Category Archives: Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Centres to Detect Hearing Defects Among Kids

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies
Differently-abled welfare officer B Charles Prabhakaran inspecting the newly built facility in Vellore | express
Differently-abled welfare officer B Charles Prabhakaran inspecting the newly built facility in Vellore | express

The State government will soon establish Early Diagnostic Centres for the hearing impaired in 10 districts, to detect and treat hearing loss among children aged between 0-6 years.

The centres, which will be equipped with sophisticated equipment, can diagnose hearing loss from the first day of birth. They will be established at a cost of `1.98 crore. The centre has been designed to detect possible hearing disability during birth or acquired after birth.

The centre would be established in Vellore, Nammakal, Madurai, Tiruvallur, Kaniyakumari, Theni, Chengalpet, Dharmapuri, Erode and Virudunagar districts. Each centre would be established at a cost of `19.80 lakh.

Each centre would be equipped with instruments such as Pure Tone Audiometry, Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA), Oto Acoustic Emission (OAE)(portable screener), Sound Treated Rooms, Diagnostic Audiometre with free field Audiometry/ Peep Show Audiometer with laptop and otoscope with light.

“Such centres are not available in government sector or even in several corporate hospitals in the districts,” district differently-abled welfare officer B Charles Prabhakaran said.

“If the congenital hearing disabilities are not detected and corrected within 4 to 5 years, they will become a victim of permanent disability. It will also affect their speech, language acquisition ability and developmental growth,” he said. The most sophisticated equipment like BERA, which costs `8.20 lakh, would help to measure responses in brain waves, stimulated by sounds. The OAE equipment, which cost `4 lakh, will help to monitor the vibration of hair cells in the ears.

“We have completed the construction of sound-proof room at a cost of `4 lakh and are waiting for installation of the equipment. The centre will start functioning from March next year,” Prabhakaran said and added that the existing audiologist-cum-speech therapist would man the centre.  “We will assist individuals with behind-the-ear hearing aid based on the intensity of hearing loss,” Prabhakaran further said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by J Shanmuga Sundaram – Vellore / December 12th, 2013

Best Teacher Award for Vellore Special Educator

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
Selvi with children at the EIC.
Selvi with children at the EIC.

M Selvi, who is employed as a special educator at the Government supported-NGO run Early Intervention Center (EIC) for infants with hearing impairment at the Panchayat Union Middle School at Dharapadavedu, bagged the Best Special Educator Award instituted by the government of Tamil Nadu this year. She received the award from Social Welfare Minister P Valarmathi recently.

The EIC project was launched by the State five years back across the State with the NGO WORTH Trust being the implementing agency in Vellore.

Selvi completed a one-year diploma in Teaching Young Hearing Impaired offered from the NGO Balavidhyalaya in Chennai before being appointed in the first batch of trained special educators at the school. “We train hearing impaired infants of less than 3 years of age to utter words, weave them into sentences, using appropriate hearing aids and so far we have integrated 11 children from the centre into a regular school where they are doing very well” she said.

She trains the parents, especially the mothers, to understand the new approach. “The focus is to make the infants experience the words directly without which they normally resort to sign language. Sign language may be handy to communicate with other hearing impaired but not with the general public. We emphasise lip-reading despite using hearing aids,” she said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Education> Student / by V NarayanaMurthi – Vellore / December 11th, 2013

Blind dancers mesmerize Madurai

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Madurai :

They might need others’ help to walk, read and write. But they do not need anyone’s help to dance. More than 200 blind students from various schools from the country took part in a dance competition organized in the temple city on Saturday.

Witnessing the scintillating performance by the students, the astonished spectators doubted if the performers are indeed blind. Viewers, who had come to the programme expecting an ordinary performance, were shocked by the stunning performance.

Right from folk, classical and western, the students did not leave any genres untouched. It was a feast for the eyes for the hundreds of people assembled at the Lakshmi Sundaram Hall in Tallakulam. “Lack of vision has never been a problem for the students as they have excellent memory power. It just took 20 days for them to get accustomed to any genre,” claimed Radha Ramakrishnan, a volunteer who accompanied a group of girls from the Rehabilitation Centre for Blind Women in Trichy.

The students displayed real magic on the stage. Some learnt to balance ‘karagam’, an ornate vessel placed on the head, in just 20 days. “We started with just balancing the ‘karagam’. Later we added the ‘karagattam’ steps. It was not very difficult. We have already won medals in three national dance events for blind. Hope, we would succeed in this event too,” said V Deivanai, a native of Pudukkottai district, who along with team members, took part in three events.

As many as 17 schools and institutions from various parts of the country participated. It was organised by Amway Opportunity Foundation, a corporate social responsibility wing of Amway, along with Indian Association for the Blind, Madurai. This was fourth edition of the event. The previous ones were held in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by V. Decanathan, TNN / December 01st, 2013

Two-Day Expo Offers Insight Into Disability Management

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies
Dr V Kanagasabai inspects a prosthetic limb at the two-day exhibition ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities | A Raja Chidambaram
Dr V Kanagasabai inspects a prosthetic limb at the two-day exhibition ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities | A Raja Chidambaram

Close to three percent of the Indian population are differently-abled, said Dr V Kanagasabai, Dean, Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government  General Hospital on Monday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day exhibition at the Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at KK Nagar ahead of International Day of  Persons with Disabilities, which falls on Tuesday.

Kanagasabai said that among the differently-abled, more than one percent are visually challenged, 0.6 percent have locomotor disability and another 0.6 percent are hearing impairing, while the rest are either mute or suffer cerebral palsy.

“Apart from that, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of road accidents where people lose their limbs or vision or become paralysed. For them, we offer immediate  treatment at the RGGGH and are later sent for rehabilitation,” the dean said after inaugurating the exhibition.

He also elaborated on the services offered at the Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. He said that they manufacture prostheses and orthotics for those  who lose their limbs and the paraplegic. “Awareness about disabled-friendly environments is slowly picking up,” the dean said when he spoke about the United Nations theme for this year – Break Barriers, Open Doors: For An Inclusive Society and Development For All.

Stressing that the aim of the two-day exhibition was to create public awareness on the hospital’s work on disability management, Dr C Ramesh, Director and Head of the institution, said there were about 20 stalls, including one that has a display of artificial limbs for amputees and calipers. “We have stalls that attempt to give an idea  on the rehabilitation we do here, including physical medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and more.”

The exhibition also had live demonstrations on small scale projects focusing on self-employment and micro loans from various centres. NGOs that had been working towards the upliftment of the differently-abled also participated in the expo, apart from displaying artwork, artificial jewellery and other products made by  them.

The Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, which was part of the Government General Hospital, moved to the present campus in KK Nagar in 1979. The 60 -bed hospital treats about 150 out-patients a day and supplies over 1000 artificial limbs a year for nominal amount of `38 and calipers and splints at `30.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / December 03rd, 2013

India’s First Minimal Access Transplant for Lung Performed Successfully at Global Health City, Chennai

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technologies

— Minimal Access Transplant procedure provides immense patient benefits

— Recipients recover faster due to reduced pain and risk of infections

The Lung Transplant Surgeons at Global Health City, Chennai, part of Global Hospitals Group, performed successfully India’s First successful Minimal Access Transplant for Lung on a 61 year recipient. On 24th November 2013, Mr. Raja Babu Shah underwent the minimal access transplant procedure, bringing smiles on the face of his wife and their three kids. Mr. Raja Babu Shah, was diagnosed to have Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis several years ago. It is a progressive interstitial lung disease and shows poor response to maximal medical management. So he was on the waiting list for Lung Transplantation under the Cadaver Transplantation Program of Tamil Nadu since July 2013. He has been confined to bed and wheelchair for more than a year now.

LuntCF14dec2013

On November 24, a suitable donor became available at Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore. So Mr. Raja was offered a Lung Transplantation, which would give him a near normal life without oxygen. This was a Minimally Invasive Lung Transplantation.

The surgical team was headed byDr. Jnanesh Thacker – Senior Consultant Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon, Specialist in Heart and Lung Transplantation for Global Hospitals Group, and his team consisted of Dr. Nandkishore Kapadia, Dr. Vijil Rahulan, Dr. Govini Balasubramani, Dr. Manohar, Dr. Kalyan, Dr. Rajgopal & Dr. Sanjay Singh. Elated over the success of the country’s first Minimal Access Transplant procedure for lung, for the team at Global Health City, Chennai, it’s what they are committed to do every day, deliver their best to save lives, demonstrating exceptional clinical capabilities, innovation and deploy most advanced treatment, technology & utmost patient care.

“Raja Babu Shah is the recipient of India’s first recipient of Minimal Access Lung Transplant. He is also the oldest patient in India to receive a Lung Transplantation and his recuperation is going to be reduced with less pain due to Minimal Access method adopted” said Dr. Vijil Rahulan, Head of Department of Respiratory Medicine & Senior Consultant Pulmonologist, Global Health City.

Speaking to the media, Dr. Jnanesh Thacker iterated that “Based on clinical evaluations and considering the age of the patient, we knew this transplant surgery is going to be a litmus test. We got together as a team to discuss what we need to ensure for best clinical outcomes and after that the decision was made to take the road less travelled – Minimal access mode. We did a Minimal access anterio-axillary thoracotomy with an incision, 7 inches long, just below the nipple. We ensured that the internal mammary artery is preserved.”

Dr. Nandkishore Kapadia, Senior Consultant, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon, Global Health City added saying “This was like a time bound mission shown in the movies, with the cadaver lung retrieval done at CMC Vellore, transported to Global Health City, Chennai, within a time span of 105 minutes, followed immediately by a four- hour recipient surgery”

Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Ravindranath – Chairman & Managing Director, Global Hospitals Group applauded the Transplantation Team’s effort in saving the life of this patient with a novel attempt helping faster recovery. He also stated “I was pleased to know that the patient was off the ventilator on the next day and he walked inside his room on the third post operative day.”

Referring to the two patients who had received successful Lung Transplantation the previous year, Dr. Ravindranath said ‘I am also extremely happy to meet Ms. Hanan Hasan & Ms. Fatima,both from Bahrain. As a foremost Transplant center & the largest lung transplant program in the country, we are pleased to have successfully completed our 10th lung transplant at Global Health City, Chennai with this Minimal access thoracotomy incision.

GLOBAL HEALTH CITY

Global Health City, Chennai is a 500 bedded super specialty tertiary care facility, with a capacity to expand to 1000 beds. It renders 360 degree advanced tertiary healthcare services as a foremost premier tertiary care super specialty health city that performs the most complex transplant procedures for liver, heart, lung, kidneys and one of the most advanced organ specific cancer care programme. With the finest combination of expertise, experience, state-of-the art technology and well coordinated team work, every step is aimed at ensuring excellence in patient care.

source: http://www.moneylife.in / MoneyLife.in / Home / by Business Wire India / Chennai, TamilNadu – November 29th, 2013

53-yr-old delivers capsule baby

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Picture for representational purpose only.
Picture for representational purpose only.

Coimbatore :

A 53-year-old woman delivered a girl baby through the capsule test tube baby technology at a hospital in Er­ode on Thursday mo­r­ning.  Pank­aj­am Ve­l­­­­a­ppan, who battled inf­ertility for over two de­cades, is now an ecstatic mother, said Dr Nir­mala Sadasivam, Me­dical Director, Ma­aruthi Medical Centre and Hospitals, Erode.

This capsule test tube baby technology was first introduced in USA in 2011 and a year later in India. The advantage of the capsule IVF is that it is far less expensive than test tube baby treatment.

The procedure requ­ires minimal ovulation induction wi­th few hormonal drugs. The procedure invol­ves retrieving of eggs from the woman and fusing it with the prepared sperm.

The prepared material will be placed inside the capsule under ideal aseptic laboratory condition and this is then kept in the woman’s vaginal cavity to promote the culture of the embryos.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / November 29th, 2013

Creche for children of govt women staff opened

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Nagercoil :

In a novel initiative, the Kanyakumari district administration on Thursday inaugurated an exclusive creche for the children of women working in the collectorate and adjacent government offices. The facility, functioning inside the collectorate premises, is equipped with a spacious hall with a variety of play and study materials in addition to toilet, drinking water and pantry facilities. The district administration has also recruited two people to take care of the children. On the inaugural day, 10 children were dropped at the centre by their mothers.

District collector, S Nagarajan said the objective of the creche is that women working in government offices can now do their work peacefully without worrying about the young children who, earlier used to be left behind in their homes in the custody of their relatives. “The facility is open for all state and central government women employees in the vicinity,” Nagarajan said. He said that he gained the inspiration to come out with such initiative after seeing his working mother struggling to take care of the children.

It was also proposed that children need not be regulars at the creche and any women employee in need can drop her kids. There is also a future proposal to expand the facility to cater to bigger children aged till 10 years and women can bring their grownup children if they are working on Saturdays, the collectorate staff said. There is also a plan to establish a small library in the facility for such grownup children, they said. Though Nagarajan said that such facility could exist in other government offices as well, the collectorate staff said that it was a unique initiative and they have not come across the creche facility in other districts.

Meanwhile, the women staff at the collectorate expressed jubilation about the new facility. They said that the number of women working in the government is comparatively higher considering the highest female ratio in the district. Many youngsters have joined the government service recently and it will be a real boon for them. “The maternity leave is sanctioned for six months and later we have to drop our kids with the relatives. The period between six months to three years when we can admit them in play schools is very cumbersome. We are very much thankful to the district collector for considering our plight,” said a woman official from the district administration.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai> Collectorate /by J. Arockiaraj, TNN / November 29th, 2013

Baby toilets distributed to avoid open defecation

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Trichy :

If habits die hard, then good habits must be inculcated in kids from impressionable ages. This was the thinking behind the distribution of baby toilets  made of plastic to 65 people in the first phase of the scheme, said  Trichy Corporation may A Jaya.

Distributing the baby toilets to the parents at the corporation office, Jaya said this was part of the government’s commitment to make the state open defecation-free by 2015. In the rural areas, the government was implementing a host of measures to underline hygiene education for effective behaviour change under the total sanitation campaign (TSC), but it was the first time baby toilets were distributed in the city.

“In the corporation and municipal limits, as many as 30% of the people still defecate in the open and at the least the children from the stage of infants must be taught against defecating in the open. Hence, the scheme is introduced by the state government,” said V P Thandapani, corporation commissioner.

Known as ‘mini-toilets’ the portable plastic pieces would be provided in higher number to cover all those who needed them, said Dhandapani. “This is to inculcate the habit of using the toilets at home, so that they do not think of defecating in the open,” he explained. Research proves that the children could be brought to such a good habit within a matter of a week, he further said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City>Trichy / TNN / November 19th, 2013

Lady Wellington College won’t be renamed after leader: Tamil Nadu tells court

Amazing Feats, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

Chennai : 

There is no proposal either to rename Lady Wellington College after Singaravelar or to erect his statue on the campus, the Tamil Nadu government has informed the Madras high court.
In a counter-affidavit, filed in response to a PIL of A Gowthaman seeking renaming of the college after Singaravelar and construction of a memorial for the freedom fighter at the venue, which was his house, secretary, Tamil Development and Information (memorials) Department said: “The setting up of Singaravelar statue and renaming the college is a matter of policy to be decided by the Government and no such proposal is pending with the department.”

However, it told the bench comprising Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan that a bust-size statue of Singaravelar was to be erected in Singaravelar memorial in Royapuram.

Senior advocate A E Chelliah, who argued the PIL for Singaravelar memorial, had told the bench that the freedom fighter founded the first trade union in India and had vast swathes of land in several places including Thiruvanmiyur and Mylapore. His residence at Mylapore, is now known as Lady Wellington College. British governor Lord Wellington took over his property after Singaravelar participated in the freedom struggle.

In 2011, the government announced a memorial for Singaravelar at Foreshore Estate, but did not proceed due to Coastal Regulation Zone norms. The PIL wants a memorial adjacent to ‘Vivekanandar Illam’ and renaming of Lady Wellington College as ‘Sindhanai Sirpi Singaravelar Educational campus’.

The PIL is scheduled to be taken up for further hearing on November 21.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai> TamilNadu / TNN / November 18th, 2013

Destitute women gainfully employed

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
Mount Cantonment CEO Prabhakaran speaking with cross-section of women identified by Loyola’s School of Human Excellence to be hired as conservancy staff at cantonment. — DC
Mount Cantonment CEO Prabhakaran speaking with cross-section of women identified by Loyola’s School of Human Excellence to be hired as conservancy staff at cantonment. — DC

Chennai:

The Military Cantonment Board in St.Thomas Mount has launched a unique initiative to provide employment to widows and destitute women in Chennai’s slums, identified by the School of Human Exce­lle­nce of the prestigious Loyola College.

These women have been employed as conservancy staff to keep the vast cantonment area in the city clean, according to cantonment CEO Prabhakaran. He told DC that women working as housemaids for paltry salaries of 2,000-3,000 rupees a month are now being paid Rs 350 per day by the cantonment board.

“They are immensely happy. With their family incomes going up, their children are not dropping out of schools,” said the cantonment official, adding, “This is the first of its kind initiative undertaken by any cantonment, or for that matter any city corporation, in the country.”

He said the women were assigned only the job of sweeping the streets and there were no menial jobs like drainage cleaning gi­ven to them. “We treat them with dignity. We also make available free medical and education facilities for the families as we have two hospitals and two schools in the cantonment,” Prab­ha­karan said.

He said the programme was launched with just se­ven women workers drawn from different city slums on September 10 and their number went up to 22 now. Interestingly, the ‘spark’ for the initiative was lit at the birthday lunch that the CEO got for his wife Agila.

The couple chose to share lunch with the nearly 100 poor girls housed at the Fr Chirag Foundation, a vocational training centre run by Fr Henry Jerome, Dean, School of Human Exce­llence, Loyola College.

“That experience moved me and I decided I must do something for the poorer sections of our society. Loyola College helped me through its ‘outreach’ pro­gr­a­mme led by Prof Ber­nard Sami. His team was already familiar with most slums in the city and they helped us to identify deserving women,” said Prabhakaran.

Shanti, 38, is among the 22 now happily employed at the cantonment. This wid­ow from Mangalapuram slum in Chetput lost her husband to alcoholism-most women in the group have similar stories to tell-four months back.

“I slogged as a housemaid and needed to frequently borrow at high interest from moneylenders. I was worried for my little son and daughter attending school. Now we feel reassured,” she said.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by D. Senthil Natarajan / November 14th, 2013