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

Former Chief Justice of India visits Sankara Nethralaya

Mr. M. N. Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India visited Sankara Nethralaya on 29th August 2006.

Giants come together

Sanakara Nethralaya, Chennai, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai and L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad are the three major eye hospitals in India.  Considering the benefit to India that could accurse if they work together, the three giants met on 28th August 2006 at Sankara Nethralaya for a preliminary discussion on how they can work together.  A small step by the three hospitals that could bring big rewards for ophthalmic care in India.

Sankara Nethralaya celebrates 28th Birthday in Style – launched Research Project

NIRVO - National Institute for Research in Visual Sciences and Ophthalmology, a project to develop the state-of-art facility for research in ophthalmology at Sankara Nethralaya was formally launched on 27th August 2006 at the function held at Chennai.   

Mr. P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister, Government of India was the chief guest at the function and launched the NIRVO project.  In his key note address Mr. P. Chidambaram said that “eye care in the country had grown by leaps and bounds. Now, the best ophthalmic care in the world is available in India. In fact, Chennai, more than any other city in India, was earned a place of distinction in medical care on the world map.” -courtesy The Hindu.  Mr. A.M. Naik, Chairman and Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro dedicated the VRF Referral Laboratory.  Mr. Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company inaugurated the Affymetrix Genechip Microarray facility.   Mr. Pradeep Todi and Mr. Homi Bhabha, donors and well-wishers participated in the function.

Ruby Banik Award and Swarnalatha Punshi Award

The scientific paper Presentation for Ruby Banik Award and Swarnalatha Punshi Award were held at Sankara Nethralaya on 24th August 2006.  Dr. Meenakshi S, Dr. Prema Padmanabhan and Dr. J. Biswas were the judges.    The Ruby Banik Award was given to Dr. G. Sitalakshmi for the presentation on "Transplanting ex vivo cultured Corneal Limbal Epithelia (ReliNethraTM) in Eyes with Unilateral Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency (LSCD): Methodology and Results" and the Swarnalatha Punshi Award was given to Dr. S. Krishnakumar for the presentation on “Phenotypic Characterization of Human Limbal Epithelial Cells expanded on Chtiosan”

Awards Galore on Independence Day

Independence Day was celebrated at Sankara Nethralaya on 15th August 2006.  Shri H. Ramakrishnan, Administrator and Television personality was the chief guest of the function.  The Man and Woman of the year, Mr. Banukumar and Ms. Akila Ganesan hoisted the flag.  Over 50 employees received “outstanding achievement” award.  Employees who had completed 10 years of service at Sankara Nethralaya were commended for their service and received awards.  The Dipankar Chatterjee Cup 2006 inhouse cricket competition was conducted and the Match Winner and runner up award was also given at the function.

New service at Sankara Nethralaya

Sankara Nethralaya Bangalore added a new service – Opticals on 12th August 2006.  This is another step by Sankara Nethralaya to ensure that patients prescribed spectacles, are benefited by the Scientific Ophthalmic Dispensing offered by it.

The Genetics Department at Sankara Nethralaya, took a giant step forwarded in Science & Research by adding “Affymetrix” to its portfolio.  The first sophisticated Micro array facility that would facilitate the identification of genes causing eye diseases was installed at the Haddows Road branch.  Presently there are five micro array facilities in the country. 

It was inaugurated by Mrs. & Dr. Krishnan Nandabalan.  The pooja for the new Affymetrix laboratory "Laboratory for Advanced Gene typing and Molecular Genetics" was held at Sankara Nethralaya on 15th August 2006. 

Karma Yoga – Joy of Work

As part of the extramural lecture series, a talk on “Joy of Work” was organized for Optometrists and Optometry Students on 17th August 2006 at Sankara Nethralaya. 

Dr. K.P. Misra, Senior Cardiologist, Apollo Hospital, Chennai delivered the lecture.  He gave a lively presentation on the 4 yoga’s that lead to happiness, namely Gnana Yoga, Bharthi Yoga, Raja Yoga and Karma Yoga for individuals like us, he explained how karma yoga is the path to happiness.

Another feather in the cap of Sankara Nethralaya

Hamsadhwani celebrated their 17th Anniversary on 17th August 2006 at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai.  The Distinguished Citizen of the year award was conferred on Dr. S S Badrinath, Chairman, Sankara Nethralaya by C.V. Karthik Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director, UCAL products and Trustee, Music Academy, Chennnai.  The award was given to Dr. Badrinath in recognition of his "unparalleled and sustained social and community care service.

Visitor

Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, IAS, Chief Executive Officer (Community Service Centre), IL & FS Limited, Department of Information Technology, Government of India visited Sankara Nethralaya on 7th August, 2006.  She was taken to the Teleophthalmology Department and E-Learning division.  She was also explained about the facilities of Sankara Nethralaya.

A new venture...

To bring out the thoughts of the individuals in the organization and to share ideas and views, a new ‘LECTURE SERIES” has been launched at Sankara Nethralaya.  This program, which would be conducted every Saturday, will be an opportunity for Sankara Nethralaya employees to speak on various inspirational topics and share their thoughts with their colleagues.  The first lecture of the series was commenced on the 5th August 2006. 

  Mr. A.P. Irungovel, Manager, Medical Sociology Department talking on the topic "Ennangal .....Thooya Ennangal" i.e  "Thinking.....Pure Thinking".

'Eye' T

An Information Technology Meet between Sankara Nethralaya and IIT, CAIR, DRDO, Bangalore, INTEL, Bangalore was held on 6th August 2006 at The PARK Hotel, Chennai.  Mr. Kamkoti, Prof. B. Ravindran, Prof. Sankar Balachandran, Prof, Anuradh Mittal, Prof. Manivannan from IIT, Madras, Ms. Sangeetha Srivastava, CAIR, DRDO, Bangalore, and Mr. Rajagopal from Intel had a meeting with the team from Sankara Nethralaya.

A Three Day National Workshop on IT applications in Eye Care was held at Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai from 3rd - 5th August 2006.  Two eye care majors in the State — Sankara Nethralaya and Aravind Eye Care System — jointly organized the workshop under the auspices of Vision 2020 - The Right to Sight India, a national organization.

More than 70 delegates from India, Bangladesh and Nepal attended the workshop, besides the participation of a few IT companies. Dr. S. S. Badrinath, Chairman, Sankara Nethralaya, the national executive director of Vision 2020-India, P.K.M. Swamy, and its president, R. D. Thulasiraj, also spoke. The founder of Sify.com, R. Ramraj, was among those who took part in the inaugural function.

 

Workshop on Computer Vision Syndrome

Elite School of Optometry, unit of Medical Research Foundation and Ohio state university,USA conducted  a two day workshop on 28th and 29th July 2006 at Le Royal   Meridien, Chennai. The first day was on “Improving Visual Comfort and Productivity in Computer Users”. The program was aimed at the professionals from IT and ITeS companies. The second day was on "Computer Vision Syndrome" for Eye care professionals". 

Prof. James Sheedy of Ohio State University, Dr S S Badrinath, Chairman and President, Medical Research Foundation, Dr Lingam Gopal, Chairman-Elect, Medical Research Foundation, Dr K. P Mishra, Eminent Cardiologist, Dr Pappu Venugopalarao, Eminent Indian Music personality, Mrs Saraniya, ESO alumni and  our internal faculty delivered the talks and interacted with the delegates. A hands-on session on ergonomics, lighting and eye care was part of the program.  This was the first workshop of its kind on this topic in India.

International Patient Service at Sankara Nethralaya

Department of International Patient Service, Corporate Cell and the renovated office of Department of Patient Relations was inaugurated at Sankara Nethralaya on 24th July 2006 by Poojya Shri Dayananda Saraswathi Swamigal.  Addressing the gathering after the inauguration, Swami Dayananda Saraswathi, speaking about the importance of care, said, 'human beings should show care towards everything. Nature no doubt is caring towards the living beings, but it's the humans who have to be reminded about care as they have long forgotten it’. The newly renovated office has been funded by the Swamiji's AIM for Seva Trust.