PHARMA LITERATI

Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Saturday that efforts should be made to make quality higher education affordable and cautioned students to be careful of “unscrupulous schools” that left alumni with high debt and “useless degrees”. Speaking at the convocation ceremony of Shiv Nadar University, Rajan said while banks must be careful to ensure that student loans were repaid in full, there needed to be concessions for those who fell upon bad times or opted for public service jobs. “We have to be careful that student loans are repaid in full by those who have the means, while they are forgiven in part for those who fall on bad times or those who take low-paying public service jobs,” Rajan said. Middle-class students commonly obtain hefty loans to fund higher educational aspirations. Rajan said even while inequality between countries was diminishing, inequality within countries was rising and that free market was not “fair”, saying even well-run market ec...

The HRD Ministry has worked out an agreement between All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to settle "regulatory discord" over running of pharmacy colleges. According to official sources, there are over 1,000 pharmacy colleges in the country which are regulated by AICTE while PCI, which comes under the Health Ministry, lays down norms for them. "There have been instances when the two bodies are not on the same page on key matters like fixing the number of seats in colleges. It is a case of jurisdictional overlapping. Recently, the Calcutta High Court had directed the HRD Ministry to resolve the conflict between these two regulatory bodies," an official source told. HRD Minister Secretary V S Oberoi had held a meeting with top officials of AICTE and PCI last week to discuss the issues following the high court order, the sources said. To create greater synergy between the two bodies, it has been decide...

Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is working to have a uniformity in syllabus format for B Pharm and M Pharm education in the country. This will include bringing in a dedicated syllabus and need-based curriculum across the 1100 pharmacy colleges in the country. Currently the dual control of pharmacy education by PCI and AICTE creates a lot of confusion among various universities and state governments with regard to student intake. Now PCI is looking for a single authority for pharmacy education on similar lines that of the Councils of Medical, Dental and Nursing where college managements of these courses are regulated by a single body. Because of the dual control by PCI and AICTE, the intake of student admission is skewed. While the former insists only on 60-100 candidates to be admitted, the latter permits 120-240 students to be admitted. Pharmacy colleges pan-India now see the need for regulating the intake of admission. “Moreover the pharma industry has high expectation...

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for setting up of three new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AllMS) at Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). This involves financial implication of Rs.4949 crore. The new AIIMS will be established as institutes of national importance for providing quality medical education, nursing education and also to provide tertiary healthcare facilities to the people of these locations. The proposed institution shall have a hospital with capacity of 960 beds. In addition, there shall be a teaching block, administrative block, Ayush block, auditorium, nursing college, night shelter, hostel and residential facilities. Of the total expenditure of Rs.4949 crore, the cost of the new AIIMS at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh will be to the tune of Rs.1618 crore, at Nagpur in Maharashtra of Rs.1577 cror...

Dear All, Pharm D. course has attracted immense interest from the pharmacy fraternity. Herein we present an information guide for the course. This video developed by Dr. Anwar Shaikh gives insight of the course.            Thanks Dr. Anwar for sharing this piece of information.   Team Pharma Literati

Ahmedabad Mirror reports that, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has barred 13 pharmacy colleges from participating in counselling process of Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) by declaring them as "no admission zones". Seven of these 13 colleges neither have a principal nor a director. Three colleges have submitted a request for closure of the course and five do not have necessary approvals from GTU or Pharmacy Council of India (PCI).   COLLEGES OUT OF ADMISSION PROCESS Atmiya Pharmacy College, Ankodia. BS Patel Pharmacy College, Saffrony, Mehsana. GHB Pharmacy College, Aniyad. I K Patel College of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Himmatnagar. Nilamben Manubhai Padalia Pharmacy College, Navapura, Ahmedabad. Saraswati School of Pharmacy, Ranela, Mehsana. Radhe School of Pharmacy and Bio-research Institute, Hirpur, Vijapur. Shree Swaminarayan College of Pharmacy, Kalol. SS Institute of Pharmaceutical Education Research, Hadala, Rajkot...

Pharmabiz reports that most of the well-known Pharm.D institutes and colleges in the country have successfully provided placements to the first batch of Pharm.D pass-outs, with some of them gearing up to find lucrative jobs in the market, thanks to the focus on patient-oriented rather than product-oriented Pharm.D course.   “Several aspirants have chosen to travel overseas for their careers hoping to find careers in community and hospital settings. Since there is a great demand for starting of Pharm.D programme in the institutions, they are also finding careers in academic settings,” Dr B Suresh, vice chancellor, JSS University, Mysore & president, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi, confirms to Pharmabiz.         Source: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=85531&sid=1