Chandhu Balachandran

🦠 Virology | Infectious Diseases Biology | Genomics 🧬 | 🧠 Neurotropic & Neglected viruses | Vaccines | Outbreak Response @icmrnari

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

#Thudakkam 😂.

I feel sorry for Mohanlal & Jude. The less said about Vismaya, the better.

Sadly, years from now the Mammotty vs Mohanlal discussions will be very different; how one chose his craft while the other focused on business. And that, would be our greatest loss !

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Finally understood why the raving reviews for #PradhamaDrishtiyaKuttakkar included a comparison with #Drishyam.

It is basically a rehashed Drishyam, with more of forensics & police procedure.

Engaging watch.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Why TF does #Drishyam3 hindi trailer look so much better than the Malayalam movie 😪

If it ends up being better, Antony & Jeethu would have destroyed an iconic movie by not knowing when to stop.

There is D1 and then D2/D3. Should have stopped at D1!!

[IISc Bangalore @iiscbangalore]

IISc researchers and collaborators have developed a recombinant, nanobody-based antivenom that offers broad protection against venom from geographically diverse cobra and king cobra species in India. @LabVenomics

Read: https://t.co/MbID1I88TP

#IIScresearch

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

I don’t know if this is true, but I sure hope @IndiaCinepolis understands this!

[Sann @san_x_m]

A man in Bangalore bought 3 tickets for an afternoon film.He got to his seat on time.

Then the cinema played 25 minutes of advertisements before the film began.

Because of that, the film finished late. He had work calls booked afterwards. He had to cancel them.

So he took the biggest cinema chain in the country to court.

His name is Abhishek M R.

He is a lawyer in Bangalore. He was 31 at the time.

The date was 26th December 2023. The film was Sam Bahadur. The cinema was a PVR INOX.

His ticket said the show would begin at a certain time. It did not begin at that time.

What played first was 25 minutes of commercials. Not trailers for other films. Advertisements.

Now, everybody has sat through this. You reach the hall on time, and then you sit in the dark watching advertisements while the film waits. It is so normal that nobody even thinks of it as a problem any more.

He thought it was a problem.

He filed a case at the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Bangalore.

His argument was simple. He had paid for a service. That service was advertised to start at a fixed time. It did not start at that time. His own time was taken from him without his agreement, and it cost him his work calls.

The cinema chain defended itself. It said the law requires cinemas to play about 10 minutes of public service announcements before a film, so some delay cannot be helped.

The commission accepted that 10 minutes may be required.

It did not accept that 10 minutes explains 25.

The order went against the company.

It was told to pay him 20,000 rupees as damages, and 8,000 rupees towards the cost of fighting the case. It was also told to pay 1 lakh rupees to the Consumer Welfare Fund, which is a government fund for consumer protection work.

The wording of the judgement is the part worth remembering.

The commission wrote that in the new era, time is considered as money, and each person's time is very precious. It said that 25 to 30 minutes is a considerable amount of time to sit idle in a theatre watching unnecessary advertisements. It said people have tight schedules and do not have time to waste.

PVR INOX runs more than 900 screens across India and Sri Lanka.

He had 3 tickets and a bill, and he did not let it go.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Should compulsory insurance contributions support treatments, the specific benefits of which cannot be demonstrated?

The German decision therefore establishes a defensible principle: popularity, tradition, and patient demand are not substitutes for reliable evidence.

[Edzard Ernst @EdzardErnst]

FINALLY: The end of reimbursed homeopathy in Germany https://t.co/3XMR9qOPW5 via @edzardernst

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

One of the biggest culture shocks while settling in Pune was how normalised BAMS/BHMS graduates working in ERs/hospitals was.

[Bible Of Blasphemy @rjVACHAS]

This is for mallus here.

Have you ever seen a BAMS/BHMS graduate working illegally in any capacity in a modern medicine hospital here in Kerala???

Me-No never. If I ever see one,I call the police & press at once.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Finally got around to watching #Pallichattambi & couldn’t wonder what happened to @DijoJoseAntony. Personally had high hopes after JGM & he follows it with Malayalee from India and this !

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

This is actually a good trend, since most of these clinical seats will be under management quota.

[Sruthy Susan Ullas @SruthySUllasTOI]

783 PG medical seats are lying vacant in Karnataka. Unlike previous years, this time there are seats in derma, gen medicine, radiodiagnosis, gynaec, ortho and respiratory medicine that have found no takers. Most of them are high fee category.

@S_PrakashPatil @NMC_IND @VCRguhs

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Another conference, another Delhi visit & yet another respiratory issue.

Feeling respect and contempt for the people of Delhi at the same time.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

You read about it, hear about it & watch videos about it. But nothing prepares you for the experience that is Delhi.

The air, the traffic, the people.

WHY ?

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Just watched a video clip of the state leader of a national party, an ex-MoS confidently stating stupidity about the Infant mortality rate in Kerala.

How can people with so much power be so unaware of basics is beyond me.

[Gaurav Sabnis @gauravsabnis]

Gautam Gambhir will go down in history as the dumbest coach ever in Indian cricket and Surya Kumar Yadav as the most undeserving Indian captain ever, chosen only to dance at Gambhir's arbitrary wishes.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

At #SANVAD2026 conclave being organized by @ICMRDELHI & a key takeaway of day 1 is, India will surely eliminate sickle cell anemia. @IGIBSocial doing pathbreaking work.

@Debojyoti_C wonderful talk & great work.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

I don’t believe people are inherently against strikes/ workers. The issue is majorly about forcing everyone to strike & interfering with people’s right to go about their day.

Previous strikes have seen forceful shutdowns of shops, preventing people from travelling.

[S.R.Praveen @myopiclenses]

Malayalam news channels often claim that workers' strikes happen only in Kerala. Someone who believed in this lie got schooled when he spoke to French & German tourists who landed in Kerala today, on the day of the nationwide strike against the anti-worker labour codes.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

The school bus video is a startling reminder of the moral decay of our society. Teaching its children that joy can be extracted from another’s pain. They laugh, rehearsing for a future already ruined.
The future lost to cheap politics will return, not to forgive, but to collect.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

When a politician, cornered by scandal, thunders, “I will end my public career if this is proven,” it is meant as a sacrifice.

But who asked for the offering?
One cannot threaten the world with the loss of something it never treasured.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Sanju is neither unlucky nor a victim. He is a good player, but unfortunately in India you need to be exceptional.

There are no free lunches !

[Kerala Box Office @KeralaBxOffce]

ഇത്രയേറെ നിർഭാഗ്യവാനായ ഒരു ഇന്ത്യൻ പ്ലയെർ ഉണ്ടായിട്ടുണ്ടോ എന്നുതന്നെ സംശയമാണ്.. 2015 ൽ debut കളിച്ച പ്ലെയറാണ്, എന്നാൽ ശേഷം കിട്ടിയ എല്ലാ സെലക്ഷനും ഒന്നുകിൽ ബാക് അപ്പ് ആയി , അല്ലേൽ താത്കാലികമായി മാത്രമാണ്… കളിച്ച എല്ലാ കളികളും knockout മാച്ചുകൾ തന്നെയായിരുന്നു… അങ്ങനെ കരിയറിന്റെ 11 വർഷങ്ങൾക്ക് ശേഷം തന്റെ ജീവിതത്തിൽ ആദ്യമായി ഒരു സീരീസിൽ മേജർ പ്ലെയർ ആയി selection കിട്ടുന്നു. ഈ 2026 ലോകകപ്പിലും, അതിന് മുൻപുള്ള Nz സീരീസിലുമായി …
എന്നാൽ നിർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ ലോക കപ്പിന് തൊട്ടുമുമ്പുള്ള NZ സീരീസിലെ 5 മത്സരങ്ങളും പരാജയമാവുന്നു. ലോകകപ്പ് പടിവാതിൽക്കെ നിൽക്കെ പ്ലേയിങ് 11 ൽ നിന്നും പുറത്താകുന്നു.

ഇനി അൽഭുതങ്ങൾ സംഭവിച്ചാൽ മാത്രം ഒരിക്കൽ കൂടി ഇന്ത്യന് ജേഴ്സിയിൽ കാണാം….!!!

🥹 Feeling sad for #SanjuSamson

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

Also, Free vaccine ≠ Zero costs.

Rabies vaccine probably has the highest indirect cost associated, considering the vaccination schedule ( especially for PEP)

So people saying “just the vaccine” are either cruel or dishonest!

[Aditya Gupta @DrAditya2935]

Something I really want to emphasize.
A category III rabies bite requires Vaccine + immunoglobulin.
Not just vaccine.
The ~30-50 odd rabies cases I saw - all were vaccinated.
No Immunoglobulin
It’s not available at many govt centers (including AIIMS btw)
And it’s costly - ₹20-30k
So, no - if a dog bites - what’s the issue - just get free vaccine is dishonest and vile.

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

The only OTT subscription worth the money is @Netflix : from the way videos resume seamlessly between devices to the effortless streaming on an android TV to the lack of ads. Netflix is the King 👑

[Chandhu Balachandran @docBalaC]

#BhaBhaBa a movie that does not deserve to exist 🤮

@GokulamMovies helped out @Mohanlal during a crisis, but roping in a legend for a piss poor movie like this was a crime & the people involved should be ashamed pf themselves.