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indianexpress: Lokmanya Hospital, located at Chinchwad and Nigdi, which provides need-based services to citizens, has now introduced new health schemes aimed at making healthcare facilities affordable to the common man. The hospital has launched a unique facility called ‘New visions diagnostic card’. The card will help patients get 50 per cent discount on all diagnostics conducted at Lokmanya Hospital, Nigdi including high-end diagnostics like MRI, CT Scan, etc. The annual membership to the card is Rs 100 plus Rs 25 registration charges. The card is available for diagnostics done on out-patient basis.

Launching the card, Dr Shriram Pande, president of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Senior Citizen’s Mega-Association said, “The availability of affordable healthcare facilities to common man is the need of the hour and can be achieved through such schemes. I call upon the citizens of Pimpri-Chinchwad to avail this facility and take optimum advantage.”
 
Speaking on the occasion Dr Narendra Vaidya, executive medical director, Lokmanya Hospitals, said, “Medical services today form an important part of a family’s healthcare budget and various diagnostics and investigations play a major contributory role to the budget. Although many insurance schemes are available for the common people, majority of them do not cover any diagnostics done on an out-patient basis. This was the main reason behind the launch of this card.”

indianexpress:  It’s a double whammy on the pollution front for the city. If air pollution is rising to alarming levels with dust from the roads being a major contributor, then noise pollution is not far behind.

A doctoral study conducted by the University of Pune has highlighted the damage caused by increased exposure to sound. And it is not the noisy traffic-clogged roads, but the relatively ‘quieter’ environs of workplaces caused by computer printers, ringing of cell phones and telephones.

The study — The Auditory and Non-auditory Effects of Noise Pollution: An Occupational Health Study— was conducted by audiologist and speech therapist Nandini Joshi, who found that constant exposure to loud sound not only induced hearing loss, but also disturbed other bodily systems.

The research compared two occupational groups with varying exposure to sound over a period of one year, and measured sound effects on three parameters: hearing sensitivity, state anxiety (anxiety induced by one’s environment), as well as blood pressure and pulse rate.

For the high noise group, Joshi chose 120 weavers in a textile unit in Mumbai, while the low noise group comprised employees working in various offices of an insurance major in Pune. While the groups were administered various tests and psychological inventories throughout the year, a detailed questionnaire was also provided to give an insight into the comparative lifestyle of both groups.

indianexpress: Vehicular traffic and parking has been banned on certain roads in the vicinity of the Shivajinagar godowns on Monday where counting of votes for the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls will be held .

A press note issued by the city traffic police said, the traffic restrictions will come into effect at 6 am and continue till the counting process is over.

The roads that will be closed for traffic and parking include the Bankimchandra Chatopadhaya Road from Shahir Amar Sheikh Chowk to Sancheti Chowk via Kamgar Putala Chowk; Nyaymurti Ranade Road from Kamgar Putala Chowk to Shivaji Putala Chowk via Juna Tofkhana; and the road stretch between Dengle Bridge to Shivajinagar godowns, the press note added.

Parking will not be allowed on all these roads and their bylanes. Alternative parking arrangement for the crowds gathering at the Shivajinagar godowns has been made at the Engineering College grounds.

cnet: The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday announced grants to solar companies and partners that could total up to $357 million over three years.

The projects are meant to lower the cost of solar power and to promote the solar industry in the United States.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced the development projects in Lowell, Mass., the home of Konarka Technologies, a company developing low-cost, flexible solar material designed to coat a wide range of objects, from army tents to soda bottles.

As part of the U.S. Solar America Initiative, the Energy Department will set aside $168 million over the next two years in funding, subject to congressional appropriation. The grants are structured to invite contributions from partners in joint collaborations, which could bring the total value to $357 million over three years, according to the Energy Department.

Konarka’s project will focus on making low-cost photovoltaic cells made from organic dyes more reliable, according to the company. Partners will include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Delaware. The first-year funding is expected to be $1.2 million, which could go to $3.6 million over three years if the team meets its goals.

Other companies selected for the funds include large industrial firms such as General Electric, Dow Chemical, BP Solar and Boeing.