Saturday, May 28, 2011

CMC offers comprehensive oncology services


Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana offers comprehensive oncology services for the care of cancer patients and their families. Dr Kunal Jain has recently joined as a consultant in medical oncology after completing 3 years of advanced training in Medical Oncology from Australia. He completed his MBBS and MD from CMC Ludhiana and then trained as an advanced trainee in Medical Oncology at Royal Adelaide Hospital for 2 years. He also had the opportunity of working as a Research Fellow in Medical Oncology at Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia for 1 year and was involved in many clinical trials. He specializes in breast, lung, colorectal and oral cancers and also has keen interest in cancer research.
With addition of full time Medical Oncology services, CMC Ludhiana has now got a complete range of oncology services including
1.      Hematology and bone marrow transplant services
2.      State of the art Radiation Oncology facilities
3.      Pain and palliative care services
4.      Intervention Radiology facilities 
5.      Experienced Surgical units including various super-specialties.
6.      Special laboratory facilities for oncology patients.

Director, Dr Abraham G Thomas added that with all these services coming under one roof, it would be even more convenient for the cancer patients of this region. CMC Ludhiana is known for its highly motivated staff providing compassionate and quality patient care.

Dr Jain is available for OPD consultations between 11am – 2pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. For any further inquiries, please contact Oncology Office: 0161-5037957, Oncology Helpline: 9780005333 or Email: cmc.oncology@yahoo.com 
By Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria 

Friday, May 27, 2011

Communist Party:End the Intervention in Libya Now!

A Statement by International Department, Communist Party USA

Communist Party USA | Radical Ideas. Real Politics.
Dear Friend,
It is time to end the NATO intervention in Libya and call for a cease fire and a negotiated settlement now.
The NATO powers, especially, France, the U.K., Italy and the United States, have gone far beyond any authority given them by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorized the creation of a no-fly zone to protect unarmed Libyan civilians from being slaughtered by forces loyal to Moammar Gadaffi. They have used the resolution as a pretext for a full-fledged military effort to oust Gadaffi and his allies from power, and to install a government more friendly to their own interests. The world is right to suspect that this intervention is less about protecting civilians than about protecting oil, gas, water, banking and geopolitical interests of the wealthy countries, who have seen their influence in the area slipping due to the “Arab Spring”. 
The military situation on the ground is beginning to look like a stalemate and a protracted war. The idea that Gadaffi and his followers would quickly be ousted, like Presidents Ben-Ali of Tunisia and Mubarak of Egypt, is fading. While the rebels have strong support in eastern Libya, Gadaffi has support in the West, around the capital of Tripoli. As the conflict, involving pro-Gadaffi troops, mercenaries and tribal levies, NATO air strikes and rebel action, goes on, more and more people are dying and a larger and larger refugee situation is being created. On May 6, perhaps 600 refugees, mostly Somalis who had been working in Libya and were fleeing the fighting, drowned in the Mediterranean when their boat foundered. It is typical of reactionary NATO leaders such as President Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy that they ostentatiously wash their hands of this refugee crisis by calling for the gutting of the Schengen regime, the European Union policy that allows movement of people from one European Union nation to another.
This situation cries out for a cease fire and a mediated solution. Instead, NATO appears to be escalating the conflict.  The bombing on April 30 which killed Gadaffi’s son and 3 infant grandchildren was part of that escalation. The claim that this was just due to coincidence insults our intelligence. No matter what one thinks about Gadaffi, this is a very bad road for the NATO powers and the United States to embark on.
By now, many of the Security Council member countries which either voted for Resolution 1973 or abstained, have repudiated the way NATO has interpreted it. A call for a cease fire has come from countries whose joint population constitutes a majority of our planet’s inhabitants: China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, South Africa, the ALBA group of countries in Latin America and the African Union (including South Africa, which voted for Resolution 1973 in the Security Council) now are demanding a cease fire and negotiations. Even NATO member Germany dissents from the present course of action. And now United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has added his voice to the call for a cease fire. Yet NATO military commanders are now asking for the right to bomb infrastructural targets.
The Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) calls upon the people of our country, including especially the anti-war movement, organized labor and other democratic people’s movements, to demand that Obama administration to break with the aggressive policy its NATO allies, stop its armed participation in the NATO intervention, and join the international call for a cease fire in Libya and a negotiated solution, the results to be determined by the Libyan people only.
We ask all progressive people to demand US withdrawal from the attacks, and US support for a cease fire and negotiations now.
Contact the President:
by phone: 202-456-1111, or
by fax: 202-456-2461 
And contact Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton:
by phone at the State Department Switchboard: 202-647-4000
And your congressperson and senators:
__________________________________
International Department
Communist Party USA

Beej Swaraj Conference


For Seed Sovereignty Agriculture and Food Security 

To save seed-agriculture and food sovereignty of country
To stop IPRs on seeds/germplasm/planting material or products
To reclaim farmers’ inherent natural right over seeds as real custodian
To protect our seeds and food from being contaminated by Genetic modification 
To protect Seed research in public sector and seed public sector institutions
Become a part of 3rd War of Independence, Be a savior of nation’s freedom   

Seed Sovereignty for Farmers’ freedom and Nation’s food security
Beej Swaraj Conference
Monday, 30th May 2011
10 AM onwards
Punjabi Bhawan, Ludhiana
Seed is not a commodity, but the basis for food security and national sovereignty
Issues to be discussed:
1. Constitutional issues
Several laws related to farming are proposed to be tabled in the Union Parliament even though 'agriculture' is a State subject. Entry 14 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India (that includes matters on which the Legislature of the State has powers to make laws) reads: "Agriculture, including agricultural education and research, protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases."

2. Seed Bill, 2010
Changes to the existing Seed Act (1966) have been on the cards since even before 2004; a revised Bill is pending passage in both houses of the Indian Parliament. The text of the proposed Bill has not been made open. The new seed law will not help farmers' seeds, on the contrary it might outlaw the sale of seeds that do not meet (industry) standards of 'quality'. Moreover, the Bill does not prohibit the registration of transgenic seeds for sale.

3. BRAI Bill
The country's rules for GMOs date back to 1989; they are on the brink of being revamped through a new law. This new biosafety law that proposes to set up a regulatory authority is being pushed by the Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Official discussions are focussed on a proposed BRAI (Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India) Bill, the text of which is marked as 'secret'!
Special Guests:
Vijay Jardhari, Seed Keeper farmer, Uttrakhand
Yudhvir Singh , National General Secretary , BKU- Tiket
Shalini Bhutani, Ecological Agriculture Activist, Delhi

Speakers:
Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan( BKU-Ekta Ugrahan)
Sukhdev Singh Bhopal (Manav Kudrat Kendrit Lok Lehar)
Pishora Singh Sidhupur (BKU-Ekta Sidhupur)
Lehmber Singh Taggar (All India Kisan Sabha)
Satnam Singh Pannu (Kisan Sanghersh Committee)
Balraj Singh Rana (Punjab Kisan Union)
Jasdev Singh Jassoval
Prof Jagmohan Singh
Dr Inderjeet Kaur
Dr Amar Singh Azad
Dr Arun Mittra
Satnam Singh Manak
Dr Ernest Albert

Let us not forget what Kissinger-Doctrine says, "you control petrol, you control nations and if you control food, you control people"....we don't need to find out that this doctrine is still the backbone of US police in certain matters"

Since a nation’s food sovereignty as well as farming communities’ livelihoods is closely linked to seed sovereignty – who controls what seed is supplied, when, in what quantities, with what restrictions, at what prices and so on. This is closely connected to allowing most seed trade to be taken over by the private sector, coupled with legal regimes that allow for exclusive marketing rights in the hands of a handful of companies, along with monocultures encouraged of a few crops and few varieties even as farmers are encouraged to move away from their traditional systems of seed breeding, selection, saving and exchange. Policy makers and planners have to appreciate the intrinsic potential dangers of such a scenario; this is further borne out by the example of cotton seed in India, where an overwhelming majority of the market today is controlled by one large seed company in numerous ways; further, non-GM cotton seed is not available in the market and seed pricing has become a vexatious issue where state governments that want to protect farmers’ interests are being confronted by the seed companies against any statutory framework that regulates price and are even threatening to stop supply of seed – meanwhile, physical seed stocks with farmers and others have disappeared during the period that they depended on company-supplied seed. This scenario is potentially possible with other crops too and Seed Sovereignty is an issue that the government has to take seriously.
·         The seed industry seems to believe that their returns can be maximized and their R&D efforts rewarded only if exclusive ‘ownership’ rights are conferred, linked to marketing rights of course. Civil society groups including farmers’ organizations believe that this is antithetical to the very culture of agriculture in India, which thrived for thousands of years due to the open sharing of resources including knowledge.
·         Let us demand that Agri-research and extension systems have to prioritise in their projects and outlays, varietal development and distribution; farmer-led, participatory breeding programmes are to be prioritized to address issues of quality and local suitability.
·         For all those seed technologies which bring in potential environmental and health hazards, such seed should be allowed even for open air trials only if there are no other alternatives present and after biosafety has been cleared through independent, long term testing in a participatory and transparent decision-making regime. In this case too, like in Point 4, state governments should be allowed their constitutional authority over agriculture for exercising their own decisions through appropriate regulatory regimes at the state level, including licensing etc.
·         Regulatory regimes should also pro-actively watch out for seed monopolies/oligopolies building up and prevent the same.
·         Farming communities all over India should have first priority and access to all the germplasm collections all over the country.

Let us not forget what Kissinger-Doctrine says, "You control petrol, you control nations and if you control food, you control people".... we don't need to find out that this doctrine is still the backbone of US police in certain matters…Oppose food colonialism
SAY NO TO GM SEEDS

Let us join hands to initiate a struggle to protect nation’s seed sovereignty & food self reliance  

KHETI VIRASAT MISSION

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Logistics Troops Support Soldiers in Afghanistan


By Karen Parrish 
American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan, May 24, 2011 - Army Lt. Col. Dave Preston and Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Holder are the command team for the 801st Brigade Support Battalion, a unit that provides food, fuel, ammunition and more for soldiers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team here.
Click photo for screen-resolution image
Army Lt. Col. Dave Preston, left, and Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Holder serve as command team at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, for the 801st Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. Courtesy photo 
"The challenges here in Paktika are the hardest thing I've ever dealt with in my career, but our soldiers make it easy," Preston said. "They care, and they bust their tails on a daily basis."
Preston said he keeps his soldiers "outside the wire" much of the time, making sure the brigade's outlying troop locations have all the supplies that they need, in keeping with the battalion's motto: "No Mission Will Fail Due to Logistics."
"Here at Sharana we're living pretty good," Preston said. "But probably five out of seven days of the week, there's a member of this battalion out on an outlying [forward operating base or combat outpost] helping out."
Preston said he and Holder identified their two-word mission focus as soon as they arrived in Afghanistan: support forward.
Preston said he and members of his staff visit the brigade's 20-plus installations positioned throughout Paktika province regularly, spending two days each week walking the bases where soldiers live and identifying ways to improve living conditions.
"I ask the chain of command when I leave, 'What are your top three needs?'" Preston said. "A lot of times, there's a helicopter there the next day with what they want."
Preston said his battalion has provided the smaller posts with showers and cold-storage containers for food,, as well as ensuring regular mail and fuel delivery to even the most-remote locations.
Medical teams also regularly visit the small troop locations, Preston said, noting, "That keeps your combat power forward [and] it builds trust. Everybody knows our providers, and they love our providers."
"We had to gain credibility by coming through," he said. "Support soldiers kind of get a bad rap in an infantry brigade ... we have to get out there and do everything we can for them, which is what we've done."
Preston credits his four companies of troops with a long list of accomplishments: delivering 6 million pounds of cargo by helicopter, providing force protection for supply convoys to areas accessible by road, managing 9,400 categories of supply items, rebuilding an entire fleet of forklifts, running the medical clinic, and supplying fuel for vehicles and generators.

"They've never let us down when we've set a standard for them," Preston said.
The lieutenant colonel said his battalion's companies have worked hard with their Afghan counterparts.
The medical company set up and conducted a version of the Army's Expert Field Medical Badge competition with their Afghan partners, Preston said.
The Afghan competition consisted of 15 tasks including treating a patient under fire, litter carry, evacuating a patient by helicopter, and a road march, Preston said.
"They did that for the whole day," he said. "They've never done anything like that before -- incredible training that the soldiers [have] had."
Similar competitions are planned for the battalion's other two companies, Preston said. One of the companies will run a truck rodeo with driving tasks, he said, and the other will conduct a mechanics' rodeo.
"The Afghans love competition," he said. "So we set that up, and for a month prior our guys are training them on all these tasks. So they get excellent training and it's fun for them."
Preston said he and his staff put a priority on maintaining high morale in the battalion.
"We're here 365 days, working 18 hours-a -day, seven-days-a-week," he said. "So we do things like monthly barbecues ... we're in combat here and we don't lose sight of that, but we try to keep an environment where it's not serious 24 hours-a-day."
Holder agreed that maintaining morale for the troops has been a high priority during the deployment. Making sure the soldiers have internet access, so they can stay in touch with their families, "has been a huge morale boost," he said.
"Something as small as allowing them to wear [physical training uniforms of shorts and T-shirts] on Sundays, when they're not turning wrenches or working on a forklift," gives soldiers a needed break, Holder said.
It's also important to provide the troops with enough rest time, Holder said.
"We've seen what happens when you just try to work someone for 365 days," he said. "Somewhere in the middle, they just fall on their face. So we try our best to give them one day-a-week where they can relax a little."
Preston said he and Holder have been planning the battalion's transition to its replacement unit for six months, streamlining contracts and clearing broken down equipment from troop locations to make the incoming unit's job easier.
"It's about being a professional organization," he said. "Everybody complains about the way they get things handed to them -- well, we're not going to give [our replacements] anything to complain about."
Related Sites:
NATO International Security Assistance Force 

Missouri Guard Begins Support Operations in Joplin


From a Missouri National Guard News Release
CARTHAGE, Mo., May 23, 2011 - About 140 Missouri National Guard troops are working under the orders of Gov. Jay Nixon to assist local authorities after a tornado ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., yesterday.
Click photo for screen-resolution image
Missouri National Guard soldiers with the 294th Engineer Company work search and rescue missions in Joplin, Mo., hours after a deadly tornado passed through the city May 22, 2011. Missouri National Guard photo by Ann Keyes 
Guardsmen are assisting in search and rescue missions in support of local authorities, and are expected to conduct a number of missions in the upcoming days, including emergency route clearance, communications support, door-to-door safety visits and security, officials said.
"As soon as we heard the news of the tornados, the Missouri National Guard began mobilization activities," said Army Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner, adjutant general. "Your Missouri National Guard is bringing experienced citizen-soldiers and leaders to provide the best support we have to our neighbors in Joplin."
Among those responding are soldiers of the 117th Engineer Team, of Monett, and 294th Engineer Company, of Carthage and Anderson. Additionally, a Joint Task Force Communications Kit out of Jefferson City is en route to assist local authorities.
The troops are part of a task force organized under the 203rd Engineer Battalion and is using the Carthage Armory to stage and deploy troops to Joplin. The Missouri National Guard has a total force of more than 11,500 Guard members who are ready to respond, officials said.
Army Spc. Daniel Brown of the 117th Engineer Team said his unit was the first to respond and worked throughout the night.
"We got the call while doing our annual training in nearby Anderson, and we immediately packed up and went straight to Joplin," he said. Along the way, he added, he saw overturned trucks at the intersection of highways 71 and 44, and his unit stopped to check a gas station for people who might have needed help.
"We moved on the Joplin, where we spent the night at the Walmart and a local sports store searching the rubble," Brown said. "This is something nobody wants to see, and thankfully we haven't needed to save anyone yet. But we've got a lot of good knowledge and training to help. This is our job, and Joplin is our backyard."
The 117th Engineer Team has special equipment, and the soldiers have extensive training and expertise to conduct search and rescue missions. The soldiers are working 12-hour shifts.
Army Spc. Richard Stotts of the 294th Engineer Company said he was driving with his girlfriend when the storms hit. After taking shelter and making sure his family was safe, Stotts immediately began helping. He pulled three people out of the local AT&T building when he got the call that he was mobilized.
For Stotts, the transition from citizen helping citizens to soldier helping citizens was seamless.
"This is what I signed up for -- to help people," he said.
The 294th Engineer Company worked throughout the night and is supporting the 117th and local authorities.
Supporting people throughout the area is the main mission, said Army Maj. Michael Brown, executive officer for the 203rd Engineer Battalion.
"We are here to support the citizens of Joplin any way we can," he said. "Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones in this disaster. The residents here are our fellow citizens, neighbors and friends. We will remain here as long as they need us."
Missouri's soldiers and airmen will continue supporting local authorities until released by the governor, officials said.
Related Sites:
Missouri National Guard 

Monday, May 23, 2011

Now Stem Cell Cryopreservation & Transplant in CMC

First center in Punjab to have this facility

Stem cell harvest
Ludhiana: 19 year old boy (Mr AKW) was diagnosed to have acute myeloid leukemia (a type of blood cancer) which required stem cell transplant for curing the disease. As he was the only son and parents were not HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) identical, (HLA matching is important when bone marrow stem cell transplants are done between 2 individuals), it was decided to perform autologous stem cell transplant.' 

However, as there is a delay between the chemotherapy and stem cell infusion, it was important to freeze these stem cells under special facility.  So after the initial chemotherapy, Mr AKW’s stem cells were collected by a stem cell apharesis machine and they were cryopreserved (a process by which stem cells are mixed with a chemical called DMSO and frozen at minus 80 degree celcius) under strict aseptic conditions. 

Stem cells and the cryoprotecant
These stem cells were later infused after many days into the patient.  Now patient has completed 4 months after the procedure and doing well.  Since then stem cells have been collected and stored in a patient with relapsed lymphoma. 

When doing stem cell cryopreservation, it is important to follow strict protocols in preventing infection and to maintian the stem cell viability. 

Stem cell cryopreservation and autologous stem cell transplant is basically offered to patients with relapsed lymphoma and certain patients with acute myeloid leukemia.  

CMC Ludhiana established its transplant programme in October 2008 and since then the team has performed 20 transplants (15 allogeneic and 5 autologous) for patients with 1 ½ years to 62 years.  The spectrum of diseases for which transplants have been done were thalassaemia, aplastic anemia, multiple myeloma, Philadephia positive ALL, Acute myeloid leukemia, CML in blast crisis and Wiskott Aldrich syndrome). 

Stem cells with the
cryoprotectant before
dump freezing-Copy
A comprehensive team of doctors, nurses, physician assistants and office staff are behind this endeavor and CMC Ludhiana is one of the centers taking part in the CIBMTR (Center of International Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry) apart from the ISCTR (Indian Stem Cell Transplant Registry). 

Giving more information regarding this, Dr M Joseph John, head of Clinical Haematology, Haemato-Oncology & Bone Marrow (Stem cell) Transplant Unit, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana said that it is the first time this facility is established in Punjab and North of Delhi.  Dr Abraham G Thomas, Director added that with a new 5 bedded ‘state of the art’ transplant unit coming up, the team is would be able to perform more transplants with improved facility. He also added that in future, the team would be venturing into matched unrelated and cord blood transplantation.  
Dr M Joseph John, MD, DM
Associate Professor, Clinical Haematology, Haemato-Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplant Unit
Christian Medical College
(M): 08054959525, (O): Direct: 0161-5037957 or 0161-2600270 Ext 4823/5022
Fax:0161-2600270

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Fighter Pilot Balances Work, Motherhood


By Air Force Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps
20th Fighter Wing

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C., May 18, 2011 - When Air Force Maj. Jaime Nordin saw her first airshow as a child, she knew she wanted to fly fighter jets.
Click photo for screen-resolution image
Air Force Maj. Jaime Nordin drops off her daughter Caleigh at the child development center at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., April 28, 2011. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps 
"I was mesmerized by fighters -- the idea of going fast and flying upside-down," said the F-16 pilot with the 79th Fighter Squadron here, one of 58 women among the Air Force's 2,689 fighter pilots.
The role of Air Force fighter pilots is to maintain superiority in the air and support the ground fight. But Nordin's mission goes beyond that. She also is the mother of a 2-year-old daughter named Caleigh.
"Being a mom and a fighter pilot are both equally demanding, which makes having only 24 hours in a day hard," she said. "But more and more, I'm becoming a mom, and a fighter pilot is my trade."
Nordin said she was five to six weeks pregnant when she found out Caleigh was on the way. "Because of that," she said, "I joke with my daughter that she has flown in an F-16." But impending motherhood meant that Nordin had to take some time off from flying.
"Between pulling high G's and the ejection seat, flying while pregnant is a 'no go,'" she said.
Being grounded was difficult at first, the major acknowledged. "I went through an identity crisis because I had to stop flying," she said. "I had to become something other than a fighter pilot. But after a while, my motherly instincts took over."
During that time, Nordin worked in the operations support squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. After the time off from the pregnancy and recovery, her qualifications for flying were out of date, so she had to take a class at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.
"During the time off, I really missed flying," Nordin said. "It's kind of a need. I missed being in the air and the camaraderie of the squadron."
Nordin's husband also is an F-16 pilot, which presents unique challenges to the couple in raising a 2-year-old. For example, she said, she sometimes worries about what will happen while she's flying or in the middle of something else and can't pick up Caleigh.
"Fortunately, we have friends who are willing to step in and help us out at the drop of a hat," she said. "Several times we've had to cash in on them for help because of mission requirements."
For times when the two pilot parents have temporary deployments at the same time and can't bring Caleigh, they have a family care plan in place to ensure their daughter's care.
"We've been making adjustments in our lives to make things work since Day One," Nordin said. "The busy lifestyle is the only life we know. We've always had to adjust and readjust. [Caleigh has] always known this life."
But so far, she added, the couple has not yet had to miss out on any key moments in their daughter's life.
"I know there are a ton of families where that is not the case, so we've been blessed in that way," she said. "You have to learn to celebrate the ordinary."
The mom and fighter pilot said she can tell that her daughter understands what it means for her parents to be pilots.
"She can tell you what an F-16 is," she said. "She is thrilled by them. She'll see one fly and say that's mom or dad. She enjoys sitting and watching the planes taxi down the runway. She's engulfed in it."
Related Sites:
Shaw Air Force Base