Self regulation is missing in Indian aviation industry

Why every time the government machinery should intervene in sorting out irrational actions by the industry resulting in public outrage in India? Airlines in India started to charge exorbitant spot domestic air fares without any justifiable reason. The airfares were steeply raised often three to four times the normal fares, particularly during festive seasons! This is not existent in any other public transportation system. If this is permitted, why not allow railways to follow the same and swindle the common man who is already harassed by the inflation?

As of now, there is no transparency in deciding the airfares. Let alone the public, even the regulator (Director General of Civil Aviation), if functioning, is not aware of the modus-operandi followed by the airlines in deciding the airfares.

Following the public outcry, the government seems to have intervened and issued stern warning to the airlines to give fair airfares in consumer-friendly and transparent manner.

The airlines should not be allowed charge fares outside the range of fares which should be decided in consultation with the government regulator. Maybe, the government can also contribute by reducing the sales tax on ATF and control the airport charges which is reported to have gone up by 30% (out-sourcing effect).

Unreal Realty

In India, it is not shocking. Well established bank officials have taken bribes to dole out multi-crore rupees loans to real estate companies. It is suspected that some of the projects are risky and dubious. Though, apparently it looks like bribes-for-favours scandal, there must be much more than meets the eye. There are inherent irrationalities involved in the realty sector. The realty prices are soaring not because of the actual demand, but the prices are manipulated by the builders. The banks are providing them easy money which helps them to hold-on to the property thereby an artificial demand is created. Prices are rigged by the builders lobby in all the major cities.

The government should intervene and investigate the scandals since government banks and institutions like LIC of India are involved, and it is public money. It is high time that the prices of realty should have some controls and the prices should be justified. The bank officials should be made responsible for the recovery of loans given to the builders in a given time frame. The guilty should be punished and sent to jail. India should not end up in a situation similar to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Medical Insurance claim – agony unlimited

Why there are so many complaints in the newspapers, of insurance companies not respecting the claims made by the medical insurance policy holders? The very common reason for refusal is “disease pre-existing”.

There are cases where the claims of from the policy holders have been up-held by the Consumer Courts in-spite of the fact that the policy holder did not declare the commonly existing conditions such as diabetes and hypertension while buying medical insurance. The regulatory body, IRDA should clearly bring this out to the public notice and instruct the insurance companies not to resort this type of tactics to refuse insurance claims.

Cashless medical insurance should be made really “cashless” as per the insurance policy. Why the regulators are not intervening and penalize the companies for the torture they are giving to the policy holders? The erring hospitals which delay reimbursements or charge patients indirectly should be blacklisted.

Reliance Fresh – scope for improvement

The outlet, particularly at CBD, Belapur (Navi Mumbai) is in a bad shape. The so-called FRESH vegetables are not fresh. Old stocks are kept in the racks for extended time periods giving not a good and appreciable sight. The green vegetables (patta vegetables) are not cleaned at all. So much soil in the vegetables. I do not understand how such a big and quality-conscious organization can do such things?

It is also a fact that the outlet must be doing well inspite of so many problems such as non-availability of second weighing machine, improper deployment of the staff, etc, etc. This is not because of the quality but mere helplessness of the consumers. No competition.

The nearby residents are of the firm opinion that the quality of vegetables and fruits should improve. The not-so-fresh vegetables and fruits should be sold at 50% discount (late in the evening) so that these are not wasted. It is criminal to throw-away so much of the vegetables and fruits when poor people do not get to eat these things. Large quantity of spoiled vegetables and fruits are disposed as garbage daily from the Belapur out-let.

Irradiation to Ensure the Safety and Quality of Prepared Meals

This publication (STI/PUB/1365, 375 pp. Date of Issue: 8 April 2009) presents the results of an FAO/IAEA coordinated research project (CRP) on the use of irradiation to ensure the safety and quality of pre-prepared foods. There is an increasing worldwide demand for pre-prepared and take-away meals. However, the traditional methods of preparing convenience foods via retort-processing and freezing are being replaced in favour of chilled foods, due mainly to their fresher and often more appealing appearance. Chilled prepared foods, however, are non-sterile and their heightened potential for microbiological contamination creates a considerable limitation to their shelf-life. The findings of this CRP demonstrate that radiation processing of pre-prepared meals results in a safer product by eliminating existing pathogens, and thereby reducing health risks while extending the foods’ commercial shelf-life.

This publication presents the findings of the CRP and offers a discussion of the possible further utilization and marketing of this new application of irradiation technology.

Food Adulteration

The bitter truth is the food items we consume are adulterated in some way or the other. Recently, during the festive season in India, it was observed that the ingredients to make sweets, such as milk, sugar, khoya, ghee, maida, etc are found to be adulterated.

As per the law, no person shall manufacture, sell, stock, distribute or exhibit for sale any article of food, including ready-to-serve food, irradiated food except under a licence issued by the State Commissioner. Manufacture for sale, or sale of adulterated food article is an offence. A complaint can be made to the Food Inspector. The health inspectors in municipalities and municipal corporations are notified as Food Inspectors for purpose of checking adulteration of food and prosecuting the offenders. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not doing enough to control the adulteration.

A complaint can also be made to the Consumer court for compensation for the damage caused on consumption of adulterated food item. The Prevention Food adulteration Act, 1954 stands repealed from the date “The Food Safety and Standards (FS &S) Act 2005” passed by parliament comes into force. If the food article is unsafe, substandard, or misbranded you can complain to the Food Safety Officer of the local area. Under the new Act, the Adjudicating Officer or the court trying the offence also can award compensation to the victim.

The Indian government has not done enough to control the adulteration of food products. There is law existing in the country to prosecute the guilty, but the people are not aware of the laws. The common man does not know whom to complain and how they work! The first thing the government should do is to increase the awareness amongst the public regarding the food adulteration, the local authority to whom the complain should be addressed and also provide proper guidelines to the manufacturers.

Safer CT scans

CT scanning—sometimes called CAT scanning—is one of the best and fastest noninvasive medical test that helps doctors diagnose and treat medical conditions. CT scanning combines special x-ray equipment with sophisticated computers to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of the body. The scans are used to diagnose health problems such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, appendicitis, trauma and musculoskeletal disorders

The greatly increased availability of CT, together with its value for an increasing number of conditions, has been responsible for a large rise in popularity. However, the CT is regarded as a moderate to high radiation diagnostic technique. The radiation dose for a particular study depends on multiple factors such as volume scanned, patient build, number and type of scan sequences, and desired resolution and image quality. In United Kingdom, CT scans contributed 47% of the total collective dose from medical X-ray examinations in 2000/2001. World wide, including in developing countries, CT usage has increased considerably which led to an overall rise in the total amount of medical exposures.

The exposure of the patient, particularly children, has potential for induction of caner and hence, the probability of additional rise in fatality from the radiation induced cancer may increase marginally over the background rate. Numerous studies are being conducted on this aspect. Incidents of patients receiving radiation doses more-than-expected have been reported due to equipment failure and improper use of the equipments.

Typical scan doses in milli-Sievert, mSv (Sievert is the unit of radiation dose)

Chest X-ray - 0.1
Head CT - 1.5
Screening mammography - 3
Chest CT - 5.8
Cardiac CT angiogram - 6.7 – 13
Barium enema - 15

[For purposes of comparison, the average background exposure in India is around 2 mSv in one year].

There is a recent advice from the US Food and Drug Administration that the manufacturers, users and regulators should together arrive at an optimal solution to this problem so that over-exposures of the patients are avoided, and the CT scans should be made safer for the benefit of patients.