Benefits of family planning

Save a tree!

Revealed: How Big jewellery shops are Cheating public

I recently went to silver jewellery shop and the reputed owner told the following thing. I cant find any flaw in his logic and since he is in the business, I have to say, unfortunately right. Have you gone to a big jewellery shop and asked the gold rates for the jewellery? The 5 shops which are next to each other will quote different gold prices as each one will be offering a different amount of discount on gold. Not discount on the making charge but on the gold rates.

Now lets see the logic. Gold prices are standard all over the world on any particular time or day. If not there will be people buying it where it is cheaper and selling it where it is high, thus bringing the rates equal. Mind you, gold is a very liquid commodity and sold and bought massively from a gram to kgs around the world from time immemorial. 

So the rate at which a jeweller can buy gold is the same as any other jeweller as the 24 carat gold rate is constant at a period of time. So how is it that the jewellers are able to give you a discount on those rates? 

The answer is that they aren't giving you the amount of gold they are promising they are giving you. They may say they are giving 2 grams of 24 carat gold, but in truth there is no 2gm of pure gold, but 1.98 grams of gold and 2 grams of copper which basically means you are buying a lesser than 24 carat gold.

Stopping drunken driving

Many a people are killed in India and elsewhere annually due to the effects of drunken driving. Apart from the nice "cute" messages and talks given by traffice policemen in schools, I believe the traffic should do more. Firstly, remember that the majority of the drunken driving happens by college going students, the age group of 18 to 22 and beyond. The traffic police departments should team up with doctors and hospitals to make a video presentation and interview of people and relatives involved in accidents. The gruesome photos and videos of accident victims with flesh and bone and writhing in pain should be shown to the students to hit them hard with the effects of drunken driving. They should be so shocked that they will always remember it and  that will force them to not do drunken driving and not co-operate with drunken friends to drive and travel with them and discourage people from drinking and driving. These presentations should be made part of their curriculum and compulsory for all students in colleges.

If a doctor can go into depression seeing a few accident cases in a week, a half hr video session to college students will do wonders to keep their ego and arrogance(the main reasons drunken driving happens) in check.

A bloody good idea

You would think the world of medicine and finance don't mix... Well, not until now...

The following is an idea I gave to a market development head of an organisation in the business of stock and commodity exchanges. I got selected for this company based on this idea and many others I gave, but I have declined the offer. If this idea is indeed implemented, I would have at least managed one of my ideas to actually take off and see it in the real world.

Problem: Hospitals need a regular supply of “whole blood” and “packed cells” for giving it to patients. Maintaining a constant supply of these of the right blood type at the crucial life/death scenario is difficult.

Idea/Solution: Trade blood contracts on the exchange.

Buyers: Hospitals

Sellers: Blood banks, NGOs that do Blood donation camps/drives.

Benefits:

·         Helps hospitals get the required quantity and right type of quality tested blood in advance.

·         Helps hospitals save more lives and being more reliable.

Details:

In India, during a medical emergency, the onus is on the patient's relatives to arrange for replacement of blood. India has many blood banks, all functioning in a decentralized fashion. In the current system, there is no tool to find number of blood donors of the required blood group in current time and place, there is no interaction between blood banks, no exchange of blood or its components.

“Whole blood” is the blood available in human beings. Whole blood is extracted from the body during blood donations. The human blood has both solid parts (Red blood cells, White blood cells, Platelets, etc) and liquid parts (called serum). The whole blood can be stored upto a period of 15-21 days at 4°C. Whole blood is given to patients in case of major blood loss as in the case of accidents. The cost of a pint (Indian pint = 350ml) of whole blood is approximately Rs.650. This cost is not for the blood, but for the testing, transporting, storage and personnel cost.

Whole blood can also be separated into components and be stored. Certain components of the blood need to be given to patients in certain cases. Whole blood minus the liquid parts is called “packed cells”. Packed cells are given to patients usually in OBG cases. The cost of a pint (Indian pint = 350ml) of packed cells is approximately Rs.650-700 (slightly higher due to separation/sedimentation charges)

5.1 million units of blood are collected every year in India. The demand of blood is very high and there is a deficiency of 30-40 percent of blood as per WHO norms.

(Src: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/218536/119745403644.htm)

There is also a supply demand gap in the different states and areas. The main proposal of this idea is to make the commodity exchange as a marketplace for buyers (hospitals) to buy blood from the sellers. The sellers have expertise in procuring fresh blood, testing for diseases, classification based on blood types and storing them. The buyers can buy the required quantities of the right blood type from the sellers. This will enable hospitals to save more lives and become reliable from a patient’s point of view.

                This idea will enable the suppliers (Blood banks and NGOs) to try to increase their sourcing and increase voluntary blood donations in India. The suppliers will try to have captive donors and contact them for regular donations which will boost the blood supply available in India and close the supply demand gap.

Types of instruments (future/option) and contract specifications are to be decided.

Constraints/Challenges: Hospitals need a license to buy and store blood from the MCI (Medical Council of India).

Market size: There are a total of 2609 blood banks in India as of 30^th June 2009 out of which there are 753 private hospitals with blood banks.

(Src: http://cdsco.nic.in/html/BloodList.html

http://bloodbanksdelhi.com/content/LicensedBloodBanks.htm,

http://www.indiabloodbank.com/bloodbanks.php)