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The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Electric bus operations set to boost public transport in Puducherry
With six electric buses arriving in Puducherry last month and 19 more expected by July-end, public transport is likely to get a boost. These buses will likely make the city cleaner and greener. Puducherry is late in buying electric buses, compared with the other Southern States. The measure is aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the government-owned Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), and its full transition to electric buses for its operations in urban and mofussil areas by the year-end. The Puducherry government will operate these buses under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-II) Scheme of the Union government. Gross cost contract 'The 25 buses (10 AC and 15 non-AC) are 9-metre vehicles. They will be run on the gross cost contract in the public-private partnership mode. The ₹23-crore seed funding from the Smart City project will be used for the Behind the Meter (BTM) facility, and a major portion of the sum will paid on a per kilometre basis. The buses will ply on 15 tentative routes within urban areas. They will be operated on a viability gap funding model,' says Transport Commissioner A.S. Sivakumar. The charging infrastructure is being readied by Evey Trans Private Limited, a subsidiary of Olectra Greentech, on a 25,000-square foot site belonging to the Puducherry government on Maraimalai Adigal Salai. Official sources say the operator has to bear the cost of hiring drivers, electricity, and maintenance for 12 years. With a single charge, a bus can run up to 200 km. It takes around six hours to charge a bus. The battery-operated buses have a life of 6-7 years. Demand sent to the Centre While the 25 electric buses will ply on designated routes in the urban areas, the Puducherry government has planned to procure 75 more buses under the PM-ebus Sewa scheme. It has submitted the demand to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). According to an official, 'Puducherry plans to run 50 buses on inter-city as well as mofussil routes and the rest on the existing urban routes. Of the 75 AC buses, 50 will be 12 metres long. They will be deployed on inter-city routes. The rest of the buses (9 metres) will be deployed in urban areas.' The official adds, 'States or cities will be responsible for running the bus services and paying the operators. The Central government will support the bus operations by giving subsidies to the extent specified in the scheme.' Under the scheme, the Central government will provide ₹24 per km for a bus deployed on inter-city routes and mofussil routes and ₹23 per km for a bus in urban areas. The Puducherry administration will bear the rest.
Hindustan Times
27-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Hoshiarpur: 6 police recruits fail dope test, dropped from training batch
Six Punjab Police recruits undergoing basic training at the Police Recruits Training Centre (PRTC) in Jahan Khelan here failed the dope test in a major embarrassment to the force, which is spearheading the 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' campaign across the state. Following the failed test, the names of the recruits have been struck off from the training, officials said. PRTC commandant Jagmohan Singh confirmed that six recruits have been found positive for drugs in a dope test. 'These recruits were undergoing basic training at PRTC, Jahan Khelan, and after the test report, have been reverted to their respective districts. They were part of batch number 270, and these recruits were subjected to the dope test after they showed suspicious behaviour,' Singh said. The tests were conducted on the complaint of the chief drill instructor of the training centre. 'A report from Hoshiarpur civil surgeon confirmed that all the six recruits used drugs,' Singh added. He said following the report, the names of these recruits have been struck off from the training programme. 'Intimation has been sent to the respective police commissionerates and districts. The trainees belonged to Ludhiana, Patiala and Tarn Taran,' Singh said. PRTC officials have requested a de-addiction programme for the said trainees.
Hindustan Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana:Private operators bleeding PRTC dry, alleges union
Amid the ongoing induction of 200 new buses under the kilometre scheme, fierce opposition has erupted from workers of the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC). In a letter submitted to chief minister Bhagwant Mann and senior transport officials on May 7, workers, under the banner of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus, and PRTC contractual workers union alleged that the kilometre scheme has become a tool for corruption, siphoning off public funds and systematically weakening the state's own transport network. The Kilometre Scheme, under which private bus operators are paid, based on the number of kilometres covered on the government-issued permits, has long drawn criticism from employees and activists. The scheme launched as a public-private partnership model to ease the financial burden of expanding the state-run bus fleet, allows PRTC to invite private bus owners to run their vehicles on government-assigned routes. The scheme eliminates the need for the government to invest in purchasing new buses. Under this model, the private operator provides the vehicle, hires the driver, and bears all maintenance and fuel costs. PRTC, in turn, deploys its own conductors and handles route scheduling. The transport department pays the operator a fixed rate per kilometre, usually ranging between ₹9 to ₹10.5 depending on the bus type and year of agreement. A bus covering 15,000 km in a month could earn its owner nearly ₹1.5 lakh. However, union leaders argue that the scheme is neither cost-effective nor employment-friendly in the long term. Shamsher Singh Dhillon, state general secretary of the union, said, 'The scheme was introduced with the claim of creating jobs for unemployed youth. But how can a jobless person afford to invest ₹15–20 lakh in buying a bus? Also, the drivers are hired by private operators, and there is no regulatory check on their skill or conduct, unlike government-hired drivers. In case of mishaps, it is the PRTC's credibility that suffers.' Rising costs, no lasting gains According to the union, a private bus running 10,000 km a month under this scheme, earns around ₹93,500, while one covering 15,000 km earns upwards of ₹1.4 lakh. Over six years, a single private bus could cost the transport department close to ₹1 crore, without contributing to the creation of a public asset. 'In contrast,' the union noted, 'a government-owned bus costs around ₹30 lakh and remains in service for up to 15 years, while generating employment for drivers, conductors, and maintenance staff.' 'This is not about efficiency or economy. It's about siphoning public money in the name of convenience while sidelining our own workforce,' a senior union member added. Union warns agitation The union has issued a warning that if Kilometre Scheme buses are inducted again, they will launch a full-scale agitation. 'No private bus under this scheme will be allowed to ply on government routes. The administration will be held responsible for any disruption in public transport,' the union declared. Acknowledging the ongoing induction, PRTC chairman Ranjodh Singh Hadana said, 'We floated the tender for 200 new buses under the Kilometre Scheme at the end of February. So far, PRTC has received around 80 buses.' He further added that the remaining 120 buses are expected to be inducted soon. However, when asked about the allegations of corruption and malpractice under the scheme, he refused to comment.
Business Insider
21-05-2025
- Health
- Business Insider
PureTech Health presents deupirfenidone data at ATS conference
PureTech Health (PRTC) delivered a late-breaking, oral presentation at the 2025 American Thoracic Society international conference in San Francisco. The presentation provided further insights into the Phase 2b ELEVATE IPF trial of deupirfenidone, highlighting the strength and durability of deupirfenidone's treatment effect through at least 52 weeks while maintaining favorable tolerability in patients living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Data presented from PureTech's global Phase 2b randomized, double-blind, active- and placebo-controlled, dose-ranging ELEVATE IPF trial demonstrated the potential for deupirfenidone to offer a differentiated treatment option for patients with IPF. In the trial, patients treated with deupirfenidone 825 mg three times a day experienced a slower rate of lung function decline, as measured by Forced Vital Capacity, at 26 weeks versus those who were treated with placebo. This statistically significant difference represents a robust treatment effect versus placebo of 80.9% for deupirfenidone 825 mg TID as a monotherapy. This result compares favorably against the rate of decline in FVC observed in the trial among patients treated with pirfenidone 801 mg TID versus placebo, which was consistent with previously reported pirfenidone clinical trial data and represents a treatment effect of 54.1%. Taken together, these results indicate that the treatment effect with deupirfenidone 825 mg TID was approximately 50% greater than that of pirfenidone 801 mg TID, based on their respective reductions in lung function decline versus placebo. In addition to these findings, deupirfenidone 825 mg TID also demonstrated a statistically significant benefit in delaying time to IPF progression4 compared to placebo, further supporting the clinical relevance of the treatment effect. Importantly, the rate of FVC decline observed over 26 weeks with deupirfenidone 825 mg TID was similar to the expected natural decline in lung function in healthy older adults. Furthermore, preliminary data from the ongoing open-label extension study suggest that this treatment effect is durable out to at least 52 weeks. As of May 9, a total of 101 patients had received at least 52 weeks of treatment with deupirfenidone. Those in the deupirfenidone 825 mg TID arm experienced a decline in FVC of -32.8 mL over the 52-week period, which is similar to the expected natural decline in lung function in healthy older adults over one year. These new data provide additional support for the durability of the treatment effect observed with this dose and reinforce its potential to stabilize lung function decline over time, while maintaining favorable safety and tolerability. Additional details from the ongoing OLE are expected to be shared in a future scientific forum. These results are further supported by preliminary pharmacokinetic data, which underscore the differentiated profile of deupirfenidone. Compared to pirfenidone 801 mg TID, deupirfenidone 825 mg TID resulted in an approximately 50% increase in drug exposure. Notably, the dramatically increased drug exposure did not result in an increase in tolerability challenges, suggesting that the deuterated structure of deupirfenidone may overcome the dose-limiting adverse events associated with pirfenidone. PureTech believes these PK results are consistent with the enhanced efficacy and favorable tolerability seen with deupirfenidone 825 mg TID in the trial. Deupirfenidone was well tolerated at both doses studied. Safety analyses included identification of the 16 most common treatment-emergent adverse events, defined as occurring in more than 5% of participants in at least one treatment group, and characterized the arm with the highest relative incidence of each of these 16 TEAEs. The pirfenidone 801 mg treatment group had the highest relative incidence for 9 of these TEAEs, followed by deupirfenidone 825 mg (5), placebo (2), and deupirfenidone 550 mg. PureTech is targeting a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of the third quarter of 2025 to discuss the results of the Phase 2b trial and align on a potential registrational pathway, with the goal of initiating a Phase 3 trial by the end of 2025. PureTech anticipates providing further guidance later this year following the finalization of the trial design and FDA interactions.
The Hindu
04-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
About 5,000 students take NEET in U.T.
An estimated 5,000 MBBS aspirants took the NEET UG 2025 held by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in various examination centres across the Union Territory on Sunday. Elaborate arrangements were in place at 12 centres in all four regions of the Union Territory, including eight venues in Puducherry. Several rooms had been earmarked in each NEET centre to accomodate the candidates and a set of invigilators assigned to every hall to oversee the exercise. A total of 5,230 candidates had registered for NEET across the UT. The precise attendance data from all four regions is in the process of being consolidated, a HIgher Education official said. In Puducherry district alone, it is estimated that 4,223 of the 4,322 registrants, appeared for the test which was held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The PRTC operated special buses connecting the various centres across the four regions of the Union Territory, including eight in Puducherry. The PRTC also operated special services in Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. The NTA had, ahead of the entrance test, issued a detailed set of instructions, including dress code, to students appearing for the examination.
