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July 10, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Tissue thickness technique to identify murder
victims Chandigarh, July 9 Scientists are of the opinion that it will take about a year when the department will actually be in a position to collaborate with the police to help identify the murdered victims. This is the first time when the deceased will be identified with this method in the country, usually conventional manual clay methods are used to construct faces. Meanwhile, preliminary studies on facial soft tissue thickness by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on northwest Indians have already been conducted and sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) house journal, Forensic Science Communications. According to the PGI Associate Professor, Dr Daisy Sahni, in forensic work it is not uncommon when the police is required to identify the deceased from an available skull. “In this part of the country, body of the homicide victims is usually disposed of by dumping in a well, canal or buried in a grave. Usually when the police recovers the body after a few months, it is almost reduced to bones with some attached tissues. If some clue in the form of a photograph of the deceased is available, it is possible to identify the body by constructing features with the help of clay on the available bare skull,” she adds. Main query before the police or the court is the identity of a dead person. When an unidentified body is found, even the sophisticated investigative technique of DNA fingerprinting can fail due to unavailability of blood samples of the close relatives. And in the absence of data on facial soft tissue, which is usually the case in most of the homicide cases, the clay method cannot be reliably used and an investigator is only able to give approximate age and sex of the victim and, at times, the cause of the death. Lack of appropriate data usually results in an inability to accurately reconstruct the facial features from skull remains. That is why many cases of murder remain unsolved. It is with this idea in mind that a team of PGI doctors is aiming to reconstruct the face of the skull by collecting exhaustive data on the facial soft tissue thickness using magnetic resonance imagining and anthrogometic measurement. Magnetic resonance imaging offers several advantages over other methods, says Dr Sahni. It allows the workers to take accurate measurements of soft tissues on various anatomical points of cranium and face. “A number of anatomical marks can be studied more accurately by MRI as compared to computerised tomography (CT) where one gets only axial sections,” she adds. In the present study, an attempt has been made to measure soft tissue thickness at various anatomical points by MRI on northwest Indian population. The tissue thickness was measured in 30 male and 30 female adults in the age from 18 to 40 years who have been visiting the Radiodiagnosis and Imagining Department of the PGI for MRI of brain. “Patients with head and neck trauma or any other disorder which could possibly distort the normal facial structures were excluded from the study. Age, sex, height and weight of the subjects were noted and body mass index was calculated,” says Dr Sahni. Incidentally considering the utility of the project, the Anatomy Department has also asked the Indian Central Medical Research (ICMR) for financial help for a more elaborate study on the topic. |
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Normal working hours at PGI from July 16 Chandigarh, July 9 The registration at OPDs will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on all working days except Saturdays and gazetted holidays when it will close at 10.30 a.m. |
CGA probables for National
Games Chandigarh, July 9 The selection committee comprising Mr J.S. Cheema (chairman), Mr Daljit Singh, Mr Vivek Vahi, Col (retd) Nirmal Singh, chief coach Harmeet Kahlon and Sandeep Sandhu, selected nine players for intensive coaching. According to Mr Desh Prem Azad, President of the Chandigarh Golf Association, the golfers were selected during the selection trials conducted last month. Twenty-four probables reported for the trials. The CGA President said: “The training of the golfers is a continuous programme carefully chalked out by the association. Last year we conducted the camps but the National Games were postponed’’. The first CGA camp will be conducted from July 11 at the Chandigarh Golf Range. Chandigarh Olympic Association President Rajan Kashyap will inaugurate the camp. Professional golfer Harmeet Kahlon and Col Nirmal Singh have been appointed coach to impart training. The camps will be conducted in day as well as under lights. The Chandigarh team will be selected during the coaching camp and the final team will attend the second and final camp next month. ‘‘Though Harmeet Kahlon will impart training at the Golf Range, for practical training, the players will go to the Chandigarh Golf Club to have a feel of the greens and fairways etc.,’’ Mr Azad said. Sandeep Sandhu has been appointed captain of the team. The association will provide free balls, refreshments, team kit, full sponsorship for two Indian Golf Union tournaments. Those invited to the camp are Sujjan Singh, Sandeep Sandhu (captain), Girish Virk, Nitin Mittal, Navtej Singh, Dinesh Kumar, Harinder Gupta, Navjot Mann and Vikramjit Singh. The last named player has been selected subject to clearance by the Indian Golf Union. It may also be mentioned that the Punjab Golf Association has also requested the Chandigarh Golf Association to allow their players to practice at the Golf Range. The PGA is conducting their camp from July 15. |
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80 report for
trials Chandigarh, July 9 The boys had come from various parts of the region and were seen quite spirited on the ground and also waited anxiously for their turn. According to the Principal of the school, induction of the trainees would go a long way in grooming future soccer team of desired standards. Interviews of trainees will be held tomorrow. The list of probables will be sent to the corporate office of SAI in Delhi for approval. On July11, to mark the World Population day, SAI will organise a symbolic three-km run at Sector 18 STC. It will be flagged off by Dronacharya awardee D.P. Azad at 8.30 am. |
UT move on
Apni Mandis Chandigarh July 9 The local Marketing Board aims to make a profit of about Rs 15 lakh per annum from collections made by way of mandi fee and other collections, well-placed sources confirmed, adding that a move to take over the mandis was on cards. A proposal has been moved to take
over operations as it was felt by the UT Administration officials why should Punjab run the mandis in the UT area. Apni Mandis are a big hit among members of public who come here to shop for vegetables and fruits at competitive rates. Farmers from surrounding areas also come here to sell their produce directly to the consumers by doing away with the middlemen. About 15 years ago the original idea was to enable farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers. Over the years retailers like ‘rehriwalas’ have also started making a beeline for the mandis for attracting buyers. The nature of the mandi’s have changed so much that shopkeepers as varied as cloth sellers to spice sellers also put up stalls. The Marketing Board may have a separate fee structure for such retailers while protecting the farmers. One crisis which may be faced by the Marketing Board will be of staff shortage. This, the sources said, can be met by taking people on contract and also from other departments of the Administration where staff has been rendered surplus. The board will require staff to manage the mandis on a day-to-day to basis and also to tie up with the Municipal Corporation authorities for cleaning up the area next day after the mandi is over.
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