HC comes down hard on doctors

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI, MARCH 14, 2019 00:00 IST

In a hard hitting judgement, the Madras High Court on Wednesday came down hard on doctors who enter into government service, secure admission in postgraduate and specialty courses as in-service candidates, get educated at State cost, gain experience by treating poor patients in government hospitals and then leave the job for personal enrichment.

Justice S.M. Subramaniam “deprecated” the conduct of government doctors who learn medical intricacies and diagnosis utilising the “poor man’s body” as well as the infrastructure provided in government hospitals at public cost but do not want to serve in those hospitals for long as per terms and conditions agreed upon while entering into government service.

“The skill acquired from and out of taxpayers’ money must be utilised for the people at large and it is under these circumstances that the government expects them to work in public hospitals at least for specified period,” he said.

The observations were made while dismissing a writ petition filed by anaesthesiologist Silamban this year seeking a direction to the Health Secretary and Dean of Madras Medical College to accept a resignation letter supposedly submitted by him on December 20, 2010 and pass necessary orders relieving him from government service with effect from 2010.

In larger interest, Justice Subramaniam directed the State government to constitute a monitoring committee to keep a check over all activities related to government hospitals and make sure that it keeps a tab on attendance as well as performance of doctors apart from ensuring proper maintenance of the hospitals and medical equipments.

Overstaying foreign students: HC fiat to govt.

BENGALURU, MARCH 14, 2019 00:00 IST

Observing that instances of involvement of students from foreign countries in narcotics and other crimes may pose threat to security in the State, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to submit details about overstaying foreign students and cases registered against them. The State authorities were asked to get necessary details from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office, Bengaluru, and inform the court about actions taken for deporting the overstaying foreigners as per the procedure.

Parents may unknowingly nurture screen addiction in their children

Times 14.03.2019

Parents are often guilty of handing over a smartphone or tablet to their toddlers to get them to eat, stay quiet or keep them entertained. But beware, as this habit can not only make them sedentary but also push them into severe digital addiction in their formative years. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), only 15-20 minutes of screen exposure is healthy and acceptable for babies under 18 months of age.

However, busy schedules and an overprotective approach towards the physical safety of toddlers have increasingly convinced parents, especially in the metros, to hook their children onto smart screens, say experts.

This can push toddlers to laziness and permanently damage their cognitive abilities such as solving problems, paying attention to other people and falling asleep on time. It can also hinder their holistic development, damage their eyesight and cause childhood obesity.

Since screen exposure is inescapable for toddlers, parents are being advised by experts to engage their children in “open-ended” content on screens. This would help them to be creative in interacting with the app, which could contribute as cognitive development than mere reward or distraction. However, screen exposure for a short period under supervision cannot be harmful.

Once children get used to smart displays, trying to cut down their screen time later could result in problematic withdrawal symptoms like disobedience, repetitive demanding and tantrums.

For digital detox, experts say parents should create and maintain device-free zones at home, especially at dining tables and in bedrooms for kids as well as for themselves. IANS

Keerthy kicks off her Bollywood debut as a footballer’s wife

Sharanya.Cr@timesgroup.com

14.03.2019

Several south Indian actresses have debuted in Bollywood, thanks mainly to the work they’ve done in the south. The latest one to join that list is namma Keerthy Suresh, who will be making her debut in the Hindi industry. And like we said earlier, things fell in place for the actress because of her Telugu-Tamil film Mahanati (Nadigayar Thilagam in Tamil), which turned the tables in her career. Keerthy will be debuting in Bollywood in a film with Ajay Devgn that traces the life and time of Indian football player and coach, Syed Abdul Rahim. Directed by Amit Sharma of Badhaai Ho fame and produced by Boney Kapoor, the biopic will also chronicle our national football team’s glory from 1950 to 1963. While Ajay will essay Syed’s role, Keerthy will play his wife in the film. There is a cute love story entwined in the subject.

Ask her about bagging this Bollywood project and Keerthy tells us, “I am elated and honoured to be a part of such a great story. This is a film that will make every Indian proud. I believe this is a story that doesn’t belong to any specific region or language of India but is a great Indian story that the world should know.” The actress is fluent with Hindi and believes that she can do justice to the role. The film is likely to go on floors in June and Keerthy will be joining the team as soon as they begin filming.

We hear that things were finalised last August when Boney, who’s also producing Ajith’s Nerkonda Paarvai in Kollywood, saw Mahanati. A source says, “He was quite impressed with Keerthy’s performance and suggested her name to the director. She then met the director and things eventually fell in place.”

Keerthy Suresh

Vistara gets govt approval to commence foreign trips
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:14.03.2019

The Tata Group-Singapore Airlines JV Vistara has got the government’s nod to fly abroad, making it the first private airline being allowed to do so under recently amended rules.

The Modi government had in 2016 changed the 5/20 rule — which required an airline to complete five years of operations and have 20 planes in its fleet — to fly abroad to 0/20. Since Vistara — which started flying on January 9, 2015 — has over 20 planes, the government set up a group of ministers to examine its request to fly abroad and has now cleared it to do so.

At present, Air India, AI Express, Jet, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir fly abroad, with GoAir starting these flights only last October.

So, Vistara will be the seventh Indian carrier to fly overseas. The other Tata JV airline AirAsia India completes five years this summer and will then fly abroad as it was not considered under the amended 0/20 due to a number of cases filed against the airline.

Vistara is likely to start international flights with service to Colombo. Bilaterals to other nearby places, where any Indian carrier wants to fly like Dubai, China, Qatar and Singapore are almost exhausted, and India did not hike them.

A Vistara spokesperson said, “We are closely working with the ministry of civil aviation. Specific details will be shared at an appropriate time.”

FLYING HIGH: Vistara will be the 7th Indian carrier to fly abroad

Why some women get pregnant even when on the pill

Times of India Chennai 14.03.2019

It’s long been assumed that women who get pregnant on birth control pills somehow erred, possibly by forgetting a dose. But a new study suggests some women may inherit genes that break down contraceptive hormones rapidly, leaving them with hormone levels that are too low to prevent pregnancy, according to a report published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Researchers found women with a certain genetic variant metabolised estrogen and progesterone so quickly that it could put them at risk for pregnancy if they were taking low-dose birth control pills.

“If a woman came in and said she was taking birth control and got pregnant we assumed she did something wrong, missed a pill or wasn’t using the method like she was supposed to,” said the study’s lead author, Aaron Lazorwitz of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We need to believe the patient and to understand that there are other things outside of her control, like genetics, that could cause birth control to fail.”

The new research ought to start a trend, Lazorwitz said. “Women’s health hasn’t had a lot of this kind of research done yet,” he added. “It’s time we catch up with research in other medications that have shown that genetics can affect how the body breaks them down.”

To take a closer look at the issue, Lazorwitz and his colleagues recruited 350 women with an etonogestrel implant in place for at least a year and no more than 36 months. The long-lasting contraceptive comes in the form of a small plastic strip that is injected into the skin of a woman’s upper arm and slowly releases pregnancypreventing hormones over the course of three years.

The researchers chose to study the impact of genetics on hormone metabolism in women using the implant because “it was much easier to study and there was no concern about anyone missing a dose,” Lazorwitz said.

Lazorwitz and his colleagues focused on a gene, called CYP3A7*1C, that is turned on in all fetuses but switches off in most infants. In some women, the gene never switched off. Instead, it continues to make the CYP3A7 protein, which breaks down the hormones used in birth control, Lazorwitz said. REUTERS

BLAME IT ON YOUR GENES

Doctor among four booked for ‘stealing’ kidney

Devanathan.Veerappan@timesgroup.com

Madurai:14.03.2019

The K Pudur police in Madurai have registered a case against a doctor at a kidney hospital, his wife and two others, including the father of the recipient of a ‘stolen’ kidney. They allegedly ‘stole’ the kidney of a teenager and transplanted it to another person without the consent of the boy’s family members.

In her complaint, the donor’s mother, Shakeela Banu, 35, claimed that her son’s kidney was harvested in the hospital on the pretext of curing his ‘blood infection’. Though the incident took place in November 2017, a case was registered with K Pudur police station on Wednesday based on a petition the woman handed over to city police commissioner S Davidson Devasirvatham about 10 days ago. As reported earlier, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court had directed the commissioner to probe the issue. According to police sources, though Shakeela Banu had approached Melur police station in the district police unit to get a case registered, it was not done. Dr Palanirajan of Shastha Kidney and Multi Specialty Hospital, his wife, the recipient’s father Basheer and his friend Raja Mohammed were booked under IPC sections 420-cheating, 506 (i)- punishment for criminal intimidation and sections 18, 19, 20 of The Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994.

Dr Palanirajan told TOI that he was shocked to know about the case. He did the transplantation after getting all the required approvals and following the procedures including the approval from the authorization committee of Government Rajaji Hospital. “We have already submitted all the documents to the police officers, who inquired into the case before and were convinced. I think some money dispute between the donor and the recipient has dragged us into this,” he said.

Assistant commissioner of police Anna Nagar, Lilly Grace, who is the investigation officer, said that the case was registered based on the petition the woman had given to the commissioner and they were yet to start the inquiry. In her complaint, Shakeela Banu stated that Basheer and Raja Mohammed had been helping her with grocery items as she was struggling to make both ends meet. They told her that Basheer’s son had some disease and wanted blood transfusion frequently for which they sought her son’s blood.