paay laagu dagdar saab...

Advertisement in the Times Of India, Pune on 11 June 2005, appearing under Classified - Studies Abroad :

MBBS China - 2005 (complete with pagoda-style roofing! )

Southern Medical University- Indian Syllabus
- English Medium
- W.H.O Enlisted
- 5 ½ yrs course in just Rs.10 lakhs including living expenses
- Highly sophisticated hospitals
- 77 students already in China through us
For details contact :
Col. Ashok Madan
Star Education Consultants, Pune
Tel : 2613 9312, 5601 9550, 93700 13579info@starimmicon.com

Curiously,
a) The WHO - World Directory of Medical Schools does not list a Southern Medical University in China (or is the name a transliteration ?)

b) Also checked here - There is no “Southern Medical University” in China. As a sanity check, reviewed the same site on India - the data appears fairly exhaustive

c) How does a Chinese medical university teach an Indian syllabus ? What is the validity of the certificate from such a institution ?

d) Would a Chinese medical institution teach in English (then provide an interpreter on-the-house during internship, for the esteemed doctor to discern whether patient Han’s stomach or elsewhere was paining) ?! Who taught the Chinese teachers to speak English (our very own training major ? which teaches computers and sales in India and English in China!) ? Or is it staffed (doubtfully) by the floatsam and ejects of the Great Indian Medical circus ?

e) By their boast, they appear to have already bagged 77 suckers, many more are certainly in the pipeline! The honorable Colonel is surely laughing his way to the bank! Way to go!

f) Mailing this to the Times Of India for a responsible response - miracles do happen, right ?

g) Waiting to be slammed legalaize confirming that the TOI is not responsible for the authenticity of the advertisements it carries !

Amen

The good Dr Jayant Patel appears to be on the run… As a patriotic Indian, allow me to welcome him back to Mother India folds :
a) Our country (specially, the countryside) needs lots and lots of medical practitioners,

b) Ours is too large a country, you can live an entire life incognito,

c) Greasing palms comes cheap,

d) The world is too busy with terrorists, nobody will apply for your extradition,

e) Even if they do (and assuming you have the misfortune of being exposed), file for a stay / anticipatory bail - live your life in style while the lawsuits attempt to traverse the Indian Legal Ocean,

f) We are a land of plenty, you will make it rich (you’ll definitely outshine the local quack),

g) In this land of plenty, a couple of thousand dead patients (out of 100 crores) are statistically invisible,

h) Nobody bothers with credentials here (70 crores can’t even read !),

i) Humour the local bhai as your protector, to handle exigencies,

j) Anyway, nobody sues a doc here and wins…

Gordon Brown - the British Chancellor to the Treasury - has announced a deal reached by the G8 nations to help the world's poorest countries. Under the deal, the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Fund will write off 100% of the money owed to them by selected nations.

But, is debt relief the answer for Africa? It is probably the beginning in the right direction. The essence of success, however, lies in democratic and economic reforms and good governance. All of which are long-term issues contradicting most vested interests !