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Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

DGCA team scans Baramati airport

Rohit Pawar bays for probe, suspension of VRSVPL Mumbai: In a major development, a team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reached Pune and carried out a detailed inspection of the Baramati airport where the Learjet crash killed Nationalist Congress Party President and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Anantrao Pawar on Jan. 28. The visit came barely 12 hours after Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit R. Pawar made sensational disclosures connected to the air-crash, the...

DGCA team scans Baramati airport

Rohit Pawar bays for probe, suspension of VRSVPL Mumbai: In a major development, a team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reached Pune and carried out a detailed inspection of the Baramati airport where the Learjet crash killed Nationalist Congress Party President and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Anantrao Pawar on Jan. 28. The visit came barely 12 hours after Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit R. Pawar made sensational disclosures connected to the air-crash, the purported safety violations perpetrated by the aircraft owner, VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (VSRVPL), its top brass, records of the plane plus the individuals and other alleged irregularities. Simultaneously, Rohit Pawar visited New Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and others on the same issue and to aggressively put up the demand for a proper and full-fledged investigation into the tragedy. “If I am asked if there is anything shady, I will say that it was not merely an accident. It’s a 100 percent conspiracy. I state this with full responsibility and there is nothing political about it. There was something definitely wrong due to which my uncle lost his life,” reiterated Rohit Pawar forcefully in New Delhi today. Seeking a time-bound investigation by European probe agencies in tandem with the DGCA and the CID, he called for a multi-party team of political leaders to oversee and monitor the probe. “Let it be clear. We are very disturbed. There are many questions to which we need answers fast – within a month,” he urged. Rohit Pawar repeated his explosive allegations that the highly connected VSRVPL top brass could manipulate evidence or suppress crucial documents if the probe gets delayed. Citing the experience of the September 2023 Learjet crash at Mumbai Airport, he said the probe report into that aircraft owned by VSRVPL is still languishing and just last week – after the Baramati crash - the Indian authorities committed that it would be completed soon. “The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had sought details of the Sep. 2023 crash from VSRVPL, but the request was spurned. Some media persons informed me that the probe report was ready and was to be sent a couple of weeks ago, but it was apparently scuttled by a senior politician with experience in the aviation department. All this needs to be cross-checked. If that report had been released, it would have brought out many things and remedial measures could have been taken and Ajit Pawar could have been saved,” said Rohit Pawar. The Karjat-Jamkhed law-maker said the company had a troubling history of safety - including issues related to pilots and aircraft maintenance - leading to its suspension by EASA. “Strangely, its operations are still allowed in India. Why was it not suspended here? Political VIPs, business leaders, cricketers and celebrities use its aircraft. They are clearly playing with the lives of top people,” he charged. Rohit Pawar accused VSRVPL of cost-cutting practices and claimed some of its pilots had been found inebriated in the past, and sought scrutiny of internal WhatsApp group chats, including those involving Arrow Aviation Services (AAS) - the handler managing VIP bookings – whose official allegedly provided incorrect weather information. “AAS had told them visibility was normal at Baramati Airport that morning, when it was actually 3,000-metres. This flouts the stringent DGCA norms of no flight operations if visibility is not a minimum 5000-metres,” pointed out Rohit Pawar. He revealed that on Jan. 27 at 7:13 pm, a request was made through Arrow to book the aircraft as Ajit Pawar’s meetings were getting unduly delayed, as he had to urgently sign a file of a senior NCP leader from Vidarbha who was late, and this forced the DyCM to cancel his road travel plans. Rohit Pawar raised serious questions about maintenance lapses as the VSRVPL reportedly has its own in-house MRO. “Who was handling it? Were there qualified aircraft maintenance engineers? What about its hangar details? All this must be fully probed,” he persisted. On the last-minute changes, he asked why the designated pilot Sahil Madan was replaced by Sumit Kapoor, why the flight scheduled to take off at 7 am, departed at 8:10 am, but no convincing reasons have been given so far. He alleged that Kapoor had previously been suspended for three years over alcohol-addiction related issues and was often found consuming liquor during duty hours, as also some others in the company. Cautioning the DGCA against evading responsibility, Rohit Pawar said: “We will not tolerate if the DGCA attempts to run away from a proper probe by making stray statements. It is a good agency, and we expect a thorough technical investigation.” Pawar’s silence Referring to NCP(SP) Supremo Sharad Pawar’s ‘silence’ on possibility of sabotage immediately after the tragedy, Rohit Pawar surmised that it was deliberate, even as other senior leaders across the political spectrum jumped to his support. “However, I am speaking with research-based information. We will not sleep peacefully till all the mysteries are solved, lingering doubts cleared or nagging questions convincingly answered... Ajit Pawar is no more, we only seek the truth,” he added. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that if a Vidarbha leader’s visit had delayed Ajit Pawar’s Baramati road trip, it must be probed. “Who was that leader? What was so important in that file? Would Maharashtra have stopped if it was not signed?” SS (UBT) Deputy Leader Sushma Andhare said all the points raised by Rohit Pawar are valid and the authorities must take serious note of the issues he wants resolved. Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe said: “I have learnt that the Black Box on all VSRVPL aircraft are kept switched off. Was it the same even in this case? If nothing is found in the Black Box of this plane, then no surprises." NCP Amalner MLA Anil Bhaidas Patil urged the media and political parties “not to give any political twist” to Rohit Pawar’s demand for a probe as it could unnecessarily mislead the people of Maharashtra.

AI in Sperm Sorting: An Unbiased Decision for A Better Outcome

Artificial Intelligence or AI is revolutionising fertility treatments of the future. The inclusion of AI enhances the accuracy, efficiency, and objectivity of sperm selection, hence potentially improving fertility outcomes by leaps and bounds. Traditionally, sperm sorting through manual methods is subjective to judgments. Processes like centrifugation and swim-up methods are used to separate sperm based on motility and morphology. Although they are effective, they have their limitations, leading to human errors that affect the success rates of fertility treatment. For instance, studies have shown that traditional sperm sorting techniques can have variability in success rates, with reported live birth rates ranging between 15 per cent to 25 per cent per cycle depending on the method and quality of sperm. Hence the introduction of AI helps in maintaining consistency in evaluations of sperm, using the same data set for every sample which leads to better judgments.


Automation and Standardisation- Automation of sperm selection and also introduction of AI in the process have improved the results in ART. AI-assisted sperm selection improves the accuracy in choosing high-quality sperm for fertilisation purposes, and also, pregnancy and live birth rates might be improved. Technologies like Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection along with AI ensure the chances of pregnancies increase by about 10-20 per cent compared to the standard procedures. AI and Automation will decrease time taken to analyze sperm and increase opportunities to select better sperm with DNA integrity for better development and higher success rates in embryo selection. These processes ensure that the sperm selection process follows consistent criteria, reducing variability in outcomes caused by human error.


Analysing Complex Data for Better Outcomes- AI plays a crucial in improving IVF outcomes by analysing complex data and providing tailored recommendations. AI-driven tools and models such as those on SpOvum.ai point towards an opportunity to optimise ovarian stimulation decisions by assessing patient characteristics and follicle growth patterns. A study revealed that the use of AI in IVF improved egg yield and reduced medication costs. AI enables fertility specialists to make data-driven choices, improving overall IVF success rates and streamlining treatment processes.


Reducing Human Error- AI models can continuously learn and refine their performance by being trained on newer data. This adaptability ensures the technology remains unbiased and up-to-date with the latest scientific insights into sperm quality and fertility success rates. Studies have shown that AI-driven sperm sorting can decrease human-related errors by up to 25 per cent, improving sperm selection quality in terms of morphology and motility.


Reduction of Sperm Damage- The new AI-driven sperm sorting techniques also include microfluidic systems that are known to exhibit several advantages over the most commonly used conventional method, which is centrifugation. Traditional centrifugation methods, such as density gradient centrifugation, also cause severe oxidative stress and DNA fragmentation of the sperm because of the very high mechanical forces involved. The AI-infused microfluidic sorting minimises this damage significantly by involving gentler processes that mimic the natural pathway of sperm selection. The studies show that the process of microfluidic sorting decreases DNA fragmentation in sperm, which gives improved opportunities for success for IVF. For example, DNA fragmentation is 20 percent lower in sperm sorted using microfluidic processes than in traditional processing methods.


AI is bound to play an increasingly definitive role in fertility treatments, which will improve the outcomes for couples experiencing infertility.


(The author is a Co-Founder & CEO at SpOvum® Technologies. Views personal.)

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