8ovember 2007

Thanks: IBN Live
Saving Lakshmi: Doctor recalls miracle surgery

Dr Sharan Shivraj Patil, who lead the team of doctors which gave two-year-old Laksmi a new life by removing her ‘parasitic’ twin, doesn’t believe doctors are God but only his instruments to heal and cure people.

Lakshmi, who had eight limbs, is recovering after the marathon surgery at Bangalore’s Sparsh Hospital. And Dr Patil, Chairman, Chief Of Orthopaedics, Sparsh Hospital, has been flooded with congratulatory messages from the world over.

In a chat with IBNLive readers on Thursday evening, Dr Patil admitted he was nervous before the surgery but took it up as a challenge. “What I had was a good kind of nervousness but the sheer conference on my team skills made us go ahead and take up this challenge,” he said.

“Medicine is all about having the right attitude towards other human beings,” he said

Thanks : The hindu
Call for national strategies to deal with disasters

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called upon modern societies to come together to deal with manmade disasters – be they industrial or those caused by terror attacks.

“The threat of terrorism looms large in our region and could trigger disasters across borders,” he said inaugurating the second Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction here.

Noting that earthquakes, cyclones, floods and tsunami caused havoc across Asia in the recent past, Dr. Singh said the important aspect was to have “coherent national strategies and national capabilities to handle disasters.”

“Disasters know no political boundaries and we are all equally vulnerable to them.” It was one area where nations must cooperate to find collective solutions to the challenges. “It is in difficult times that we need the best of relations. As the old wise saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed.”

Citing the example of regional cooperation in creating a Tsunami Early Warning System in the wake of the December 2004 havoc, the Prime Minister stressed the need for more bilateral and regional cooperation to make effective use of capabilities. India adopted a forward-looking approach to disaster management and mitigation. National and State-level disaster management authorities had been constituted. “The paradigm shift that they have advocated is based on moving away from a relief-centric, post-event approach to a holistic, integrated and preventive approach. The focus will be on disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation.”

In her keynote address, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi advocated “pro-active” policies as part of long-term measures to anticipate and minimise the destructive power of disasters.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil suggested intensive research and development to manage disasters, and said contingency plans to help people should be kept ready.

Thanks : The hindu
Cabinet nod for metro rail
CHENNAI: The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Rs.9,757-crore metro rail project at the policy-level and the two routes prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in its Detailed Project Report (DPR).

The first route will be from Washermanpet to Meenambakkam via Egmore and Teynampet. The second route will be from Anna Nagar to St. Thomas Mount via Vadapalani, Ashok Nagar and Alandur. The total distance covered by both the routes is 46.5 km. About 20 km will be underground and the remaining, on the surface.

The Cabinet decided to approach the Centre for financial assistance and loans for the project. A release issued after the Cabinet meeting said that Japan’s Bank for International Cooperation would also render financial assistance.

It was also decided to implement the project through the ‘Chennai Metro Rail Limited,’ a company that would be set up with contributions from both the Central and State governments.

The government took up the mass rapid transit project to reduce traffic congestion in Chennai.

It shelved the monorail scheme, proposed by the previous government, and opted for the metro rail because it could carry more passengers at a lower cost.

The DMRC was requested to prepare the DPR at a cost of Rs.3.3 crore in 2005. The DPR was submitted late in October this year. Initially, the government considered having a major part of the 46.5-km structure underground. It was estimated to cost Rs.13,000 crore. The cost came down significantly after the decision was taken to have the structure underground for only nearly half the distance.

The issue of carving out a new district out of Perambalur and headquartered at Ariyalur was debated at length at the Cabinet meeting. It was decided to create a new district on the basis of the wishes of the people and for administrative reasons, the note said. The new district will comprise Ariyalur, Udayarpalayam and Senthurai circles. Perambalur district will now consist of Perambalur, Kunnam and Veppamthattai circles.

The Cabinet decided to revive the Maduranthakam Cooperative Sugar Mills in Padalam and Mathura Sugar Mills in Pandiarajapuram.

Thanks : The hindu
BSNL slashes rates
New Delhi: BSNL on Wednesday slashed call rates to the U.S., Canada and Saudi Arabia by up to 20 % and reduced intra-circle local rates by 33.33-50 % from its landline and WLL phones. The new rates would be effective from Thursday.

Thanks: The hindu
City traffic police for hike in fine
HYDERABAD: The city police will write to the government for a hike in penalty amount for various traffic rule violations. Stating this at a press conference here on Friday, Additional Commissioner (Traffic) V.S.K. Kaumudi felt the present penalty structure was not a deterrent to the rule violators. This hike would apply to all types of violations.

Till the end of October this year, the traffic police had collected Rs. 12.63 crore towards fines under provisions of Motor Vehicle Act. This was in addition to the Rs. 29.46 lakh collected under the sections of City Police Act for physical obstruction of traffic flow and encroachment of public places.

The police were also planning to study the crackdown of the Mumbai police on persons driving vehicles while speaking over mobile phones.

“We learnt drivers booked for speaking over phones while driving are being sent to jail by the Mumbai police,” Mr. Kaumudi explained. He, however, made it clear that similar enforcement would be taken up only after analysing pros and cons of the situation.

The Additional Commissioner appealed to all persons served with e-challan to pay the fine amounts at the nearest eSeva centre or the traffic police control room opposite Public Garden, Nampally.

It was found that some persons were not paying the fine amounts within the stipulated time despite being served with challans for more than one violation. The data of persons who hadn’t paid the fine amounts was being compiled and would be sent to the courts for prosecution.

Different junctions

More than 100 cameras would be installed at different junctions to record video images of vehicles jumping signals, crossing stop lines and other violations. These cameras include speed dome cameras that can be tilted, panned and zoomed.

Thanks: The indian express
India-born Prahalad is world's most influential thinker

New Delhi, November 8: C K Prahalad, the India-born management guru and academician, has been voted the world's most influential living management thinker ahead of hands-on managers like Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan and Richard Branson.
Prahalad, who is the first Indian-origin thinker to claim the title, was ranked number three in last year's Thinkers 50 list brought out by Suntop Media.

A professor at the University of Michigans' Stephen M Ross School of Business, Prahalad specialises in corporate strategy research and is a globally known figure consulted by the top management of many of the world's foremost companies.

"Best known for his work with Gary Hamel (ranked 5th) on resource-based strategy, which gave rise to the term core competences, more recently, Prahalad has turned his attention to the plight of the worlds poor," said Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove of Suntop Media.

"'In The Bottom of the Pyramid', his 2004 book, he argues that capitalism can be the engine to eradicate poverty," Crainer and Dearlove said in a statement posted on the website Thinkers50.com.

If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden, and start recognising them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs, a whole new world of opportunity will open up, Prahalad explains in his book.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been ranked second and former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan third.

Virgin group founder Richard Branson is placed at number nine.

Three more Indians have made it to the top 50 list include include CEO coach Ram Charan (22), and Vijay Govindarajan of the Tuck Business School (23) and Harvards' Rakesh Khurana (45