Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

Road Safety Week Concludes CONCERN REMAINS : The A&N P olice along with the rest of the country observed 24th R oad S afety W eek in the islands (from 1st to 7th Jan, 2013) by indulging in various activities namely E ducational classes for (motor vehicle) drivers, F ree E ye test camp for drivers, R oad S afety W alk, P olice B and D isplay at C hildren T raffic P ark and P ainting competition for school children. Also lectures on R oad S afety were delivered at various schools and E ducational pamphlets on traffic rules distributed to promote road safety. According to A&N P olice release carried in local newspapers during the recent road safety week, the year long enforcement of relevant rule provisions (during 2012) saw impounding of 575 drivers found intoxicated while driving. Such offenders   were arrested, their vehicles seized and their name recommended for cancellation of   driving license. Also during the year (2012), challans were issued to 1...

TABLETS MISSING FROM BLISTER STRIP;  RETAILER REFUSES TO ENTERTAIN COMPLAINT,  CONSUMER LEFT WITH HOBSON’S CHOICE Mr S omen wanted to purchase some medicines for his wife, prescribed by a D octor. He purchased those M edicines from a reputed pharmaceutical shop near G anesh T emple at A berdeen B azaar. The prescribed dose of 30 tablets was supplied to him in 3 blister strips containing 10 tabs each against cash bill. After consumption of 20 tablets, his wife picked up the third strip and pushed open the first blister and surprisingly found it empty. Puzzled she opened the second location which also was found empty. Thereafter both of them examined each of the remaining blisters and found all of them to be empty; ie tablets were missing from each of the 10 blisters in the strip. He visited the pharmaceutical shop the next day along with the empty strip, cash memo and narrated the shocking discovery. After inspection, the shopkeeper said since the strip was b...

GETS REFUND FOR INFERIOR QUALITY CLOTH SOLD TO HIM Based on need, liking and other personal factors, a buyer visits a shop, makes a particular choice, pays for it and owns the item for use. In the whole exercise, where goods (including services) and money change hands, the customer (consumer) by virtue of payment made is entitled to get full value of goods (including services) worth paid for and the seller by virtue of accepting payment is bound to deliver full value of goods (including services) to the customer. But this principle of fair trade is not always followed. This article discusses one such incident where inferior quality cloth was sold to a customer giving rise to a consumer dispute. The customer, at the first instance approached the shopkeeper for a settlement which the shopkeeper declined. The matter was thus taken to consumer forum where the consumer got full refund of the amount paid by him along with incidental cost. During F ebruary 2010 , I purchase...

EIA IN HEIST Every time I cross the C hatham B ridge , the J etty-cum- V ehicle F erry R amp adjoining the bridge invariably captures my attention towards it. The more I try to look the other way, the more I feel drawn towards its abandoned status. The jetty inaugurated on 22/02/2002 , despite every sincere effort, failed to serve the purpose for which it has been constructed. In the present article I will not be going into the inconveniences the passengers faced nor would I go into the operational difficulties which even the seasoned boat masters encountered in berthing while the jetty was put to use for a brief period. But I would certainly mention, had a proper site survey been conducted before construction of the jetty, the massive blunder could have been prevented from being committed. The simplest tool that could have helped authorities take an informed decision on the suitability (or otherwise) of the particular site for construction of the jetty is a “ W ind R...