Proud moment for sports fraternity

Pramila Prava Minz and Pratima Puhana who would represent India in Singapore Youth Olympics in August.

BHUBANESWAR, India: The news of two Oriya women representing the nation in the forthcoming first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore from August 14 to 26 has brought cheer to the people of the State while the sports fraternity is in celebration mood.

According to information received here from the Rowing Federation of India, Pramila Prava Minz and Pratima Puhana, both belonging to the SAI (Sports Authority of India) Water Sports Complex at Jagatpur near Cuttack have been qualified for the junior women’s coxless pair category in the competition. They were selected on the basis of their performance in the 2009 World Junior Rowing Championships held in France. Orissa Association for Rowing secretary Binod Das has said that both the girls are presently undergoing the national training camp in Hyderabad. “It is a historic achievement for Orissa,” he added.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/08/stories/2010040851460200.htm

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The Hindu

A new lease of life for conjoined twins

Doctors at Batra Hospital successfully separate the little sisters – PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

new frontiers: Dr. Sanjeev Bagai (left) and Dr. Arvind Sabharwal (right) explaining the complex operations to separate the conjoined twin sisters Sita and Gita as their relieved parents look on at Batra Hospital in

NEW DELHI, India: Doctors at Batra Hospital here have successfully separated the 18-month-old conjoined twins who were fused in the lower part of the pelvis, spin, hip bones and legs with a common intestinal tract and common genitor-urinary tract.

The twins were operated upon and separated by a team of 27 doctors.

The marathon operation started at 7 a.m. on Monday and lasted till midnight. “After the surgery the first 48 hours were critical for these children and on Wednesday they have started feeding. The most critical phase seems to be over. The two have been separated and both now have their individual organs and we think there is nothing that will hinder a normal productive life ahead for them,” said Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sanjeev Bagai.

Giving details of the surgery, paediatric surgeon Dr. Arvind Sabharwal said: “The separation took about five hours and eight surgical teams comprising 27 specialists and 12 dedicated nursing staff worked on these children. The surgery lasted 14 hours. The children were made to lie on their abdomen and the surgery was started from the back. After making skin incisions, the skin flaps were raised and the lower end of the spinal column which was united was separated gradually so that no damages occurred to the nerves,” said Dr. Sabharwal.

The children are now being kept in the Intensive Care Unit for close monitoring and care.

Their parents, Nirmala and Subhas Mukhia, who are both daily wagers and have travelled from Bihar for the treatment of their children, said: “The treatment has been done free of cost and we will be staying at the hospital for another month or so till the two are fully fit. When the twins were born I had no hope that they would survive. Today, thanks to medical technology and the skill of doctors here, they have a chance to lead a normal live.”

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/08/stories/2010040860950400.htm

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The Hindu

Volunteers sought for youth corps

PALAKKAD, India: The Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) has invited applications from persons in the age group of 18 to 25 years for deployment as volunteers under the National Youth Corps, a scheme of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.

District Youth Coordinator, NYK, K. Kunhammed said the deployment of volunteers would be for two years during which period the National Youth Corps volunteers would be engaged on full-time basis to spearhead the youth development activities of the Kendra in the district. Candidates should have passed Plus Two (Higher Secondary) and attained the age limit of 18 to 25 years as on April 1, 2010. Students pursuing any regular course are not eligible to apply. Volunteers will be paid stipend of Rs. 2,500 a month. The application form can be collected from NYK, Civil Station, Palakkad or downloaded on the web site http://www.nyks.org.

The application forms should reach the District Youth Coordinator, NYK, before April 26, 2010.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/08/stories/2010040853920500.htm

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The Hindu

Corpn. begins collection of non-recyclable plastics waste

Cement company near city to test the waste as fuel in its furnace Photo: K. Ananthan

FINDING USE: Gunny bags full of plastics waste that the Coimbatore Corporation collected from across the city and kept at the Vellalore compost yard on Wednesday as part of a new component of the solid waste management programme. —

COIMBATORE, India: The Coimbatore Corporation has begun the collection of plastics waste, of the disposable type, as part of its solid waste management project.

As a trial run, the plastics waste will be handed over to ACC Limited (formerly Associated Cement Companies Limited). The company will use it in its furnace and the entire waste will be gasified, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said on Wednesday.

The Corporation handed over nearly 1,500 kg of plastics waste to the company on Wednesday at the compost yard of the civic body at Vellalore.

A similar project was on in Tirunelveli and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had called upon the Coimbatore Corporation to implement it here also, the Commissioner said.

Only the non-recyclable plastics would go to the furnace. While re-cycling was an option for disposal, the non-recyclable ones were a source of concern for the pollution control board and the local body. Plastics were non-biodegradable. And the non-recyclable ones compounded the problems in disposal. A solution was now available in the form of the furnace at the cement factory.

But, the company would first check whether the plastics waste provided on Wednesday was worthy of use. The company would sign a memorandum of understanding with the Corporation only if it was convinced that the city could provide it with the waste it wanted.

Meanwhile, the Corporation was getting the basic collection system ready. The Commissioner had ordered the distribution of 100 gunny bags (of 10 kg to 15 kg capacity each) to each of the 72 ward offices in the city. The target for each worker was 20 kg of plastics waste a day.

“While this is one strategy to prevent the city being littered with plastics waste, the other one was to shun the use of plastics, especially carry bags,” the Commissioner said. “We will encourage people to use cloth, jute or paper bags. We are considering the option of bio-bags for meat stalls,” Mr. Mishra said.

“Meat waste cannot be mixed with garbage. It can be stored in these bags and handed over separately to the Corporation workers. The waste can be buried along with the bags as these are biodegradable,” he explained.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/08/stories/2010040858190200.htm

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The Hindu

Educating children on health

CHENNAI, India: When it comes to health “it is better to prepare rather than repair” — this is something Colin L. Yarham firmly believes. And the belief is not without reason.

As someone who has worked in the area of school health programmes for several years, Mr. Yarham of non-governmental organisation Health Education and Promotion International, left his home in Australia over a decade ago to come to Tamil Nadu and work towards improving the health of school children.

He helped in the development of the Tamil Nadu Schools Total Health Programme, which subsequently was integrated with the State government syllabus. It was recently updated to include a host of aspects about every child’s physical, mental and emotional well-being.

In 2003, a government order was issued, making it mandatory for schools to teach the Tamil Nadu Schools Total Health Programme as an examinable syllabus subject for two periods per week in classes I to XII.

In the syllabus prepared and now, updated by Mr.Yarham’s team, a range of topics, from nutrition, environmental health and dangers of substance abuse, to social health, safety aspects and consumer health, have been covered in detail with suitable examples and illustrations.

“Children’s health is vital in public health. While preparing the syllabus, we involved school heads, District Institute of Educational and Training (DIET) faculty, teachers and health workers,” says Mr. Yarham.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/08/stories/2010040851870300.htm

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The Hindu

Montek for 35-kg grain a month to the poor

NEW DELHI, India: Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is pitching for supply of 35 kg of foodgrains every month at Rs. 3 a kg to the poor, up from 25 kg proposed under the new Food Security Act.

“Not unreasonable if it is for the poor”

It is not wrong or unreasonable to increase the quantity. “This will be costlier but if we are doing it for the poor, it will not be unreasonable,” he told journalists on the sidelines of a CII-organised interaction with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner here on Tuesday night.

Mr. Ahluwalia’s remarks came a day after the Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, asked the Commission to provide an exact definition of Below the Poverty Line (BPL) families which are entitled to a specified quantity of rice or wheat every month.

‘Under study’

As for the Suresh Tendulkar Committee report on measuring poverty, he said: “We are examining it. We will certainly prepare an estimate of BPL households on the basis of the Committee report.”

The government, he said, would have to decide which data to use while providing the needy food security: the poverty line fixed in the 2004-05 survey or the one to be obtained from the ongoing survey (2009-10) or from a new census (2011).

“The Tendulkar Committee has suggested some increase in the poverty line for rural areas. I don’t think it is unreasonable.”

The 2004-05 survey put the number of BPL families at 6.5 crore. It would increase to a little over eight crore, if the methodology suggested by the committee was taken in account.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/08/stories/2010040862241000.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu