Statistics are not available on the number of injections given per day in India, but the total must run to a few million. Even perfectly healthy citizens have needles thrust into their bodies during routine blood tests or when they take shots for hepatitis and tetanus.

So what happens when the syringes used are themselves unclean or unsafe? In tests conducted recently at the Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC) laboratory in Ahmedabad, 13 out of 19 brands of syringes were found unclean. Unclean matter could get absorbed by the injection fluid, enter the body and even cause life-threatening complications.

Diabetics routinely inject themselves with insulin. Of four brands of insulin syringes tested, none met all the marking requirements of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). In all, 32 samples each of 40 brands of syringes were bought in the open market, from various regions of the country, and tested against national or international safety and reliability standards.

In tests carried out earlier on intravenous (iv) fluids, one brand (sold widely in south India) even failed the sterility test. Around 320 million units of iv sets are used around the country annually. Laxity in standards could increase the risk of aggravating illnesses rather than hastening recovery. The National Human Rights Commission has sent a recommendation to the Union Government urging a revamp of the system of licensing and certification to prevent spurious and substandard IV fluids reaching the market.

Test reports from consumer groups in Germany, Austria and the US have resulted in product recalls in items ranging from toys to tyres. CERC's test findings have been forwarded to the Drug Controller for action, but only consumer alertness and pressure can ensure that unsafe brands do not remain in the market.

-Sakuntala Narasimhan

Retreading the Road

Those Delhiites who gazed at the sleek shapes at Auto Expo 2002 and went home in autorickshaws can look forward to driving back next time, even if prices don't fall. Maruti Udyog Ltd is now leasing out new cars-you can hire a Zen for Rs 11,000 a month.

If leases aren't for you, the company has also been selling used cars since October 2001. So you can get a 1999 model Zen for Rs 2.3 lakh, complete with warranty and three free services under the company's True Value scheme in Delhi and Bangalore. Compare that with Rs 3.41 lakh for a new Zen LX. Ford, Honda, Mercedes Benz and Hyundai are other companies in the used-car business.

The low car penetration in the country-3.9 per thousand-and the growing desire among car owners to move to new models is encouraging car makers to entice owners into changing cars in less time than the current average of 40 months.

-Malini Goyal

Courtly Battles

Three score and more would-be lawyers from colleges across India descended on Delhi in their funeral best for the India round of the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court, held annually at Washington. Dating back to 1959 when Harvard University hosted it, the event is now the most prestigious advocacy contest in international law and attracts about 300 law schools from 50 countries. Participants spend an entire year preparing the "case" to be argued, the facts of which are released well in advance.

So it was no surprise that the India Habitat Centre venue crackled with the tension of knife-edge close results. In the final round, Bangalore's National Law School of India University slugged it out with Kolkata's National University of Juridical Sciences, with searching cross-questions from the "bench" judging their arguments. The bench included A.M. Ahmadi, former chief justice of India. The Bangalore team narrowly won their ticket to Washington, as another former chief justice, A.S. Anand, chief guest for the event, looked on.

This year's event marked a departure from the way the national rounds are conducted in India, moving out of dusty university classrooms into environs closer to the international level. Law students in India have long rued the lack of exposure their western counterparts enjoy, claiming that it shows most when they're pitted against the world's best at competitions like Jessup. Says Som Mandal of Fox Mandal and Co, India's first Indo-British law firm, which coughed up the Rs 2 lakh plus spent on the event: "Law firms abroad are always investing in budding lawyers. If Indian firms would do the same, law would no longer remain the last option for the talented."

-Shuchi Sinha