Latest news with #DEG
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Poor regulation causing hundreds of deaths from contaminated medicines globally, says WHO report
Weak regulation has allowed children's medicines like cough syrup and paracetamol to be laced with toxic industrial chemicals leading to hundreds of deaths, according to a report by the World Health Organization. Since 2022, at least 300 people – mainly children in Africa and Asia – have died from cough and paracetamol syrups containing diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG): industrial chemicals that are used to make products like brake fluid and antifreeze. The chemicals – a cheap replacement for medicinal glycol – are toxic in even small amounts and cause acute kidney damage that often proves fatal. The WHO report, released jointly with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said 'criminal networks' were exploiting 'market volatility and regulatory gaps' to introduce these and other toxins into the supply chain in order to make quick profits. 'Most of the recent cases involve inexpensive oral liquid medicines that can be bought without a prescription,' said the report. 'In most cases these medicines were marketed specifically for children and are … available in pharmacies, medicine stores or informal street markets.' In 2022, more than 150 children died in Indonesia from consuming locally produced cough syrups that had been laced with EG. The manufacturer had marked 60,000 bottles of the lethal medication with fake labels showing only safe ingredients, the report said. In the same year, at least 66 children, mostly under the age of two, died in the Gambia from acute kidney failure after consuming cough syrup containing DEG and EG, imported from India. The medicines were produced by the Indian manufacturer, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, which was later discovered to have breached numerous regulations. Two of the owners of the company received prison sentences, the report said. Over the last three years, at least five batches of lethal cough syrups have been traced back to Indian manufacturers from countries including Uzbekistan, Cameroon, and Iraq. Some were found to contain over 20 times the safe level of EG . Each contaminated medicine was produced by a different manufacturer, raising questions about the regulation of India's pharmaceutical industry. Overall, the World Health Organization said at least 1,300 people have died as a direct cause of ingesting contaminated medicines over the last 90 years, and thousands more have suffered 'life changing injuries' – mostly in the developing world. 'In many cases, contaminated medicines are the result of intentional criminal conduct. Addressing this threat requires coordinated efforts by ... law enforcement agencies, customs officials, prosecutors and anti-corruption bodies,' the report said.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
IEA throws weight behind India's digital energy stack
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills The International Energy Agency (IEA) is backing the India Energy Stack , a key digital public infrastructure aimed at standardising and enhancing interoperability across the power sector, said the IEA executive director Fatih an exclusive interview to ET, he said India's efforts are timely and aligned with the overall plan of the IEA for a digital energy grid (DEG), signalling deeper collaboration between the international energy watchdog and the country.'Digitalisation is a powerful tool that can undoubtedly support the evolution of the electricity sector through grid optimisation, demand-side management and even weather forecasting,' Birol February, the Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy (FIDE) and the IEA had published a white paper on DEG, whose foreword was co-authored by Nandan Nilekani, non-executive chairman of Infosys , and Birol. The report proposed a future where every home with a solar panel, or an electric vehicle (EV) battery, would be generating, storing and trading energy instead of just consuming it. ET reported on June 28 that the government is working to launch a digital platform to enhance coordination, data sharing and innovation in the power sector. A 17-member task force set up for the purpose comprises Nilekani; former director general of the Unique Identification Authority of India Ram Sewak Sharma as the chairperson and former power secretary PK Pujari as the vice IEA chief also commented on the critical link between artificial intelligence (AI) and energy. With India's rapidly expanding digital economy and efforts to harness the power of AI, he emphasised the need for a "sustainable, affordable and uninterrupted supply of electricity for data centres'.Birol said the data centres themselves will need to deploy the most efficient technologies and practices. 'Doing so will ensure that the energy and tech sector are partners in the growth of this critical technology," he said, indicating the need for proactive policymaking to foster this IEA views India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a prime example of successful digital public infrastructure thinking. Birol said the UPI success story, "driven by public infrastructure principles, offers valuable lessons on innovation and interoperability".While acknowledging the unique challenges of the energy sector, such as balancing a variable and decentralised grid, he suggested that applying lessons from UPI would require 'sector-specific solutions and understanding the potential and limitations of direct replication'.On the practical application of the DEG, Birol highlighted its potential to address challenges such as frictionless subsidy distribution and effective solarisation, a critical issue in countries like India which have high agricultural electricity use.'Digital public infrastructure can play a critical role in improving transparency, targeting and efficiency in areas like rooftop solar adoption,' Birol said, adding that the IEA would support India's efforts as it considers improving rooftop solar penetration and broader digitalisation for energy access a priority.A pilot DEG project is expected to be shortly launched in Lucknow, ET had reported on June 18 . It will be based on Unified Energy Interface, a digital architecture similar to the UPI. Sector watchers had said this project and lowering manual intervention in the power sector was expected to reduce costs to the end IEA's strong endorsement and offer of support for the India Energy Stack underscores the growing recognition of digital infrastructure as a cornerstone for future energy security, efficiency and sustainability, particularly as India navigates its rapid energy India Energy Stack will aim to tackle key challenges such as fragmented systems, and support India's push towards a $5 trillion economy and net zero targets, the power ministry had said last growth in renewable energy, electric vehicles and consumer participation in energy markets is transforming the sector, but fragmented systems and a lack of seamless digital integration remain key barriers, it had Nilekani-led task force will be supported from funds allocated under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme of the power ministry.'A correction of up to 25% in generation, transmission and distribution costs is the desired outcome of this exercise,' an official aware of the project had told ET on June 18.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
‘Energy is next UPI': Nandan Nilekani likely to spearhead India's digital energy grid vision, aims to Cut power distribution costs by 25%
Infosys co-founder is expected to lead a new task force focused on digitising and decentralising India's power sector, according to officials familiar with the matter. If formalised, this will mark the second time the government has sought Nilekani's expertise to shape reforms in the power domain. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The proposed task force will operate under the Ministry of Power and be funded through the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). A key goal of the initiative is to bring down generation, transmission, and distribution costs by up to 25%, an official said. In March, Nilekani had hinted at the transformation ahead for the energy sector, posting on X: "Energy is the next UPI! Millions of small producers will participate in the Digital Energy Grid (DEG)". Earlier in February, the Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy (FIDE) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a whitepaper on the Digital Energy Grid. Nilekani co-authored the foreword of this report, which outlined a vision of decentralised energy production and trading, reported ET. The FIDE-IEA report proposed a future where households equipped with solar panels or EV batteries could generate, store, and trade energy, not just consume it. "In this world, millions of everyday citizens become active participants in the energy economy, transacting not just with the grid, but directly with each other over a shared digital mesh," a statement from FIDE explained. A pilot for the DEG is expected to launch soon in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. It will be based on the Unified Energy Interface (UEI), a digital framework similar to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and aims to cut manual intervention in the power sector, potentially lowering costs for end consumers.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Nandan Nilekani likely to head power reforms panel
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to head a task force on the digitisation and decentralisation of the Indian power sector , officials aware of the development told ET. If it goes according to plan, this would be the second time the government has asked Nilekani to give a blueprint for power reforms. The Nilekani-led task force will be supported from funds allocated under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) of the power ministry. "A correction of up to 25% in generation, transmission and distribution costs is the desired outcome of this exercise," an official aware of the project told ET. ET's email queries to Nilekani did not elicit a response until press time. In a post on X in March, Nilekani had said, "Energy is the next UPI! Millions of small producers will participate in the Digital Energy Grid (DEG)". In February, the Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy (FIDE) and International Energy Agency (IEA) published a whitepaper on the DEG. Nilekani co-authored the foreword of this report. The FIDE-IEA report proposed a future where every home with a solar panel, or an electric vehicle (EV) battery, will be generating, storing and trading energy instead of just consuming it. "In this world, millions of everyday citizens become active participants in the energy economy, transacting not just with the grid, but directly with each other over a shared digital mesh," a statement from FIDE had said. A pilot DEG project is expected to be shortly launched in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. It will be based on Unified Energy Interface (UEI), a digital architecture similar to UPI. Sector watchers said this project and lowering manual intervention in the power sector is expected to reduce costs to the end consumers.
Time of India
17-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Nandan Nilekani likely to head power reforms panel
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to head a task force on the digitisation and decentralisation of the Indian power sector , officials aware of the development told ET. If it goes according to plan, this would be the second time the government has asked Nilekani to give a blueprint for power reforms. The Nilekani-led task force will be supported from funds allocated under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) of the power ministry. "A correction of up to 25% in generation, transmission and distribution costs is the desired outcome of this exercise," an official aware of the project told ET. ET's email queries to Nilekani did not elicit a response until press time. Live Events In a post on X in March, Nilekani had said, "Energy is the next UPI! Millions of small producers will participate in the Digital Energy Grid (DEG)". In February, the Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy (FIDE) and International Energy Agency (IEA) published a whitepaper on the DEG. Nilekani co-authored the foreword of this report. The FIDE-IEA report proposed a future where every home with a solar panel, or an electric vehicle (EV) battery, will be generating, storing and trading energy instead of just consuming it. "In this world, millions of everyday citizens become active participants in the energy economy, transacting not just with the grid, but directly with each other over a shared digital mesh," a statement from FIDE had said. A pilot DEG project is expected to be shortly launched in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. It will be based on Unified Energy Interface (UEI), a digital architecture similar to UPI. Sector watchers said this project and lowering manual intervention in the power sector is expected to reduce costs to the end consumers.
