New cure for broken bones
Tribune News Service
SHIMLA, July 13 — The recently introduced Ilizarov fixator technique is proving highly successful in the treatment of complicated orthopaedic cases.
Dr Sunil Kumar and Dr Amar Sarin, the two orthopaedic surgeons from Jaipur Golden Hospital, Delhi, who demonstrated the technique at a workshop organised by Indira Gandhi Medical College here today, said the technique had come as a blessing for those suffering from bone tumours, non-union of fractures and shortening of limbs due to fractures.
Altogether, 12 surgeons were using this technique in private hospitals at Bombay, Madras and Delhi. The results were encouraging.
Although the technique had a wide variety of applications, it was most useful in cases of non-union of fractures and shortening of limbs. Under the technique, the bone of the shortened limb was broken and the two pieces held apart by using external fixators to create a gap. The bone grew by one milimetre a day and attained the normal length in five to six months, Dr Sunil explained.
Similarly, in case of non-union of bones, the fixators were used to create a compression between the two broken pieces of bones which helped join the fracture. A number of deformities including those caused by polio, could also be corrected using the technique.
In cases of tumours and cancer, the afflicted portion of the bone was removed and than fixator used for elongation. The technique was low-cost and required minimal hospitalisation.
Orthopaedic surgery, Dr Sunil said, had come a long way over the past decade and the latest techniques being used elsewhere in the world were also available here. Besides the Ilizarov technique, limb salvage surgery was also being used successfully to prevent amputation.
Another technique, in which interlocking nails were used to treat complicated cases, enabled the surgeon to transfix the nails in the bone through three small incisions, without opening the fracture. A patient did not need more than three days hospitalisation.
Dr Sunil said there was an urgent need to train more doctors in these techniques so that orthopaedic patients across the country could benefit from it.

Narrow escape for aircrew, passengers
Tribune News Service
SHIMLA, July 13 — Four passengers and three crew members, on board the Delhi-Shimla-Kulu flight of Jagson Airlines, had a miraculous escape when the plane went off the runway while landing at Jubbar Hatti airport near here today.
According to the police the pilot lost control while parking the plane in front of the terminal building. The plane raced towards the building and stopped only after one of its tyres hit the elevated pavement and burst. One of the wings almost touched a window of the buildings.
According to Mr A.N. Sharma, SP, who visited the spot along with the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ram Subhag Singh, said there was no major damage to the aircraft. The pilot, Mr Devgan, told the police that the mishap was caused due to the failure of the hydraulic system which controls the brakes. The brakes did not work and the plane rolled towards the building.
The passengers were sent to Kulu by road. Engineers from the Directorate of Civil Aviation were on way to Shimla to investigate the cause of the accident.

PSUs favoured for large power projects
Tribune News Service
SHIMLA, July 13 — The two-day national seminar on development of hydro power, which concluded here today, has urged the government to assign only small and medium hydel power projects to the private sector. The larger projects should be got executed through central or state public undertakings or in the joint sector.
The experts called for simplifying procedures for various clearances and formulating integrated hydro-development master plans for each river along with required trasmission lines for evaluation of power. The Centre should grant liberal funds to the state power boards and other agencies enagaged in preparation of detailed project reports.
In order to ensure smooth implementation of schemes in the private sector, the state power boards should complete all the preliminary work like preparation of project report, clearances from various departments and statutory authorities, acquisition of land and other time-consuming formalities before offering the project.
It also recommended immediate setting up of a power trading corporation and evolving a model power purchase agreement. Steps should also be taken to make long-term loans available for execution of hydel projects which have a long gestation period.
The mini and micro hydel projects up to 25 MW should be taken care of by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. Besides, local material should be used to bring down the cost of projects.
As many as 300 delegates from all over the country participated in the seminar.

FARM NOTES
Efforts on to curb apple disease
By C.M. Kumbhkarni
SHIMLA: The anticipation of a bumper apple crop notwithstanding, the Yellowing and shedding of leaves in several apple orchards in different parts of Himachal has been noticed.
The yellowing and shedding of leaves in June and July has been observed in many orchards since 1995-96. As the cause of this malady was not known, it caused a panic reaction among farmers and experts. Scientists at Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry started efforts in different locations of Himachal in 1997 to evolve a solution to this problem. They have been conducting management trials for the purpose.
The scientists in all conducted 16 trials in which four micro-nutrients and two fungicides were tested individually or in combination, besides the use of black alkathene mulch. The micro-nutrients were sprayed twice in June and July at an interval of one month. The micro-nutrients included zinc oxide (0.1 per cent), magnesium sulphate (0.5 per cent), sodium molybdate (0.5 per cent). Fungicides were sprayed thrice in June and July at an interval of 15 days, according to Dr R.D. Sharma, Associate Director, regional horticulture research station at Mashobra.
Dr Sharma explained that the results of these trials revealed that none of the micro-nutrients alone or in combination proved effective. The spray of mancozeb (0.3 per cent) and carendazim (0.5 per cent), however, was effective in reducing the disease from 62.28 per cent to 27.14 per cent.
Additional trials conducted at Kotkhai and Sarahan Bushair also revealed that mancozeb and carendazim sprayed either alone or in combination reduced the disease up to 5 per cent. It was also observed at Kotkhai, Mashobra and Thanedhar that marsonia coronaria fungus was invariably associated with the leaf blotch and yellowing syndrome. Almost similar observations were reported from Bajaura in the Kulu valley in 1996 where in addition to marsonia coronaria fungus, three more fungi were associated with diseased leaves, according to Dr Sharma.
The scientists are studying in depth the results of experiments conducted separately at different locations. Dr Sharma hopeful of arriving at a solution to the problem soon.