- 3 months ago
The big talking points of this episode of News Today are Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration of the Navi Mumbai International Airport and a new metro line in Mumbai and the children's deaths linked to cough syrup.
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00:00good evening hello and welcome you're with the news today your prime time destination news
00:07newsmakers talking points tonight wednesday night this is where you'll get all the news
00:11without the noise let me tell you our big talking point tonight mumbai is it a sinking city or a
00:19rising city the prime minister launches the navi mumbai airport and the metro lane will india's
00:27commercial city now finally have an infrastructure worthy of the 21st century or is it another false
00:34dawn that's the question we'll ask also on the show our continuing campaign on the cough syrup
00:40debts we will ask our pharma companies being let off the hook we will keep asking the questions
00:48because human lives matter in this country let's first tell you our nine headlines said nine tonight
00:56prime minister narendra modi inaugurates the phase one of the navi mumbai international airport billed
01:05as india's first truly digital airport by the adanis at 20 000 crores expected to handle nine
01:13crore flyers and three million tons of cargo every year
01:17nba seat sharing docks hitter roadblock chirak paswan adamant on more seats says he will hold an emergency
01:27party meeting tomorrow mahagadbandan claims 90 percent of its seats have been finalized
01:34lame game ignited over cough syrup debts india today uncovers major lapses at cough syrup unit in kanchipuram
01:45health ministry sources blame tamil nadu government for not acting on the right right time tamil nadu
01:52government hits back says we don't procure the drugs the center does
01:56leadership war now haunts top corporate tatas india's largest conglomerate government tries to play
02:05peacemaker ask tata group leadership to restore stability within tata trust
02:11uk prime minister khan starmer is in india says opportunities under india uk fta are unparalleled
02:22waiting to be seized rolls royce ceo says aiming to develop india now as a home market
02:28another big twist in zubin garg's death probe assami's iconic singer's cousin sandeepan garg also
02:40arrested he was present at the singapore yacht party where garg allegedly drowned
02:45supreme court supreme court overturned death sentence of chennai techie s thus one who was accused of
02:55raping and murdering a minor court observed that evidence presented was insufficient
03:00it's aryan khan versus ncb officer sumit vankhede in a legal battle delhi high court issues summons to
03:13netflix red chilies over the bags of bollywood ott series vankhede speaking to india today says
03:20his wife and sister were trolled along with him
03:23an actor deepika padukone lands in another controversy gets trolled for wearing islamic
03:31attire in an abu dhabi tourism ad
03:34but let's go straight across to the big breaking news at this moment where seat sharing talks between
03:57the two major alliances are stuck at the moment in the battleground state of vihar that's right
04:04chirag paswan has now threatened to hold an emergency meeting he's upset that he hasn't been given enough
04:12seats remember the lok jan chakhi party is an ally of the nda so chirag paswan is the first to protest
04:20against he says being given far too few seats in the india block the left parties particularly the cpi
04:28ml an important constituent are demanding more seats from the rjd congress combined so both combines having
04:36challenges but the bigger challenge at the moment is before the nda because chirag paswan is playing
04:42hard ball let's go straight across to our correspondents moshmi singh is in delhi roid singh is in patna
04:49roid to you first chirag paswan we are told walked out of the meeting today is planning to hold an
04:55emergency meeting 243 seats how many seats does chirag paswan want and is he serious about pushing for
05:03more is this only a bargaining tactic well razdip at this point of time it looks more of our pressure
05:14tactics that is being applied by chirag paswan on the bjp because remember chirag paswan is a minister
05:21in the naryendramodi cabinet also so we should remember that and that is why we are seeing that
05:27chirag paswan is bargaining hard he now according to sources what we know is that wants at least 35 seats
05:34in this seat sharing agreement but what the bjp is offering right now is about 27 to 28 seats and that
05:41is why we are seeing that chirag is trying to make a posture that he is very upset about all the seat
05:49sharing negotiation that is going on and in that context he has also called for an emergency meeting
05:55of his party in patna tomorrow morning 10 a.m however chirag will not be present in that meeting because
06:01he's flying to delhi tonight itself but his other party mps other top officials will be in attendance in
06:08that meeting and it is being seen that maybe some decisions a big decision can be taken in in this
06:16meeting but what we are learning is that this is just a simple pressure tactic that is that is being
06:22applied by the chirag on the bjp to get more and more seats right remember chirag paswan contested the
06:32last elections in 2020 on his own got about 5.5 of the vote but he is a key member of the nda alliance
06:40if he want to fight on his own it could upset the nda's equations to retain power in br i want to go
06:46then to moshmi singh who's tracking what's happening in the india block moshmi singh we are hearing reports
06:52that the cpi ml in particular is upset by the number of seats they are being offered they're an important
06:58constitution the congress last time got 70 seats one only 19 rjd not inclined to give the congress
07:05as many seats as last time what are you picking up well i can tell you rajdeep that it's not as tense
07:12as the nda camp but of course that camp is in power uh but there's a lot brewing three rounds of
07:18alliance talks between the india bloc have actually led to no consensus and so the congress held a cec
07:24meeting in delhi after that uh to send in a firm message to the allies mukesh tahini is in blinking
07:31he says that if congress uh is wanting 60 seats then why not me uh because the congress is hardly
07:39there on the ground and there is a lot of speculation and distrust over whether the smaller players are
07:45being pitted against the congress party by the rjd and as you mentioned the left wants a fair share of
07:52the pie but is is being told to understand that if rjd and congress will actually uh share some seats
08:00from its kitty for mukesh sani they can be happy the left can be happy with what they got last time
08:06and the seats aren't reducing so a lot of understanding and misunderstanding also prevailing here
08:16okay interesting because remember this is a battle of alliances at the moment the two
08:20principle alliances there's prashant kishore also but clearly seat sharing is becoming a major hurdle
08:26in beyond maushmi singh roid singh for joining me appreciate your joining me let me turn from there
08:31to another of my top stories today today was a big day for the maximum city the city of mumbai where
08:38prime minister narendra modi inaugurated a slew of infrastructure projects the big one was the navi
08:46mumbai international airport this is uh the gold standard we are told of international airports uh
08:54the extension of the original chatrapati shivaji airport in mumbai now goes to navi mumbai or new
08:59mumbai it's an airport remember which has been built by the adani group and prime minister was there to
09:05inaugurate it it was also the day where the final phase of the mumbai metro phase three that connects
09:11uh north and south mumbai the first fully underground metro uh rail network that connects two
09:19very distinct parts of the city has also been completed with an integrated common ticketing app
09:26for easier mobility and mumbai clearly therefore looking to grab the headlines this time for infrastructure
09:36under the devendra fund but the question is is all this simply the glitter on the top what lies below
09:45is there grind that lies below the pothole roads for example we decided to send our reporters to give
09:51you two sides of the story the gleaming mumbai and the not so gleaming mumbai take a look
09:57a new airport and a new metro line prime minister narendra modi inaugurated two landmarks in mumbai on wednesday
10:13the navi mumbai international airport expected to be functional from december once completed
10:19will have a capacity to handle nine crore passengers a year the final phase of mumbai metro line three
10:27the city's first fully underground one connects r8 to cover it abhi metro line bannay se
10:36doh dhai gante ka safar tis 40 minute may ho jayega
10:41while the metro will significantly cut down travel time from north mumbai to south mumbai
11:08opinion is divided on the impact it will have despite all this infrastructure development
11:16happening all over mumbai but the public habits are not changing for instance get down at this airport
11:24road metro station and i have to go to the t2 terminal there is no connectivity so therefore the
11:33last mile connectivity is one of the important issue
11:38part of theandes of the mumbai and╤Б╤В╤Аing people will be able to go to the end of the country
11:42on the walk or out of the country to also go to the country like this trip to the south-western
11:43waedra.
11:44This is very small.
11:47People travel more than the people who travel, taxi,
11:51and all this is a very big area.
11:54It's very small.
11:56We have less than 1.500 million people.
11:58If they do not do anything,
12:00what do you think of them?
12:03What do you think of them?
12:04There will be no benefit.
12:06I believe that the government will be able to do traffic
12:09and the public's area.
12:11If they do it, they can do it.
12:14There will be no benefit.
12:17Citizens have reasons to be wary.
12:20Just a month and a half ago,
12:22India's financial capital hit national headlines for waterlogging.
12:26A few hours of overnight rains had the city on its knees.
12:30Not to mention the potholed roads that have become the eyesore
12:34that the public and the administration have got used to.
12:38Or the overcrowded Mumbai local trains
12:41that remains the city's lifeline,
12:43which incidentally saw five deaths in June
12:45when passengers fell off a moving train.
12:48Which of these Mumbai's do you belong to?
12:52The rising Mumbai or the sinking Mumbai?
12:55For the armed Mambaikar, there are no easy answers.
12:59With Mustafa Sheikh and Divesh Singh in Mumbai,
13:03Bureau Report, India Today.
13:08So let's raise the big questions tonight.
13:10Is India's commercial capital a sinking city?
13:13Or now a rising city?
13:15Has the Fudnavist government changed Mumbai's skyline forever?
13:19What are the challenges before Mumbai?
13:22How can Mumbai solve its infrastructure mess in particular?
13:26Joining me now are three special guests.
13:28I'm joined by Kaustub Dhause.
13:30He is Chief Advisor to the Maharashtra
13:32Chief Minister on Investments and Strategy.
13:34Smriti Kopikar is founder, editor, Question of Cities.
13:37Sudhir Badami is an activist and structural engineer
13:40who's written a book on Mumbai's transport systems.
13:44I appreciate all of you joining us.
13:46Let's separate this into two parts, Kaustub,
13:48and start with the Nabi Mumbai airport.
13:51Do you believe, as the Prime Minister said today,
13:54that this will transform an entire region,
13:56including the Konkan belt?
13:58You now have an airport
14:00which is with a world-class infrastructure,
14:03but will it actually meet the needs, you believe,
14:07of an ever-expanding city like Mumbai?
14:12Absolutely. Today is a historic day, to say the least.
14:19As a Mumbaiker who was born in Dadan and raised in Andheri,
14:22I remember my father telling me in the 90s
14:24that there is an airport that is going to come.
14:26And we have waited for decades for the right leadership
14:29and the execution to come into place.
14:31And today is an absolute celebration.
14:34The airport is not just an infrastructure project.
14:37It's a force multiplier on the economy.
14:40I mean, imagine, Rajdeep, we had our first airport in Mumbai in the 50s.
14:44And then the T2 came in 2010, 2011.
14:48And now we have a terminal which will eventually service 9 million passengers.
14:54So if you add all the three together, we will be serving more than, you know,
14:59more than 150 million passengers annually.
15:02I mean, this is a remarkably large figure.
15:05So in terms of the volume of the business and the trade,
15:09this is a golden era which has started.
15:12And I am so happy that being part of executing it
15:17and also seeing it today as a Mumbaiker,
15:20it's a truly emotional moment for me.
15:22And as a citizen,
15:24I think I am absolutely indebted to our leadership,
15:29both administrative and political,
15:31to the people of Mumbai who really have lived through hell
15:35while the execution of this project was going on.
15:38And it's time to celebrate now.
15:45You are calling it a celebration.
15:46Smriti Kopikar, at the moment,
15:48I want to focus first on this new international airport.
15:51Do you believe it's a moment to celebrate?
15:53That as Kaustu puts it,
15:55Mumbai desperately needed another airport hub.
15:58The country's commercial capital couldn't work
16:00through just the first two terminals that you had existing.
16:03You needed a brand new airport.
16:05Would you say it's a cause for celebrations
16:07or do you believe it will only benefit
16:09a very few in a city of more than 25 million people
16:13if you include the outer Mumbai as well?
16:15Thank you, Rajdeep.
16:18This issue goes well beyond the celebration of a new airport.
16:23I'm sure studies were done that showed that we needed a larger,
16:28newer airport and it got built.
16:30So kudos to that.
16:31But to make it sound like because of that airport and one metro line,
16:37Mumbai has suddenly become this fantastic, great rising city,
16:42I think would be well off the mark for two or three reasons.
16:46And let me list them out.
16:49The first is that in the past few years,
16:52we've seen what is called a project led development of the city.
16:56It's not the city's development as a whole, but project led development.
17:01So you have project XYZ, you have project one, two, three,
17:05and they benefit a certain class, a certain group of people.
17:09And it is marketed as if it benefits all of Mumbai.
17:13It doesn't.
17:14Number two, very clearly, when we say that there are these, you know,
17:21multi-million, multi-crore infrastructure projects that Mumbai needed.
17:25Sure.
17:26But why are we concentrating?
17:29Why have governments been focused and concentrating
17:32on these big-ticket, marquee kind of projects?
17:37I want to place one simple fact.
17:4054% of the fatalities in Mumbai in 2023 and 2024 were of pedestrians.
17:47Where is the pedestrian walking infrastructure?
17:50Why is that not part of the infrastructure development?
17:54Not just for the last five years, 10 years, 15 years.
17:57Where is that?
17:58We don't have pavements to walk.
18:00People fall into ditches.
18:02Children fall, get injured, are killed.
18:05You had a report that showed that train, five people died of falling off the trains.
18:11Two and a half thousand people die in Mumbai every year because of railway trains
18:18and the way they are forced to travel in the trains.
18:21So where is that infrastructure upgrade?
18:23We're not seeing that.
18:24That's the second.
18:25Number three, is there has been a very steady public fund and private gain
18:34in the way Mumbai's infrastructure has been planned and built in the past few years.
18:40And I'll give here the example of the coastal road, which is largely a public funded project.
18:48By the time it is completely done from one end of the city to the other,
18:53quite possible that the city would have spent something close to 50, 60,000 crores.
19:00Which part of the public in Mumbai uses it?
19:04How many of us really have cars and drive on the coastal road?
19:10Why doesn't some of this attention, resources and planning go into boosting something like the BST bus service,
19:23on which 3.5 million Mumbai cars depend every single day?
19:28And this very government, under this very government in the last 10 years, we have seen a very steady decline of the BST.
19:37That was the network that kept Mumbai going even through COVID.
19:41A hundred drivers and conductors lost their lives.
19:45So why are we celebrating one airport but ignoring pavements, BST and everything else in between?
19:56You've raised several points and I think Kaustub because he's in charge of infrastructure needs to respond.
20:01Kaustub, is this a conscious plan that the government has made that,
20:05look, we are putting in place this large world-class airport.
20:09We are putting in place the metro infrastructure.
20:13Now you've got critics who are saying what happens to BST?
20:16What happens to pavements?
20:17What happens to public funding for private gain with the coastal road?
20:22Is the government aware of this criticism?
20:24What is the government's largest strategy for Mumbai?
20:30Government is absolutely focused on driving an equitable sense of governance
20:36and every state of society is being touched on.
20:40We have an increasing demand for aviation connectivity and that is being served.
20:45We have an increasing demand for green mobility and that is being served through the metros.
20:49We had a history of 11 kilometers in 11 years when we built the Versova to Ghatkopar Metro.
20:55It's shameful statistics to say the least.
20:58And in the last four years, I mean between 14 and 19, we put together 373 kilometers of metro network under process and construction.
21:07So, metros are at some point in time, maybe by 2027, will almost parallel the carrying capacity of the Suburban Railway network.
21:17Suburban Railway network carry about, I think about 90 lakh people today.
21:21So, metro will almost equally, you know, share that load.
21:25And this is a common Mumbaikars.
21:27I mean, I grew up traveling in a suburban and...
21:30So, will it ship people?
21:31Will it ship commuters from the old Suburban Rail network and buses?
21:35No, I think...
21:36Is the aim that you will ship commuters from the old Suburban trains and BST?
21:41The idea basically is that metro has a very different purpose.
21:44It connects to the inters of the city and Suburban has a different purpose.
21:49So, my sense is that both coexist and both are necessary.
21:53They serve the people of Mumbai and Mumbai people care about it.
21:56We have numbers to say that the utilization has been significant.
22:00And when the ladies talked about the open spaces, I mean, recently we declared about 70 hectares of road next to the coastal road.
22:08That's one part of, you know, the development.
22:11So, there are... Government doesn't just focus on large infrastructure projects.
22:16Government is only not focused on a particular section of the society.
22:19I think that's a very narrow and a very pinpointed view of government.
22:24When you govern, you have to have an equitable sense of governance.
22:28And each and every strata has to be touched.
22:30And I agree that there are issues related to, you know, the quality of best services that we have.
22:36I know there are issues related to the roads that we have.
22:38But these are things that need to be resolved.
22:41And my sense is that we have been able to solve complex problems like the projects we have delivered,
22:46whether it's Atal Setu, the underground metro, whether it's the coastal road.
22:49These problems are not as complicated.
22:51They are intertwined in the bureaucratic and the issues related to that.
22:57So, my sense is that it is... I don't have a logical answer to say that why not.
23:02But I'm 100% certain, 100% certain as a Mumbai Karan and somebody working in the government,
23:08that this particular issue will be taken and will be resolved once and for all.
23:13And to address every single strata or every single section of the society.
23:18Sudhir Badami, as someone who's written a book on Mumbai's transport system and I'm focusing on Mumbai,
23:27but this could be any part of the country.
23:29Do you believe that the present transport system with now the metro coming in is equitable?
23:34That's the whole question that every Mumbaikar should benefit, not just those with their...
23:39who travel along the coastal road in their SUVs, but every Mumbaikar will benefit.
23:45That's what Kaustub says that they are intertwined.
23:47Do you believe they are intertwined or not?
23:49They are intertwined.
23:51The only thing is that the twines for the Am Janta, the largest population is very, very thin string,
24:00while the others are quite heavy.
24:03So the benefit is only one-sided.
24:06That's why I had to write down a book to let people know in authority what is equitable solution.
24:15And that is what I expected the chief minister to read and call me up for a meeting,
24:20which Mr. Kaustub Dhause has not invited me over to talk to him or to meet the chief minister.
24:28If they read through the book seriously, you'll find that I've provided a wide range of solutions,
24:35which is what Smriti has talked about.
24:37It's there in the book.
24:38And I think we must try and at least be open to discussing things.
24:43Beyond the book, if you want to say, Mr. Badabi, if you want to say one, two, three, what are the three solutions?
24:51What do you believe?
24:52Because now I'm showing you pictures of the older Mumbai, waterlogged rail tracks, potholes.
24:58We'll show you pictures of the potholes on the road.
25:01These are problems of urban governance.
25:04Do they?
25:05How are you going to fix urban governance?
25:07That's the real challenge.
25:09Potholes can be taken care of.
25:12There are instances when the potholes increase.
25:15Just like this year, the rains have been too heavy and continues with practically no sun in Mumbai.
25:23Continuously, we have been having rains and cloud cover.
25:27So this was expected to happen.
25:29How would you fix the transport issue, sir?
25:34Give me the one solution that you believe top of the mind to fix transport.
25:39Is to provide last mile connectivity, if you may call it.
25:43But it is a connectivity which through micro bus is what I felt
25:48because it reaches out quickly in narrow lanes near stations where the crowd is pretty high.
25:55And that can be evicted quickly.
25:58Microbus is the answer.
26:00But more important thing is we have to understand that the capacity,
26:04what we talk about is hourly capacity of metro rail does not measure up to the needed capacity
26:12to take care of the overload of railways.
26:15That is why the metro came into being more than 10 years back or maybe 15 years back.
26:21I think I was trying to go for BRTS.
26:24But today we have one more point to consider.
26:27We have to see that the number of cars on the road are reduced.
26:30And that also is provided in the book because I say that provide BRTS for premium class of commuters.
26:39So they get onto the BRTS and leave the roads free for which you then charge congestion charges.
26:47I also believe that we should not be over taxing people unnecessarily punished people.
26:52Okay, let me bring in...
26:54You make a valid point there.
26:56How do you...
26:57You make a valid point.
26:58How do you reduce cars on the road?
27:00Some cities like London in particular have been very successful, Smriti,
27:03in terms of trying to ensure that at least the city's main hubs are free relatively of traffic congestion.
27:10But just the sheer size and volume of Mumbai surely Smriti needs new solutions.
27:15And therefore you've got to surely welcome even if it's a metro line which may not fulfill the aspirations of all Mumbai cars.
27:24At least it's a step up compared to what the situation was a decade ago.
27:28Oh, absolutely.
27:30I am not decrying the fact that Mumbai needed a metro network.
27:35I don't belong to that group at all.
27:37Nor am I saying that Mumbai did not need a brand new large international airport.
27:42I am saying very clearly there is a selectivity in the choice of infrastructure
27:51that governments of the past decade have chosen to put their resources into.
27:57And that selectivity has come to hurt the entire city of Mumbai.
28:02It is hurting the BST which takes 3.5 million people a day, every single day.
28:09We are talking of millions using the airport.
28:12Sure, those millions need the airport.
28:14But why are you also not thinking of the 3.5 million BST commuters?
28:19Why are you also not thinking of making rail travel safer for the 7.5 million commuters every day?
28:27My point is on selectivity.
28:29And the selectivity comes right down to the infrastructure that we already have.
28:34Including, and let me put this on the table for all your viewers.
28:40The underground metro line that the Prime Minister inaugurated today.
28:44A part of it has been functional for well over six months.
28:48The underground metro lines of which for the majority of time, if you are a customer of certain mobile providers, you don't get connectivity in the underground line.
29:01If you are a customer of one particular provider, you get that.
29:05But if you are an Airtel provider, you don't get, I mean, Airtel customer, you go without connectivity in this super connected Mumbai for 45 minutes for one hour of your commute.
29:17And don't say that London underground, London tube doesn't have connectivity.
29:23Don't compare the Mumbai Metro that was brand new, spanking, gleaming, inaugurated today with London's tube, which has been in operation for 150 years.
29:35There is no comparison.
29:37And I'm not somebody who's going to take down, you know, a government because there is water logging after rain.
29:44Practically no city in the world, Rajdeep, can handle this kind of intense rainfall in a very short period of time.
29:52There is going to be urban floods.
29:54There is going to be water logging.
29:56Even more critical why we need to pay closer attention to mass infrastructure.
30:04And I come back and I will end the point on selectivity.
30:08Please make airports, please make metro lines, but please also pay attention to pavement, cycling tracks.
30:16They built a cycling track in Bandra Kurla complex, BKC.
30:20That track did not lead out of BKC to any other point.
30:24So how are cyclists supposed to even get to BKC if you wanted to cycle there, right?
30:29And therefore, this kind of very tunnel vision, project led, you know, singular project celebration.
30:36I don't think that sits very well.
30:42I, I therefore want to ask you Kaustubit conclusion because you made the point that, Smritis made the point that we are using public resources for private gain.
30:52That there are a few people who will end up making possibly windfall profits.
30:57How do you, how does the government respond to that?
31:01Because ultimately the city has to be for every Mumbaikers convenience.
31:05Therefore, rather than being single project focus, it's got to be integrated.
31:10Is there an integrated plan and can you give us a vision for the plan over the next decade?
31:15There is an integrated plan.
31:17You cannot govern or function a city with a singular or objective on certain projects.
31:22I hear the, I hear Smritiji's views and the point she makes.
31:27Whenever you decide something for a city, it has to be holistic.
31:31There are various facets that need to be taken into consideration.
31:35You also have to do a re-evaluation of what projects to pursue, what not to pursue.
31:39Like for example, we did not pursue the metro related projects simply because we did not believe that it is really a mass transport kind of an ecosystem build out.
31:47So we, we choose the projects wisely.
31:50And there is always a holistic plan around the whole thing because you have to prepare your city for, you have to make it resilient and sustainable.
31:58Climate change is real and we are facing the wrath of climate change and cities have to ensure that the mangroves are protected, that projects are built with a sense of control on climate.
32:10So all of these factors are taken into consideration.
32:12Every single project that we have built, we have given enough consideration to make sure.
32:16So to give one example, BST buses, will, will the BST bus, to give one example, BST bus system, which is used by common citizens.
32:24BST buses are undergoing a massive.
32:25Upgraded over the next decade?
32:27Has to be, has to be, has to be, has to be 100%.
32:31BST buses are undergoing a massive, massive, massive transformation.
32:35A huge amount of electrification is happening and a significant amount of procurement.
32:40But here is what the difference is and the chief minister always says this.
32:43Before, before starting any project or before starting anything, he always gives this, this, this guidance to officers that people need to make sure that service delivery has to improve.
32:54And steps need to be taken in order to do that.
32:57And yes, there have been challenges, but I think it's an incremental process.
33:01We have had, certainly we have had certain wins and then there are obviously certain things that we need to tighten up.
33:07Most importantly, I can assure you and all the audiences, Rajdeep, that we are building the city for the future.
33:13Mumbai will be a world city and I can assure you that it will be dynamic, it will be resilient and it will be 100% unstoppable.
33:20I, I don't want to sound cynical, but I remember many years ago, Manmohan Singh as prime minister claiming he would make Mumbai a Shanghai.
33:31That worried me at the time. And therefore, I get worried.
33:35Maybe I've been a cynical Mumbaiker over the years, but I only wish the best for the city.
33:40And I hope, Kaustub, you can organize that meeting for Mr. Badami with the chief minister so that his ideas also can be shared.
33:47Citizens ideas need to be shared. I've run out of time, I'm afraid, but I appreciate my guests joining me.
33:52We want to see a better futuristic Mumbai is the message. Thank you all very much for joining me.
33:58I want to turn from there to what I am now calling an India Today campaign here on News Today.
34:03We are going to continuously focus over the next few days and weeks on what's been happening with the cough syrup deaths.
34:10Remember, more than 20 deaths have taken place in Madhya Pradesh, in Rajasthan, all of which are now raising very, very serious questions.
34:20In Rajasthan alone, over the past year, hundreds of drug samples have failed quality tests.
34:27What's worse, most of the probes have only begun after the state's drug controller was suspended.
34:35Our special report from Sharad Kumar.
34:38Contaminated cough syrup killing children has made headlines.
34:51But the truth runs deeper.
34:54Every year, millions may be falling victim to counterfeit and substandard drugs.
35:01Rajasthan's drug control department has unearthed a trail of shocking findings.
35:07Medicines that are meant to heal are, in fact, harming patients.
35:11When India Today examined the department's working, it found labs conducting tests, report being filed, but no action taken.
35:18The list is long and disturbing.
35:24Antibiotics.
35:25Six batches failed.
35:26Over one lakh tablets from Medi-Rich Limited were sold before detection.
35:31Steroids saw three batches failing.
35:33MediVille Biotech sold 30,000 doses.
35:36Anti-allergic saw four batches failing.
35:38Theravine Formulation sold 35,000 units.
35:41Anti-diabetics saw three batches failing.
35:44Relief Biotech sold 18,000 tablets.
35:47Three batches of painkillers failed.
35:49IPCA Laboratories sold 20,000 of them.
35:52Eight batches of supplements failed.
35:54F.E. Parenteral sold 40,000 units.
35:57Antacids saw three batches failing, of which 15,000 units were sold by Aristo Pharma.
36:02And two batches of cardiac drugs failed, out of which MX Pharma sold 10,000 tablets.
36:09So from stomach-egg pills to ear drops, from injectables to vitamin syrups, some had missing salts, others were infected fluids.
36:17When we take tests, when we take tests, we don't have to know that the report is going to come.
36:24And we can't keep everything in hold.
36:26Pan-India or any particular thing, we don't have to stop the samples.
36:32By law, every failed sample must lead to a court case.
36:38By rule, every report must be escalated to the Central Drug Laboratory in Kolkata for a nationwide ban.
36:44But none of that happened.
36:46Instead, reports gathered dust until the state's drug controller himself was suspended.
36:51This is hardly any disease left for which it was suspended.
37:19There is hardly any disease left for which fake or substandard medicines have not been caught.
37:24Yet, the government response remains low and fragmented.
37:27By the time a ban is imposed, Laks have already swallowed the risk.
37:32So while we worry about contaminated cough syrups, the truth is the problem is much bigger.
37:37From antibiotics to painkillers, fake medicines are finding their way to your cabinet.
37:42And until India fixes its drug control system, every pill could be a potential gamble with life.
37:49With Sharad Kumar in Jaipur, Bureau Report, India Today.
37:59And let's get you the very latest then on the cough syrup deaths.
38:02The debt toll in Madhya Pradesh now has reached 20.
38:0520 innocent children have been poisoned because of a cough syrup that was prescribed to them.
38:11The Indian Medical Association has now written to the Health Minister condemn the arrest of the doctor in Madhya Pradesh.
38:17Remember, the doctor has been arrested but no action has been taken against the various drug regulator agencies or indeed the pharma firm.
38:24And the Telangana Drugs Control Administration has just banned two syrups, Relife and Recipe Fresh.
38:31Will the pharma companies be held accountable or will the doctors only be the scapegoat?
38:38Is the question I want to raise.
38:39Dr. Dilip Bhanushali, President Indian Medical Association joining me.
38:43Dr. Viranchi Shah is National Spokesperson Indian Drug Manufacturing Association.
38:48Appreciate both of you joining us.
38:49Dr. Bhanushali, how is the Indian Medical Association seeing this?
38:53Do you believe doctors are the scapegoat and the pharma companies are getting away?
38:58You have rightly said, doctor has become the scapegoat.
39:02If you remember, a terrorist has been given an appointment with opening up Supreme Court at night two o'clock for a bail.
39:10And our doctor has failed to get a bail today.
39:13Why? Because, you know what is the reason behind it.
39:18He has become the scapegoat.
39:20Yeah, so what is the reason?
39:24You tell us. You are saying that the doc...
39:26Why have the doctors been made a scapegoat?
39:28Why are you... Tell us why you believe doctors have been made the scapegoat?
39:32You tell me why is the hospital responsible for the adulteration of the drug?
39:37Adulteration of that medicine.
39:39In what way doctor is concerned?
39:43So, the manufacturer, the drug controller...
39:45So, who should be arrested according to you?
39:47The drug controllers, the manufacturers, suppliers...
39:51Why doctors? The first thing they did was at night two o'clock they arrested the doctor.
39:55And what did the government do? The government suspended...
40:01Okay. I want to bring in Dr. Viranchi...
40:04I want to bring in Dr. Viranchi Shah. Dr. Shah, you want to tell us...
40:11Yes.
40:12According to the Indian Medical Association, the pharmaceutical company based in Tamil Nadu must pay the penalty.
40:20So, should the drug controller in Tamil Nadu and indeed those at the center who allowed these drugs to be prescribed?
40:28Do you believe that the drug manufacturers have much to answer for?
40:32So, Radheep, thank you for having IDMA on this discussion.
40:36This is a very serious discussion where we have lost a number of lives and every life is important and we all understand the gravity of this situation.
40:45But unless we come to a conclusion on the investigation that is going on, which means that there is an investigation going on with the drug companies, there is an investigation going on with the doctors, what kind of prescriptions were given, whether it was given a right dose or not.
41:01There are so many questions unanswered as we speak today. And unless we get the answers to this question, I don't think it would be right to say whether in general whether the drug companies are at fault or the doctors are at fault or both are at fault. It could be anything.
41:18So, I think we have some experts who are already looking into it.
41:22One minute, one minute. There is no proof. No, no, one minute, sir. No, no, one minute. There is no, if the evidence at the moment prima facie is pointing towards drug adulteration taking place at the level of the manufacturer.
41:37At the moment, prima facie is what it is suggested in the case of cough syrup. The point the doctors are making is why is the doctor being held responsible?
41:47Are the pharma companies getting away? You know, the pharma companies are way too powerful compared to some doctor in Chindwara.
41:56Sir, this is not you versus me here. So, I am not here to see whether the doctor is wrong or we are right or the other way around.
42:04My point is very simple. We should wait for a proper investigation. It is a very serious issue.
42:09And unless we have all the facts of the biopsies, autopsies, the postpartum, the drug sample analysis, everything is there, it would be too early to say who was wrong.
42:19Now, to coming to your question on specifically on the quality of a specific product coming from Tamil Nadu.
42:26It looks prima facie, as you said, that the cough syrup was indeed contaminated with diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol above the permissible limits.
42:36We don't know as yet if that was the cause of death, but even if it is so and it is above the limits, as per the Drug Act, the manufacturer is liable for penal action and it happens.
42:47So, for an adulteration, the minimum amount of penalty is seven years of rigorous imprisonment as per the Drug and Cosmetics Act.
42:58And there are enough safeguards in the Drug Act to catch hold of such people if they have made mistakes.
43:05But again, as I said, we should wait specifically when we say that there are deaths of so many children for a proper scientific investigation.
43:13And we have to all work together rather than whether A is against B or B is against C to ensure that when we say that India is the pharmacy of the world and we supply essential medicines to almost 200 countries.
43:27The US is our largest customer, for example. Most mature markets do import essential drugs from India.
43:34So, it's not that we don't have the capabilities, but we have to understand even if this happens, what are the gaps?
43:39And I'm sure the highest offices in India are working along with the industry, with the trade, with the doctors.
43:46And we should try to find outтАж
43:48Sir, with due regard, Dr. Shah, no one is labeling all drug manufacturers in India with the same brush, but we exposed yesterday the kind of plant in which this drug was being manufactured in Tamil Nadu in the most unhygienic conditions.
44:05That's my point. And the fact is this was not going on for the last few months. It's been going on for years.
44:11And yesterday I had a leading expert on drug regulation who's saying that this is not some isolated case.
44:17Therefore, there is a serious problem with particularly small firms which are cost cutting and thereby putting drugs and the lives of people at risk with low quality, low cost drugs.
44:28I absolutely agree. I'm not defending the manufacturer. I'm not saying that what they have done is because of this reason.
44:34If that is the case, then I'm sure it has already been shut down.
44:38And you must be aware that India has already upgraded its GMP requirements, which we know popularly as the Schedule M.
44:46It is going to be in effect from the first. For most of the companies who are in the large and medium segment, it is already in effect today.
44:53For the small companies, because we had to give them more time and more resources to cope up, it is going to be in effect from the first of January, which is the revised Schedule M.
45:01So, a lot of steps have already been taken pre-actively. And if there are gaps, I'm 100% sure that IDMA, industry association, regulators and government all work to ensure that if there are these gaps, we have to plug them up.
45:16I'm not defending them. What I'm trying to only point out is that we shouldтАж
45:20Okay. I will take your word. I will take your word. I will take your word as the spokesperson of IDMA. I want to give a final word to Dr. Banushali.
45:29Are you confident? Are you worried, Dr. Banushali, that there are lots of gaps within the system?
45:34That what happened in Madhya Pradesh and now Rajasthan could happen in any other part of the country?
45:39Okay, I think we have lost Dr. Banushali there, but I appreciate my guest joining me here.
45:54My simple question to you, do you believe that there needs to be a complete overhaul of the drug regulatory systems?
46:03Absolutely, yes. Absolutely, yes. The drug regulatory system should be overhauled throughout the country.
46:11Okay. Not only for this cup syrup, but all the drugs we will use for in a periodic.
46:16Okay. I'm going to leave it there. I appreciate my guest joining us. As I said, we will continue to focus on this.
46:26We will travel across the country to look at the way drug manufacturing in some parts of the country needs to be re-looked at.
46:34Thank you both very much for joining me to another of our top stories.
46:39Deep divisions have now surfaced within Tata Trusts, the body which has a two-thirds stake in Tata Suns, India's biggest conglomerate.
46:49And the battle has now shifted even to Delhi with the union government getting involved.
46:55Noel Tata and Tata Suns Chairperson N. Chandrasekharan meeting with the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Home Minister Amit Shah.
47:05Why is the government getting involved in what is a boardroom battle? Our Business Today team has this report.
47:11Even before a year has passed since Ratan Tata's passing, India's most iconic business house finds itself in turmoil.
47:27On the eve of his first death anniversary, the Tata group is battling a storm within.
47:35One that has now drawn the attention of the country's top political leadership.
47:42Top Tata honchos on Tuesday night met Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman
47:48in a clear indication of the government's unease with the tempest in Tata Trusts, which owns two-thirds of Tata Suns.
47:56According to reports, the government is understood to have delivered a clear message in the 45-minute meeting at the Home Minister's residence.
48:04Restore stability at Bombay House and prevent the internal discord from spilling over into Tata Suns.
48:13The closed-door meeting was attended by Tata Trust Chairman Noel Tata, Vice Chairman Venu Srinivasan, Tata Suns Chairman N. Chandrasekharan and Trustee Darius Kambatta.
48:25The divide at the Tata Trust runs deep between Noel Tata, N. Chandrasekharan and Venu Srinivasan, who is also the Chairman Emeritus of TVS Motor.
48:37Reportedly on one side and Mehli Mistry, Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Kambatta and Jahangir, H.C. Jahangir, on the other.
48:46Reports suggest that the trust has been divided since the passing of Ratan Tata last year.
48:51There are allegations that the opposing camp led by Tata Group veteran Mehli Mistry has attempted to undermine Noel Tata's leadership acting as a super board by trying to wet board meeting minutes and approve independent directors shortlisted by Tata Suns nomination and remuneration committee.
49:09There are also allegations of opacity and exclusion in key decisions and deepening mistrust among trustees.
49:16Such moves have raised serious corporate governance concerns within the organization.
49:21The rift has become more apparent in the recent months.
49:25The government's concern that these divisions could destabilize Tata Suns, the holding company of a conglomerate that defines Indian business.
49:34From software to steel, power to automobiles, the Tata Group is the backbone of corporate India.
49:41With a combined market capitalization of over 40 lakh crore rupees, even small tremors within the group can shake investor confidence.
49:49Reports also say the center has also discussed the RBI's mandate for listing Tata Suns and the liquidity concerns of the Shapoji Palanji Group, the second largest shareholder in the conglomerate.
50:02But the primary message was unmistakable.
50:05The Tata Trust must act decisively to end the internal power struggle.
50:09Meanwhile, even as the Tata Suns standoff continues, preparations were underway for remembrance events marking the first anniversary of Ratan Tata's death.
50:19A man whose vision and integrity defined the group for decades and who is now certainly being missed by Tata Group investors.
50:34Bureau Report, Business Today TV.
50:39Okay, let's turn to tonight's Get Real India story.
50:43It's a shocker from the national capital.
50:45An RTI filed by my colleague Ashok Upadhyay at India today reveals that nearly one third, listen carefully, one third of ventilators in major Delhi government hospitals are out of order.
50:58The renowned Lok Nayak Hospital has the biggest shortfall with over 70 ventilators non-functional.
51:05The government insists the ventilators are working.
51:08What's the reality?
51:09And if this is happening in our national capital, what will happen in smaller towns?
51:14Take a look at Get Real India.
51:33An RTI filed by India today with leading Delhi government hospitals has revealed alarming gaps in critical healthcare infrastructure.
51:41The data provided shows that nearly one in three ventilators is currently non-functional across major hospitals, including the Maulana Azad Medical College and the Lok Nayak Hospital.
51:55According to the Right to Information response that covers 297 ventilators installed across MAMC, Lok Nayak, Dindayal Upadhyay, Lal Badu Shastri and Sushrita Trauma Centres, 92 of them are non-functional.
52:10That is 31% of the total.
52:13Non-functional ventilators at the Delhi government hospitals out of these 70, more than 70 are at Lok Nayak Hospital itself, including those in anesthesia and childcare departments.
52:26A ray of hope is certainly visible in hospitals such as Dindayal Upadhyay, where 25 out of 25 emergency ventilators are in working state, while in Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, only one out of 13 ventilators is non-functional.
52:44A particularly concerning finding is the number of ventilators provided under PMKs during the pandemic which are non-functional.
52:54At least 41 of these are non-operational. Some wards have entire sets of PMKs ventilators out of service. For instance, in Ward 32 of Lok Nayak Hospital, none of the 20 ventilators are working and in Ward 31, none of the eight are functional.
53:11The Aam Admi Party, which is in power till February, has pinned the blame on the BJP government.
53:18The Delhi government disputed the RTI response.
53:20The Delhi government disputed the RTI response.
53:27The total 74 of our LNGP ventilators are in the LNGP ventilators.
53:42The total 74 of our LNGP ventilators are in the LNGP ventilators.
53:49The LNGP ventilators are in the LNGP.
53:56The LNGP ventilators are working in the LNGP.
54:01The RTI response is working.
54:04But in our hospitals, when you told me, I also checked that there is no shortage.
54:13I will not talk about one or two ventilators.
54:16There is no shortage in any hospital.
54:20All ventilators are on active mode.
54:23So are ventilators functional or not?
54:26The reply to the RTI has put a question mark on the Delhi government's healthcare facilities.
54:31With Ashok Kumar Upadhyay, Dolly Chingakam and Amit Bhardwaj, Bureau Report, India Today.
55:01Namaskar.
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