New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The Centre, in a preliminary affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Friday opposed the batch of pleas seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG examination, for admission in undergraduate medical programmes, saying it would affect “lakhs of honest candidates” who appeared in it on May 5.

The Union Ministry of Education said that scrapping the entire exam would seriously jeopardise the interests of the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper held on May 5 this year.

“In the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination and the results already declared. It is submitted that in any examination, there are competing rights that have been created whereby the interests of a large number of students who have taken the examination without adopting any alleged unfair means must not also be jeopardised,” the affidavit said.

As regards the alleged instances of irregularities, including cheating, impersonation, and malpractices, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is undertaking an investigation and has taken over the cases registered in different states, it added.

The Centre said that it is committed to conducting all competitive examinations in a fair and transparent manner and if at the behest of some criminal elements, the confidentiality of competitive examinations has been breached, they must be dealt with sternly and with the full force of law to ensure that they are punished.

“The Government is committed to ensure the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students. To ensure transparency, fairness, and credibility in public examination, Parliament has enacted the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 on 12.02.2024. The Act was brought into effect on 21.06.2024 and provides for stringent punishment for offences related to unfair means in public examinations. Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Rules, 2024 under the Act have also been notified on 23.06.2024,” it said.

Recently, the top court had expressed reservations over the filing of a writ petition by a coaching institute alleging irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam.

“What fundamental rights of yours are violated to enable you to maintain a writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution?” a vacation bench had asked the senior counsel representing Xylem Learning, a coaching institution providing assistance to NEET students.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to a joint sitting of Parliament, asserted that the government was committed to a fair investigation and ensuring strict punishment to the guilty in the instances of paper leaks.

“Even earlier, we have witnessed many instances of paper leaks in different states. It is important that we rise above party politics and undertake concrete measures nationwide. Parliament has also enacted a strict law against unfair means in examinations,” she added.

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on July 8 the batch of petitions pertaining to the NEET-UG exam, including its cancellation.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) An international team of researchers from the UK and China has shown how cancer builds up resistance to chemotherapy — one of the biggest challenges in the treatment of the deadly disease.

Using a mice study, the early-stage research, led by The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, and Sun Yat-sen University, China showed that Stiripentol — a drug currently used to treat epilepsy — can help reverse cancer’s resistance to chemotherapy, which will help shrink tumours and prolong survival.

In the study, the team zeroed in on lactate — the product that builds up as cancer cells convert nutrients to energy — which was found to be most abundant in chemotherapy-resistant cancer tissues.

For the study, published in the journal Nature, the researchers examined tissue from 24 patients with stomach cancer, where 15 of the cancers were resistant to chemotherapy and the tumours had continued to grow.

Stiripentol and chemotherapy reduced the size of tumours — for four weeks after treatment — in mice with stomach cancer. These also survived for longer — for more than 70 days.

In comparison, tumours in mice treated with chemotherapy alone shrunk for one week and started to grow again. With only chemotherapy, no mice survived for longer than 40 days after treatment.

Further, lactate was also found responsible for altering the structure of a key protein involved in DNA repair, called NBS1, and affecting its efficiency.

The researchers believe that lactate may be behind chemotherapy resistance in other cancers such as “pancreatic, lung and ovarian cancers”.

“This extremely promising research has uncovered a likely mechanism for how cancer evades chemotherapy,” said Professor Axel Behrens, Professor of Stem Cell Biology at The Institute of Cancer Research.

“In our early-stage study, we’ve seen that you can prevent the build-up of lactate and make a tumour that was resistant to chemotherapy sensitive again — the treatment continues to work,” Axel added.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Advertisements of unhealthy food products with high salt (HFSS) food products, or ultra-processed food (UPF) are misleading and are “seductive, luring, manipulative or deceptive” people to buy and in turn increasing the incidences of obesity and diabetes, according to a new report on Friday.

The report ’50 Shades of Food Advertising’, by the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), is based on an observational study of the appeal in 50 advertisements of food products that have appeared in popular English and Hindi newspapers available in Delhi and also took note of some of the ads that appeared in TV commercials during cricket games or few on social media.

It calls upon the government to amend existing regulations to end these misleading ads.

The report comes as India is facing persistent undernutrition among children under five, and a rising trend of obesity and diabetes among grown-ups.

The recent ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN)’s dietary guidelines for Indians reveals that more than 10 per cent of 5-19- year-olds are pre-diabetic. This is when the government has set a target to halt the rise of obesity and diabetes among Indians by 2025.

The report provides evidence that food and drink products under the category of unhealthy/HFSS or UPFs “are being advertised by using different appeals such as evoking emotional feelings, manipulating the use of experts, appropriating benefits of real fruits, using celebrities to add value to the brand, projecting as healthy, etc”.

It noted that these advertisements mislead on many counts; and also provide information on the gaps in the existing legislations, such as the FSS Act of 2006, the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act, 1994 and Rules, the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, and the Norms of Journalistic Conduct 2022.

Arun Gupta, a pediatrician and NAPi convenor, called on the government to implement measures for “each advertisement to disclose in bold letters the amount of nutrient of concern per 100 gram/ml”.

It would be in the best interest of the people’s health that a public health ‘Bill’ is proposed in the Parliament to halt obesity. If we fail to halt the rising trend, it will only increase the disease and economic burden, year by year on the individual family and the health system as a whole,” he added.

NAPi also recommends stopping any food advertisements if the food product is HFSS and UPF.

The report also provides an objective method of identifying what is misleading food advertising to help authorities like the FSSAI make a quick decision to stop it, said Nupur Bidla, a member of NAPi and a social scientist, adding that the delay in banning the ads helps “companies to enjoy the ‘freedom’ to advertise and make money while public health may suffer”.

–IANS

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Faridabad, July 5 (IANS) A 67-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been given a new lease of life after being successfully treated for his rare colonic tumour via robot-assisted surgery.

“This marks the world’s first robot-assisted surgery for the condition,” according to a statement from Amrita Hospital, Faridabad.

The patient was presented to doctors with a special condition where his liver and colon were positioned differently (situs inversus partial), and he had a malignant tumour in this mispositioned colon. Situs inversus partial is quite rare, with overall incidence (including both totalis and partial) being approximately one in 10,000 people.

The tumour was found to be a rare variant of colonic malignancy. The tumour was obstructing the patient’s large intestine, preventing him from eating solid foods and posing a risk of spread and complications. His symptoms included vomiting, inability to eat, weight loss, anaemia, and abdominal distension.

“Robot-assisted surgery significantly enhances precision and accuracy during procedures through its advanced features. The operation was conducted using a console that provides a magnified, high-resolution 3D view of the surgical site, offering superior depth perception and detailed anatomical visuals,” said Abhishek Agrawal, Robotic GI Oncosurgery Consultant, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, who led the six-hours long surgery.

By the third day, the patient was able to resume a normal diet and was discharged just a week after the procedure, the hospital said.

“Based on the final biopsy report, the patient will need to undergo chemotherapy. After completing the treatment, he will only require routine blood tests and imaging for surveillance to detect any early recurrence and receive timely treatment. They can continue with their normal life without the need for long-term medications or restrictions,” said Saleem Naik, Senior Consultant, GI Surgery, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad.

“The robot-assisted surgery not only relieved my symptoms but also improved my quality of life significantly. I can now eat normally and live without the constant pain and discomfort that I was experiencing,” said the patient, thanking the doctors.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) ‘Mothers Against Vaping’, a united front of concerned mothers combatting the promotion of New-Age Tobacco Devices such as e-cigarettes, vapes, electronic nicotine delivery systems, heat-not-burn products, e-hookahs and similar devices among Indian children and youth, on Friday announced that Nandita Das, actor-filmmaker and National Film Award winner, would be supporting and endorsing their critical cause.

Nandita Das joins a distinguished group of influential role models including Baichung Bhutia, Deepa Malik, Dutee Chand, Neha Dhupia, Kushboo Sundar and Kishwar Desai who have been supporting Mothers Against Vaping in their campaign against the growing threat of vaping among children and youth.

Nandita’s endorsement will be important in combating children and youth vaping. Her influence will amplify Mothers Against Vaping’s efforts, highlighting the urgency of addressing this health crisis and implementing protective measures against the use of new-age tobacco devices.

On her joining the cause of Mothers Against Vaping, Nandita Das said, “The increasing prevalence of modern new-age tobacco devices among our children and youth should be of deep concern to all of us. As a mother of a teenager, I worry for all children and hope that they don’t fall prey to such harmful addictions. The issue demands our immediate personal and collective attention. That’s why I am wholeheartedly supporting ‘Mothers Against Vaping’ in their efforts to combat the promotion of devices such as e-cigarettes, vapes and heat-not-burn products.”

“Today’s children are intelligent and exposed to a lot of information. They are also vocal and rational. So we need to explain to them logically the dangers of such devices that may look attractive or ‘cool’. They can see reason if we engage with them constructively and compassionately. It is difficult to shun peer pressure at their age, so we must find ways to boost their confidence and equip them to make informed choices. Let us support them in making healthy decisions,” Nandita added.

On the occasion of Nandita joining their mission, Mothers Against Vaping highlighted a new danger for children and teens who vape. These children now face heightened risks of exposure to uranium and lead. This kind of exposure to New-Age Tobacco Devices like Electronic Cigarettes, Vaping Devices and other Heat Not Burn Devices can harm the brain and affect its development in children and teens.

Citing a recent research published in the journal, Tobacco Control, Mothers Against Vaping highlighted the findings linking vaping to raised levels of uranium and lead exposure. The study examined urine samples from vapers to detect the presence of uranium, cadmium and lead.

The research also reported increased uranium levels found in vapers who used sweet-flavoured categories. The report found 90 per cent higher uranium levels among vapers who preferred sweet flavours such as fruit, chocolate or desserts.

There is mounting evidence that strongly suggests the detrimental impact of the use of new-age tobacco devices among both children and adults. Unlike traditional cigarettes, which are typically smoked in a few minutes, these devices allow for extended usage sessions. The ultrafine particles and chemicals found in the e-liquids of these devices pose risks of chemical poisoning to users.

–IANS

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