLP. As the name suggests, the ethos is to 'light a lamp' in people's lives — whether by addressing genetic disorders, improving health, enabling treatments, or bringing hope in any possible way. Through this startup, our objective is to develop very simple, rapid, and affordable tests that can reach the most underserved sections of society. My years of work in genetic testing have confirmed that we are still only scratching the surface; with traditional approaches, barely 3–5% of patients undergo testing. The situation has only become more pressing with the rise of large-scale, high-throughput genetic testing, which often remains inaccessible to those who need it most. At Lightening Lives LLP, we decided to focus on 'commonly occurring rare diseases' such as thalassaemia, sickle cell anaemia, and muscular dystrophy, using simple, robust protocols. I am proud to say that along with CSIR-CCMB, we have developed a test for sickle cell anaemia that requires just a drop of blood and costs less than ₹100, making it possible to bring accurate diagnosis directly to the communities that need it most. We are on the path for doing the same for beta thalassemia.
