The modern thinking Indian

Swine Flu (or more correct, H1N1 flu) is now spread all over the world, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. It has been reported from countries all over the world, with people contracting the disease, and a majority of them recovering; for a small fraction of them, the disease worsens to the point that the afflicted person dies. One of the major factors that has helped prevent a higher number of deaths is the fact that the virus has not mutated into a virulent form. Currently, the virus is treated by the drug called oseltamivir or Tamiflu. However, like many other diseases, there will be a form of the virus that is resistant to this drug, and because they are more difficult to treat, this strain of the virus spreads.
Scientists are worried about a strain of the virus spreading that is resistant to the drug, and hence are tracking these cases. As an example, there are many forms of other bacteria caused diseases such as TB that have multi-drug resistant strains and which are of major concern to medical personnel the world over (link to article):

An increasing number of countries, including some in Asia, are now reporting Tamiflu resistant H1N1 virus. The worrying development, according to WHO, has seen 12 countries including China and Singapore. India has not reported the mutation in the virus so far. The changes in the virus reported in samples are making these strains of swine flu resistant to oseltamivir or Tamiflu - the antiviral of choice globally. Such cases have also been found in Japan, US, Hong Kong, Denmark and Canada.
Going by available data, majority of the resistant cases were reported where oseltamivir was given as preventive medication to people exposed to the flu but who had not tested positive themselves. Some cases were a result of treatment of mild illness as well as "immuno-compromised" patients or persons whose immune systems were working imperfectly.

This was the main worry in the case of earlier diseases where antibiotics were given for any problem, including treating the common cold. In the current case, health authorities are trying to prevent such a case by not allowing Tamilflu to be sold over the counter, and the dispensation of which has been restricted to either patients, or to those who are in high risk situations such as medical personnel, screening personnel.
Barring any mutation that causes the virus to become more virulent, the expectation would be that swine flu will be like any other flu, which spreads like the common flu, and patients recover after treatment. Initially, the media also went overboard, but now it seems like that there is some sense of responsibility and carefulness being exhibited by media all over the world.

Labels: H1N1 Flu, Health, Infection, Media, Medical, Swine Flu, Tamilflu, Treatment, Virus

Image the situation; a private college in a state run by a political party; the college is owned by a member of the same political party who is now also a central minister of the Government of India. The same college demands money for admitting students (and not some small sum, but the sum of Rs. 20 lakhs). A media team plans a sting and shows the administrative officer of one of the colleges (the college is Shree Balaji Medical College owned by Union minister of state for information and broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan); in the other college, the registrar asks for Rs. 40 lakhs for students to be allowed admission into the medical college.
This seems perfectly realistic, inspite of Supreme Court judgments and Government policy, capitation based admission is a reality which the Government and the education ministry is perfectly fine to let happen. After all, for Governments that are able to sniff out the movements of opposition parties through their internal intelligence agencies, how hard would it be to find out which all colleges are charging capitation fees ? But when you consider that colleges are owned by politicians and important people, there is no effort that is going to happen to stop such practices from happening.
Why is it important to curb capitation ? Capitation means that a person will enter an important institution such as a medical college or engineering college without a validation of their basic ability to be capable of completing the course. These are colleges that will turn out doctors and engineers, all important elements of society (and if a college can charge Rs. 40 lakh for entry, it would charge a bit more and let these people also complete the course). In addition, poorer but capable students would not be able to pay these huge amounts. And if they took money from somewhere, the huge amount of repayment required would mean that they would bend corners to make the required money.
With this sting, the Government has sprung into action and promised all sort of actions (refer this article):

The Times of India's shocking expose of medical seats being put on sale for Rs 20-40 lakh by medical colleges in Tamil Nadu has triggered a probe into the scam by the Union government. Both HRD and health ministries on Wednesday said that they were examining the expose, and if found correct, would take action against these colleges, including their derecognition.
Union health ministry secretary Naresh Dayal said the two colleges would be derecognised if the veracity of the evidence is established. The Medical Council of India, the regulator for medical education, called the sale of medical seats an "unpardonable act" and has called a meeting of its executive committee next week to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu health department decided on Wednesday to issue show-cause notices to Sri Ramachandra University (SRU) and Shree Balaji Medical College whose officials were caught on camera asking for capitation fees of Rs 20-40 lakh, for violating the Tamil Nadu Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Collection Capitation Fee) Act 1992 and Supreme Court rulings against capitation fee.

Sounds like action is immediate, right ? Well, one is really not sure. For colleges belonging to important people, especially those close to parties that are part of the Government, I am skeptical that the Congress will take this a step further and actually take action. After some time, the college would claim that the sting was a fake sting and then the case would move into different circles.

Labels: College, Education, India, Media, Medical, Money, Policy, Sting

In India, the police are still governed by a set of rules that were set up in British times; then the aim of the police was to implement the policies of the ruler against a ruled nation. Looking at the current situation, one would not be faulted for thinking that something similar is the current situation. The police is formed out of the society as we have currently, and assumes that the police is 'THE government' in areas that are away from major cities. If you go to a semi-urban area, then there are only 2-3 centers of power: the local politician of the ruling party, the powerful criminal, the local top bureaucrat, and then the policeman, in cahoots with one, or all of them.
In such a case, a policemen who does not have enough morals or controls would think that he is the local equivalent of all authority, and that any action of his cannot be faulted. If not so, how does one explain the case where policemen can rape a citizen of the country (without worrying that the law will catch up with them):

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday rapped the Haryana police for the rape of a woman in Rohtak allegedly by two constables, saying "when the protectors of the law become perpetrators of crime, the life of the common man becomes miserable".
The Bench also directed the state government to file a detailed status report within two weeks on the circumstances that drove the young mother of two to the extreme step. They said the compensation announced for the minor daughters of the woman "cannot retrieve the honour of the deceased or the family" nor could it bring the victim back to life.

The biggest problem is that even when the victim complained, the police force did not investigate. It is only left to either the victim taking a drastic action like committing suicide; or when the media highlights the case and brings unprecedented public pressure to bear. However, this is not a solution. The solution, as pronounced by the Supreme Court, is to reform the Police Force and bring it under more responsibility.

Labels: Court, Empowerment, Governance, Law, Media, Morality, Police, Reform, Responsibility, Security

In a new low in the relations between state Governments and the media, the top cop of the Gujrat Government, Ahmedabad police commissioner O P Mathur filed a case of sedition (FIR's) against the Times of India. This has happened over the past week, ever since the newspaper publishes articles insinuating links between the cop and the underworld. Now, in India, most people are ready to believe that the underworld has links with politicians and policemen at all levels (helped by a large number of movies, as well as many such cases in real life), and if a newspaper publishes such reports, then many people will be very eager to believe such stories.
There is a side to this story where the media is expected to do responsible publishing, and where a story needs to backed up by facts. Now, in the west, this is backed up to some extent by the standards set by the editorial boards of respected newspapers as well as libel laws (not something that is rigidly enforced or practised in India). In India, newspapers and other media are currently in the forefront of highlighting many areas such as corruption, criminality, and various issues in the legal / judicial system. They need to be given some slack in this area.
Sedition is a crime where the accused is being held responsible for acting against the state - this would be commonly applied to people such as terrorists / separatists, counterfeit money producers and traffickers, etc. Applying such cases to newspaper people who file articles against individual policemen is stretching the law by a fair degree, and one would not expect a policeman to do such a thing.

Labels: Media, Police, Responsibility