Latest news with #1985
Time of India
a day ago
- Health
- Time of India
Drug fight: Punjab's plan to allow private psychiatrists to dispense buprenorphine faces legal hurdle
1 2 Chandigarh: An ambitious initiative by the Punjab govt to widen access to drug rehabilitation by allowing private psychiatrists to dispense buprenorphine has run into a legal roadblock. Health minister Dr Balbir Singh recently announced with much fanfare that private psychiatrists would be permitted to provide buprenorphine—a critical medicine used in opioid dependence treatment—to patients at their OPD clinics. The move was seen as a breakthrough to bridge the treatment gap amid a crippling shortage of psychiatrists in the public healthcare system. However, the proposal now faces a major roadblock: a 2019 stay order by the Punjab and Haryana high court on a directive issued by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) that would have enabled private OPD clinics to dispense buprenorphine. The court's interim order has resurfaced as a legal barrier, throwing a spanner in the govt's efforts to broaden access to opioid substitution therapy. With Punjab battling a severe drug crisis, particularly among the youth, the need for wider treatment access has never been more urgent. Currently, nearly 10 lakh individuals are undergoing treatment at 529 govt-run Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Espalhe a sua marca para milhares de pessoas Balinhas Personalizadas Solicite orçamento Undo To further expand coverage, the state announced plans to open 41 new OOAT clinics across 10 districts. In addition, 180 private rehabilitation centres are already functional across the state. Following the health minister's announcement, the Association of Psychiatrists "provisionally" agreed to assist in managing addiction cases at govt-affiliated de-addiction centres. In response, the Punjab health department constituted a committee of experts—including representatives from the Association of Psychiatrists, the advocate general's office, and senior health officials—to explore legal avenues. In its first meeting, the committee resolved to file an application in the high court seeking vacation of the stay order. This is not the first time legal ambiguity derailed policy progress. In Aug 2020, the Punjab cabinet amended state rules to allow private psychiatric clinics to dispense detoxification medication under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985—a longstanding demand of private practitioners. Yet by 2021, the govt rescinded this provision, citing legal opinion from the advocate general's office, though other amendments were implemented. Health principal secretary Kumar Rahul confirmed that the govt is actively evaluating all options to implement the revised dispensing policy. "A committee of experts has been formed and is examining all relevant aspects, including legal avenues," he said. The Association of Psychiatrists welcomed the department's efforts but warned that the absence of a concrete timeline and uncertain legal outcomes made it difficult to offer "unconditional" support. "A lot of time has already passed. Without clarity, it will be hard to engage the psychiatric community for long," the association stated. It further contended that the stay order does not explicitly prohibit implementation of the amended rules, and that the govt's own OOAT centres continue to dispense the same medication under similar legal uncertainty. "We are ready to assist the govt, but not at the cost of being misled into believing this is a favour—when it's a rightful provision," the body said, adding that individual psychiatrists must now weigh the risks of relying on delayed govt action. EXPERTS PUSH FOR EVIDENCE-BASED ADDICTION CARE Public health specialists, including the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS), have repeatedly criticised Punjab's existing de-addiction model as outdated and ineffective. The IPS has called for treatment to be aligned with evidence-based protocols, particularly the routine use of buprenorphine, and urged that addiction care be brought under the Mental Healthcare Act for better regulation and patient outcomes.
Geek Tyrant
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Retro Trailer For The 1985 Coming-of-Age Adventure BIG SHOTS — GeekTyrant
This week's retro trailer is for the 1985 coming-of-age adventure Big Shots, which follows the unlikely friendship between two boys from vastly different backgrounds. Obie Dawkins is a sheltered suburban kid grieving the sudden death of his father. After a series of unfortunate events leads him into the rough streets of Chicago, he crosses paths with Scam, a savvy, streetwise orphan. Despite their differences, the two boys quickly bond and embark on a wild journey to find Scam's long-lost father, dodging criminals, carjackers, and corrupt adults along the way. The film is a mix of action, comedy and heart. It was directed by Robert Mandel and written by Joe Eszterhas, Big Shots offers a charming yet thrilling ride that captures the spirit of bring young and wild.
India Gazette
01-06-2025
- India Gazette
Mizoram: DRI seizes Methamphetamine tablets worth 9.72 crores in Seling; one arrested
Aizawl (Mizoram) [India], June 1 (ANI): Continuing the fight against the drug menace, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Friday seized 9.72 kg of Methamphetamine tablets from a vehicle in Seling, Mizoram, on the Aizawl-Champhai Highway (NH-6) and arrested one person, according to the official statement from Ministry of Finance. The seized tablets have an estimated value of Rs. 9.72 crore in the international illicit drug market. The officials of DRI found 10 packets containing the contraband drug concealed ingeniously in a cavity/chamber on the rear seat. According to the official, the recovered contraband drug and the vehicle have been seized, and one person has been arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the contraband drug was smuggled into Mizoram from Myanmar through the Zokhawthar sector of the Indo-Myanmar border. Since January 2025, DRI has seized over Rs. 72 crore worth of Methamphetamine and Heroin in Mizoram and has arrested seven persons. The NDPS Act prescribes stringent punishment to offenders, including rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years. Earlier on May 30, the Amritsar Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered foreign currency amounting to USD 41,400, approximately Rs. 35.40 lakh, from a passenger at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, Punjab, officials said. The passenger was intercepted on Thursday (May 29) while attempting to smuggle the currency on Air India Express Flight IX 191, travelling from Amritsar to Dubai. According to a press release, the foreign currency was cleverly concealed in another bag in the main check-in baggage. Upon preliminary examination, it was found that the seized currency was unaccounted for and far exceeded the permissible limits as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. The currency was seized under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. The initial investigation indicates that the accused was involved in the illegal smuggling of foreign currency for monetary gain. Further investigation is currently underway, the release said. (ANI)
Indian Express
31-05-2025
- Indian Express
Delhi's first drug-free slum: How cops ensured focus against peddlers in six-month operation
'Iss laal t-shirt wale ko check karna (check this man in a red t-shirt),' Head Constable Dhirender, stationed at the Sadar Bazar police booth in Old Delhi, tells his colleague through a speaker-enabled CCTV camera at the entry point of Priyadarshini JJ Cluster near the Qutub Road. Amid a six-month-long operation launched last November, police personnel like Head Constable Dhirender have maintained constant surveillance in the Priyadarshini JJ cluster, which was declared Delhi's first 'drug-free slum' in April. Whenever they noticed anything suspicious, they alerted their colleagues on the ground so that prompt action could be ensured. The feat of freeing the colony of drug peddlers came through amid concerted efforts and a focused strategy, say officials. The cluster has approximately 350-400 houses and an estimated population of 4,000. 'Like Sadar Bazar is a wholesale market for goods, the colony had once become a wholesale market for cheap drugs like ganja (marijuana)… heroin, too, was picking up. The colony shares its boundary with the railway station, and it is easy to drop off (packages) and distribute from there,' a police officer posted in the area says. 'Amid surveillance, the drug trade here had almost stopped in December, but some notorious elements cropped up again,' says a senior police officer. A total of 12 CCTV cameras were set up across the length and breadth of the slum, which is near Sadar Bazar, India's biggest wholesale market, ahead of Republic Day. Focused action against drug peddling continued in the months that followed. Two armed police officers were deployed round-the-clock at both the entry and exit points to the slum with Qutub Pul and Qutub Road. Proper street lighting was ensured. In April, police said they finally managed to rid the area of drug peddlers. But what goes into declaring an area drug-free? 'There are no set SOPs to put a label like that. When you find no seller or peddler or consumer anymore in the area, that becomes a clear indicator,' says the officer. Between last October and May this year, 32 FIRs have been registered under sections Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, as per the police data. Inspector Sahdev Singh Tomar, Station House Officer (SHO), Sadar Bazar police station, highlights one of the key challenges during such an operation — drug peddlers easily mingle with the crowds from the railway station and the wholesale market. 'It's the consumers who raise the eyebrows. Some are easily identifiable since they are young college students. Approximately 215 people were taken in preventive custody, including sellers and consumers, between January and March. Among the consumers were also IIT and MBBS students. Earlier, when we conducted raids, even children would signal our arrival by making particular sounds to alert the peddlers,' the SHO recalls. The change is evident. Shivani Gupta, a resident of the colony, says, 'The market area is anyway crowded. At one point in time, there used to be so many people here selling and consuming drugs… even outsiders used to come and buy drugs. It felt like people were on top of each other. Even if the police came and tried to catch offenders, many would escape in the chaos.' But several people who sold drugs to earn a living are still trying to adapt to the change. Speaking to The Indian Express, a 47-year-old shares that he is trying hard to turn his life around. He sells papaya on a cart now. 'I used to work as a labourer in Mumbai. Then I came here and did menial jobs, and also started selling drugs. The police are very strict now. They have also helped us pick up other jobs,' he says. He has been imprisoned for offences under the NDPS Act, and is out on bail at present. A 45-year-old woman shares that she was earlier involved in supplying marijuana. She has been arrested by the police once and spent three months in prison recently. She, too, is out on bail and now sells sattu on a cart in the colony. Raja Banthia, DCP, North, underlines, 'The sellers used to provide free substances to children initially, and later turned them into customers. They also used children as couriers, so even if they are caught with drugs, they are released within a few months.' Among other measures, the DCP adds, police initially carried out a verification drive to understand the demography of the area. A committee has also been formed along with residents to foster better communication, understanding, and collaboration between local police and the residents, focusing on improving safety and addressing local concerns, he highlights. Sakshi Chand is working as an Assistant Editor with the Indian Express. She has over a decade of experience in covering crime, prisons, traffic and human interest stories. She has also covered the communal clashes in Kasganj, Aligarh, Trilokpuri riots as well as the North-East Delhi riots. Apart from being a journalist, she is also a National level basketball player and a coach. Before joining the Indian Express, she was working for The Times of India. ... Read More
Newsroom
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsroom
This week's biggest-selling books at King's Birthday Weekend
FICTION 1 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 'She [Chidgey] seems to get a ridiculous amount of promotion through your column,' moaned Newsroom reader Louise Bryant in the comments section this week. Oh well! Here we go again, then, paying too much heed to the author widely regarded as the best living New Zealand novelist who appears to be at her peak, with her latest novel settling into its Number 1 bestseller position for the third consecutive week and likely holding onto that status for quite some considerable time to come as word of mouth continues to recommend The Book of Guilt as a scary, literary, absorbing story of children kept as lab rats. A free copy was up for grabs (alongside Delirious by Damien Wilkins) in last week's giveaway contest. The entries were so interesting – readers were asked to make some sort of comment about Chidgey – that I wrote a story about them on Thursday. The winner is Madeleine Setchell, chairperson of Fertility NZ, 'a small but mighty charity that walks alongside all New Zealanders facing infertility'. Huzzah to Madeleine; she wins Delirious by Damien Wilkins, as well as a copy of the cheerfully over-promoted The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey. 2 Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 3 See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Hachette, $37.99) 4 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin Random House, $38) A free copy of this tough new tale of Grey Lynn noir is up for grabs in this week's giveaway contest. Hoey is a sort of literary establishment outsider. So, too, is American writer Alex Perez, who posted an apparently controversial rant on Substack this week about one of the themes of Hoey's novel, the crisis of masculinity. He writes, 'The literary man is constantly haunted by the specter of masculinity. This is obviously an elite—and striver—problem, because working-class men, unless they somehow meet a New Yorker staffer on the construction site, haven't been aware that this discourse has been ongoing for a decade. The non-online man, warts and all, just is. He might be misogynist; he might be a brute. But he's just whatever kind of dude he is, and that's that. Most of my time is spent hanging out with regular dudes who aren't obsessed with their masculinity, so the neurotic behavior of the literary man is always jarring …' To enter the draw to win 1985, read Perez's Substack argument, and remark upon it at whatever length in an email to stephen11@ with the subject line in screaming caps A WORKING CLASS HERO IS SOMETHING TO BE by midnight on Sunday, June 1. Good cover. 5 Tea and Cake and Death (The Bookshop Detectives 2) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $38) 6 Black Silk and Buried Secrets (Tatty Crowe 2) by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins, $37.99) 7 Dead Girl Gone (The Bookshop Detectives 1) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $26) 8 The Good Mistress by Anne Tierman (Hachette, $37.99) 9 Sea Change by Jenny Pattrick (David Bateman, $37.99) 10 All That We Know by Shilo Kino (Hachette, $37.99) I very briefly ran into the author at the recent Auckland Writers Festival. I got a bit lost trying to find the correct venue to watch Noelle McCarthy chair a Norwegian author, blundered into a room I thought was right, but instead saw Shilo Kino waiting to go onstage with Jeremy Hansen in a session about humour. Shilo said, 'Hi Steve!' I replied, 'Hi Shilo!' Then I turned and fled, pausing to say to Jeremy, 'You look younger every time I see you.' Anyway, it must have been a good session; Shilo's very funny novel was published over a year ago, but sales at the AWF have resurrected it into the top 10. NONFICTION 1 Whānau by Donovan Farnham & Rehua Wilson (Hachette, 29.99) 2 Full Circle by Jenny-May Clarkson (HarperCollins, $39.99) 'Over time,' writes the presenter of Breakfast in her new memoir, 'the scrutiny wears you down. Not just the actual things that people say but the awareness of what they might say. When I started in television, the comments were mostly about my appearance. But, as I settled into my role at Breakfast, that started to change. Of late, a lot of the negative comments I get have been centred on who I am. My Māoritanga. I don't look at them, don't even get the Breakfast inbox emails on my computer, because if I had to read some of what comes in, I just wouldn't ever be able to say anything again. But every now and then, I'll catch something someone's said before I've been able to look away. 'The other day, I spotted a comment where someone was complaining about my use of te reo Māori. 'Don't like watching her, sick of her pushing too much Māori on to people, just speak English.' That sort of thing. Worse, usually. You know the style. I used to get absolutely thrown by comments like that but they don't rock me now. I just think, How bizarre. And how sad. Because it is sad. Sad that someone thinks it's okay to talk about another person like that. Sad that they don't accept that my reo is a big part of who I am as a person and that I am not only selected but endorsed by my employer, TVNZ. Sad that they don't realise te reo Māori is one of the official languages of our country, so there's no such thing as 'too much'. Sad that they don't know how precious and amazing it is that we have our reo.' Striking cover. 3 Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin, $39.99) 4 Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $39.99) 5 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $39.99) 6 Atua Wāhine by Hana Tapiata (HarperCollins, $36.99) 7 Fix Iron First by Dr Libby (Little Green Frog Publishing, $39.95) Self-helper all about iron. Blurbology: 'When iron levels are low, everything feels harder. Your energy fades. Your mood shifts. Your resilience diminishes … What's not recognised often enough is that low iron doesn't just make you tired. It can alter your brain chemistry, slow your metabolism, impact your thyroid, disturb your sleep and lower your emotional resilience … This book is for anyone who has ever felt persistently tired, anxious, low in mood, or disconnected from their spark – and not known why. It's for parents watching a child struggle with energy or concentration. It's for women navigating the rhythms of their menstrual cycle or the shifts of perimenopause. It's for anyone who feels like they're doing everything right but still doesn't feel like themselves – or who has tried, unsuccessfully, to restore their iron levels and is still searching for answers.' 8 Northbound by Naomi Arnold (HarperCollins, $39.99) Two excellent books about the great New Zealand outdoors have been published in 2025. Northbound is the author's account of walking the Te Araroa track; Fire & Ice: Secrets, histories, treasures and mysteries of Tongariro National Park by Hazel Phillips is an illustrated book about the central plateau, and was reviewed very favourably this week. 9 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 10 Hine Toa by Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (HarperCollins, $39.99)
