Ludhiana, July 14
Every year as many as one million persons sustain head injuries in our country with around five to six lakh losing their lives.

A large percentage of those who survive become permanently disabled. These statistics are tragic because most of the patients are young and many times are the sole earning members of the family.

Road accidents are responsible for 60 per cent of head injury cases, fall at homes is the second most common cause of head injury seen in 20 to 30 per cent of patients, this is especially true in case of the elderly and children.

In winters in this part of country many children sustain head injuries after falling from rooftops, especially while flying kites. While in elderly, fall at home, especially in bathroom, is the most common cause of head injury. In 10 per cent patients, civil and domestic violence like fights is the cause of head injuries.

According to Dr Deepinder Singh, Consultant Neuro Surgeon at SPS Apollo Hospital a concerted effort from government, law enforcement agencies and NGOs is the need of hour to promote safe driving practices.

It has been estimated that in 20 to 30 per cent of accidents, one of the driver is under the influence of alcohol. Hence strict law enforcement is required to curb the menace of drinking and driving. Similarly simple measure like wearing seat belts or wearing helmets has saved thousands of lives around the world.

According to Dr Tushar Arora, Consultant Neurosurgeon, it is important that patients with head injuries be seen and treated by a neurosurgeon because even trivial injuries can be fatal and patient's condition can deteriorate rapidly.

The first hour following the trauma is the golden hour. Timely help and treatment can save many lives. So any patient who becomes unconscious following trauma should be seen by a neurosurgeon as early as possible.

Dr Deepinder said keeping all this in mind, the hospital had started a 24-hour helpline (helpline no-0161-5037709 ) for accident and head injury patients and had a trauma team ready to deal with emergencies round-the-clock.

Ludhiana July 14
Dr Antonio Maria Calafiore, cardiac surgeon, will be on a professional visit to Hero DMC Heart Institute (HDHI) from July 16 to 20. He is the director, School of Specialisation in Cardiac Surgery, University of Catania, Italy.

He is regarded as one of the pioneers of advanced cardiac surgery and is known for his expertise in dealing with high-risk surgery cases.

At the hospital, he will assist a team of surgeons comprising Dr V.K. Sharma, Dr Sarju Ralhan, Dr Rajeev Gupta, Dr Sameer Goyal and Dr Paresh Shah in performing complicated procedures.

“The team will be especially focusing on complicated cardiac bypass surgery and aneurysms cases. These include cases such as bypass in patients with low-ejection fraction and mitral regurgitation. Such bypass surgeries are especially difficult to perform due to the inherent complications involved. Ejection fraction of a healthy heart is between 50 to 75 per cent. This indicates that the heart is pumping well and is able to deliver an adequate supply of blood to the body and the brain. If your ejection fraction falls below 50 per cent, your heart is no longer pumping efficiently to meet the body’s needs. Cardiac bypass procedures in such patients put a lot of demand on the surgical team,” said Dr V.K. Sharma, head of department, cardiac surgery, in a press note issued here today.

Elaborating further, Dr G.S. Wander, chief cardiologist and coordinator, of the DMC Heart Institute, said, “An aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel, much like a bulge on an over-inflated tube. Aneurysms are dangerous because they may burst. The aorta, the main artery, leading away from the heart, can sometimes develop an aneurysm which has to be treated by carrying out a high-risk surgery. Dr Calafiore will be working with the team of surgeons and will precisely focus on such cases which require advanced levels of surgical skills.”

Ludhiana, July 14
The Punjab State Soft Tennis Association will organise a five-day preparatory camp for the Indian contingent selected for the 13th World Soft Tennis Championship, to be held at Aengsongs, South Korea, from September 7 to 14.

This camp will be conducted here on the Government College for Boys ground. Parmar Raju, ex-MP and president of the Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India (ASTFI), announced the names of players who will represesnt India in this event at a press conerfence held here today.

He appointed Jasbir Singh Khangura, MLA as president of the Punjab Soft Tennis Association (PSTA).

The 20-member squad include Parmar Raju, Khodahara Jayantibhai Karsanbhai, Sangte Sudesh, Narinder Singh, Raj Kumar, Gandhi Baldeep, Panda Sonu Kumar, Khodahara Aniket Jayantibhai, Kuljeet Singh, Sonkar Vijay Kamal, Pateria Swapnil, Sumanpreet Kaur, Yashu Deep Kamal, Sapanpreet Kaur, Anmol Preet Kaur, Dave Bela H, Vegda Hasmukh P., Mohammad Azam, Bhupinder Singh and Makwana Shankuntla B.

J K Khodahara, secretary general of the PSTA, Jasbir Singh, Narinder Pal Singh, vice-president and secretary, respectively of the PSTA, and J K Khodahara, secretary general of the ASTFI, were present at the press conference.

Ludhiana, July 14
Punjab minister for jails, tourism and cultural affairs Hira Singh Gabria said here today that the state government has earmarked Rs 2,780 crore under World Bank projects for strengthening road network and executing water supply schemes in the state.

He was addressing a function organised at Noorwala village here today to distribute cheques of grants for the development works in 13 villages.

The minister said out of these funds Rs 1,500 crore were being spent on strengthening and widening of 1300 km roads in the state and Rs 1,280 crore for executing water supply and sanitation schemes in 300 villages to provide potable water.

The government has also decided to spend funds amounting to Rs 1,350 crore for the welfare of weaker sections of society under various schemes of the welfare department.

He assured that all promises made during the elections would be fulfilled and atta-dal scheme was being implemented from August 15.

Gabria said in order to improve ponds of 1,000 villages in the state, funds were being provided and the panchayats of the village concerned will have to contribute only 2.5 per cent of the total cost.

He appealed to the people to extend full support to the government in implementing the schemes.

Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, MP, informed that the government was committed to implementing the promises made to the people. Flaying the Congress, he said during its rule in the state the party had done nothing for the development and welfare of people.

The villages which were given grants included Kadia, Bahadurke, Kasabad, Jamalpur Lely (Rs 1.5 lakh each), Dheri, Churarwal Chhattowal, Mangat, Assian, Fategarh Gujran, and Noorwal (Rs 1 lakh each), Kutbewal and Sujatwala (Rs 80,000 each).

Inder Mohan Singh Kadian, president, Youth Akali Dal, while welcoming the dignitaries highlighted the problems of the area and demanded more funds for the development of Bet area.

Others present on the occasion included Jathedar Santa Singh Umedpuri, district president, SAD, Baba Jagroop Singh, circle jathedar, Baldev Singh Noorwala, Nirmal Singh Kasabad, Teja Singh Mangat and Harbhajan Singh Chuharwal.