omlog: a blog by Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India!

Heritage Car Rally

The Madras Heritage Motoring Club organized the Heritage Car Rally on 16th July 2006, which caught attention of automobile enthusiasts in the city.  The show was started from Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. The Rally had a unique theme that the participants should come dressed in period costumes along with their family as they drive their vintage Morris-8, Austins, Plymouths, Citroens, Buicks, and Vauxhalls.  My TVS, an integrated car services brand launched by the TVS group in 2003, was the chief sponsors of the show.  Mr. Muthiah Muralitharan, International Cricketer, Srilanka was the chief guest and flagged off the Rally.

 

First Aid Workshop

St.John  Ambulance , Chennai, conducted  FIRST AID WORKSHOP at Elite School of Optometry for the Final year students of BS Optometry on 13th and 14th July  2006. Mr S. Chandran, Lecturer from St. John Ambulance conducted the workshop. Dr. Sukumar, Faculty, Elite School of Optometry, conducted evaluation of the first aid knowledge of our students at the end of the workshop. The feedback from the students was positive and the workshop went off well.

 

Sankara Nethralaya In-house Cricket Competition

The In House Cricket competition was started in the year 1997 as one of the fifty projects in our 50th year of independence. This tournament is conducted as part of the employee’s welfare measure. This tournament generates tremendous amount of enthusiasm among the players and also a good opportunity to know each other.  It also inculcates good team spirit.  The Cup is named after Mr.Dipankar Chatterjee a Well Wisher of Medical Research Foundation.  The 10th In house cricket competition was held at Central Leather Research Institute ground on 16th July 2006.  Six teams were formed and among the three winners two teams qualified for the finals by virtue of their faster scoring rates.  It was won by the team led by Mr.Hari, Financial Controller, Sankara Nethralaya.

NIRVO Awareness Campaign

A campaign to increase awareness about the new project of Sankara Nethralaya – National Institute for Research in Vision Science and Ophthalmology was conducted at Prathana Drive-In Theatre, Chennai, on 8th, 9th and 10th July 2006.  The campaign targeting 1000 people, received widespread support.

Visitors

Dr. Kulkarni, Infosys Foundation, Bangalore is visited Sankara Nethralaya on 18th July 2006.  She visited the facilities of the Diabetic Retinopathy Project.  Dr. Padmaja Kumari, Associate Consultant, Sankara Nethralaya made a presentation about the project and shared the findings.  The meeting was also attended by Lion G.V. Raman, a friend & well-wisher of Sankara Nethralaya.

Prof. Anupindi, Associate Professor of Operations Management, Stephen Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, USA, Dr. Mainak Sarkar, Assistant Professor Economics & Finance, International Management Institute, New Delhi and Ms. Madhuchhanda Das Aundhe, Assistant Professor, T.A. Pai Management Institute, Bangalore visitied Sankara Nethralaya on 18th July 2006 to study the Teleophthalmology work by Sankara Nethralaya.

Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi, Honorable Union Minister of State, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi visited Sankara Nethralaya on 17th July 2006. She was taken on tour of the Hospital including the Teleophthalmology Department.

Ms. Maria Hyne, Ophthalmic Consultant, Training and Certification, The Emmes Corporation, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya on 17th July 2006.  They were taken on tour of the hospital including Teleophthalmology Department.

Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Dr. Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Vice Chairman, Asia Heart Foundation and a team from Rotary Narayana Sankara Nethralaya, Kolkata visited Sankara Nethralaya on 12th July 2006.  They had a meeting with the chairman Dr S S Badrinath, Dr. Lingam Gopal, Chairman (Elect), Sankara Nethralaya.  They were taken on tour of the Hospital, to see the facilities.

Mr. A.R. Antulay, Central Minister of Minority Affairs visited Sankara Nethralaya on 3rd July. He had eye examination with the Chairman Dr. S. S. Badrinath.

Lt. Col. Nasser Bin Saleem Al Abrawi, Defence Liasion Officer & team from Consulate General of the Sultanate of Oman visited Sankara Nethralaya on 3rd July 2006.  They were taken on tour of the hospital including Teleophthalmology Department.

Prof. Kartar Singh, Director, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow and family visited Sankara Nethralaya on 25th June 2006.  They were taken to the Teleophthalmology Department and explained about the activities of the mobile unit.

Guest Lecture

Dr. K. Murali from MIOT Hospital visited Sankara Nethralaya on 6th July 2006.  He delivered a talk on "Interventional Radiology (carotid stenosis, CCF & Cavernous hemangioma) 

Dr. Iqbal Ahmad, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Assistant Dean & Director, Postdoctoral Education, Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA visitied Sankara Nethralaya on 29th June 2006.  He delivered a talk on "Activation of Endogeneous Stem Cells / Progenitors in the Mammalian Retina: A Concept of Treating Retinal Degeneration", which was attended by Post Graduates, Basic Research Scientists, Consultants, Scientists from Anna University KBC. He interacted with Dr. S. V. Ramanan of Anna University KBC who is expert in electrophysiology of cells and Dr. Niveditha who is an expert in studying calcium imaging on the cells.

Prof. Michael Webster from University of Nevada, Reno, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya on 26th June 2006.  He worked out modalities of doing  psychophysical experiments on patients who had undergone cataract surgery.  He gave a series of lectures on the fundamentals of color vision.

A day of blessing!

His Holiness Shri Azhagiya Singar Jeeyar Swami of Ahobila Mutt visited Sankara Nethralaya on 29th June 2006.  He extended his blessings to the employees of Sankara Nethralaya.