VZCZCXRO3395
RR RUEHAST RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM
DE RUEHNE #2936/01 3230825
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180825Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4235
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 3063
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 3823
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 2881
RUEHNEH/AMCONSUL HYDERABAD
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA NMFS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 002936 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, 
AND SCA/INS 
STATE FOR STAS 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
HHS PASS TO NIH 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
STATE FOR SCA, OES (STAS FEDOROFF), OES/PCI STEWART; OES/IHB MURPHY 
PASS TO HHS/OGHA (STEIGER/ABDOO/VALDEZ), CDC (BLOUNT/FARRELL), 
NIH/FIC (GLASS/MAMPILLY/HANDLEY), 
FDA (LUMPKIN/WELSCH, GENEVA FOR HOFMAN) 
PASS TO MAS/DAS/JESTRADA 
PASS TO MAC/DAS/HVINEYARD 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO SENV AMED CASC KSCA ECON ETRD BEXP EINV PGOV
TSPL, TRGY, TNGD, EIND, ENRG, KGHG, IN 
 
SUBJECT: NEW DELHI BI-WEEKLY ESTH REPORT: NOVEMBER 2008 FIRST WEEK 
 
NEW DELHI 00002936  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  This edition of the New Delhi ESTH biweekly 
includes updates on the upcoming visit of the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission delegation visit to India, the management of professional 
education in India and the opening of the UK Research Council's 
office in India and poaching incidents.  The health section presents 
a dengue update, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 
training on regulatory aspects of medical devices to officials in 
India, and its other engagements in India, including consultations 
on regulatory systems for genetically engineered organisms and key 
challenges in India. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Delegation Visit to India 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2.  (U) The NRC delegation led by the Chairman Dr. Dale E. Klein is 
visiting India from 11 - 28 November 2008.  During the course of the 
visit the NRC delegation will attend the International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA) Conference on Nuclear Safety hosted by the Atomic 
Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), meet with officials in the 
Government of India (GOI), Department of Atomic Energy, 
representatives of the nuclear power industry and also visit the 
Kaiga Nuclear Power Station in Karnataka on November 21. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
New Agencies to Monitor Higher and Professional Education 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3.  (U) There is a growing demand for reduction of ineffective 
regulations and bodies in the field of higher education and 
professional education.  Recently the National Knowledge Commission 
(NKC) and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 
(FICCI) had independently called for removing of agencies like the 
All Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE) saying that they 
had become completely ineffective or even irrelevant and there is a 
need for more autonomy in higher education.  The Administrative 
Reforms Committee's (ARC) Ninth report titled "Social Capital - a 
Shared Destiny" should be looked into in this context. 
 
¶4.  (U) The ARC is a commission set up by GOI in 2004 to prepare a 
detailed blueprint for revamping the public administration system in 
India.  Mr. Veerappa Moily (former Chief Minister of Karnataka) as 
the Chairperson heads the six member committee of ARC formulated to 
carry out the directives of the commission.  The committee has a 
mandate to suggest improvements of all aspects of governance. 
Reporting on the monitoring and management of the professional 
education in India, which till a decade ago, was primarily publicly 
funded and even now highly regulated by government bodies, has asked 
for the abolishing of the regulatory bodies like the AICTE.  The ARC 
in its Ninth report titled  "Social Capital - a Shared Destiny" 
released on 4 November 2008 has suggested that in place of bodies 
like AICTE, there should be new separate professional councils for 
different streams of professional education including engineering, 
medicine, management and pharmacy.  The committee has further said 
that the councils should have full autonomy to lay down norms, 
standards and parameters related to individual fields for setting up 
of institutions, designing and updating curriculum, faculty 
improvement and research.  One of the prominent recent GOI 
initiative based on the ARC reports was the reservation for backward 
classes in higher education.  Hence one could expect changes to 
happen in the higher and professional education domain based on the 
new report. 
 
NEW DELHI 00002936  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
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UK Research Council Opens Shop in India 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) The UK Research Council (RCUK) inaugurated its new office in 
India with a workshop attended by leading scientists from India and 
UK.  The RCUK Office in India will work with Indian funding bodies 
to share strategies, increase dialogue on funding priorities and 
pursue and promote collaborative research opportunities. The office 
will also focus on developing strategic partnerships between 
scientific research institutes and business communities. 
 
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Tiger Update 
------------ 
 
¶6.  (U) The Rajasthan Forest Department that oversaw the successful 
re-introduction of two tigers a few months back from Ranthambhore 
Tiger Reserve to Sariska Tiger Reserve is on the lookout for another 
young adult tigress to relocate to Sariska.  However, poaching 
incidents continue and in separate incidents tigers in Sundarbans 
Tiger Reserve in West Bengal and Kanha Tiger Reserve were killed by 
poachers.  In Sundarbans this is the first of its kind poaching 
incident in over fifteen years, however Kanha and other parks in 
Central India has seen a spate of poaching incidents over the last 
few years. 
 
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Dengue Update 
------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) The Delhi-based National Institute of Communicable Diseases 
(NICD) has confirmed on November 3, 2008 that in India's State of 
Punjab, the Ludhiana district is the worst affected with a total 
number of dengue cases at 2,200, with six reported deaths.  Other 
districts in Punjab affected are Amritsar, Bhatinda, Jullunder, and 
Patiala; however, these in comparison have fewer dengue cases than 
in Ludhiana.  In Delhi, as of 26 October 2008 a total of 1,057 cases 
were reported, with 2 deaths.  These numbers are for the National 
Capital Region of Delhi, including Gurgaon.  Two other States 
reporting dengue cases are West Bengal and Karnataka, but the case 
numbers are not significant. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
FDA Collaborates with India's Regulators on Medical Devices 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶8.  (U) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for 
Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), in collaboration with the 
Drugs Controller General (India) (DCGI) office, Central Drugs 
Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Directorate General of Health 
Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government 
of India, organized the Medical Devices Workshop.  Three FDA CDRH 
experts, Deputy Director for Regulatory Affairs Dr. Larry Spears, 
Associate Director for Policy and Operations Office of In Vitro 
Diagnostics Dr. Don St. Pierre, and Acting Deputy Director Division 
of Office of Compliance Dr. Erin Keith, provided training on 
regulatory aspects of medical devices to regulatory officials from 
the DCGI's office and State Drug Controllers in Delhi on 30-31 
October 2008.  Medical devices is one of six areas for U.S.-India 
collaborations with the DCGI's office.  The other areas are 
 
NEW DELHI 00002936  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Structure of Central Drug Authority (CDA), E-Governance, 
Pharmacovigilance, Clinical Trials, and Regulation for High 
Technology Products.  Workshop topics included an overview of FDA's 
mission and legislative mandates and appraised participants of FDA's 
establishment registration and medical device listing, quality 
systems, import and export requirements for medical devices, 
regulation of combination products, regulation of in vitro 
diagnostics, classification and pre-market notification, the 
pre-market approval process, investigational device exemptions, 
medical device reporting, medical device recall, and an introduction 
to enforcement inspections and regulatory actions.  FDA experts will 
also speak at the 13th Asian Harmonization Working Party (AHWP) 
Pre-Meeting Workshop 3-4 November 2008 in New Delhi and attend the 
AHWP meeting from 5-6 November 2008.  This meeting is being 
organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and 
Industry (FICCI) with support by the AHWP and India's Ministry of 
Health and Family Welfare. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
International Consultation on National Biotechnology Regulatory 
Authority 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) U.S. FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) 
Director Dr. Jesse L. Goodman is participating in the international 
roundtable on the proposed National Biotechnology Regulatory 
Authority (NBRA) organized by the Department of Biotechnology, 
Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, from 3-4 
November 2008 in New Delhi.  The topics of the consultation include 
establishing and making operational Indian agencies and regulatory 
systems to regulate genetically engineered organisms and to address 
key challenges and share experiences.  Experts from Australia, 
Canada, the European Union, the Philippines, and U.S. agencies such 
as FDA and APHIS are participating in the deliberations.  Dr. 
Goodman will also meet with key officials of the Government of 
India. 
 
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