Tag: India

SIA Ordered To Pay Indian Customer S$735 In Compensation For Downgrading Ticket Class

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been ordered by an Indian consumer protection council to compensate a businessman 35,000 rupees (S$735) for downgrading his ticket from business class to economy without prior notice.

According to a report in New Indian Express, the businessman, Mr GVK Reddy, had flown on flight SQ528 from Singapore to Chennai on Apr 19, 2011. However, he was told at the check-in counter that his business-class seat had been downgraded to economy class. As compensation, the airline gave him a S$600 voucher – the difference in the classes’ ticket price.

Mr Reddy protested but had no choice but to take the seat offered by the airline, the report said. He later filed a legal notice with the airline seeking compensation of more than S$104,000 for costs including damages, deficiency of service, and causing him mental agony and pain.

In a written reply, SIA argued that Mr Reddy was the last person to make a booking for a business class seat and was also the last to arrive for check-in, by which time, the business-class tickets were overbooked. The ticket conditions also make it clear to passengers that they may not be able to travel in their chosen class due to overbooking, the report quoted the airline as saying.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum of South Chennai noted that the downgrade, without prior notification, “clearly amounted to a deficiency in service”, the report said.

It ordered SIA to pay the customer 30,000 rupees (S$630) as compensation for mental agony and hardship, and to pay 5,000 rupees (S$105) for the cost of the proceedings within six weeks, the report said.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 23, 2015
Foreign-Graduates Dentists Working Illegally In Singapore?
A reader has informed TRE that a bunch of foreign-graduate dentists on conditional registration in Singapore are doing dental work in Little India without any apparent supervision.

The dental clinic at Kerbau Road is called Little India Dentist (www.littleindiadentist.com.sg).

According to its website, Little India Dentist has a team of 4 dentists [Link]:
1. Dr Nivedita Seerpi, DDS (USA)
2. Dr Mansoor Walipoor, BDS (Adelaide)
3. Dr Yushmee Ramburrun, BDS (Bristol)
4. Dr Katy Kennedy, BDS (Dundee)
All dentists working in Singapore are regulated by the Singapore Dental Council (SDC), a body constituted under the Dental Registration Act (Chapter 76).

Under this Act, the Council is empowered in Singapore [Link]:
- to approve or reject applications for registration as a dentist;
- to issue certificates of registration and practising certificates to registered dentists;
- to make recommendations to the appropriate authorities on the courses of instructions and examinations;
- to make recommendations to the appropriate authorities for the training and education of registered dentists;
- to determine and regulate the conduct and ethics of registered dentists; and
- generally to do all such acts, matters and things as are necessary to be carried out, or which the Council is authorised to carry out, under the Dental Registration Act.
Searching through the records of SDC [Link], the 4 foreign-graduate dentists are found to have only “Conditional Registration” status. That is to say, none of the dentists in Little India Dentist has full registration:

TRE also found that, except for Dr Nivedita Seerpi, none of the other 3 has registered their “Place of Practice” as Little India Dentist. The 3 have instead registered their place of practice elsewhere:
- Dr Mansoor Walipoor – Nuffield Dental Kovan
- Dr Yushmee Ramburrun – Nuffield Healthcare Private Limited
- Dr Katy Kennedy – Q & M Dental Centre Pte Ltd
What is “Conditional Registration”?

Under section 14A(4) of the Dental Registration Act, dentists under “conditional registration” need to be supervised by a “fully registered Division I dentist” working in the same practice for a specified period (at least 2 years).

The SDC website [Link] further states that dentists under “conditional registration” need to work for a specified period that is equivalent to 2 years full-time of minimum 35 working hours per week under the supervision of a fully registered dentist approved by the Council.

The supervisor must submit a supervisory report on the dentist to the Council every 6 months.

Dentists under conditional registration may apply for conversion to “full registration” after 2 years but this is subject to the Council’s approval.

Also, the supervisor must [Link]:
1. be a fully registered Division I dentist and
2. have at least 5 years’ post-BDS experience and
3. work in the same clinic premises as his/her supervisee
In fact, SDC is quite particular about having full supervision over dentists on conditional registration:

Please note that the supervisory report will determine if the conditionally registered dentist is able to perform his/her duties satisfactorily. The supervisor should exercise due diligence when completing the report for the dentist under his/her charge. Please complete every section of the report. In the event that a supervisor is unable to continue his supervisory duties for the full period of conditional registration, he/she should inform Council immediately and Council will write to the clinic to re-nominate a new supervisor.

SDC is so particular about having dentists on conditional registration supervised by a fully registered dentist that they issued a reminder to all dentists in January [Link]:

Although the risk is small, patients are known to have died from dental treatment gone wrong.

Finally, a criterion for conditional registration requires the dentist to have been approved for employment in Singapore as a dentist in any hospital or other institution or dental practice approved by the Council.

It’s not known if Little India Dentist has been approved by SDC to employ the 4 foreign-graduate dentists who currently hold conditional registration status.

In any case, Little India Dentist does not appear to have any fully registered Division I dentist at the clinic to supervise the 4 conditionally registered dentists.

TRE has emailed SDC for their comments.

Source: www.tremeritus.com
June 18, 2015
International Yoga Day Gets India In A Twist

Across the country, lines of yoga enthusiasts are taking to open spaces, laying out their mats and practising their postures.

Sports stadiums, public parks, playgrounds have all been appropriated.

Thousands are training up for this Sunday’s International Yoga Day – when India will bid to write its name into the Guinness Book of Records and attempt the largest yoga gathering in history.

While the aim of yoga is to relax the body and unify the spirit, for some of India’s religious minorities, this Sunday’s event is neither relaxing nor unifying.

Last week, Catholic leaders from the southern state of Kerala criticised the decision to hold the event on a Sunday. This week, Muslim leaders have charged the government with promoting yoga to marginalise the country’s 175 million Muslims.

Abdul Rahim Qureshi from the All India Muslim Personal Law Board told Reuters: “It is a campaign to enforce Hindu rituals on all non-Hindus.”

The inclusion in Sunday’s programme of a series of yoga postures, “surya namaskar” (sun salutation) has drawn most fire from Muslim groups, as Islam forbids believers from worshipping anything but Allah.

But Hindu Nationalist groups, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sBharatiya Janata Party, BJP, have said they see yoga as part of India’s past glory that they wish to resurrect.

Yogi Adityanath, a member of parliament from the ruling-BJP, said those opposing sun postures should “leave Hindustan” or “drown themselves in the ocean or live in a darkened room for the rest of their lives.”

The central focus of Yoga Day and the world record attempt will be New Delhi’s grand thoroughfare, Rajpath, where the government anticipates 35,000 people will take part in a mass yoga event.

Prime Minister Modi – himself a yoga enthusiast – will give a speech at the event, but he is not expected to take part in the yoga.

The government is not taking any chances on mass participation. The armed forces, the police, bureaucrats have either been obliged or strongly urged to take part.

In addition to mass-participation events in 650 districts throughout India, 192 countries will also take part. New York’s Times Square is preparing for a Yoga Day celebration.

In London an International Yoga Day event is being organised in front of the OXO building on the South Bank and at Alexandra Palace Gardens.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

June 18, 2015
Dad To President: Please Let Me Kill My Children

Fate has dealt this sweet shop owner in India a rather bitter blow.

The father of eight said he’s unable to continue paying for medical treatment for six of his children, who are paralysed.

So Mr Mohammed Nazir, 42, has written to President Pranab Mukherjee for permission to carry out euthanasia for his children, aged between eight and 18 years.

PHOTO: YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB

His eldest son and youngest daughter have normal growth.

The other children suffer from a rare neurological disease called Canavan. Over time, they suffer seizures and become paralysed, unable to stand or walk on their own.

Their vision and speech are also affected.

Mr Nazir said the kids were born healthy and started developing complications later on:

” Their bones are very weak. They began falling ill when they turned 4 or 5. They are unable to stand and walk on own.”

And there’s only so much that his 5,000 rupees (S$105) monthly pay can cover.

He added: “It’s after exhausting all options that I am forced to take this decision.

“I simply cannot bear to see my children suffering since I am powerless to help them.”

The Times of India said the case falls outside the 2011 guidelines for passive euthanasia, which allow for the withdrawal of life-prolonging medical treatment for terminally ill patients.

The kids’ mother Tabassum, 36, has also lost hope, as her kids’ suffering seems to be increasing with each passing day.

She said: “That’s why my husband and I decided that we have to put a stone on our hearts and end their suffering.”

If their request for mercy killing is turned down, Mr Nazir hopes the President or Prime Minister can give financial help for the kids’ treatment.

Doctor SK Upadhyay said the disease is incurable “but with the help of drug(s) this can be controlled to a limited period”.

Physiotherapist Pankaj Singh Rathore, who treated the children, said tests showed their bodies are getting weaker as they aged.

“I’ve come across a dozen of such cases… in which all the siblings develop a similar disorder.” He added: “The life span of such kids is a maximum of 25 to 30 years but it can be extended a little with physiotherapy.”

WATCH: Father seeks mercy killing for six paralysed kids

Source: www.tnp.sg

June 5, 2015
Singapore Importers Told To Suspend Sales Of Maggi Noodles From India

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said on Thursday (Jun 4) it has told importers to temporarily withhold sales of Maggi brand instant noodles produced in India.

This followed India’s move to ban their sale for 15 days after high levels of lead were found in batches tested in New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh state.

But some shop owners in Little India were on Thursday still seen selling Maggi brand products. Channel NewsAsia understands that they have not received any updates from suppliers to take them off the shelves.

AVA said Singapore has imported a small amount of Maggi brand instant noodles from India, but has not brought in Maggi brand oat products produced there. It is testing samples of Maggi brand instant noodles manufactured in India and it has advised affected importers to stop selling them until tests are complete.

The Food Safety and Drug Administration in Uttar Pradesh had found lead content of 17.2 parts per million (ppm) in routine tests on the instant noodles – seven times the legal limit.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 5, 2015