The MOGS Indo-Israeli Workshop & Conference on Fetal Diagnosis & Intervention

Shalom & Namaskaar! The MOGS Indo-Israeli Year is well on its way with the second clinical meeting creating waves in the Ob-Gyn community in India. We had a star-studded faculty from both India & Israel. Prof Israel Shapiro is the President of the Israel Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. He is the Coordinator of the Scientific Meetings of the Society. He is also the Chairman of the Academic School of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. He is attached to the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Bnai-Zion Medical Center, Haifa. He has vast experience in Industrial Counseling and is currently the Consultant of General Electric (GE Healthcare) in developing ultrasound equipment.In fact, he developed the first transvaginal probe prototype with Elscint in Israel eons ago!Prof Shlomo Lipitz was awarded his MD degree in 1984 from The Hebrew University, Jerusalem and thereafter completed a Clinical Fellowship at The Fetal Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University College Hospital, London. He is now the Director of The Fetal Medicine Unit at The Sheba Medical Center, Israel. His areas of interest are Amniocentesis, Chorion Villus and Fetal Blood Sampling, Intrauterine Fetal Blood Transfusions, Shunts, Multifetal Pregnancy Reductions, Laser Therapy in Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and Bipolar Coagulation in Monochorionic Twins.Prof Reuven Achiron is the Director of the Ultrasound Unit at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. He has been invited to the World Congress of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology thirteen times. He is a Member of the International Ultrasound Society and has been on the Editorial Board of the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. He has published six monographs and over 130 original articles on Obstetric Ultrasound & Fetal Diagnosis.Dr Chander Lulla is one of the pioneers of ultrasound in India and is the most-sought after interventional sonologist in this part of the world. He is affiliated to the Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity General Hospital as well as to the Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai. The formidable four were all set to showcase their skills to an eager audience sitting in two different auditoriums; the PG students in the Main Lecture Theatre at KEM hospital & the practicing gynecologists at the ITC Grand Central which is a kilometer away.

The Indo-Israeli workshop on fetal diagnosis and intervention organized by the Mumbai Obstetric and Gynecological Society and Seth G.S. Medical College, KEM hospital (Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology) was held on 6th June 2009 in the department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, KEM hospital. The workshop equipment was provided by Wipro GE Healthcare. Prof Reuven Achiron , Prof Shlomo Lipitz and Dr. C.P. Lulla demonstrated live 2-D and 3-D fetal ultrasound all through the day from 9am to 5pm with a short Lunch break! Live scanning of eleven cases was performed with detailed interaction with the audience. Normal first, second and third trimester ultrasounds, malformation scans, 3-D ultrasound and an interventional procedure of placental biopsy as a prenatal diagnostic technique in a case of thalassemia were demonstrated. Various congenital malformations including cranial, cardiac, pulmonary, renal, skeletal and gastrointestinal were demonstrated. The correct methodology for anomaly detection and the management protocols were discussed. The postgraduate students and the delegates at ITC Grand Central found the workshop very informative and useful for clinical practice.
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The Conference on Fetal Diagnosis and Intervention was held the next day -the 7th June 2009, Sunday at the ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai. There were 145 registrations for this event. The opening session was on free communications. Dr Shailesh Kore was awarded the prize for the best paper. His subject was prediction of preeclampsia by placental laterality. This was followed by a session on the journey of a fetus from the womb to the pediatric operation theatre. It was a collaborative effort by Dr Nitin Chaubal and Dr Sanjay Oak.The Israeli Faculty were thoroughly impressed with this presentation & congratulated both the speakers (see video). Prior to the Key-note addresses, we played the National Anthems of both countries. This was a truly emotional moment for our invited guests. The international faculty presented the Keynote Addresses on Applications of current ultrasound in fetal medicine (Professor Reuven Achiron) and Diagnosis and treatment of complications of monochorionic twins (Professor Shlomo Lipitz).

The post lunch session was a visual treat with twelve videos from invited faculty.Prof. Shapiro's video was the run away winner of this Video film session (see video). This was followed by invited lectures by Dr C P Lulla, Dr Aniruddha Badade and Dr Sameer Dikshit.

The Dr M Y Raval Oration was delivered by Professor Israel Shapiro on the subject of “Three Dimensional Ultrasound: Gimmick or Breakthrough”. This 100 minute oration was founded on years of experience, data, images and personal insights. It was laced with the right dose of humor and received a standing ovation from the audience (see video).

The chairpersons ensured that the sessions were interactive and kept the program running on schedule. The venue was well-appointed and hospitable. Once again, on behalf of MOGS we would like to express our thanks to the superlative Banqueting team at the ITC Grand Central. I would also like to mention that the success of this meeting was shaped in a large way with the untiring efforts of the hands-on conveners Dr Sulbha Arora & Dr Parikshit Tank. The MOGS office staff ensured that the Registration Desk & other admin formalities purred on smoothly like a BMW engine! Thank you delegates - We had delegates from Arunachal, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra & Sri Lanka too! I am still receiving positive feedback on this meeting from doctors who were not present , but have heard about this meeting from registered delegates. This is really heartening & we look forward to the Late Dr Avabai Wadia Workshop & Conference on Contraception in September 2009. Before I pen off, I would like to express my gratitude to the supporters of MOGS who were present in the exhibition hall on both days. Thank you Danny for making our Indo-Israeli dream a reality. Lakhaim!

Gay penguins steal eggs from straight couples

The two penguins have started placing stones at the feet of parents before waddling away with their eggs, in a bid to hide their theft.

But the deception has been noticed by other penguins at the zoo, who have ostracizedPicture 2 the gay couple from their group. Now keepers have decided to segregate the pair of three-year-old male birds to avoid disrupting the rest of the community during the hatching season.

A keeper at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China explained that the gay couple had the natural urge to become fathers, despite their sexuality.

“One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite this being a biological impossibility for this couple, the natural desire is still there,” a keeper told the Austrian Times newspaper.

“It’s not discrimination. We have to fence them separately, otherwise the whole group will be disturbed during hatching time,” he added.

There are numerous examples of homosexuality in the animal kingdom, but gay penguins have captured the public’s attention more than any other species.

A German zoo provoked outrage from gay lobby groups after attempting to mate a group of gay male penguins with Swedish female birds who were flown in especially to seduce them. But the project was abandoned after the males refused to be “turned”, showing no interest in their would-be mates.

In 2002 a couple of penguins at a New York zoo who had been together for eight years were “outed” when keepers noticed that they were both males.

Punjab Was In Flames

I nearly got skewered in Punjab last month. Since December 1999, I have been traveling every month to Jalandhar to do IVF in batches. Our usual timetable is the last Wednesday-Saturday of the month. Monday night, I was preparing to leave on an early morning Go Air flight on Tuesday to Amritsar & then take a taxi to jalandhar (130 Kms). I got a call from our hosts saying that the situation in Punjab was spiralling out of control. I had had a very busy previous week and had done the cardinal sin of not having read the newspaper for a week! Apparently there was widespread destruction of public & private property as a mark of protest over the shooting of a Sikh religious leader in another continent! The widespread violence in Punjab over the slaying of a Sikh religious sect leader in Vienna exemplifies the mushrooming of sects and the caste fault lines in the predominantly Sikh state.Mr Sant Rama Nand was killed by fellow Sikhs in a temple in the Austrian capital on Sunday (May 24) as he addressed 200 worshippers.

As news of his murder reached Punjab, angry followers - largely low-caste Sikhs, took to the streets in Jalandhar - where the sect's headquarters is located. Angry mobs torched a dozen trains, smashed bus windows and blocked roads, bringing much of Punjab - a key trading crossroads - to a standstill. The Punjab police said two people were killed and 10 injured when they opened fire at two places to disperse the rioting mobs which defied curfew and indulged in large-scale violence.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, invoked the preachings of the Sikh gurus as he appealed for peace and urged people to go home and allow the security forces to restore law and order. Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Phagwara towns remained under curfew on Tuesday (May 26) - the day we landed at Raja Sansi International Airport, Amritsar. Our hosts had organized an ambulance to ferry us as doctors to Jalandhar. I was traveling with my embryologist & the Ambulance driver had an assistant. The situation seemed very tense at the airport & bystanders came rushing up to tell us not to venture on the highway. They mentioned that an NDTV Sat-van & another ambulance had been torched on the National Highway at Kartarpur by a protesting mob. We had no choice; 40 patients had been triggered & now it was a one way ticket for them. If they did not reach the OR, their eggs would release in their peritoneal cavities & the cycles would have been completely washed out. The four of us prayed to God & started our journey. There were no vehicles at all even though the curfew had been relaxed from 2pm-5pm in the state. We thought we were lucky & traveled without a hinderance for about 90 Kms. Just short of Kartarpur, we saw mangled remains of burnt vehicles & 500 metres away, we saw a mob of about 200 people including some women and children squatting on the road. There were also electricity poles uprooted and laid across the highway. My embryologist nearly had an MI and was in tears! The driver decided to cut through some village roads, off the highway even if that meant a detour of about 5 Kms. The assistant sprawled out on the Ambulance bed & covered himself with a blanket. Now he was a serious patient, Anjali(my embryologist) was a nurse & then we were the driver & doctor respectively. The radio blared out:

"The situation remains tense but under control."

We finally managed to get back on the highway after the detour through the village roads. Just when we thought we were safe & would get smoothly into the city, we were in for a nasty surprise. This was a quiet road bordering the Jalandhar cantonment. All of a sudden we saw a mob of about 100 youngsters with lathis (sticks) & swords in their hands about 200 metres away. Before we could turn, we were surrounded by four motorcycles! These guys must have been barely in their teens and seemed to be having a fun time terrorizing the populace rather than protesting for some religious reason. My embryologist nearly collapsed when a couple of them aggressively looked into the Ambulance. I think it was the assistant covered with a blanket & my calm & collected behavior that made them let us pass through. The worst thing was we could see cops all along the highway at every village just sitting doing nothing. This was really sad for a state like Punjab. One can understand corruption & politics in a BIMARU state, but this sort of government apathy in the state which had one of the highest economic growth rates In India is shameful. I blame the politicians completely for this vulgar & deplorable "protest" that cost the state of Punjab Rs. 8000 crores.

Sikhism was founded five centuries ago to counter Hinduism's oppressive caste system. Yet differences between the upper caste or Jat Sikhs, and the Dalit Sikhs, former Hindu untouchables who converted to Sikhism, remain a major flashpoint in Punjab's social and political life."Social interaction levels between the Jat Sikhs and the Dalits may have improved, but there is little change in the social hierarchy," said Pramod Kumar, director of the Institute of Development and Communication, a Punjab-based NGO.With the Sikhs having a large presence in Europe, Britain and Canada, these differences have spilled over to the community in those countries. There are nearly a dozen influential sects, called 'deras', in Punjab, and each is estimated to command a considerable following in the state, especially among the Dalit Sikhs and Dalit Hindus. And their numbers are growing, a development that is viewed with growing concern by the upper-caste Sikhs.

The caste divide has led to the creation of two or more separate 'gurdwaras' or places of worship in most villages, affecting the revenue collection of the gurdwaras of the upper castes. Sources say the genesis of the Vienna clash was a fight over offerings in cash-rich gurdwaras. They say that till a few months ago, the Austrian capital had just one gurdwara, controlled by radical Sikhs.The decision by Dera Sacchkhand Ballan to set up a new shrine on the same street angered those already there. Many of the mainstream Sikhs, especially in the clergy, are deeply resentful of the deras, claiming that they are distorting the faith by worshipping living gurus, their photographs and idols.

Observers say the Dalit Sikhs were among the earliest migrants from India to Europe and Canada. Most toiled in menial jobs in their adopted countries, but over the decades improved their lot and became prosperous. Several European countries also provided political asylum to radical Sikhs in the 1980s after New Delhi crushed the Sikh insurgency in Punjab. Some say it was these radical elements which were behind the Vienna attack.




Whatever the reason, as a Punjabi my head hangs in shame. Prithvi Planet was an iconic hangout for youngsters in Jalandhar with fast-food & bowling lanes & computer games. Political rivalry led to this building being torched alongwith almost 25 cars parked outside(see pictures taken with my cell-phone on Wednesday morning). These goons did not have mercy on kids playing inside & mothers with babies in their arms. The Sikh faith was created to protect the weak & here were goons in the name of religion terrorizing their own brethren.

Punjab was in flames two weeks ago and the fires have not been extinguished till date. These fires have divided the state completely into lower castes & upper castes. We don't need the Taliban or Al-Qaeda to bomb India - caste & politics will devour the Nation. Nursing homes & hospitals were torched. I was shocked to hear Dr Johal's tale of bravery where he had to shoo away a mob trying to light his hospital up in a bon-fire. Just because he had a licensed hand-gun and guts of steel, he went out and faced a 100 goons and saved his family & hospital & patients from being burnt alive. Someone should honor this man & give him an award for being a brave-heart. Unless there is strong political will, this state will join the BIMARU states, sooner than later!

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