The ad in bold capital letters hits the eye. "The ultimate medicine for the killer viral disease", it says, claiming that the medicine Immuno QR can deliver "100 per cent cure" for aids "within 100 days". This was in 1997. An investigation by the Indian Health Organisation (IHO) revealed that Immuno QR had not gone through any scientific trials and that the advertiser, T.A. Majeed of Fair Pharma, Ernakulam, was not registered with any medical council. The ad had fetched Fair Pharma over Rs 10 crore.

The IHO launched action against Majeed's claims, and its complaint was taken up by the Crime Branch. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) passed strictures against Fair Pharma for non-substantiation of its claims. The National aids Control Organisation also issued a nationwide ad warning people against such spurious medicines while the Drugs Controller of Kerala cancelled Majeed's licence. He was also arrested.

Strangely, the ad reappeared recently in leading newspapers. It now says "killer disease" without mentioning aids, the address is the same and Majeed's name also figures prominently. The ad also lists "branches" in several places, and promises a "cure" for blocked arteries. Cost Rs 8,800.

People unaware of Fair Pharma's dubious background continue to send demand drafts. The Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC) of Ahmedabad, which exposed Immuno QR four years ago, has written again to the ASCI and Fair Pharma seeking explanations. As CERC points out, victims fooled by this "cure" don't complain because of the stigma attached to aids. And the law disallows anonymous litigation.

-Sakuntala Narasimhan

BORN AGAIN: Borzna (above) shipped the 10,000 tonne scrap

From New York with Love

When the ship Borzna docked into the Chennai wharf last month, it brought old news from New York-over 10,000 tonnes of debris from the World Trade Center (WTC) wreckage. Part of the mountainous rubble of metal beams and frames that came down with the twin towers, it was shipped to Chennai by a local scrap dealer. He bought it at $122 per tonne from a dealer in Dubai who in turn had bought it at a New York Port Authority auction.

There are, however, no plans to sell the scraps as souvenirs or make a profit out of it as the dealer paid "no premium" for the consignment. Right now, the scrap is being melted and made into ingots at smelting units near Chennai and being ploughed back into new buildings as sturdy construction rods. WTC might just find a way into Chennai homes now.

-Methil Renuka

Power Problems

Amid the hurly burly of Uttar Pradesh elections, the man nobody's bothering to remember is ol' Ram Prakash Gupta. The man who was chief minister for the sleepy year between Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh has been truly left in the dark. Recently, the electricity connection to his Park Road house in Lucknow-the address in his initial months as chief minister-was cut due to alleged non-payment of bills. Since Gupta now has an official bungalow-Uttar Pradesh's gift to its former chief ministers-a caretaker was staying at Park Road. Apparently all bills had been paid as power consumption was low anyway. An astonished Gupta had to call up his successor, Rajnath Singh, for the bulbs to be lit again.

Tigers in Trouble

The national animal is in danger in Maharashtra. The state's recent animal census shows a marked decrease in tiger population-from 276 in 1993 to 238 last year. The chief wildlife warden of the state, B. Majumdar, says the main problem lies in the unprotected forest areas that account for 74.5 per cent of the state's total forest area and are home to almost 40 per cent of its wildlife. The Naxalite threat in southern Maharashtra and proximity of the Chhattisgarh border where poacher gangs operate freely add to the tiger's woes. Shortage of funds is another hurdle. The state Forest Department gets around Rs 5 crore annually, but it needs at least Rs 15 crore for better functioning, says Majumdar. Hopefully, the 10th Five-Year Plan that stresses fund allocation to conservation in non-protected areas should end
all woes.

-Natasha Israni