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| Thursday, September 21, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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PGI told to fix CT scan rates with
pvt operators CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — The Union Health Ministry has directed the PGI authorities to negotiate with the private CT scan operators in the city and fix CT scan rates for the patients of the PGI, so that they do not pay exorbitant charges, it is learnt. PGI Director, Dr S.K. Sharma revealed that the ministry had taken a serious view of the sole CT scan machine in the PGI being out of order for the past few months back and the death of a teenaged girl due to the absence of the facility in the hospital. The directions to the PGI authorities have reportedly come after reports in various newspapers about the problems being faced by the patients who require CT scan facilities. The sole CT scan machine in the PGI on an average does 60-70 scans a day, but the requirement is much more with the influx of patients from the entire northern region. Hence, patients who can afford private diagnostic services have to go out. The Director said a committee had been constituted under Dr N. Khandelwal, Additional Professor, Radiology Department to draw up plans and fix rates with these private operators. The committee would shortly meet these operators and ask them to submit quotations. As many as three operators, who quote the lowest rates for the scan would be put on the referral list. This would enable the patients to avail the facility at reasonable rates. A proposal to this effect had even been given by some of the CT scan operators last year also. They had offered to carry out the CT scan at half the rates, if PGI doctors referred the cases to them in the event of the machine being out of order. But the proposal was reportedly rejected due to certain reasons. However, this time the directions of the Union Ministry are being seriously considered and the same will be implemented till it procures another CT scan machine. Dr Sudha Suri, Head
Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, when contacted said efforts
were on to make PGI self sufficient in catering to the CT
scan requirements of the patients. While the project to
purchase state-of-the-art spiral CT Scan machine had been
shelved by the ministry, but the authorities were already
working out modalities to purchase another CT scan
machine for the department in the next one year. This
would further put a check on patients being referred to
private diagnostic centres, she added. |
Polytechnic students, staff
donate blood CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — As many as 130 units of blood were collected by a team of doctors of the P.G.I., at a camp organised by staff and students of Central Polytechnic, Sector 26, here today. The camp, in association with the Lions Club, Shivalik, was inaugurated by Mr Ashok Sangwan, Director, Technical Education. Lauding the dedication of the organisers, Mr Sangwan urged blood donors to come forward in greater numbers for the noble cause. Mr S.L. Sapra, Principal, Central Polytechnic, announced that the college would hold another blood donation camp in the near future. The President of the
Lions Club, Shivalik, expressing happiness at the
response, said that three more camps would be organised
during the year 2000. |
Informatics in all
medical colleges soon CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — Keeping in view the increasing application of Information Technology in medicine, the Union Ministry of Health, as part of the tele-education project, plans to establish the facility of medical informatics in all medical colleges of the country. This programme, which comes under the Prime Minister’s project, will upgrade the educational facilities in the region, in particular, and also give a fillip to telemedicine technology in other parts of the country. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held last week in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Director-General, ICMR, Dr N.K Ganguly. Giving details, Dr B.D. Gupta, a member of the committee and adviser to the National Telemedicine Technology Programme, said the project would be useful for medical, paramedical students, interns and nurses as distance education would be provided through video-conferencing system, using a desktop camera and a computer. The aim is to have video conferencing facility in each college. “The transfer of electronic medical data, which includes high resolution images, sounds, live video and patient record for clinical practice in medicine as well as medical education to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, is going to be the mainstay in the future,” maintained Dr Gupta. The facility can be utilised to harness vast resources of medical professionals, specialists and super specialists available in the country by transmitting their experiences in the form of special lectures, seminars and Continuing Medical Education Programmes from one location to another or to many institutions by simple provision in the form of Wide Area Networking through video-conferencing system. The transmission can be provided with telephone lines and high speed ISDN lines, whichever are available in the region. It can also be done through the internet. The cost of setting up the equipment in one centre will be approximately Rs 10 lakh. Medical informatics will also provide data-based information about all medical colleges and hospitals in the country. This includes details about the number of students admitted, the pass-outs, the treatment and facilities available and the work being done by them. To begin with, they will incorporate details about 127 hospitals in the government sector and subsequently, some of the private ones will also be included. Dr Gupta further pointed out that there was an increasing interest in the utilisation of telemedicine as a means of health care delivery and medical education. The primary uses of telemedicine are to improve patient care by providing greater access to medical consultation, diagnostic evaluation and exchange of medical information. This can also serve the
medical education and continuing training programme in
the country via networking video conferencing between two
or more institutions in the country, especially in
teaching hospitals and medical colleges. The CME, which
is vital in updating the profession, is another field
where telemedicine plays a significant role. |
Ishani declared best gymnast CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — Ishani of KB DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 7, was the star performer in the girl’s gymnastics event of the Mahatama Hansraj Gymnastics Tournament for the Chandigarh and Panchkula zone held at Sports Complex, Sector 7. Ishani was also declared the allround gymnast. The following are the results of various events: Pole vault — Ishani (KB DAV-7) 1,Abhilasha (CL Aggarwal Dayanand Model) 2 and Shivani (KB DAV Centenary-7)3; balancing beam — Ishani (KB DAV-7) 1, Kamini (CL Aggarwal-7) 2 and Shivani (KB DAV-7) 3; uneven bars — Kamini (CL Aggarwal-7) 1, Ishani (KB DAV-7) 2 and Shivani (KB DAV-7) 3; floor exercises—Kamini (CL Aggarwal-7) 1, Abhilasha (CL Aggarwal-7)2 and Ishani( KB DAV-7) 3. Softball
championship The selected players will then take part in the 18th Junior National Softball Championship to be held at Hyderabad from October 10 to 15. Swimming, TT
trials The schedule is: swimming boys under-14 and 17 on September 25; girls (under-14 and 17 on September 26) both at Government Yoga Centre-cum-Swimming Pool, Sector 23. The trials for TT in the
boys’ section will be held at New Public school,
Sector 18, from September 25 to 28 in the under-14 and 17
category, while for girls in the same section from
September 28 to 30. |
Preparations for hockey
meet in full swing CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — Preparations for the Asian School Hockey Meet, going to be held from October 17 to 24 at Ludhiana, are in full swing, with trials for the Indian school hockey probables fixed for September 23 and 24 at Polo Grounds, Patiala. According to Mr P.S. Chhabra, Secretary-General of the School Games Federation of India, the four best players from each state have been called for the trials, who after the selection, will attend the camp beginning September 25 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The final selection of the team will be made before the Asian meet. Seven Asian nations are likely to take part in the meet. Efforts are on to invite non-Asian countries. Mr Chhabra said since hockey was our national game and the Indian team was one of the prospective medal hopes in the coming days at Sydney Olympics, Punjab decided to host Asian schools in hockey to generate more interest in Punjab in the sport. He said Punjab Government was giving full support to the meet. He also explained how
National School Games in various disciplines were
conducted at different venues in the country. He added
that school boys were now getting good exposure in such
meets. Another decision was to have a strict check on the
age groups of participants. Last year, many players were
debarred for being overage. |
Pandove bereaved CHANDIGARH, Sept 20
— The bhog ceremony of Mrs Suraj Kaur, mother of Mr
M P Pandove, secretary, Punjab Cricket Association and Mr
R.P. Pandove, Director, Public Relations, PSEB, who died
last week, will be held at Patiala on September 24 at 2
p.m. according to a press note issued here today. |
Women not to be summoned to police
stations CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — To reduce the problems faced by women, accused or complainant, no women will be summoned to police stations for questioning in the city. Similarly, no person below the age of 15 will be brought to police stations. Instructions to this effect were issued by UT IGP B.S. Bassi and circulated among the SHOs and other units. Any officer violating the directions would be strictly dealt with. This follows reports of harassment and questioning of suspected offenders in the absence of women officers. In case any statement
has to be recorded it has to be done in the presence of
the family members of the accused or the complainants at
their house. Senior officers were of the view that such a
step would help in bringing down the number of
complaints. |
Department showcases staff
talent CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — It was yet another evening which will remain fresh in the memory, atleast for some time to come. The occasion was a celebration organised by the office of the Principal Accountant General (A and E) Punjab, under the title of Tarannum. The name of the show came true as various artists unfolded their talent before a strong gathering. The programme commenced with Saraswati Vandana by Aruna Khurana, followed by a galaxy of seasoned artists of the department performing superbly. The children of the department’s staff, namely Surbhi, Simran and Deepika also took part in the show, entertaining the audience with their enthralling dance performances. Skits by Vikas Mathur, Bhupal Singh and their group, solo guitar performance by Ashok Kalhan and folk songs by Hardeep Singh kept the gathering glued to their seats. The final item of the evening came in the form of bhangra by Urminder Pal Singh and his troupe. Among other performers, today, were Vineet Seth, Ashok Rana, B.S. Matoria, Gurvinder Singh and Ganesh. The prizes were given
away by Mr Deena Dayalan, General Manager (Finance),
Chandigarh, who was the chief guest on the occasion. Mr
M. Chatterjee, Principal Accountant General was also
there to boost the morale of the performers. |
Advertisement tax bylaws
recommended CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — The Finance and Contract Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today recommended advertisement tax bylaws. Once approved by the House of the MCC, the advertisements and hoardings will be regulated in the city and fetch handsome amounts for the civic body. According to the bylaws, which had been patterned on the bylaws framed by the Amritsar Municipal Corporation, the permission for the display of the advertisements will be given for three years. The new bylaws also propose a 20 per cent hike as compared to Amritsar. The monthly tax will have to be paid by the 10th of every month, failing which a penalty at the rate of 25 per cent be levied, besides any other action by the Assistant Commissioner-I, who will be responsible for granting permission to the advertisers. A provision had also been made, where an advertiser can submit advanced yearly tax amounting to 80 per cent. There will be no refund in such cases, except in case of neon signs, where partial refund will be allowed. Of the moving vehicles, only buses will be allowed to display advertisements. According to the bylaws, the minimum tariff of Rs 25 per month has been fixed for a 10-feet hoarding. The maximum amount has been fixed for advertisements in the cinema halls. While the rates through slides will be Rs 210, the one shown by the film will be Rs 1045. The advertiser will not
be allowed to paste or install hoardings at several
places, like bridges, central and government offices,
water tanks, trees and other public utility places.
Elaborate procedures have also been drawn for the
installation of sky signs and other forms of
advertisements. |
Housing society flays
HUDA CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — The Haryana Group Housing Promoters and Builders Federation today alleged that general public was losing interest in the HUDA group housing societies due to several reasons like inordinate delay in the possession and development of construction projects and the imposition of exorbitant membership transfer fee. The president of federation, Mr B.K. Sanghi, alleged that out of the 150 societies in Panchkula that have availed themselves of the scheme launched in 1998, about 25 per cent had taken the refund because of the indiscriminate policies of the authorities. The high transfer fee is
also a major deterrent because a member has to pay Rs
20,000 if he wanted to change his membership for some
personal reasons. |
14 policemen reinstated CHANDIGARH, Sept 20 — As many as 14 officials have been reinstated in the police department without any prejudice to the outcome of pending departmental enquiries. According to sources, SI Rajesh Shukla and Head Constable Z. P. Khan, who were suspended almost a year ago for their alleged involvement in the fake SP case, are among those reinstated. Others are SI Kapil Dev, ASI Mohinder Singh, HCs Surjit Singh, Brij Lal, Raj Kumar and Bhoop Singh, besides constables Jai Bhagwan, Narinder Singh, Suram Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Dalbir Singh and Manjit Singh. Meanwhile, Inspector
Mahabir Singh has been posted as Additional SHO, central
police station. He is presently posted in the Law and
Order Cell. |
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