10-day-old baby gets new lease of life after heart surgery

News Network

December 19, 2020

Belagavi, Dec 19: A ten-day old baby gets a new lease of life, thanks mainly to a team of Cardiac Surgeons led by Dr Praveen Tambrallimath, who successfully performed the complex Heart Surgery on the baby weighing less than 2 Kg.

A woman delivered twins (both female) at Goa Medical College, Bambolim, Goa. One baby immediately after delivery had difficulty in breathing and started turning blue. As a life saving measure, the baby was put on ventilator. Echo examination revealed that the baby is suffering from complex congenital heart disease medically termed as Transposition of Great Arteries-TGA (main arteries of the heart were misplaced). In this critical condition the child was shifted in an ambulance to Cardiac Surgery Department of the KLE Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital here.

Dr Praveen Tambrallimath, who examined the baby, diagnosed the child is suffering from serious birth defect of the heart that needs supra major surgery. TGA is a birth defect of the heart in which the two main arteries carrying blood out of the heart – the main pulmonary artery and the aorta – are switched in position or “transposed (altered).” For such birth defects immediate surgery is the only option. The parents were counseled and consented for the surgery.

The 8 hour long surgery on a 10 day old baby weighing less than 2 Kg operating on delicate heart which is less than 50 gm was a challenge and involved great surgical skills, pursuance and patience. The arterial switch operation involved connecting great arteries to the correct pumping chambers was performed. The anomalies in the heart were surgically corrected.

The baby withstood the surgery, for 15 days baby was stabilised in post-surgical Cardiac ICU. Dr Praveen expressed that if untreated, over 50 percent of infants with transposition will die in the first month of life. The baby is operated under ambitious Goan Health program, Deen Dayal Swasthy Seva Yojana (DDSSY).

Jubilant parents & family members of the baby are extremely happy with the successful outcome of the surgery & thanked the personal care extended by skilled nursing staff. The baby is perfectly fine and discharged from hospital and ready to get united with other baby in home at Goa.

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Mangaluru’s KPT becomes India’s first autonomous govt polytechnic

News Network

January 23,2026

Mangaluru: The Karnataka Government Polytechnic (KPT), Mangaluru, has achieved autonomous status from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), becoming the first government polytechnic in the country to receive such recognition in its 78-year history. The status was granted by AICTE, New Delhi, and subsequently approved by the Karnataka Board of Technical Education in October last year.

Officials said the autonomy was conferred a few months ago. Until recently, AICTE extended autonomous status only to engineering colleges, excluding diploma institutions. However, with a renewed national focus on skill development, several government polytechnics across India have now been granted autonomy.

KPT, the second-largest polytechnic in Karnataka, was established in 1946 with four branches and has since expanded to offer eight diploma programmes, including computer science and polymer technology. The institution is spread across a 19-acre campus.

Ravindra M Keni, the first dean of the institution, told The Times of India that AICTE had proposed autonomous status for polytechnic institutions that are over 25 years old. “Many colleges applied. In the first round, 100 institutions were shortlisted, which was further narrowed down to 15 in the second round. We have already completed one semester after becoming an autonomous institution,” he said. He added that nearly 500 students are admitted annually across eight three-year diploma courses.

Explaining the factors that helped KPT secure autonomy, Keni said the institution has consistently recorded 100 per cent admissions and placements for its graduates. He also noted its strong performance in sports, with the college emerging champions for 12 consecutive years, along with active student participation in NCC and NSS activities.

Autonomous status allows KPT to design industry-oriented curricula, conduct examinations, prepare question papers, and manage academic documentation independently. The institution can also directly collaborate with industries and receive priority funding from AICTE or the Ministry of Education. While academic autonomy has been granted, financial control will continue to rest with the state government.

“There will be separate committees for examinations, question paper setting, boards of studies, and boards of examiners. The institution will now have the freedom to conduct admissions without government notifications and issue its own marks cards,” Keni said, adding that new academic initiatives would be planned after a year of functioning under the autonomous framework.

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