Mumbai Beat

Red Cross offers specialist careIndian Red Cross Society IRCS has submitted a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee offering it...

Red Cross offers specialist care

Indian Red Cross Society IRCS has submitted a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee offering its services to arrange specialist care for soldiers injured in fighting Pakistan backed intruders in Kargil.

8220;We have offered to arrange plastic surgery and specialised orthopaedic care for wounded soldiers,8221; Dr B K Goyal, national vice-chairman of IRCS, said today. Goyal said that he had offered to personally travel to Kargil and coordinate visits by top specialists to hospitals in Srinagar and other places where soldiers have been airlifted for treatment. The Prime Minister has appreciated our offer, he said.

8220;Armed forces medical hospitals have excellent facilities but they may lack the advanced specialised care required for our soldiers recovering from trauma,8221; noted Goyal who is also a consultant to military hospitals.

Red Cross would also extend medical assistance to families of army personnel, he added.

Allopathy practice: IMA flays govt

The Indian Medical Association IMA has condemned the state government8217;s decision to allow graduates and practioneers of homeopathy to practice allopathic system of medicine. In a statement today, the IMA, NEBS branch, termed the decision as unfortunate8217; and political motivated8217;. It stated that a person has to be registered under the Indian Medical Council Act to be able to practice allopathic system of medicine, and as per the verdict of the Supreme Court, no person can practice a particular system of medicine unless his/her name has been registered with the governing council of that system of medicine. The Government of Maharashtra has no locus standi to issue any directive or authorise any body to violate the basic rules as the act, the IMA claimed.

MLA denied bail in rape case

The Bombay High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Karnataka MLA Ravi Shankar Aiyappa Patil who was allegedly involved in kidnapping, marrying and raping a young girl.

Story continues below this ad

Patil, who represents the Indi constituency of Karnataka, has been accused by the victim of abduction at the instance of the accused and later was forced to marry him. She has alleged in an FIR launched at the Bijapur naka police station Solapur that she was also raped later at gunpoint.

According to the prosecution, middle-aged Patil had offered to marry the 20-year-old victim at Solapur. However, when her parents refused due to the age difference he allegedly abducted her and married her in Mumbai after changing his name to Mohammad Rafique Shankar Iyappa Patil. Later he allegedly raped her at gunpoint. When the police refused to take the complaint from the parents, the victim herself went to the police station and lodged a complaint.