THIS HELPLINE IS AN EYEWASH

The helpline number of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's eye bank, biggest in the state,is lying non-functional for the past few days. This makes it difficult for a deceased person's family members to contact the bank and make donations in time

A dead helpline number threatens to throw a spanner in the works for Gujarat that recorded the second highest number of eye donations in 2014-15.On Sunday, an 80-year-old man passed away in his Paldi home on Sunday following brain haemorrhage.Nagindas Mulchand had pledged his eyes before his death as his last wish was to help a blind person see the world. His grandson Kaushik dialled Civil Hospital eye bank's number ­ 079-22681010 ­ to find out the procedure to donate his grandad's eyes, but nobody picked up the phone.Finally, after much running around, he got in touch with an NGO that helped him donate his grandfather's eyes to Nagri Eye Hospital.

Cuckolded hubby posts wife's naughty pics

Ranip man accused ofviolation of privacy after he clicks wife's photograph with alleged lover,uploads it on FB

Revenge is a dish best served on the social media network seems to be the latest mantra for partners out to expose their adulterous spouses.Fuelled by the need to reveal the extramarital affair of his wife, a 32-year-old resident of Ranip recently uploaded her photograph on Facebook -the photograph had been clicked on the sly when she was in a compromising state with her lover. According to Crime Branch officials, where the wife registered a complaint, the husband was acting after his family members refused to believe his claims that his wife was two-timing him.

Women thrashed for not giving chanda

On the 4th day of Navratri, while the revel ers across city were busy upping thefes tive spirit, a group of goons at Vadaj was busy displaying their strengthto collect chanda (donation) by bashing two women. The women -Asha Dayama (32)and Sarla Kishori Tavar (40) -were beaten up by local goons for denying to payRs-5,000 as Navratri chanda.

At around 12.30pm on Friday, Kashinath Patel, a goon running bootlegging business, went to the duo's house along with 10 others to collect chanda. On refusal to pay, they allegedly began hitting them. However, Tavar claimed, “Despite paying chanda twice, they demanded Rs-5,000 for Navratri. When I refused, they started arguing and began trashing me. When I fell down, they started kicking me in my stomach. For help, I dialed 100, and afraid of cops they fled away.“

Gujaratis are largest skin donors

Gujaratis save lives of several burns patients by providing 80% of skin donations inIndia, according to National Burn Centre data.

Skin transplant is still in its infancy in India but it can save the lives of patients with severe burns. And, Gujaratis play a crucial role in saving lives of hundreds of such patients in India. According to the National Burn Centre. Of around 650 donations in the past five years, more than 500 donations were made by Gujaratis.

‘35,000 child labourers in city’s e-waste sites’

In Ahmedabad alone, about 35,000 childrenin the age group of 10-14 years eke a living from the hazardous e-waste sector.They are part of over 4.5 lakh children across the country who work in theinformal e-waste recycling industry, reveals a study by Assocham. The study also reveals that these kids, who are employed in various harmful activities, have to work without any adequate protection.

“According to our nationwide study, over 35,000 children are working in e-waste sector in Ahmedabad,” said DS Rawat, secretary general at Assocham, a business body that had recently conducted a survey on ‘Child labours engage in e-waste activities in India’ under their Social Development Foundation. The study was conducted in cities like Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune and Dehradun.

Eating sindoor puts man's life at risk

A 35-yr-old Mehsana resident wasdiagnosed with kidney failure after suffering from lead poisoning due toconsuming sindoor for 11 yrs

Sindoor is an integral part of the Hindu ritual used in mar riages and for religious pur poses. But did you ever hear of people eating sindoor? A 35year-old Mehsana resident visited Civil Kidney Hospital two months ago with complaints of acute abdominal ailments, vomiting and facial puffiness.

Shortage of medicine hits asthma, diabetes patients

Asthma patients and diabetics sufferwithout doxophylline and insulin as Ahmedabad Civil Hospital did not floattender on time, leading to delay in supply of medicines

Mohammad Qureshi, a farmer from Devli in rural Ahmedabad, was exhausted: physically and financially. He had been running around the whole day trying to arrange for money to get anti-asthmatic medicine for his daughter. Though his 14year-old should have been given the medicines by authorities at Civil Hospital where she is admitted, Qureshi had to face a tough time because the hospital had not floated its tender in time causing shortage of insulin and anti-asthmatic medicines.

Qureshi, 37, said, “My daughter has acute breathing problem. Her condition deteriorated after it rained in our village. We rushed her to Civil Hospital for treatment. She got better following primary treatment. Then, the doctors refused to administer the prescribed antiasthmatic medicine, doxophylline. After repeated pleas, a nurse informed me that the medicine was not available in the hospital. They asked me to get it from outside.“

The farmer spent more than Rs 2,000 ­ an amount he could

Suicides in city goes up by 32 per cent

Whereas, all the four metropolitan cities recorded a fall in the number of people killing themselves

A 19-year-old girl hanged herselfat her Chandkheda residence on Sunday after the man she was in re lationshiprefused to marry her.» A 21-year-old medicine aspirant, committed suicide whenher name did not appear in the admis sion merit list on July 3. Her body wasdiscovered by her parents from her house.

Gujarat has much to worry about on people valuing their lives as Ahmedabad recorded 32.6 per cent rise in the number of suicides in 2014 over the figures for the previous year.

Incidentally, all metropolitan cities -Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata -recorded a fall whereas the number of people killing themselves in the city increased from 671 in 2013 to 890 in 2014. The data was published in `Accident deaths and suicides in India -2014', by the National Crime Records Bureau on Saturday.

Guj IMA objects to portrayal of pvt docs in NCERT textbook

IMA asks Gujarat chapter to participate in fight against NCERT over derogatory description of docs in Class VII SS textbook

Taking forward the fight against discrimination of private doc tors in the syllabus of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sent a notice to Gujarat branch of IMA to join in.

A comic strip published on pages 22-23 of Class 7 social sciences textbook by NCERT shows private doctors as fleecing patients. The private doctor is shown as prescribing many medicines, while a government doctor just hands out a pill for a viral infection. The private doctor's bill is Rs 3,500, while the government doctor charges Rs 150.

A portion of chapter 2 on `Role of Government in health' says, “In order to earn more money, these private services encourage practices that are incorrect. At times cheaper methods, though available, are not used. For example, it is common to find doctors prescribing unnecessary medicines, injections or saline bottles when tablets or simple medicines can suffice.“

IMA has demanded that the chapter should either be deleted or re-written. “All branches of IMA across the country will join hands to fulfill the demand. We will conduct a meeting and organise a press conference to make people aware of the issue,“ said Dr Chetan Patel, president of Gujarat IMA.

Brain dead woman's final act of kindness

Following the 63-year-old schoolteacher's last wish, her family donated her kidneys, eyes and liver to spreadawareness, help improve other people's lives

School teacher Minakshi R Shete has given a new lease of life to five people. Respecting the last wish of the 63-yearold, who was brain dead, her family members donated her kidneys, eyes and liver.

“My mother taught at a municipal school. She was quite aware of the importance of organ donation.We are proud that she donated her body to help others lead a better life,“ said her son Ronak Shete, who works with a private farm.

City's biggest Durga puja goes eco-friendly

Artisansbrought in by Bengal Cultural Association A' bad plan to decorate pandal withproducts made of sholapit

Come October and the city dolls up for nine nights of revellery while the Bengali community in Ahmedabad gears up for the much awaited Durga puja.And even as craftsmen in South Kolkata are busy sculpting the tallest idol of Maa Durga in the world, artisans brought in by the Bengal Cultural Association Ahmedabad, are giving an eco-friendly twist to decorations at the oldest puja in town, with decorations made with sholapit. An essential part of the Bengali culture, sholapit is made of a plant that grows in marshland.

Elaborating on the attempt to decorate the massive pandal at Ahmedabad Education Society ground with this plant product, SN Chakraborty, president of Bengal Cultural Association Ahmedabad, said, “From the time of its inception 78 years ago, this will be the first time we will use shola to decorate the pandal. An essential part of the community, shola is used to make products used in religious ceremonies.“

`Heart troubles' up by 14% for women in city

Data from 108 services revealed by Union Health Ministry says cardiac ailments among women have surged due to sedentary lifestyle, work-related stress

» All seemed normal with Ravita Sharma, a 32-year-old call centre employee at Navrangpura, till one night when she experienced chest pains. Used to working night shifts, Ravita was at work when she started sweating profusely and had chest pains.

DEAD BODY

More than 80 per cent cases of negligence and malpractice registered with Gujarat Medical Council have been pending foryears; GMC cries manpower crunch
The Gujarat Medical Council (GMC), a statutory body which is authorised to handle cases related to medical malpractice and negligence, has been twiddling its thumbs for a long time now -more than 80 per cent of the cases registered with the body have been pending for years.

In the past 10 years, more than 1,300 cases have been recorded with the council from various parts of Gujarat. However, only in 223 cases, justice has been delivered.