India bans import of rabies vaccine from China manufacturer

NEW DELHI: The drug controller general of India on Tuesday banned the import of the rabies vaccine from Chinese vaccine manufacturer Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences, which was found to have faked records and ordered to stop production earlier this month by China’s drug controller.

Officials familiar with the matter said the vaccine is imported by India and procured by both private and government centres that administer it for protection from rabies, which is 100% fatal but can be prevented by vaccination. Rabies kills an estimated 20,000 people in the country each year, according to the National Rabies Control Programme.

“We’re in the process of issuing a show cause notice to the procurer who gets the vaccine for the government . There has to be a stop on imports from this particular manufacturer with immediate effect,” said Dr S Eswara Reddy, the drug controller general of India. “The vaccine is being used in India, but we don’t have the exact details of the total number of units imported or where they have been distributed. I have asked my staff to prepare a detailed information report on its import and distribution,” Reddy added. “Once we get the information, we will ask for a recall of the vaccine from market. But till then, there is a blanket ban on its import.” MUMBAI/NEWDELHI: India’s largest payments bank Paytm has stopped enrolment of new customers on its platform following observations made by the banking regulator, four people with the knowledge of the matter said.

Paytm stopped enrolling new customers on June 20 after an audit by the Reserve Bank of India, which made certain observations about the process the company follows in acquiring new customers and its adherence to know-your-customer (KYC) norms.