16-yr-old gets vision back as docs remove tumour from brain
Gurgaon: A 16-year-old boy from Bihar had the gift of sight restored to him in what doctors described as a special and rare achievement after a tumour inside his brain that was causing him to lose his vision was removed at a city hospital. Ashish Ranjhan first complained of blurred vision in his right eye in December last year. Despite repeated consultations with the ophthalmologist, the vision in his right eye continued to dim until it was lost completely. As his condition continued to deteriorate, an MRI revealed the presence of a tumour, which needed to be surgically removed. Gradually, the boy completely lost his vision in both the eyes and there was no perception of light and no pupil action for more than two-and-a-half-months in the right eye and about a week in his left eye, doctors said. The boy was then brought here for treatment and admitted at a private hospital on February 13 where a team of doctors concluded that there was an urgent need to surgically remove the tumour. Following a surgery that lasted four hours, the tumour was successfully removed and it was also found that the procedure had led to the fortunate restoration of the boy’s vision. Doctors said that the reversal and restoration of vision in both his eyes was a “special and rare achievement in such cases”. (PTI)
Scan centre sealed for doing pre-natal sex determination tests
Salem (TN): A scan centre run by a woman doctor in nearby Attur has been sealed by a Central team for allegedly carrying out foetal sex determination test violating a ban on it, a state health department official said today. A team of doctors led by Dr Subrathara Roy deputed by Central Government inspected the Saravana Scan Centre operated by Dr Damayanthi and found sex determination tests were done there clandestinely and ordered its sealing yesterday, a state health department official said. The team also seized scan equipment and accessories fromthe centre, Salem Joint Director (Health) Dr Subbulakshmi said on Friday. Severe action would be initiated against the clinic. Incidentally, the clinic was sealed in 2014 for the same offence and had been fined Rs 1,000 by a court. With repeated complaints surfacing against the clinic again, the health department officials had informed the Centre which deputed the team for an on-the-spot inquiry. Pre-natal sex determination is banned under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, as part of efforts to prevent female foeticide. (PTI)
Clashes in Srinagar after march scuttled
Srinagar: Security forces on Friday scuttled a march here by a group of youth carrying posters of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and messages like ‘Thank you, JNU’, leading to clashes near the historic Jamia Masjid. Soon after the Friday prayers at Kashmir’s main mosque, a group of youth, shouting pro-freedom slogans, tried to take out a march towards Nowhatta Chowk, police said. Some of the youth were carrying the flags of Pakistan and ISIS terror group as also the posters of Afzal Guru who was hanged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013, police said. A youth was also carrying a poster which read: ‘Thank You JNU’, the police added. Security forces stopped the march, triggering clashes in Nowhatta area which spread to adjoining areas like Gojwara, and Saraf Kadal, they said. The youth pelted stones on the forces who fired several tear-smoke canisters to disperse the protesters, police said. No one was injured in these clashes, they said. The stone-pelting clashes after Friday prayers have become a routine in Nowhatta over the past few months. (PTI)
Woman dies of swine flu in Rajasthan, toll rises to 30
Jaipur: A 60-year-old woman died of swine flu, taking the death toll in the state due to the disease to 30 since January one, this year. The woman, a resident of Mukta Nagar here, succumbed to H1N1 virus at a private hospital yesterday, a state medical and health department official said on Friday. Out of 1,250 samples collected in the state, 145 people have been tested positive, he said, adding of the 30 deaths due to H1N1 virus, 13 were in Jaipur, four in Ajmer and two in Churu, besides other places. There were 204 deaths out 364 positive cases of swine flu in the corresponding period (January to February 18) last year, the official said. This year the state medical and health department has taken several key measures to contain the spread of the virus, he said. Effective surveillance, monitoring and treatment of patients are the prime objectives of the state department, the official said. (PTI)
Youth arrested with 160 gm heroin
Mahrajganj (UP): A Nepali youth has been arrested and 160 gm heroin has been seized from him at a place along the Indo-Nepal Border here, an SSB official said on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, Suraj Thapa (19), a resident of Rupendehi in Nepal, was arrested on Thursday with 160 gram of heroin with a street value of Rs 32 lakh at Sonauli border, SSB Commandant K S Bankhothi said. During interrogation, the accused confessed to selling the contraband to youths in the area and that he was the main supplier of the drug, the SSB Commandant said. He was booked under various sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Bankhothi added. (PTI)
