ICMR delay in giving nod irks Tharoor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor criticised Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an apex medical research agency of Central government, for delaying the approval of test kits developed by two research organisation based in Thiruvananthapuram. According to him, the long delay in emergency situation came even after the test kits purchased from China were found to be highly inaccurate.  

Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology and Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology have developed RT-LAMP test and antibody rapid test kits respectively. The former, according to Tharoor, is a conclusive, yet faster and cheaper test which could replace expensive and time-consuming RT-PCR tests.