Auro Oli_Oct 2021_English

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Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must be the joy of doing something beautiful. - Dr. G. Venkataswamy Message from the Director Emeritus To the amazing staff of Aurolab, I am really happy to know about this initiative from Aurolab - bringing out a quarterly newsletter named “Auro-Oli”.This will be a great opportunity to showcase our incredible services to the people outside. Everyone at Aurolab is doing tremendous service towards enabling vision for all. Aurolab has been involved in the manufacturing of Intraocular Lenses, Ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, Surgical Sutures and Needles, Surgical Blades and Ophthalmic Diagnostic and Surgical Equipment at an affordable price. Its products are at par with their western counterparts. Through its quality products exported to around 160 countries, Aurolab strives to ensure that eye care is made accessible and affordable to all.. Aurolab has Production staff, domestic and international Marketing team, Research and Development wing, etc. The prime motto of Aurolab is to enlighten the vision of the needy and enrich their lives. With great dedication, Aurolab team serves the global ophthalmic community in all possible ways. Apart from being dedicated employees, everyone at Aurolab should devote their soul in the manufacture of Intraocular Lenses, Ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, Sutures and Needles, Surgical Blades and Ophthalmic Diagnostic and Surgical Equipment for the well-being of the ophthalmic community. Being of service to humankind is a noble act by Aurolab. Keep up your good work. Congratulations to you all… Dr. G. Natchiar Director Emeritus - AECS 2

Dear All, I feel extremely delighted to fondly remember our founder, Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, on his 103rd Birth Anniversary falling on 1st October 2021. His birth anniversary is celebrated as “Vision Day”. With a vision of “Eliminating Needless Blindness by providing compassionate and quality eye care to all”, Dr. V established Aurolab in 1992, as a non-profit organization with a mission of making high- quality ophthalmic products, affordable and accessible to the vision-impaired worldwide. With a vision of “Enabling Vision for All”, Aurolab works closely with the doctors of Aravind Eye Hospital and leading surgeons in the country in developing new ophthalmic products and active medical devices. Over the past 29 years, Aurolab has been instrumental in driving down the overall price of cataract surgery in India, and serving more than 150 countries. “Many countries use their health care budgets more effectively by opting for low cost-high quality Aurolab products instead of those supplied by multinational companies and thus serve a larger mass of needy people,” says the head of a global NGO which fights blindness – Published in Business Today. The only way to do great work is to devote and love what you do. Everyone at Aurolab should feel proud to work in enabling vision for the needy around the world. R. D. Sriram Intelligence and Managing Director capability are not Aurolab enough. There must also be the joy of doing something beautiful. Being of service to God and humanity means going well beyond the sophistication of the best technology, to the humble demonstration of courtesy and compassion to each patient. - Dr. G. Venkataswamy 3

Celebrating and Honouring Employees Aurolab arranged an event on August 23 to Ms. Lakshmi acknowledge contribution by its staff on various Sree Harini, fronts. D/o Mrs. Prema Vidhya, RA COVID frontline warriors – Mr. Vignesh, Senior Manager - IMG Microbiologist; Mr. Santhana Karuppu, Senior Microbiologist; Mr. Aravind, Assistant Engineer, Mr. Tamil Selvan, Surgical blade; Mr. Sutharsan, BDE – International S/o Mrs. Marketing and Mr. Gowthaman, Senior Microbiologist, Water system – were appreciated Muniyayee, for their tireless work in performing antigen test for Housekeeping staff members. Mrs. Vijayalakshmi, hostel warden was congratulated for taking good care of the hostel staff. Rigorous efforts of the HR recruitment team in conducting on-campus recruitment sessions despite the pandemic threat were acknowledged and appreciated. Children of staff members – Ms. Lakshmi Sriharini Ms. Lakshmi Sree Harini (D/o.Mrs. Premavidhya, RA Manager, International D/o Mrs. Prema Vidhya, RA Magager - IMG Marketing) and Mr. Tamil Selvan (S/o. Mrs. Muniyayee, Housekeeper) were congratulated for academic excellence. Ms. Lakshmi scored 580 and Mr. Tamil Selvan scored 561 out of 600. Honoring NACCS Group Honoring NACCS Staff At a function organised on September 17, Aurolab felicitated the NACCS group for its commendable temporary staffing service during the pandemic days. Managing Director, Mr. R. D. Sriram honoured Mr. S. Venkatapathy and Mr. Ganesan, Proprietor and Vice President respectively of NACCS. Honoring our Covid warriors Honoring NACCS Staff Meeting 4

Best Performers Award At a meeting organised in September 2021, Aurolab arranged on May 25; 520 acknowledged the relentless support of its drivers staff members made use and canteen staff during the COVID pandemic of this opportunity. Camp period. to test antibody level was organised in June 2021; 426 Best Performers Award staff was tested in 3 batches. Suture and Needle Division appreciated the best Aurolab provides multi-grain performers of July 2021. Ms. Saranya Devi, Pressing process; Ms. Poneeswari, Channeling Process; health drink every day to COVID Vaccination Camp Ms. Mahalakshmi,Grinding process; Ms. Priya, Attaching process; Ms. Aarthi, Curving process ensure the well-being of the and Ms. Vairavadevi from LAF process were recognised as “Best Performers” for their consistent employees. During the pandemic days, Kabasura performance and low rejection rate. Kudineer was provided every month to boost the Employee Welfare Initiatives immunity level of employees. Aurolab took swift action especially during the pandemic time to ensure good health of its Care for Expecting Mothers employees. A camp was arranged in May 2021 to test the antigen level of employees; 636 staf Ms. Mahalakshmi gave a motivational talk to the fmembers benefitted. Another camp that held expecting women in Aurolab on 1st September. in June 2021 covered 589 staff members. In Pregnancy guides and books on parenting were collaboration with CII, vaccination camp was distributed to the participants. Antigen test team – Mr. Shudarsan Kumar, Certificate Course on Gandhian Thoughts Mr. Aravinth, Mr. Vignesh and Mr. Gowthaman Aurolab conducts One-year Certificate Course in Gandhian Thoughts for the production staff in collaboration of Gandhi Museum. On 22nd July 2021, examination was conducted for the staff members, with the support of Mr. Natarajan from Gandhi Museum. Care for Expecting Mothers 5

Staff writing exam - Certificate Course in Gandhian Thoughts Plant tour by AEH Refraction Team Exposure Visit to Aurolab and Plant Tour equally preferred by patients. These findings support wider use of e-see (QuickSee Flip) alone for On 19.8.2021, Ms. Pichai Meena, Senior prescribing eyeglasses in resource-limited settings. refractionist, and Clinical Training Co-ordinator, Aravind-Madurai brought 15 refractionists from The prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai on an exposure visit coupled with inadequate eye care professionals is a to Aurolab. major challenge in many countries; e-see provides spot solution for reaching the unreachable in Success Stories many parts of SAARC countries. This study goes on to prove that there is solution on hand is readily Paper on E-see (Portable Auto refractor) available for eye care professionals in the form of published in Ophthalmology journal e-see. “Aurolab is proud to share that an article about Testimonial by Retina institute of Bengal for its product, e-see (Portable Auto refractor) is AADI published in the Ophthalmology journal. This study is titled “Investigation of the accuracy of a low-cost, Retina Institute of Bengal is an NABH certified portable, auto refractor to provide well-tolerated super specialty eye care facility located at Siliguri - eyeglass prescriptions: a randomized crossover North Bengal. The hospital has been using Aurolab trial”. The study conducted by LAICO found strong Aqueous Drainage Implant (AADI) and has shared agreement between the prescriptions from the a testimonial on its benefits. AADI is a non-valved autorefractor (AR) and subjective refraction (SR), glaucoma shunt indicated for glaucoma patients for and eyeglasses prescribed using SR and AR were not responding to maximal medical therapy, or with failed trabeculectomy or neovascular, congenitial E-See and uveitic glaucoma. AADI 6

The two most commonly used glaucoma shunts Aurolab Marketing Team at ACOIN Conference - Kolkata in the world are Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) and Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI). In India, Aurolab team learnt about the Aravind VC AGV costs around Rs.16,000 (US$ 250). Baerveldt which costs around US$ 750 is not available in model with inputs from Mr. Mohammed Gowth, India. To overcome this issue, Aurolab introduced AADI which is a non-valved implant based on the LAICO Faculty. IIM-U Professor, Mr. Prakash prototype of Baerveldt and costs only Rs.3,500 (US$ 50). AADI is a non-valved glaucoma shunt Satyavageeswaran helped the team derive the indicated for glaucoma patients for not responding maximal medical therapy, failed trabeculectomy, value benefit as a total solution neovascular, congenitial and uveitic glaucoma. adding services such as Vision Conference Attended Center Management System Aurolab participated in the 12th Annual conference of Association of Community Ophthalmologists (VCMS), AMC, etc. to the set of of India held in Kolkata on 21st August 2021 and displayed e-see and other focus products. equipment provided by Aurolab. Aurolab VC 100 The launch of this VC kit as a Having understood the importance and impact a total solution was done at the vision centre (VC) can have in achieving universal eye health, Aurolab intends to help hospitals Vision 2020 conference held at Mr. Karthick proliferate vision centres by partnering with them AEH, Chennai in 2019. Vishwanathan on a long term commitment. Aurolab has been working on products and services that will provide Our Business Development Business Development the hospitals an enabling environment to start and run the Vision centres successfully and offer this as Executive a package. The package offers one-point support, consultation on setting up a centre with Aurolab Executive, Mr. Karthick products, service and maintenance support. Aurolab has now reached a supply of 100 VC Viswanathan had initiated this as a concept to packages from the concept origin. leverage the possibilities towards supporting hospitals on their Vision Centre (VC) model adaptation and upgradation and thereby supporting rural patients. Subsequently, many hospitals and NGOs showed interest in this concept and Aurolab started receiving leads to work with hospitals. The proposed concept gained ground during the pandemic. Aurolab was initially associated with Arasan Eye Hospital and supported it with this full VC package. The first major breakthrough was when Aurolab bagged an order for 44 VCs from CBM. Subsequently, it signed MoU with Mission for Vision Trust for 75 VCs and with Rotary Orange project for 189 VCs. Aurolab has been working with the funding partners and hospitals in setting up of VCs and closely monitoring to ensure timely project execution, support and continued services. 7

Kaizen Implementation Suture and Needle Division Installation of dedicated knob Dedicated side selection switch Implemented by: Mr. Srinath – Production Engineer Mr. Sakthivel – Maintenance Supervisor Problem: For one side grinding, the operators have to press the foot pedal twice since it was programmed in the PLC in that way. Kaizen: To avoid this, a dedicated knob is installed for separating this function. When the knob for left side is set, only left side slider will operate while the right side slider will remain idle. Benefits: - Energy saving and increase in the lifetime of the motor. - Less strain for the operator - Enhanced productivity Surgical Blade Division Reduce operator overhead and improve productivity in CNC: Implemented by: Mr. Manikandan – QA Engineer Mrs. Devi – Line Incharge Mr. Aravinth – Assistant Engineer Problem: Inability to run the bottle neck CNC Machine in 3 shifts due to manpower shortage. Kaizen: Machine layout change so as to run it by a single operator. Benefits: - Reduced Idle time of the operator - Productivity increased double - The entire machine can be run by one operator - 100% utilization of men & machine - 6.5L saved per year - More space for placing additional two CNCs One CNC machine run by a single operator Two CNC machines run by a single operator 8

Cornisol Promotion at Aravind-Tirunelveli Aurolab Domestic Marketing Team and Key Accounts Team at the inauguration of Counselling cubicles Aravind-Tirunelveli arranged a workshop to Promote Aurolab’s Cornisol on August 24, 2021, as part of observing National Eye Donation Fortnight. Cornisol – a corneal preservative acts as a 14-day storage medium for cornea, used for transplant surgeries. Cornisol’s clear optical bottom vial guarantees complete microscopic observation. Cornisol reduces the corneal thickness and folds, while ensuring the endothelial cell preservation. It is a highly stable and economical corneal storage media for eye banks. Celebrations Support to Aravind-Coimbatore Mission Day Aurolab sponsored new cataract counselling cubicles for Aravind-Coimbatore. The inauguration On July 7, 2021, Aurolab observed Mission day. of these cubilces was held on 6th September. Staff members rededicated themselves to the Dr. Narendran and Dr. Kalpana officially opened mission of the organisation. Staff enjoyed watching the new counselling centres for premium IOL a video specially made for Mission day and aired counselling. from Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai. Mr. Sivanand, Marketing Manager- Aurolab, and Mr. Freshers’ Day Karthikeyan, Key Accounts Manager - Aurolab, Mr. Vigneswarar, Key Accounts Executive represented On August 14, Saturday 2021, Aurolab has Aurolab at the inauguration. celebrated ‘Fresher’s day’ for new production staffs on board. Our Managing Director Mr. R. D. Sriram CSR Activities gave a special address. Aurolab wants to promote its culture and encouraging new affiliate production As part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), staff by celebrating fresher’s day. Aurolab donated essential items such as computer tables, mike with speaker, board, ceiling fan, printer Independence Day with scanner, headphone with mike and speaker, library cupboard and portable speaker with mike, On August 15, 2021, Aurolab proudly celebrated for schools in rural areas. the 75th Independence Day of the nation. Mr. R. D. Sriram hoisted the National Flag. Staff and Independence Day Flag Hoisting management pledged to abide by the country’s laws and act in good faith. 9

Former President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam interacting Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr.G.Natchiar with the gardeners in with Aurolab staff during his visit in January 2013 Aurofarm Uniqueness of Aurofarm Post-retirement, Dr. Natchiar spends most of her time in farming. Aurofarm, which she completely Dr. G. Natchiar is one of the founding members manages, was certified organic by the Govt. of of Aravind Eye Care System. She has served the Tamil Nadu. Aurofarm bears testimony to her organisation in several capacities and is currently untiring passion for farming. Aurofarm is an eighty the Director Emeritus. One of her greatest acre land, that Aravind purchased several years contributions as a founding member is the ago for future expansion. Aravind’s manufacturing introduction of Aravind’s paramedical programme. wing Aurolab moved here in 2007. All activities of For over forty years, this programme has been Aurolab, from manufacturing to shipping happen empowering young women from rural backgrounds, here. training and transforming them into world-class eye care professionals. Dr. Natchiar headed the A barren land almost ten years ago, the farm community outreach programme which is the is nothing short of a haven now, thanks to the cornerstone of Aravind’s high volume work. She unrelenting efforts of Dr. Natchiar. In addition to played an instrumental role in initiating and scaling scenic beauty, the farm promises completely quality an innovative service delivery model for rural consumables grown organically organic products, populations through Aravind’s vision centers and which are sold to in-house canteen and staffs. At outreach activities. She initiated and implemented Aurofarm, farming is done without using chemicals, a rigorous process to audit the quality, service, pesticides and fertilizers. Only natural manure and performance, and academic development in each water from above sources is used. Bounties of area of the hospital across the Aravind Eye Care vegetables, fruits and paddy are harvested each System. year. Lush Green Aurofarm Organic vegetables stall inside the Visit by Agricultural College students to Aurolab premises Aurofarm 10

The quarters for the production staff numbering Go-green Initiatives around 400 and housing quarters for some of the staff is also in the Aurofarm. Water Management Quarry Lake In the rest of Aurofarm, there are recreational When the land was bought, the southwest portion facilities for the Aravind staff and their families of the farm was rocky and shallow. All the stones including a large swimming pool, children’s play used to build the compound wall were quarried area and paved walking facility around the quarry from this area which led to a large crater formation. lake. This now serves as an excellent water reservoir. With beautiful flowering plants and trees all Nithyatha around, it draws various beautiful birds too. “Nithyatha” - the centre that celebrates the A quarry then… life, work and vision of Aravind’s founder, Dr. G.Venkataswamy is situated in the heart of Now…a pond with an Aurofarm. Nithyatha is designed in a way that the exquisite garden hot sun will not shine directly into the building for most months in a year, especially from March to August. The cluster of shade giving trees on the south fully shade the glass areas. The light will enter in but the heat will be kept out. The windows on the peripheral walls with the upward sweeping roof encourage cross ventilation through the building. There is no air conditioning and the building is comfortable even without fans. The brilliant floor plan incorporated Mother’s symbol through the stunning combination of building, landscaped garden and ponds. As serendipidty would have it, the entrance of the building lines up directly with a beautiful banyan tree planted by Dr. V on March 21, 2005. Inaugurated on October 2, 2011, Nithyatha offers a serene and inspirational space with a library which has a collection of Dr. V’s diaries. Panoramic view of Nithyatha 11

Rooftop solar power system in Aurolab Energy Conservation Moral Story A 3000 litre solar water heater system installed at Aurolab’s roof top heats the boiler feed water from This is a story that explains how adversity is met ambient temperature to 90°C. This has reduced the differently by different people. There was a girl furnace oil consumption of boiler by 30% and in named Asha who lived with her parents in a village. turn the carbon emissions. A 300 litre solar water One day, her father assigned her a simple task. heater system is installed in the Aurolab Canteen He took three vessels filled with boiling water. He too. placed an egg in one vessel, a potato in the second vessel, and some tea leaves in the third vessel. He 315 KW Solar Power System is installed in asked Asha to keep an eye on the vessels for about Aurolab, which can produce 1200-1500 units of ten to fifteen minutes while the three ingredients in electricity per day. This is 1/10th of our daily power three separate vessels boiled. After the said time, consumption across Aurolab. The Solar Power he asked Asha to peel the potato and egg, and System has considerably reduced the Genset usage strain the tea leaves. Asha was left puzzled – she and Carbon footprint of Aurolab. understood her father was trying to explain her something, but she didn’t know what it was. Health Tips Her father explained, “All three items were put Benefits of Lemon Water in the same circumstances. See how they’ve - Boost your immune responded differently.” He said that the potato turned soft, the egg turned hard, and the tea leaves system changed the colour and taste of the water. He - Balance pH further said, “We are all like one of these items. - Flush out unwanted When adversity calls, we respond exactly the way they do. Now, are you a potato, an egg, or tea mateirals leaves?” - Decrease wrinkles and Moral of the Story: We can choose how to respond blemishes to a difficult situation. - Relieve tooth pain - Relieve respiratory problems Wishes for Wedding - Cure throat infections - Excellent for weight loss May every step that you take - Reduce feve in your new life together, - Blood purifier hold beautiful surprises for you. Congratulations on your 12 wedding! Mr. Surya Bharathi QA - Manager, IOL

GK Corner 1. What is the new name of Dragon fruit as announced by the Govt. of Gujarat? 1. Gulab fruit 2. Marigold fruit 3. Kamalam Fruit 4. Sunflower fruit 2. Which of the following countries has got the fourth place in the Global Firepower Index, 2021? 1. Bangladesh 2. Nepal 3. Russia 4. India 3. Which of the following days is observed as Police Memorial Day? 1. April 12 2. October 21 3. June 15 4. August 10 4. Which is the first country to do face scan? 1. Pakistan 2. China 3. Singapore 4. Russia 5. Recently, which country did a successful testing of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos? 1. India 2. Nepal 3. Pakistan 4. Bangladesh Visual Puzzles 1 47 2 58 36 âU¡FwŸ f©Â‰F mÂfy« f©nzh£l« m~â‹nwš ò©bz‹W czu¥ gL«. - (FwŸ 575) bghUŸ: f©fS¡F áw¥ò, f©nzh£l« v‹D« ïu¡f¡ Fznk; mJ ïšyhj f©fŸ btW« ò©fns! 13

Employee Corner TJ Tharunika V. Gomathi M. Devi Priya IMG Blade Division IOL M. Soundharya M. Usha Nandhini R. Nagamani IOL IOL IOL (O.S) R. Ramathilagam R. Nagamani IOL IOL 14

Permulda Drawing Competition Our Staff Mr. Nagarajan from Polymer Division had won “Third Prize” in the “Celebrating Perumalda Drawing Contest” organized as a part of observing the 106th Birth Anniversary of Artist Perumalda, at Aravind Eye Hospital on August 7, 2021. Answers GK Corner Visual Puzzles 1. Cornea 1. Kamalam 2. Cornisol Fruit 3. IOL 4. Aurocarpine 2. India 5. Aurofort 3. 21 October 6. Aurosilk 4. Singapore 7. Nanocut 5. India 8. Slit Lamp Communications Team Members Mrs. Mahalakshmi, Mrs. Swetha, Mr. Ramasamy, Mrs. Devi Mrs. Sumathi, Mrs. Ramya, Ms. Anitha Rani, Mr. Ryandh and Ms. Mekala 15

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