Ludhiana, April 4
Noted laparoscopic surgeon of the region and chief of surgery at Dewan Hospital here was invited as a faculty member at the international conference, CME-cum-live workshop 'Endosurg 2007', held at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi from March 26 to 31, 2007.

Dr Dewan chaired two sessions on latest laparoscopic surgeries for spleen and morbid obesity. More than 1,000 delegates from across the country and overseas participated in the conference which deliberated on latest methods of management and surgical procedures for gall stones, hernia, tumours, adrenal glands and thyroid glands.

Live surgeries were also demonstrated by prominent surgeons with interactive sessions following the presentations. Dr Munir Khan, head, department of surgery at Government Medical College, Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) felicitated Dr Dewan for his contribution towards the CME and workshop during the conference.

Ludhiana, April 4
The Indian Society of Anaesthesiology, Ludhiana, organised a CME on “Regional analgesia” at the DMCH.

More than 200 anaesthesiologists and pain specialists from Punjab attended it. It was inaugurated by Daljeet Singh, principal, DMCH.

Avtar Singh, president of society, welcomed the delegates and appreciated the role of the B.D. India in its efforts to popularise the technique of regional anaesthesia.

Tej K. Kaul, professor and head (anaesthesiology), DMCH, stressed upon latest techniques like ultrasonography in minimising the failure rate of regional blocks. He stressed upon the younger generation of anaesthesiologists to appreciate the advantages of regional anaesthesia and ensure pain relief services to patients at all medical centers in the country.

The main speakers at this CME were G.P. Dureja, director, Delhi Pain Management Services, New Delhi; Baljit Singh, professor, G.B. Pant Hospital, New Delhi; and Ruchi Gupta, professor and head, G.R.D. Medical College, Amritsar.

The lectures were divided into various sessions, which were chaired by Tej K. Kaul, Ranjana Gupta, Baljinder Kaur, Gaurav Kuthiala, B.K. Mohindra, Rajesh Arya and Merry Verghese.

In the end, a vote of thanks was delivered by Sunil Katyal.

Ludhiana, April 4
More than 270 patients were examined for eye ailments and 20 were selected for corrective surgery to be performed at Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) at the 27th free eye check-up camp, organised by the Bhartiya Social Welfare Society at the Pindi Dayal Dharamshala today.

A team of doctors from the CMCH, led by Harpreet Kapoor and S.M. Bhatti examined the patients and rendered follow up advice. Medicines and spectacles were distributed free of cost to the needy patients.

Deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Sat Pal Gosain, inaugurated the camp while BJP legislator Harish Bedi, and district president of BJP Subash Verma, were among the guests of honour at the camp.

Speaking on the occasion, president of the society Pawan Sharma said in the 26 free eye check-up camps organised by the body till now, some 31,200 persons had their eyes examined, around 2,050 free operations were performed and over 8000 spectacles were distributed to the poor and needy patients.

Prominent among others present at the occasion were Ajit Singh, Vijay Mohan, Narinder Arora, Rattan Ralli, Balram Mehta, Tarsem Fumty, Vijay Nayyar, Sant Ram Aneja, Ashok Marwaha, Vishesh Vij and K.K. Sharma.

Ludhiana, April 4
Battlelines have been drawn for the election to the post of the president of the local chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) after the withdrawal of nomination by Gursharan Singh, Anurag Goswami, Ajit Singh Chawla in favour of Balbir Singh Sekhon. There appears to be direct fight for the post of the president between Arun Mitra and Balbir Singh Sekhon .

Mitra also happens to be the district assistant secretary of the Communist Party of India. He is an old student of the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital and one of the senior doctors in the city. He enjoys considerable clout among the doctors across the city.

Mitra had been a student leader also and led a strike against the DMC during his student days. His active involvement with a cadre based political party might go against him.

Doctors would not like the IMA platform to be identified with any particular political party. So far, the IMA has always maintained an apolitical character.

On the other hand, Sekhon is an active member of the IMA and has been the finance secretary of the IMA for the last seven years. The open support to his candidature by the group led by the outgoing president Gursharan Singh is a plus point for him. The Gursharan group is upbeat after its candidate Baldev Singh Aulakh won the election to the Medical Council of India recently defeating Navdeep Khaira of the rival group.

Although Mitra is quite active in the mainstream politics for being the assistant district secretary of the CPI, Sekhon has been directly involved with the IMA for quite some time.

Similarly for the post of the secretary, Davinder Walia is contesting against Rajiv Gupta, a senior and respected doctor of the city. The four vice presidents- Subhash Batta, Naresh Kalra, Anurag Sapolia and Parvesh Dhall- will be elected unopposed as there is no candidate against them. It is notable that the names of all these candidates were proposed by Gursharan Singh, the outgoing president.