Category: Miscellaneous

NEW DELHI — India may issue an alert on cough syrup exported by Marion Biotech, whose products have been linked to deaths in Uzbekistan, after tests showed many of the company’s drug samples contained toxins, a drug inspector said Saturday.
Indian police arrested three Marion employees Friday and are looking for two directors after tests in a government laboratory found 22 of 36 syrup samples “adulterated and spurious.”
New Delhi is pursuing the issue even as the government has pushed back against allegations that cough syrup made by another Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, led to the deaths of children in Gambia last year.
Vaibhav Babbar, an inspector involved in the Marion probe, told Reuters the samples had been adulterated with ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol — the toxins that the World Health Organization says were found in the products sold by the two companies in the two countries.
As many as 70 children have died in Gambia and 19 in Uzbekistan.
More than 300 children, most under age 5, in Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan died last year of acute kidney injury associated with contaminated medicines, the WHO said in January.
In addition, it said the Philippines, Timor Leste, Senegal and Cambodia might be affected because they may have the medicines on sale. It also called for “immediate and concerted action” among its 194 member states to prevent more deaths.
“Because Marion’s drugs have gone to so many countries, I pray nothing happens elsewhere,” Babbar said. “The health ministry could issue an alert. They may do it. It will be good to issue an alert.”
He said he did not know whether an alert was under active consideration.
An Indian health ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Marion did not answer calls from Reuters and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
A government alert would warn people in all countries to take the products off their shelves, though it carries no legal penalty.
Babbar said the drugs had also been exported to Kyrgyzstan and Cambodia.
Babbar has been part of a team that inspected Marion’s plant four times after Uzbekistan said in December the children died after consuming the company’s cough syrups. India suspended Marion’s production soon after.
Analysis by Uzbekistan’s health ministry showed the syrups, Ambronol and DOK-1 Max, were contaminated with unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol, the WHO said in a January medical product alert. The United Nations health watchdog said it was important to detect and remove these substandard products from circulation.
The syrups were administered in doses higher than the standard for children, either by parents mistaking the product for anti-cold remedies or on the advice of pharmacists, according to the analysis.
India in October suspended production at Maiden for violating manufacturing standards after the WHO said four of its cough syrups may have killed dozens of children in Gambia.
Maiden has denied that its drugs were at fault for the deaths in Gambia, and tests by an Indian government laboratory found no toxins in them.

Source: Voice of America

Preah Sihanoukraja Buddhist University, Battambang (SBUBB), on Wednesday opened its IT Centre established as a Quick Impact Project under the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation with grant funding from the Government of India.
The inauguration ceremony was presided over by H.E. Dr. Devyani Khobragade, Ambassador of India to Cambodia and Most Ven. Vy Sovechea, President of SBUBB.
Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Ambassador and SBUBB President lauded the close civilisational and cultural links between Cambodia and India since ancient times, stressing that their bilateral relationship has stood the test of time.
Most Ven. Vy Sovechea thanked the Embassy of India for establishing an IT Centre at SBU, which is beneficial not only for young Buddhist monks, but also for the girl students and others from far flung areas as computer literacy is very important for the students in today’s era, he added.
For her part, H.E. Dr. Devyani Khobragade highlighted that SBUBB and Embassy of India are closest partners in the field of education and research and taking forth their common goal of spreading the ideals of Buddhism which is one of the strongest bonds between India and Cambodia. SBU Main branch and Battambang branch thus, played a very important role in promoting India-Cambodia relations in modern contemporary times
H.E. Ambassador added that India and Cambodia are celebrating 70 years of establishment of diplomatic relations. Their relations are growing in all fields whether it is political, commercial, information technology, tourism, culture, defence, and people-to-people contacts. She continued that capacity building is an important area of assistance exhorted more students and professionals from Cambodia to avail the 40 plus ICCR and 250 plus ITEC scholarships.
According to H.E. Dr. Devyani Khobragade, the Government of India is contributing towards socio- economic development of the people of Cambodia through such Quick Impact Project (QIP) under Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Framework, where in grant assistance is being provided for implementation of 10 projects every year with a capital cost of US$50,000/- for each project. The type of projects under QIP scheme include creation or up-gradation of physical infrastructure such as local community centres, schools, water resources, toilets, socio-economic projects in fields such as education, health, sanitation, child welfare, rural development, gender equality, women empowerment, IT, agriculture, and environment. The emphasis is on short gestation projects with direct benefit to the local communities.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

• In FY 2022, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) provided more than $35.9 million to partner organizations conducting early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience (ER4) activities in 12 countries across East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), as well as through regional assistance. Populations throughout EAP are vulnerable to a range of natural disasters, including cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. These hazards compound existing vulnerabilities faced by many communities in the region.
• USAID/BHA partners continued to support Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its member states to develop and institutionalize early warning, disaster management, and hazard monitoring systems during FY 2022.
• With $1.2 million in FY 2022 funding, USAID/BHA supported the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to strengthen first responder capacity of national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies across EAP, enabling them to respond more efficiently and rapidly to natural disasters.
• USAID/BHA programs emphasized addressing the unique risk reduction needs of urban and rural communities across the region, with programs focused on building the capacities of local, national, and regional disaster risk reduction (DRR) authorities, as well as integrating gender and disability inclusion, to bolster preparedness for and resilience against natural disasters.

Source: US Agency for International Development

Kampong Chhnang has achieved the mine-free status thanks to the Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen’s Project for Mine Action (STP-MA) under “Providing Safe Ground, Creating smile” motto.
The declaration of Kampong Chhnang as a mine-free province took place at the provincial hall this morning under the presidency of H.E. Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA).
Kampong Chhnang is the 9th province mine free in Cambodia under the STP-MA, said H.E. Ly Thuch. The other eight include Stung Treng, Kep, Prey Veng, Preah Sihanouk, Thbong Khmum, Kampong Cham and Svay Rieng provinces, and Phnom Penh capital.
More than 7 square kilometres of land area in the province was cleared of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), he added.
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) destroyed 2,852 anti-personnel landmines, 50 anti-tank mines and 35,428 UXO, he pointed out.
Anyway, Kampong Chhnang still have over 6.6 square kilometres of cluster bombs and UXO, the senior minister underlined, calling on people to remain vigilant of possible risks posed by this war legacy.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

A newborn dolphin was spotted at Kampi deep pool in Kampi village, Sambok commune, Chetr Borei district, Kratie province on Mar. 1 during a Mekong dolphin census conducted by the Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in cooperation with WWF.
The dolphin calf was found swimming along with a group of seven to eight other dolphins, the MAFF said in a news release.
According to the experts, it added, the one-metre-long healthy dolphin calf was born on Feb. 27 or 28, 2023, weighing 9 to 10 kilogrammes. Its birth coincides with the issuance of a new sub-decree on the establishment of the Mekong River Dolphin Management Area.
It is reported that another dolphin calf was born in early February 2023, but it has not been photo captured yet.
The Mekong’s Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.
On Feb. 27, 2023, Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen signed a sub-decree to create a dolphin conservation and protection zones stretching for 120 kilometres along the Mekong River in the Stung Treng and Kratie provinces.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse