Monthly Archives: December 2015

Kolkata based cardiologist felicitated for path-breaking surgery

Records, All, Science & Technology

Kolkata :

Most patients with heart injuries caused by speeding missiles (bullets, daggers, knives) are deprived of treatment because they bleed to death on the way to hospital, or while being operated. A surgeon has been felicitated for correcting the rarest of accident-related heart injuries by the Central Asia Regional Congress of Medical Women in India.

Prof Sushila Mitra, former head department of cardio-thoracic surgery, SSKM Hospital, presented the cases at the congress in a city hotel on Saturday.

Her first presentation was on Jagadhish Khatua (26), who was hit on his right chest by an arrow during an in-fighting between tribal groups at Birbhadrapur village in Midnapore in 1989. Bleeding profusely, he was admitted to SSKM Hospital and the x-ray showed that the tip of the arrow was inside her heart. “We did purse-string sutures on him, and transfused six units of blood. He went home, cured. Today he is totally symptom free, leading a normal life,” Mitra told TOI.

In another case, 18-year-old Tanmoy Gayen, was hit on his left chest by a stray bullet while he was driving his cycle van. He was admitted under Mitra on 4 April, 1998. “Initially, the bullet was missing in his x-ray reports. His chest was opened and closed. A post-operative CT scan showed that the bullet was deep inside his heart. The bullet was finally removed through an open-heart surgery,” Mitra said. She showed pictures of the man, 17 years later to show his fitness.

The surgeon’s third presentation was about 21-year-old Mahesh Chand diagnosed with a hole in his heart. He was admitted on 18 Match, 1994. “During the corrective surgery, the catheter tip accidentally broke inside the heart and got stuck in the right upper chamber of the patient’s heart. He was immediately shifted to the cardiothoracic surgery department and we did an open heart surgery,” Mishra said, adding “the patient was admitted through the night. We removed the ‘foreign body’ first and then the hole in the heart was mended. Post surgery, the patient was on ventilator for two weeks.” Twenty-one years later, Mishra said, the patients is married with a child.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / December 05th, 2015

Toy train service is back

Travel

ToyTrainKOLKATA04dec2015

The Northeast Frontier Railway restarted the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) toy train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling on Wednesday.

The service between NJP and Darjeeling was suspended on June 15, 2010, after a landslide near Paglajhora, about 35km from Siliguri, damaged the tracks. The tracks had caved in because of landslide and rain in Tindharia also.

The NFR resumed train services on June 12, 2015, but it was suspended again on June 15 because of landslides.

Repair was undertaken and finally, the service resumed on Wednesday.

According to NFR sources, a passenger special DHR train will leave Darjeeling at 10.15am and arrive at NJP at 5.45pm.

From NJP, the train will leave at 8.30am and reach Darjeeling at 4pm. Each train will have two first-class coaches and a luggage van and would be pulled by a diesel loco.

The toy train was flagged off by Purnabahadur Lepcha, a senior railway employee, at the Darjeeling railway station in the presence of Md. Jamshed, the general manager of NFR, and other senior officials at 9.30am.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> North Bengal> Story / Thursday – December 03rd, 2015

German precision for cardiac surgery

Records, All, Science & Technology

Kolkata :

Cardiac surgery and heart ailment detection techniques are set to take a leap ahead with the introduction of advanced systems that will shorten the diagnosis period and make it easier and more precise.

Surgical devices and methods, developed in Germany and launched by Dr Kunal Sarkar at Medica Superspecialty Hospital on Wednesday, will help to detect the extent of blood flow reduction in the arteries, provide cardiac and respiratory support to patients whose heart and lungs are unable to function normally and make surgeries possible through small incisions.

The new methods include Transmit Time Flow Measurement (TTFM) -a diagnostic method that determines the level of blood flow reduction through vessels and helps in identifying vessels that are deeply embedded in the heart muscles. It can be used in transplantation surgery and other vascular procedures other than coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

The techniques also include one of the latest and most advanced procedures for conduit harvesting in CABG -endoscopic vessel harvesting (EVH). It requires a very small incision and apart from the cosmetic benefits, the pain is less compared to the open technique.

Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenator (ECMO) is another technique that is part of the package. It provides cardiac and respiratory support to patients whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange to sustain life. ECMO works by removing blood from the patient’s body and artificially removing the carbon dioxide and oxygenating red blood cells.

Fractional Flow Reserve is the final procedure on offer. It helps in accurate diagnosis of a heart block and significantly reduces unnecessary stenting revascularization and helps in optimizing the therapy for heart patients. It helps the cardiologist in making an informed decision, particularly in case of multi-vessel blocks. The procedure relies not on how severely constricted an artery appears to be, but on how the constriction is affecting the blood flow.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / December 03rd, 2015

IIT Madras helps KoPT to slash dredging costs by Rs.250 crore

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology

The Kolkata Port Trust may implement a technology that will help it save Rs.250 crore annually through reduced dredging costs, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari said.

Dredging costs at the country’s only riverine port is likely to get reduced from around Rs.400 crore to around Rs.150 crore due to a new process of dredging suggested by the IIT-Madras on the basis of recommendations made by the Boston Consulting Group. The two port systems of KoPT at Kolkata and Haldia have a draft of around 7.5 metres.

Within five years, 50 lakh jobs are expected to be generated by the transport sector, which would have a two per cent addition to GDP, says Nitin Gadkari. Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. R.P.S.Kahlon, Chairman, Kolkata Port Trust, is also seen.— PHOTO: PTI
Within five years, 50 lakh jobs are expected to be generated by the transport sector, which would have a two per cent addition to GDP, says Nitin Gadkari. Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. R.P.S.Kahlon, Chairman, Kolkata Port Trust, is also seen.— PHOTO: PTI

Boston Consulting, on the basis of a Ministry mandate, had made 120 recommendations on improving the performance of all the major Indian ports. “About 20 suggestions are being implemented and the rest would be put in place in two years,” Mr Gadkari said adding that it is not possible to improve exports without good ports.

“For this government, waterways had the highest priority in the logistics segment followed by railways and roadways.” Against the previous government’s pace of laying two km of roads daily, now 18 km of roadways were being laid, he said. The target is to increase it to 30 km a day by March 2016. The Minister also said that within five years, 50 lakh jobs are expected to be generated by the transport sector, which would contribute two per cent to the GDP.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business / by Special Correspondent / Kolkata – December 02nd, 2015

Urban landscape honour for Eco Park

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Leaders, Records, All

Kolkata :

The central Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) has voted Eco Park at New Town as one of the top two projects in the country for innovative planning and design, bringing new accolades for the city in urban landscaping.

The project, developed by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (Hidco), has won the second position under the `Landscape Planning and Design’ category . The first prize went for the development and revitalisation of Ranmal Lake at Jamnagar in Gujarat.”It is an encouraging recognition for the Hidco planning and engineering team.

The project was inspired by the CM,” said Hidco CMD Debashis Sen. Off the arterial road in New Town, Eco Park is spread over 480 acres, a 104-acre waterbody in its middle.

On July 19, 2011, on her way from airport, Mamata Banerjee reportedly alighted from her car as the waterbody caught her attention. On her instruction, the Hidco converted the area into an ecological garden.

New attractions, such as the Biswa Bangla Haat, a children’s play area, a butterfly garden, a musical fountain, a bamboo garden, a replica of the Ghum station and an adda zone, were added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Suman Chakraborti, TNN / November 30th, 2015