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Parkinson’s: SVIMS helps poor patients with DBS
Surgery being done at reasonable price, says V-C
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), a path-breaking procedure for Parkinson’s disease, has proved to be successful at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) hospital.
Parkinson’s disease normally affects one in 1,000 persons and hampers mobility if it remains unaddressed for five to six years. DBS comes into the picture here, as this procedure can be employed to treat the movement-related disorders. At present, lakhs of such patients are waiting to be treated across India.
The super-speciality hospital has performed 25 such surgeries in the recent past and all the patients are on the path to recovery. There are only a few institutes across India that are capable of performing this surgery, which also comes at a prohibitive cost of nearly ₹20 lakh. “At the TTD-run institute, we do it at a very reasonable price,” says SVIMS Director and Vice-Chancellor T.S. Ravikumar, who produced the patients at a media conference here on Friday. The surgery is currently performed on poor patients, with financial support from the TTD’s Pranadanam and the State government’s NTR Vaidya Seva schemes.
“All neurological cases need not require surgery and some can be treated with drugs, if the patient gets the right guidance and medication from the specialist,” B. Vengamma, SVIMS former Director and a professor of neurology said. Dean B.C.M. Prasad and neurosurgeons Ramesh Chandra and Naveen said the hospital, equipped with the required infrastructure, was always ready to treat more patients if the State government or the TTD came forward to meet the expenditure.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Tirupati – October 27th, 2018
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Fervour, gaiety mark ‘Sirimanotsavam’
About 2.6 lakh devotees from different parts witness the proceedings
About 2.6 lakh devotees participated in the ‘Sirimanotsavam’ in Vizianagaram on Tuesday. The festival, which has association with each and every family in fort town, went off peacefully despite presence of a large number of people from different parts of north Andhra region. About 2,000 police personnel supervised by 10 DSPs and 35 CIs provided security.
As per the tradition, the ‘Sirimanu’ carrying the chief priest Bantupalli Venkata Rao moved three times from Three Lamps Junction to Vizianagaram Fort. The chief priest, considered to be the replica of Goddess Pydimamba, blessed devotees who waited between 3.45 p.m. and 5.05 p.m. for his ‘darshan’. Customary Anjali Ratham, Jalari Vala and replica of white elephant have also followed ‘Sirimanu’.
Tragic background
The devotees have thrown banana ‘prasadam’ in a long-established way at chief priest who was seen in calm and pleasant mood although he was tied up to a long trunk of a tree.
Normally chariot is used in Indian festivals but in ‘Sirimanotsavam’, the chief priest himself blesses the devotees who would stay all along the route between Three Lamps Junction and Vizianagaram fort.
The festival which started in 1757 had a sorrowful background.
The then Vizianagaram Maharaja Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju’s sister Pydimamba committed suicide by jumping into ‘Pedda Cheruvu’ in the town after knowing about her brother’s death in the historic fight at Bobbili fort on January 23, 1757. In fact, she anticipated the outcome of the battle and warned her brother not to go for war when she and other family members were ill with plague. Her sudden death was another big shock for the family and people of Vizianagaram.
However, she reportedly told Raja’s aide Pativada Appalanaidu that she would protect the town as Goddess Pydimamba. Later her idol was found in the tank and a temple was constructed in her name. That is why all the families which connected with the episode play a key role in ‘Sirimantosavam’ which has been continuing for the last 260 years.
Interestingly, families of both Vizianagaram and Bobbili Princely States have jointly observed the ‘Sirimanotsavam’ this year.
Former Union Minister P.Ashok Gajapathi Raju, wife Sunila Gajapathi Raju and their daughter Aditi had offered prayers from the fort. Along with them, Bobbili Raja and Minister for Mines and Geology Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao and others watched the procession. Vizianagaram MLA Meesala Geeta and Zilla Parishad chairperson Sobha Swati Rani and others also offered prayers both at the temple and fort. YSR Congress Party leader Botcha Satyanarayana and MLC Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy and other opposition leaders have watched the procession from DCCB bank located near writer Gurajada Apparao’s house.
Earlier, Minister for Human Resources Development Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Minister for Energy Kala Venkata Rao and other VIPs offered prayers at the temple. They hailed Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s decision to conduct ‘Sirimanotsavam’ as the State festival.
Elaborate arrangements
District Collector M. Hari Jawaharlal and Superintendent of Police G. Palaraju made elaborate arrangements for the utsavam. APSRTC operated more than 100 additional bus services to ensure hassle-free travel for the devotees who came from Saluru, Parvatipuram, Gajapathinagaram, Palakonda, Rajam, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Vizianagaram – October 24th, 2018
Blazing a trail for organic cotton farming
An American decides to use blockchain technology to promote ‘ECOfashion’
Setting a trend, she has become an ambassador for eco-friendly textiles. Meet Marci Zaroff, who after completing her specialisation in business management from University of California, Berkeley, coined the term ‘ECOfashion’ by promoting various lifestyle brands.
The American, who is the founder-CEO of MetaWear, a leading sustainable fashion manufacturer, has now decided to use blockchain technology in Andhra Pradesh from sowing seeds to the final product to prove genuineness on organic cotton-growing. She also has plans to replicate it in China, Turkey, Pakistan and Africa in future through partner-NGOs. She is involved in promoting cultivation of organic cotton in various parts among marginalised sections mainly women and tribal people through Chetna, an NGO in Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Grameena Vikas Kendra in Andhra Pradesh.
During the past one and half decades, through Chetna, 2,500 tonnes of processed cotton was procured and supplied to 30 popular brands in the United States. The value of cotton was put at $5 million. The value of final product was in the range of $30 million to $40 million.
In Andhra Pradesh, she is supporting the launch of a pilot project involving 250 tribal farmers in Gummalakshmipuram in Vizianagaram district.
Expansion plan
Ms. Zaroff has plans to expand it to over 15,000 farmers in five years. During her recent visit, she told The Hindu that they wanted to sequestration of 80,000 to 160,000 tonne of carbon by 2022.
She said implementation of eco-friendly best practices would not only benefit the farmers in getting higher yield but also reduce cost of operation and ensure climate resilient cotton farming.
Ms. Zaroff said the total organic cotton produced in India was 59,470 tonne during 2016-17 growing season. India is on top in the world in organic cotton production followed by China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Tajikistan.
“We have been successfully selling T shirts, neckwear, legging, bedding, summer clothes and undergarments through various brands by associating at various stages of supply chain be it retailer, branding and stockists,” she said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Santosh Patnaik / Visakhapatnam – October 23rd, 2018
He has sights trained on civil services
Visual impairment no impediment to Vinayak in either education or recreational activities
Panyam Sai Vinayak can swiftly play his fingers on the keyboard of his laptop typing Telugu as well as play a musical keyboard producing nearly perfect tunes.
With total visual impairment since birth, Vinayak, 17, is pursuing under-graduation in English literature, politics and history in the Andhra Loyola College (ALC) and uses his voice-enabled laptop and tablet extensively for education, music and cricket, to sing songs and other activities for recreation.
Topper in Intermediate
His dedication to achieving big in life has always put him at the forefront in education. Vinayak scored 886 marks in Intermediate last year becoming the topper among the visually challenged students in AP. He was recently bestowed upon with the Prathiba Award by the Education Department for it and has become an inspiration for many students studying in ALC and other colleges.
“He can perform many tasks with ease and competes with other students in the college. Not just education but he does well in music too,” says P. Bhargav Ram, a proud father of Vinayak.
In SSC, he scored GPA 9.7, the highest in AP and Telangana that year among the visually challenged, Mr. Ram adds.
“I want to become a civil servant and it is the reason why I have selected the current degree course. After UG, I shall go to the JNU for MA where I can pursue politics while getting trained for civils,” Vinayak explains his career plan in a nutshell.
Against all odds
However, scoring top marks is no easy task for Vinayak. He had to face difficulties like not being able to find a proper scribe, unwanted subjects like mathematics, lack of material for the visually challenged and others.
“No school granted him admission when we moved from Hyderabad to Vijayawada. Finally, St. John’s School came forward. His greatest support is his maternal uncle K. Deepak and braille teacher Nirmala,” says Mr. Ram. Vinayak studies subjects through audio recordings of text book content by Mr. Deepak.
“AP has no institution that prints braille books. It would be a huge problem for students who cannot afford electronic devices for learning,” he says.
“Except the ALC, there is no institution that could provide the required support to persons with vision disability. The college provides scribes and also training in computer usage. The governments should make subjects like mathematics as optionals for the challenged or provide special teaching instead of forcing them to study and pass unwanted subjects,” Mr. Deepak says.
Vinayak, who regularly plays cricket with a special ball with his uncle Deepak, wants the AP government to set up a cricket training institute for them.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Tharun Boda / Vijayawada – October 22nd, 2018