Picture for representational purpose (Photo: DC archives)
Chennai:
The state government has proposed to set up a deep water port and a gas-based power plant (500 MW capacity) with a floating storage re-gasification unit (FSRU) project in Nagapattinam district as a joint venture with an estimated investment of Rs 3,500 crore.
The FSRU required for import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be on a charter basis. The land needed for the back up area for the deep water port for the gas- based power plant and future developments have been identified in south of Nagapattinam.
A policy note tabled by industries department in the assembly on Monday by industries minister P. Thangamani said plans were also on to set up maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in a 50-acre area adjoining the existing Chennai airport. The land has been identified for the project.
It has also been proposed to develop the components manufacturing park for aerospace industry in Sriperumbudur in an area of about 300 acre. Among some of the other projects proposed in the note include a plastic industries park that would be established at Voyalur vilage near Ponneri in Tiruvallur district for Rs 243 crore through the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO).
It will have specialised infrastructure required to accommodate about 70 plastic goods manufacturing units. When fully developed, this park will be able to attract investments to the tune of Rs 2,100 crore and is expected to generate employment for about 25,000 people. The Centre will extend Rs 40 crore as grant for the project.
Tidco would also develop solar power parks to set up around 1000 MW of power projects in multiple locations in association with private players involving a total investment of Rs 9,000 crore. A petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR) project, would be implemented in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts to create manufacturing facilities.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by DC Correspondent / July 15th, 2014
CMC director Dr Sunil Chandy having a look at the pre-analyser that was inaugurated on Friday | EXPRESS
Vellore :
The Christian Medical College Hospital here has emerged as the first hospital in the country to have established a fully-automated clinical biochemistry laboratory that can handle around 1000 samples an hour effortlessly.
While the hospital had introduced automatic sample analysers sometime back, with the inauguration of a fully automated pre-analyser on Friday, the diagnosis of samples has now become a lot easier, safer and faster.
Describing the automation move as ‘hallmark of excellence’, hospital director Dr Sunil Chandy said the push was a result of fusion of useful technology and human enterprise. While the hospital had been on relying on accurate, high- quality lab diagnosis to extend quality care services, the challenge all along has been on achieving prudent and regulated growth to meet the demand from the increasing patients flow, he added.
Hitherto when a sample specimen was received, it went through a pre-analytical phase, comprising registering, centrifuging to separate the plasma or serum or other things, de-capping the tube, bar-coding and organising the samples before it was sent to the analyser machines for testing various parameters.
All these steps were being done manually. It is during this phase that 70 per cent of errors occur and the technologists are maximally exposed to the sample.
The new pre-analyser system offered by multinational company Roche has addressed these issues with a lot of simpler solutions. The bar-coded samples can be loaded on to the pre-analyser system now and the ‘pick and place’ robotic arm would sort the samples and load them on the analyser specific racks or carriers, which could be sent to the analysers for various tests.
Also, Roche has developed customised software for the CMC, that integrates the pre-analytics to the various analysers in the department and to the hospital information system.
General Superintendent Dr Selvakumar, who is also the head of the Department of Clinical Bio-chemistry, said that it was a big leap of automation in the history of the hospital. According to him, the first level of lab automation was started in CMC in 1984 when analysers were introduced for the first time in the country that could handle 250 tests/hour.
Then, bar-coding, pneumatic transport of samples from any part of the hospital followed over a period of time. With the introduction of the two pre-analysers now (each costing around `2.5 crore), the lab is fully automated to reduce the time taken for the tests by 50 per cent besides ensuring safety and accuracy of results.
The lab is manned by 24 technicians, to conduct as many as 170 tests of blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid on a daily basis. The 40-year-old lab, which was accredited by the NABH in 2002 is presently handling around 5,000 samples a day, which can be scaled up depending on the future needs, Selvakumar added.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by V. NarayanaMurthy / July 12th, 2014
Jasbir Kaur Chahal from London underwent a rare surgery at MIOT Hospitals seen with her husband and Mallika Mohandas,Chairman,MIOT Hospital . / Photo: K. Pichumani / The Hindu
Londoner cured of acute spine condition after stint in MIOT hospitals
Jasbir Kaur Chahal had just gotten off the phone with her mother back in England. “Mum, do you know what I had to eat now?” she had asked her, full of beans. “What’s the worst thing for me? Channa! Yes, I ate channa!” she answered, in raptures over the chickpeas she had eaten for lunch.
Jasbir waits warily for her system to react violently to the chickpeas, but the good doctors here have told the 51-year-old from London that all will be well.
Jasbir had come to MIOT International Hospitals nearly doubled up in pain. She had a history of prolonged use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (painkillers) for a serious condition that affects the spine — ankylosing spondylitis. But that was not her only problem. It was suspected that drug-induced diaphragm disease was keeping her from putting her favourite food into her mouth. She’d been on a liquid and low roughage diet for several months.
While she was careful avoiding food she thought was not good for her, after a point of time, nearly every time she ate, she’d feel ill, have bouts of diarrhoea, vomiting, and a stomach that bloated after a meal. And then there was the crippling pain that made her prone and put her in hospital often. After three years of waiting for a diagnosis through a double-balloon enteroscopy, a fed-up Jasbir made for India, and MIOT.
“You should have taken a picture of her when we came here first. She was bent over, clutching her stomach in pain and was diagnosed with depression,” her husband Joginder Singh explains. The couple came here expecting to wait a fair bit, but within a week, the diagnosis had been made, and the surgery completed, to provide relief.
‘Unprecedented’
Doctors found multiple strictures, nine places where the small intestine had narrowed to the point that food would get blocked and then build up, causing the symptoms. “We’ve looked at the literature and it certainly seems the first such case reported in India,” says George M. Chandy, director, MIOT Advanced Centre for Gastrointestinal and Liver diseases.
He goes on to explain what they did medically: S. Arulprakash, the team’s therapeutic endoscopist, performed a double-balloon enteroscopy to study the bowel; the strictures were located, after which the surgeon — V.Baskaran, director, Minimal Access Surgery — took over, removed two feet of the small intestine which had nine narrowed ring-like structures.
After having her bowel reduced by two feet, Jasbir chirps excitedly: “I feel three feet taller already.”
She is thrilled the doctors rallied around her and treated her as a person, rather than a statistic. Her natural jolly self is back after years, so much so her husband says, “I came with one wife, and it looks like I’m leaving with another!”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Ramya Kannan / Chennai – July 05th, 2014
Doctors at Chennai GH prevent limb loss in patients through needle hole procedure
Chennai :
Anbazhagan, a chain smoker and diabetic, was admitted to Government General Hospital in Chennai recently with severe gangrene on his left toes.
Even after three of his toes were removed at a private hospital, tests at GH showed that he had a major block on his left leg which was interrupting blood flow.
Instead of performing a major surgery which would have required cutting his thigh open, doctors performed an endovascular procedure which requires only a needle-sized puncture and removed the block.
Along with Anbazhagan, 11 other patients benefited from a similar procedure at the hospital which is painless and leaves no scar.
Endovascular therapy is an offshoot of the developments that have happened in the field of cardiology. “Occlusive diseases of the arteries in any part of the body can be subjected to either balloon angioplasty or stenting as the situation demands. Compared to conventional open surgeries, this procedure is very minimally invasive and there is no need for extended hospital stay,” said Dr M Rajkumar, director, Institute of Vascular Surgery.
He pointed out that through this procedure, apart from preventing limb loss, lives of critically ill patients can also be saved.
Though the procedure costs several lakhs rupees in private hospitals, the patients were treated for free under the chief minister’s health insurance scheme.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Janani Sampath, TNN / July 01st, 2014
Considered the Father of Geriatrics in India, he provides holistic medical and psychological cures for the elderly. Interestingly, his foray into medicine was not a long-cherished dream.
Graduated: 1964, Tanjore Medical College
First Call
Medicine was never a childhood ambition for me. I had perfect scores in my PUC and naturally got an admission into a good college. It became an ambition since then.
Looking Back
I have never once felt bored about working around the elderly. They need extra support and care, medically and psychologically. I want my patients to be cured as early as possible.
Turning Point
It’s a wonderful feeling to know that I have given back to my society. Once when I visited my village, the people recognised me as one of their own who is doing well in medicine. Since I was the first doctor in my family, the recognition and love I received will be cherished forever.
Obstetrician and Gynecologist Dr Kamala Selvaraj
Ever since she commissioned the first test tube baby in 1990, Kamala Selvaraj has been in the limelight for her contribution to gynaecology.
Graduated: 1969, Kasturba Medical College
First Call
When I finished school, my father asked me if I wanted to get married or study further. I chose to study and become a doctor and since then, there was no looking back.
Looking Back
I have earned enough to can sit back and enjoy life, if I choose to. But when I look at the pain writ on every patient’s face, it is heart wrenching.I feel they need me and with all my experience, I can treat them like no one else.
Turning Point
Something that keeps striking me is that I have never faltered in my profession, nor have I advertised myself. The fact that the junior gynaecologists idolise me and consider me their role model is a testimony to my work.
Admin Acolyte Dr V Kanagasab
The ever-present Dean of the Madras Medical College till he retired recently and the Director of Medical Education for a brief period, he has spent his life teaching and practising in government hospitals across Tamil Nadu. He is one of the people who contributed to putting MMC on the map during his tenure here.
Batch: 1980/ MMC and Stanley
Origin Story
It was a two way thing. I wanted to be a doctor and my parents were quite happy with my decision. My father tried to become a doctor in his day, but he wasn’t able to get in and settled for the agriculture department — so I still have the tag of being a first-generation doctor in my family.
Service Trip
Every single day, it was a lesson to go to whichever college I was at and not only serve people, but also spread knowledge to students. It is a great boon to be able to serve people who are oppressed, poor and often without education. That is a lesson that I had been trying to impart to my students in the 31 years of service that I’ve put in – to teach and serve people who require it. I gave up a lot of monetary benefits when I quit private practice and entered hospital administration, but I have no regrets today.
High Point
It was in 2010, when the MCI and the Government of India delayed the permits for the Dharmapuri Medical College, that we prepared a case and went to fight it out in Supreme Court. It was tough and we had doubts, but we had already admitted 100 students and their futures depended on it. Winning that case and laying those students fears’ to rest, is something that stays with me.
Eye Enigma Dr Amar Agarwal
Chairman and chief surgeon at Dr Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospitals. He has been responsible for taking the group global and providing affordable and high quality eye care for people of all economic strata. His life is an eye-opener.
Graduated: 1983, Madras Medical College
First Call
I always knew that I wanted to be a doctor. When I was nine, my parents, who were eye surgeons themselves, would make me practice how to do sutures on the leaves of an onion, because it was very close to a human eye. I loved it then and knew that this is what I wanted to do.
Looking Back
At any point of time, I am in my scrubs and I’m always thinking of ophthalmology. I have never wanted to do anything else. You see, when you live and breathe and love what you do, it is not work. That way I can proudly say that I’ve never ‘worked’ a day in my life!
Turning Point
One thing that stands firmly implanted in my mind is the day my parents died. Three hours after I grieved, I took their eyes and transplanted them myself into a poor patient who had been blind for ages. When he opened his eyes and looked at the world with my dad’s eyes, I looked at his wife’s face — the happiness I saw there, will stay with me as a reminder of why I do this every single day
Diabetologist Dr Vijay Viswanathan
Dr Vijay,carrying on the family lineage, is a diabetologist at the M V Hospital, Royapuram. Becoming a doctor was an ambition instilled into him since the age of 11.
Graduated: 1982, Stanley Medical College
First Call
My father was a doctor – a diabetologist. I was inspired by him and since I was a student of class six, I wanted to follow his footsteps
Looking Back
I’ve been a doctor for 24 years, and I have been living my dream ever since I graduated. I am completely content with whatever I do and never have I stopped to think of options.
Turning Point
Patients from far flung areas such as Arunachal Pradesh come here to get treated for diabetes. It is a huge responsibility on me and my hospital. To know that I have to do my best to treat them is something that I cherish and this makes me feel content. The knowledge that patients can bank on me, and that I can do justice to it, makes me feel I am doing the right thing.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Chennai / by Daniel Thimmayya & Aparna Deiskan / July 02nd, 2014
An eye donation camp held here on Friday in connection with the birth anniversary of Helen Keller, has reportedly entered the Assist World Record with nearly a lakh pledging to donate their eyes.
Lions Club International, which organised the eye donation awareness camp at Quaid-E-Millath Government College for Women, claimed that about a lakh people undertook the pledge during the day, making it the biggest such programme ever.
“The last record was 22,000, and we created history today to emerge on top according to Assist World Record,” said a proud G Manilal, Governor, Lions Club district 324-A8.
Most of the volunteers were students from institutions in the city like Stella Maris and MGR University among others.
“We have circulated forms to college students of whom many have registered. The rest are waiting for their parents’ approval. We are expecting the registration to cross one lakh,” added Manilal.
Each person who registered was given a smart card, which had important medical data about him/her, including the consent to donate eyes.
Justice P Jyotimani, member, National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, distributed the eye donation smart card, which was received by popular director-actor Thangar Bachan.
Dr KS Seetha Lakshmi, principal, Quaid-E- Millath Government College, and many eminent eye surgeons attended the camp.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / June 30th, 2014
Country chicken farm at Keeranur in Sivaganga district. / Photo: L. Balachandar / The Hindu
Animal Husbandry Department plans to provide poultry sheds for free
As the country chicken (native breed or nattu kozhi) commands a niche market and prime rate compared to broiler chicken, the Department of Animal Husbandry has decided to encourage successful country chicken breeders by providing them additional sheds free of cost.
For the first time in Sivaganga district, those who had taken up country chicken breeding as an additional income generating source and bred three batches of birds, would be provided with an additional shed, costing about Rs. 1.25 lakh free of cost this year. The sheds measuring 331 square feet, would be built by involving the workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), said T.Nagarajan, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry and B.Manivannan, Nodal officer, poultry scheme during a field visit.
The department has launched the process of short listing existing breeders to extend the benefit, they said. Besides, 160 new beneficiaries would be given front ended subsidy of Rs. 29,250 each to set up poultry farms during the current year under the State Poultry development scheme, they added.
The beneficiaries would also be entitled for back ended subsidy of an equivalent amount by the National Bank for Rural Development (NABARD) if they set up the farms, costing Rs. 1.25 lakh by availing loans from public sector banks. However, not many could get bank loans last year, they said. “We proposed 90 out of 240 beneficiaries for bank loans last year, but only 22 were given,” they said.
When contacted, sources in the lead bank said the banks could not concentrate on the loan applications last year when the model code of conduct for the elections was in force. This year public sector banks would be instructed to examine all applications and provide loans to eligible breeders, the sources said.
S. Kaleeswaran and his wife K. Sathya, practicing integrated livestock farming at their farm in Keeranur, have set up a country chicken poultry farm and had made a profit of Rs. 25,000 when they sold the batch of 220 birds. They, however, lost the second batch of 250 birds following diseases.
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon K.Suganya who periodically visited the farm said the birds had died of Raniket and Coccidiosis diseases, which affect the birds due to poor maintenance of litter. The farmers were advised to follow guidelines to avoid mortality, she said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by D. J. Walter Scott / Kalayarkoil (Sivaganga) – June 29th, 2014
Its not all about technology at the IIT-M. Showing concern for the blackbuck population on its campus, which has increased from 13 in 2007 to 34 this year and other deer roaming its grounds, the institute has decided to create deer corridors with adequate space between buildings to allow the animals free movement.
“The architects drawing up a master plan for the institute have recommended that we demolish the old buildings and construct six storey ones with space in between for the deer to roam the grounds. We have decided to go along with this,” said IIT-M director, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi.
Noting that the institute had always given priority to conserving nature and animals on campus, he explained that the idea was to create more open space as several old buildings had hardly any distance between them. “We have several buildings like these at Triplicane and Mylapore, which we will now replace with taller more widely spaced constructions,” he added.
The institute has also identified a couple of houses near the lake for demolition to preserve its natural surroundings.
“As it is a low-lying area the houses are often flooded. Whenever these houses get condemned we will demolish them and their occupants shifted to multi-storey buildings that will be constructed in areas where they are permitted,” he assured, adding that the new area identified by the architects was less than three per cent of the cap placed by the institute.
Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi has been associated with the institute for over three decades as student ,faculty and director.
The IIT-M’s annual animal census last year found 34 blackbucks, 238 bonnet macaque and 403 chital deer on campus.
Wildlife conservationist R.J. Ranjith Daniels said the increase in number of blackbucks on IIT-Madras campus could be termed a success story in conservation and planning.
“We recommended to the institute to identify critical habitat, identify territories and the area of herds to preserve them, which the institute did and the number of blackbucks increased. With equal number of male and female population we now have good scope for breeding,” he said.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by N. Arun Kumar / June 15th, 2014
Taking the recently constructed fish landing centre at Nagore to a higher degree of functionality, a new project of building breakwaters (bulkheads) to prevent siltation of the bar mouth at Vettar in Nagore has been launched here.
The project envisages setting up of breakwaters of up to 330 metres long, with an underwater depth of 4.3 metres and above water height of four metres.
The proposal envisions providing a secure harbour in the fish landing centre for the fishing boats that were hampered by intense and frequent siltation resulting from long-shore drift.
An official source told The Hindu that the heightened siltation and sedimentation is caused by similar bulkheads built by the Marg Port in Vanjoor in the vicinity of Nagore.
The fish landing centre was recently made operational at a cost of Rs. 6 crore.
However, the fishing boats faced difficulties in passing through Vettar bar mouth because of siltation, posing the need for frequent dredging.
The breakwater project under the Modernisation of Coastal Inlet of the Vettar and funded by NABARD under its Rural Infrastructure Development Scheme envisages an estimated cost of Rs. 11 crore.
For NABARD, it is the 19th scheme under RIDS for the district.
The project implemented by the Fisheries Department has been awarded to Erode-based Sripathi Associates with a completion period of 12 months.
Consultations for the project has been provided by IIT Madras.
According to the official, the project is proposed to be completed within nine months, with a three-month buffer period in the event of monsoon hurdles.
Earlier, the foundation stone for the project was laid by Minister for Fisheries K.A. Jayapal here.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Staff Reporter / Nagapattinam – June 24th, 2014
When a transplant team from Apollo Hospitals walked into Sri Ramachandra Hospital in the early hours of Friday to harvest three abdominal organs — liver, pancreas and small intestine — for transplant, they had little medical literature on what was a complex transplant within the country. But they seemed confident.
Although the surgeons have carried out complex liver transplants, they have done just one pancreatic transplant in the past, and no intestinal transplant. “Transplanting pancreas and intestines is very rare, and the combination makes it more complex . Intestine transplant has high failure rates. One surgery in Chennai had failed,” said a transplant surgeon. The surgeons could not speak in detail after the 12-hour transplant, but said they used refined techniques, effective immunosuppressive drugs and had better quality donor organs this time.
In the 2000s, transplant surgeon Dr Shanmugha Bhaskar performed a bowel transplant at Madras Medical Mission with organs harvested from a brain-dead patient at Government General Hospital, but the patient died. There were no attempts at bowel transplant in the state after that. In November 2012, Delhi-based Medanta Hospital did a small intestine transplant on a 30-year-old patient. “This is the first time we are doing a small intestine transplant, and we have combined it with two other organs,” the surgeon said.
Patients with intestinal failure, on most occasions, develop nutrition-related complications. But doctors say they have ensured the patient at Apollo Hospital was fit for surgery. While a team of surgeons were preparing the patient, another team retrieved the abdominal organs and rushed them to the transplant hospital. In the next 12 hours, doctors transplanted the three organs into the patient who had suffered multiple organ failure. The patient, who is in an isolated room of the ICU, is recovering well, doctors said.
However, doctors warn that it’s too early to call the transplant a success. “Post-operative care is the most difficult part in a cluster organ transplant. The recipient’s system may reject the organs or the patient may develop infection,” said liver transplant surgeon Dr R Surendran of MIOT Hospitals. The patient will be kept on high doses of immunesuppressive drugs to ensure that his body does not reject the new organs. This in turn increases chances of infection. “A sterile environment in post transplant medication and round-the-clock care is needed,” he added.
About 70 such transplants occur worldwide every year and the survival rate is about 65% to 70% in the first year.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Pushpa Narayan & Janani Sampath, TNN / June 27th, 2014
