Tamil Nadu to be the pioneer for heart valve treatments

03.03.2019

The Ministry of Health, headed by Dr C Vijayabaskar, Honourable Health Minister, presided a public awareness programme on heart valve replacements without open heart surgery, at Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital, on February 27. This was the firstof-its-kind programme in the country to inform patients on treatments.

Many patients develop heart valve disease, widely referred to as “Aortic Stenosis”. This has always been treated with open heart surgery. There have been evidences which proved that these patients can have their valve replaced without surgery — through a keyhole procedure called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI). This expensive treatment was predominantly a treatment available only in private hospitals. Tamil Nadu government is said to be the first state in the country to start these treatments in the government sector. The Government of TN has signed a contract with Dr AB Gopalamurugan, Senior Consultant, Interventional Cardiologist and Chief of Endovascular Treatments, Heart Team India.

The officials today claimed that Gopalamurugan, who introduced such treatments to the country, has performed the most number of valve replacement procedures without resorting to an open surgery.

Minister felicitating patients with Dr AB Gopalamurugan and dignitaries


Dr Gopalamurugan being felicitated by Minister C Vijayabaskar for his efforts to iniate TAVI in the state

State brings 14 of 41 constituent colleges under it
Move To Ease Fin Burden Of Govt Varsities

Sambath.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Trichy:03.03.2019

Eight months after an announcement by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the state government has passed orders for converting 14 of the total 41 constituent arts and science colleges under the director of college education (DCE) into government colleges. These include four of the 10 constituent colleges managed by Bharathidasan University (BDU) which is the largest among state-run universities.

The conversion, which would be undertaken in three phases, is being done to ease the financial burden on staterun universities in managing these colleges. For instance, Bharathidasan University which runs 10 such colleges must spend more than ₹7 crore a year to run them. The concept of constituent colleges had emerged to meet the demand for arts and science colleges after the state government took a policy decision not to start any more government arts colleges. However, that in effect proved to be a burden for the state-run universities.

It was to relieve the universities of this burden and enable them to focus on research that the government decided to convert them into government arts colleges. The announcement in this regard was also made in the assembly by the chief minister. Earlier, it was estimated that the government would have to spend ₹152 crore every year towards these colleges. But a detailed account on the total number of staff took the total spending up to more than ₹168 crore.

Observing that conversion of these colleges at one stretch would cause huge financial burden on the state government, it has now been decided to convert them in a phased manner, the GO said. Constituent college at Lalgudi in Trichy, apart from one each in Perambalur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai districts will be converted in the first phase in the central region.

Terming the order as a relief as the matter has been pending from June last year, BDU vice-chancellor P Manisankar said they were expecting some more clarification on various aspects of the order.

ONE AT A TIME:Converting all colleges at one go would incur a huge loss and the state plans to do it in phases

Tejas can give airlines tough competition

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:03.03.2019

The railways has introduced Tejas superfast express on the Madurai - Chennai sector in an effort to bring train journey at par with air travel offering world-class facilities at premium fare. Regular commuters say the train has the potential to offer tough competition to low-cost airlines on the Trichy – Chennai sector depending on the travel time cut. However, the present travel time of six and a half hours from Chennai to Madurai falls well short of expectations, they say.

As of now Alliance Air and IndiGo operate seven services a day on the Trichy-Chennai sector. The coaches of the fully air-conditioned train equipped with modern entertainment system, modular toilets, smart windows and GPS-based passenger information system among other features were made at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. The train has been well received in terms of its features, but not on travel time. When Vagai Express was inaugurated in 1977, it covered the same distance in 7 hours. Now it takes 40 minutes more.

According to V B Jagannath of Trichy Intra-City Development Endeavors (TIDES), Tejas would offer competition to Chennai-Trichy flights if there is a stoppage for it at Tambaram. Of course, airlines would still maintain their edge if they reduced fares. “Not sure how the patronage will be for the train as its fares are high. As the train is expected to cater to the affluent, it can easily attract air passengers. Since the Trichy-Chennai flight fares are exorbitant starting around ₹4,500 sometimes, taking Tejas should make more sense for them”, he added.

Two flights depart from Chennai at 4.55am and 5.45am everyday. Since Tejas departs at 6am from Chennai, it could have an impact on these flights, said the director of Naveen Travell, Trichy V Navaneethan. “It all depends on Tejas maintaining the right time and reducing the present travel time considerably,” said A Giri, member of DRUCC and Thanjavur District Rail Users Association.

HC relief for students of defunct med college

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 03.03.2019

In a reprieve to 144 second-year MBBS students of nowdefunct Annai Medical College, who were denied permission to write exams due to shortage of attendance, the Madras high court has ordered the Directorate of Medical Education to allow them to continue their second-year classes till March to help them achieve the mandatory 75% attendance.

Justice N Kirubakaran also ordered the directorate to permit them to attend third-year classes from April along with their batch and to write thier second-year exams in August. The students were

transferred to government-run colleges in view of a court order.

On December 22, 2017, the high court had directed the state to accommodate all the 144 students of Annai Medical College, admitted during the academic year 2016-17 in state-run medical colleges since the college was denied recognition. The court also directed the government to make arrangements to take special classes to the transferred students, so that the lost attendance could be achieved.

In view of the order, the government passed an order dated March 2, 2018, transferring all the 144 students to government-run colleges but said that as per the MCI rules, it is impermissible for those students to have clinical hours within a short span of time.

Subsequently, the government issued a circular stating that the students cannot be allowed to write the second-year exams.

Assailing the circular, the students approached the high court through a review petition.

The 144 students of Annai Medical College were transferred to govt-run colleges after a court order

Technical snag forces SpiceJet carrying Edapaddi K Palaniswamy to return to Chennai

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedMar 2, 2019, 2:47 am IST

All passengers and cabin crew members deplaned safely.

Chennai: Following a technical snag mid-air, the Thoothukudi-bound Spicejet flight carrying 78 passengers, including the Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswamy and other officials, landed in the city airport a few minutes after taking off from here. All passengers and cabin crew members deplaned safely.

The chief minister was scheduled to travel to Kanyakumari from Thoothukudi to attend a government function where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to unveil a series of development projects for Kanyakumari and Tamil Nadu.

According to an ATCofficial , the SpiceJet flight took off for Thoothukudi from Chennai International Airport at 7.50 am before returning. The flight to Thoothkudi, with 78 passengers and 5 cabin crew, suffered high cabin pressure and the pilot was holding for five minutes above Kancheepuram airspace.

Since the aircraft was not flying at high altitude due to the cabin pressure issue, the captain alerted the ATC and the flight made an emergency landing in Chennai at 8.30 am.

The CM took an Indigo flight to Madurai at 9:10 am and reached Kanyakumari by road, sources added.

Chennai: 40 metallic objects removed from patient’s stomach at RGGH

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedMar 2, 2019, 3:17 am IST

The Dean also said that 40 objects, including keys, razors, coins and magnets were removed from the patient's stomach.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, R. Jayanti, Dean, RGGGH said that the surgery was a very difficult one. “A team headed by doctor A R Venkateshwaran did the gastroscopy for Jayakumar. It was a complicated one as we had to ensure he does not choke or the metal objects do not go down the wrong passage in the throat,” she said.

Chennai: In a remarkably complex surgery conducted at the Rajiv Gandhi government hospital on Friday, over 40 items were removed from a patients stomach after he had swallowed them over a period of a few months.

The man, identified as Jayakumar, 52, was undergoing treatment at the Institute of Medical Health in Ayanavaram when during a routine MRI for his disease was being conducted, he developed severe abdominal pain. Suspecting some health condition, a CT scan was taken during which multiple metallic objects in his stomach were revealed. Jayakumar was immediately rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where he was admitted at the Institute of Gastroenterology.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, R. Jayanti, Dean, RGGGH said that the surgery was a very difficult one. “A team headed by doctor A R Venkateshwaran did the gastroscopy for Jayakumar. It was a complicated one as we had to ensure he does not choke or the metal objects do not go down the wrong passage in the throat,” she said.

The Dean also said that 40 objects, including keys, razors, coins and magnets were removed from the patient's stomach. “An endoscopy was performed and the medical gastroenterology team avoided a major surgery for the patient,” she said.

If the objects were not removed, the patient could have developed complications like perforation of the intestines, bleeding and sepsis, doctors say. “We screened the patient with fluoroscopy and ensured complete clearance of all foreign bodies from his digestive tract,” doctors said.

Meanwhile, Jayakumar who appeared hale and healthy after the surgery promised that he would not resort to swallowing metal objects again. He has been given counselling at the government hospital and will be sent back to the IMH.

Palaniswami inaugurates cycle-sharing system in Chennai

According to officials in the Chennai Corporation, residents can use these cycles for free for the first month as an inaugural offer.

Published: 28th February 2019 06:59 AM 

Chennai Smart City’s cycle-sharing system. (Photo | Debadatta Mallick)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated the Chennai Smart City’s cycle-sharing system in the city via video-conferencing on Wednesday. The system has been launched in 15 locations in the city at Anna Nagar and Marina Beach and will be extended to 25 locations in the coming days.


According to officials in the Chennai Corporation, residents can use these cycles for free for the first month as an inaugural offer. Then users will be charged Rs 5 for the first one hour and Rs 9 for every half hour after that. “The idea behind this is to ensure users return the cycles on time,” said a Chennai Smart City official.

This move is also welcomed by non-motorised transport experts. “The launch of the system is a laudable move to encourage this almost invisible transport mode and give the cyclists their due. This pilot is a great start to an important form of last-mile connectivity.

In response to the piqued interests of the citizens and demand for cycles in more areas, expanding the system to achieve the targeted 5,000 cycles in 380 stations across the city would ensure even greater usage and success,” said Nashwa Naushad, an associate for the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy.