Vikas Vaidya

By Vikas Vaidya Government has identified a land on Amravati road situated approximately 20 kms away from Nagpur (near Mohgaon) for proposed National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER). Under dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, lands have been already identified for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indian Institute of Information and Technology (IIIT) while IIM has already began functioning from VNIT premises. Ending all speculation about location of proposed pharmaceutical institution, the administration has identified a 66 acre land near Mohgaon to house NIPER. Already many national level institutions like NBSS&LUP, NRCC and JNARDCC are located on Amravati road so also the sprawling campus of Nagpur University. Even the National Academy of Defence Production is located within premises of Ambajhari Ordnance Factory and NIPER will be another addition to this list. Union Finance...

Dr T P Lahane talking to the patients while Dr Gopal Arora look on. Dr Tatyarao Lahane and Dr Ragini Parekh checking the patients after surgery. Dr Tatyarao Lahane explaining the case to Dr Pinak Dande. Dr V G Pol look on.   By Vikas Vaidya It was in 1999 when Baba Amte found that the leprosy patients might lose vision after some time as their pupils get reduced. He came to know about Dr T P Lahane, fondly known as Tatyarao Lahane. Tatyarao visited Anandvan, checked the patients and his association with Anandvan began. Dr Lahane started visiting Anandvan every year to give sight to the needy. This particular activity did not remain to leprosy patients alone. The people from near peripherry started visiting the camp to get themselves checked up. Dr Lahane was instrumental in giving smile to them. For the past 15 years, doctors from JJ Hospital of which Dr Lahane is Dean and coordinators from iCare Foundation, a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation (NGO)...

By Vikas Vaidya The philanthropic approach of Dr Pinak Dande saved life of poor farmer’s wife. Dr Dande has not only came forward to save her, but also gave complete treatment free of cost. Ashraf Bee, the patient was discharged in a glittering function at hospital itself. Tanekhan, a poor farmer of Adgaon, Tahsil Ner, district Yavatmal was facing burden of loan. In between he lost his young married son who committed suicide as he couldnt see plight of his father. To add to the woe of Tanekhan, his wife developed tumor at knee. He took her to Wardha, Nagpur, Yavatmal for the treatment and spent some 4-5 lakh rupees but in vain! Two young professionals came across the plight of  poor farmer’s wife. Sensibility in them did not allow them to sit idle. They approached Dr Pinak Dande. They did not have to convince him, on the contrary Dr Dande himself showed willingness to treat the woman free of cost. Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Satyajeet Jagtap and Anaesthesiologist Dr Girish Thak...

By Vikas Vaidya Taking up the task of putting the ambitious Multimodal International Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on fast track of development, Maharashtra Government has decided to send a tough signal to 63 companies that have got lands in MIHAN-SEZ but have remained ‘idle’ so far. The Government has decided to issue ‘notice of termination’ to these 63 companies that have not started work on ground. These companies, which are mostly in SEZ area, will get notice within seven days. This was decided in second meeting of Special Task Force on MIHAN, held at Ramgiri on Sunday. Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister; Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Surface Transport and Highways; Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Guardian Minister of Nagpur district; Krupal Tumane, Ramtek MP; Vishwas Patil, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), and others were present in the meeting. Gadkari is the Chairman of the Special Task F...

By Vikas Vaidya To resolve the contentious issue of unutilised non-agricultural land for industrial purposes, Maharashtra Government has come up with a novel ‘Udyog Sanjivani Yojna’. All the owners or allottees of industrial plots are expected to participate in the scheme and start their venture within next 15 months, else the Industries department has decided to take back the plot. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had already directed that non-agricultural land earmarked for industries should be utilized only for industrial purposes. Since lot of clearances and concessions are granted for industrial plots, same must be put to use at the earliest, he had repeatedly stated. Though announcement to seize the plots were made, but never put to action fearing backlash from investors. Amidst global slump, the Government was also in a fix as such step would have deterred the investors and small industries. Devising a golden mean in the form of ‘Udyog Sanjivani Yojna’ (USY), the State In...

By Vikas Vaidya Coming down heavily on education barons particularly those running medical and dental colleges, Pravesh Niyantran Samiti, the regulating body to supervise admission in professional courses, has imposed a fine of whopping Rs 41 crore on 13 private medical and dental colleges for 206 illegal admissions done by them. For every illegal admission, the respective college has been directed to pay Rs 20 lakh each. This is a major jolt to these institutions, mostly belonging to political big-wigs cutting across party lines. One city-based private medical college N K P Salve Institute of Medical Sciences has also been hauled up by the panel for 11 illegal admissions to MBBS course for which Rs 2.20 crore fine has been imposed. The committee headed by former High Court judge Justice (retd) D K Deshmukh had requested Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik to keep these admissions on hold for the academic year 2016-17 till the fine is not paid by the institutions con...

By Vikas Vaidya Maharashtra Government has decided to implement the recommendations made by expert committee to ease the school-bag load. Accordingly schools will be given a time of three months within which they would complete the formalities and the compliance should be made by November 30, 2015. Considering the fact that majority of school students are suffering from muscle pain and are falling sick due to heavy bags, Department of School Education had constituted a committee to look into the matter. Apart from other recommendations, the Committee has urged all education boards to reduce the usage of notebooks and textbooks. Education Minister Vinod Tawde was very keen to implement the recommendations. The eight-member committee had submitted the first draft in April. The committee had observed that over 58% of students below 10 years of age have mild muscle pain and 75% of students below 12 years of age were falling ill due to heavy bags. The eight-member committee has submitt...

By Vikas Vaidya Parents always find it difficult to choose an option after Class X for their wards. Now they will heave a sigh of relief as Education department of Maharashtra Government has found a solution to that problem. From the academic year 2015-16, the students appearing in Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSC) will have to appear in an additional test. It will not only check the students’ aptitude but also help them make a career choice. According to Government, it wants to check the inclination of the students and the test will give the answer. The one-hour test will be conducted online which will be a part of the SSC examination. The final mark-sheets would have a separate section, advising students which field suit them as per their performance in the aptitude test. Maharashtra Government has bestowed upon the responsibility of conducting the test on Institute of Vocational Guidance and Selection, Mumbai. The Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and ...

By Vikas Vaidya The Medical Council of India (MCI) is firm on making screening test mandatory for students completing medical graduation from five countries including US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The then Board of Governors of MCI in the year 2012 had surprisingly given exemption to the students doing medical graduation in these countries, from screening test. The question of equivalence of foreign medical qualifications with those conferred by the Indian Universities through the recognized medical institutions had been a huge issue of controversy and problems since quite some time. The matter has been hugely litigated and finally in the year 2001 on the recommendations of the then MCI, an appropriate amendment came to be incorporated in the Indian medical Council Act, 1956, whereby section 13 of the said Act, was amended by including two sub-clauses namely 13(a) and (b) respectively. By the said amendment a ‘screening test’ came to be provided which was to be conduct...

By Vikas Vaidya Along with Gynaecologists and Radiologists; Ophthalmologists too were the soft targests as far as the purview of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act is concerned. Now Government has exempted eye specialists from the ambit of the act, thanks to Indian Medical Association, Maharashtra branch and Maharashtra Medical Council. In a recently held meeting at Mantralaya, Mumbai under the Chairmanship of Sujata Shaumik, Secretary, Public Health Department, the issue of reevaluation of guidelines and bringing practical solutions was discussed. Twenty stakeholders including several officials of Government, Maharashtra Medical Council Chairman Dr Kishor Taori, IMA Maharashtra President Dr T C Rathod were present. Meeting was held in the context of raids conducted by appropriate authority in Pune on the establishments of Ophthalmologists. Several ophthalmologists were booked under PCPNDT act and their scan machines were sealed. When the issue was disc...

By Vikas Vaidya In a new study conducted by Pune-based Chest Research Foundation (CRF) along with Dr Rohan Shah and Dhammasagar Ujagare, postgraduate-students of Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences from University of Pune, levels of Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) were measured and compared during the bursting of 6 most commonly used fire-crackers, viz: fulzhadi, anar, chakri, laad, the snake tablet and pulpul. PM2.5 are very tiny particles (less than 2.5 microns in diameter) present in smoke that have the ability to reach the deeper portions of the lung and cause damaging effects. Dr Sneha Limaye, Senior Scientist from CRF who supervised the study, said, “If we know which are the most harmful fireworks in terms of PM2.5 air pollution, then we can advice people to avoid bursting these fire crackers.” All the 6 different types of fire crackers were burst 5 times each individually in an area that simulated the front portion of a house area. Sufficient time wa...

By Vikas Vaidya Stroke affects more women in India than we realize it. The stroke occurs in 60% men and 40% women from 140 new cases out of 100,000 Lakh patients. A brain stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted suddenly by a blocked or a burst blood vessel. The brain needs constant support of oxygen, glucose and other nutrients. Dr. Ajay Kurve, Sr. Consultant – Neuro Surgery with Wockhardt Hospital said, “Remember Stroke symptoms are mostly painless but very dangerous. Once Stroke sets in, the damage will be lifelong. Majority of patients end up being paralytic, some of them will die because of various complications.” Dr. Shrikant Kothekar, Sr. Consultant – Interventional Radiology pointed out, “To spot Stroke patient quickly, International Bodies suggested knowing FAST. FAST stands for FACE drooping while smiling or showing teeth, not able to raise the ARM properly, Slurred SPEECH. It is high TIME to rush to a stroke centre.” Dr. Ketan Chaturvedi, Consultant - N...

By Vikas Vaidya A few decades back, breast cancer was much more common after fifty years of age, and the number of young women suffering from this disease were lesser; almost 65% to 70% patients were above 50 years and only 30 to 35% women were below fifty years of age. However, presently, breast cancer is more common in the younger age group and 50% of all cases are in the 25 to 50 years age group. Women should perform a self breast-exam each month and any changes or abnormalities should be discussed with a doctor or physician. Dr Ajay Mehta, well-known Oncologist said, “A mammogram is an x-ray that allows a qualified specialist to examine the breast tissue for any suspicious areas. An early detection plan enables you to be proactive about your health by reminding you to do monthly breast self-exams and schedule clinical breast exams and mammograms. The most common form of treatment for breast cancer is surgery. This involves removing the tumor and nearby margins. Surgical optio...

By Vikas Vaidya The Higher and Technical Education Department of Maharashtra Government has constituted task force that would assess how the students’ response would be for Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Nagpur and Pune. The task force has to submit the report by January 16, 2016 to Central Government. The task force also search for third private partner for both IIITs. For Nagpur IIIT, Divisional Commissioner Anoop Kumar will lead Task Force with District Collector Sachin Kurvey, Joint Director of Technical Education G R Thakare will be the members. Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) had taken decision to increase the number of IIITs in the country. Those should be set up through ‘Not for profit Public Private Partnership (N-PPP). Accordingly in Maharashtra it Nagpur and Pune became two destinations for IIIT. As per the guidelines of Central Government, the partnership will be of Central Government (50%), State Government (35%) and Private Ind...

                                                           Dr Nandini Gokulchandran By Vikas Vaidya Two children from city who are autistic started talking in a proper way, doing activities like normal ones. Thanks to Stem cell therapy. The parents of the children became helpless but the treatment gave them new hopes. Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute helped these two kids-- Avaneesh and Krishna to get charged. “Stem Cells Therapy combined with neurorehabilitation approach is a new holistic comprehensive approach & hope for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders” says Dr Nandini Gokulchandran, Deputy Director, NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute Till date, NeuroGen has already offered treatment...

By Vikas Vaidya The high sensitivity blood test to know troponin level which helps in detecting heart attack early if ECG fails to show signs will be available in Nagpur soon. The test is affordable as its cost will be same as that of present test. Explaining about this high sensitivity blood test, well-known Cardiologist Dr Jaspal Arneja said, “As per the protocols fixed by American Heart Association (AHA), we see whether patients have chest pain, accordingly we do ECG, if ECG do not show any indications but still there are symptoms then we check cardiac enzymes through blood test which shows troponin level. The report of this test usually takes 6 hours. It was a routine practice.” Dr Prashant Jagtap, noted Interventional Cardiologist with Wockhardt Hospital said, “Usually, within six hours of having a heart attack, most people will have increased Troponin levels and after 12 hours, almost all the heart attack patients will have raised Troponin levels. If Troponin levels are low,...

By Vikas Vaidya Jaipur Udassi who did his MBBS in 1983 from a medical college in Baluchistan, Pakistan had migrated to India due to some social problems. He had to face several problems. First he had to struggle to get nationality. He could not do practice as his name was not registered with medical council. Medical Council of India (MCI) has kept the application pending. Udassi had lost the hopes but this year Maharashtra Medical Council has come forward to help him and his name got registered. Another example is of Lalchand Lassi who also did medical graduation in Baluchistan in 1985. He also had to migrate to India in 1996. “We faced threats of kidnapping, rape etc. Hindu community was in trouble. We had to come here. Initially it took time to get settled. Since we did not get registration we had to abandon practice. I am helping my son at his shop. Our efforts finally borned the fruits, Dr Kishor Taori helped us and finally now we have become registered medical doctors,” said ...

By Vikas Vaidya Finally Medical Council of India (MCI) has sent the proposal of Uniform Common Entrance Test to be conducted for admissions to MBBS and Post Graduate courses to Central Government. It is awaiting the approval. Though it is yet not fixed whether this CET would be conducted in 2016 or 2017, MCI top bosses have made up their minds that it would be conducted two years after it gets declared. It was first introduced by MCI Academic Council Chairman Dr Vedprakash Mishra in 2009 and he had made it clear that the CET should be declared when the student was studying in Class XI. It means students would be well aware about the CET and he or she can start preparation for CET accordingly. When it was reminded to Dr Mishra he said that he was never against student-centric approach and would see to it that it should benefit students at large. He would stick to the stand, he had taken in 2009 and now also CET would be held two years after its declaration. In the context of the gro...

By Vikas Vaidya After unsuccessful attempt from Medical Council of India (MCI) of introducing Common Entrance Test in the form of National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) four years ago, the regulator has once again proposed Uniform CET for MBBS as well as for admissions to Post Graduate medical courses. The MCI is all set to send the proposal to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a day or two. MCI wants CET to be conducted in the academic year 2016-17 so that nationwide admissions should be done as per this uniform test. Last time MCI’s efforts were shot down by Apex Court. This time the body has come out with the provisions so that the test would be conducted without any barrier. MCI while exercising its powers under section 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and after obtaining precious sanction of the Central Government has come out with fresh set of regulations. MCI has proposed an amendment to Section 32 of MCI Act allowing them to decide on the issue...

By Vikas Vaidya If you are a victim in criminal case, do you know that you can get compensation irrespective of whether the accused is tried? No? But, even if you knew about it, you could not get it. For, Maharashtra Government has failed to make available funds to Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority, which has been entrusted with the task of providing compensation to victims following court orders. Under Section 357(A) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), every State Government has been asked to prepare a scheme in co-ordination with the Central Government for providing funds for the purpose of compensation to victim or his dependents, who have suffered loss or injury as a result of a crime and who require rehabilitation. Whenever a court made a recommendation for payment of compensation to victim, District Legal Service Authority or State Legal Service Authority was supposed to decide the quantum of compensation to be awarded under the scheme. The cases in which victims or ...

By Vikas Vaidya The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) has to recover over Rs 20 crore from students, current and ex, as a result of working purely in good faith. Many of the students from whom the amount has to be recovered have completed their MBBS, Post Graduation, joined hospitals or opened their own establishments. Now, there is hardly anything that can be done on part of the GMCH to recover the amount, which is acually the fees. When a student doing his MBBS needs any bonafide certificate, he or she has to get clearance through clerk, office head and finally the Vice-Dean. For this, the student is supposed to pay the entire fee which is pending till that time. Unfortunately, things have not been working this way at GMHC. Working in good faith, the earlier Vice-Dean cleared the claims for certificates without ensuring whether the fees has been paid in full or not. Many students thus completed the term, received admit cards, appeared for examination and stepped ou...

By Vikas Vaidya The allotment of colleges to students in first year engineering has been done under Centralised Admission Process– first round. It has been observed that non –minority engineering colleges under Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) has received overall more than 50% allotment on the other hand Engineering colleges having minority status are a bit behind by an overall allotment of around 33% in CAP I. It is brought into notice of general public and engineering aspirants that this year Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has not included minority seats in CAP I, even though the respective engineering colleges have surrendered their minority seats in time. Due to this,  advantage has gone in favour of non minority colleges. Students who want to seek admissions in minority colleges should not be in panic, as they will be getting their allotment in CAP round II, as minority seats will be open for all category students in CAP-II. After absorbi...

By Vikas Vaidya Maharashtra Government has decided to widen the scope of Rajiv Gandhi Jivandayi Aarogya Yojna (RGJAY) and provide facility of Physiotherapy under its ambit. Already, there are over 900 procedures included in the scheme for below poverty line patients. However, Physiotherapy, which is a very essential component of treatment and post-operation, is being included for the first time. Going a step further, State Government is also planning to include new procedures, such as hip and knee joint replacements along with physiotherapy. The RGJAY aims at providing health care access to socially disadvantaged sections and provides cashless health insurance in 30 specialised categories and various procedures and  follow-up packages for beneficiaries covered under the above poverty line (APL) and below poverty line (BPL) categories and those who hold Antyodaya and Annapurna ration cards. The scheme covers hospitalisation expenses of Rs 1.50 lakh per family on a floater basi...

By Vikas Vaidya Maharashtra Government on one hand has lost 350 MBBS seats but got 300 seats, still loser of 50 precious seats. Gondia, Chandrapur are out of question this year. 50 seats each are reduced in Akola, Yavatmal, Latur, Kolhapur and Dhule. As far as Vidarbha is concerned only Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital got its increased quota. Government has shown fair enough approach as far as batting for colleges is concerned. In gain part four colleges from four regions got the weightage. Juhu from Mumbai got 150 seats, Miraj (Western Maharashtra) got 50 seats, IGGMCH from Vidarbha has increased the quota from 100 to 150 and Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College, Nanded got renewal of 50 seats taking its intake from 50 to 100. For new medical college at Gondia, MCI pointed out deficiencies while not recommending the college to Central Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In  view  of  above,  the  Executive  Committ...