A curious crowd gathers around an Army helicopter to have a closer look. Tribune photos: Pawan Sharma

Bathinda, November 12
It proved to be a stimulating Saturday afternoon for the rank and file of the Bathinda Military cantonment where the Dune Warriors displayed their machines besides their command over them as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the existence of their Corps — the Army Aviation.

Just after the noon when sun was shining brightly, five flying machines, including Chetak and Cheetah, started to emerge from the horizon at the Bathinda Air Base, breaking the silence to start the much-waited Air Show, greeted by a big round of applause to the accompaniment of the thunderous sounds of the helicopters.

The Air Show aimed at exhibiting the role, responsibilities and combat capabilities of the aviators who maneuvered the best of exercises in the air. The Dune Warriors showed it all, from making the helicopters stand still above the ground to rotating the machine at 360 degrees in the air. What invoked jaw-dropping responses was the coordination among the machines, be it 15-feet above the ground or 50-feet.

Besides speed, accuracy and the ability for combat, the use of Chetak, Cheetah and Dhruv, in the rescue operations was also exhibited at the show. The air ambulance, which is used to save life, was also a part of the show.

The para-lifting to drop the Army men in unapproachable areas, dropping vehicles in places that lack roads, the lancer to sanitise the areas, proved not only to be a thrilling experience for the spectators but enlightening too.

Showing the importance of the timely penetration of the troops in the war field, the Aviators displayed how meticulous they are while facilitating the positioning of troops in the war zone.

Altogether eight helicopters took part in the spectacular show that lasted for 45 minutes during which the Advance Light Helicopter (ALH), Chetak, Cheetah and Pushpak aircraft of the Indian Army enthralled all. The two helicopters and an aircraft, which were on display, also remained a centre of attraction for those present.

The show concluded with a heady flypast by all aircraft taking part in the Air Show which was also witnessed by the Chief of Staff, 10 Corps, Anil Verma, who was the chief guest on the occasion. After the show the, Chief of Staff inspected the helicopters and interacted with the Dune Warriors.

Visitors, including women and children, reached near the helicopters and tried to found out how the machines reign supreme in the air.

Bathinda, November 12
The ONCONET project, a technology-based cancer-care delivery programme initiated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been shut down for almost a month at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda.

The temporary closure is due to the non-payment of funds to the government's main information technology organisation, the National Informatics Centre (NIC), by the Central Government.

Notably, the project was started to connect the district hospitals to the Post-graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, so that the best possible treatment could be planned for the cancer patients by consulting the super-specialists there.

However, the record gives different signs as despite an increase in the number of cancer patients, the number of consultations seems less. Only in 45 cases have the surgeons been consulted by the Civil Hospital in over a year. The project was started on July 22, 2010 and the number of cases discussed through video-conferencing numbers a mere ten.

Under the project, there are two methods to consult the doctors at the PGIMER. One is through documentation, in which the reports such as blood tests, X-rays, MRIs of the patients are scanned and sent to the doctor concerned.

The other method is through advanced video-conferencing, which helps the doctors to consult by making a video call. Through video-conferencing, the doctors at the other end can also watch the patient on the screen. Through this remote consultation, the patients in places far away from the main cancer centres can directly discuss their problem with the specialists at the regional centre.

The Bathinda district, or the Malwa region, is the hub of many types of malignancy. The water of the region is contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, selenium and mercury.

Interestingly, in the district, that has many cancer patients, there is no proper usage and management of the project, which is specially aimed at treating the disease from the cancer belt.

Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Dr Satish Goyal, said, "The ONCONET services are not availed of much as the patient reports at a very late stage of carcinoma. However, we consult the doctors to refer the patient to other institutes. We have no proper treatment available for the cancer patients in the hospital here. Therefore, advanced video-conferencing has been used only for diagnosis and to plan treatment with the help of super-specialists."

"As far as temporary closure of the project is concerned, the matter is in the knowledge of the head office at Chandigarh, where the problem is being discussed with the Central Government authorities," he added.

The nodal officer of the district, Dr Manish Garg, said, "The system has been shut down and no consultation with the other doctors is possible. However, whenever the doctors need to take guidance from the super-specialists at the PGIMER, they don't hesitate to seek their views through video-conferencing."

The sources revealed that due to the lack of surgeons and the rising number of patients, doctors find no time to avail of the services. The system is used three to four times on an average in a month.

Bathinda, November 12
Pneumonia is still the leading cause of mortality among children below five years of age children in the developing countries, including India. Approximately 20 per cent of the total deaths are attributed every year to pneumonia due to inadequate health facilities, especially in the rural and slum areas, where a majority of the population resides.

On the occasion of the World Pneumonia Day today, a child specialist at the local Women and Children Hospital, Dr Satish Jindal, said about 156 million children under the age of five years across the globe suffer from pneumonia every year.

Of them, 43 million were from India only. He further said that over two million children under the age of five years die of pneumonia every year in the world, especially in the developing countries.

Of them, an estimated four lakh die in India alone. Dr Jindal said since Diwali, the number of patients with respiratory complaints had increased manifold in the OPDs of the Women and Children Hospital and the Civil Hospital here.

He said earlier, the number of such patients was five to seven every day. But now, it had risen to 20 to 25 daily, including some cases of pneumonia. He said even today, he had examined four children, suffering from pneumonia, in the OPD.

Another child specialist Dr KK Bajaj said if the pneumonia is left undiagnosed and untreated, it could lead to severe pneumonia, which can prove deadly.

He said indoor pollution like exposure to passive tobacco smoking, burning of biomass fuel for cooking and heating, can also cause pneumonia among the children.

According to Dr Bajaj, though the children under the age of five years were the main victims of pneumonia, the disease was also a threat for the growing children.

He said the coming in contact of a child with an adult, suffering from cough, cold and sneezing, should be avoided to protect him from the disease.

Bathinda, November 12
The decision of the railways to reduce the advance reservation period concerning tatkal tickets from 48 hours to 24 hours to avoid its misuse has evoked a positive response among the residents of Bathinda and its adjoining areas.

Besides, the office-bearers of the passengers' welfare organisations here have also welcomed the decision that would help the genuine passengers. Notably, Bathinda has a large number of people who come from other states for work as the district has the military station and the refinery. Terming the step as "friendly to the genuine passengers," vice-president of the railway passengers association, northern zone, Hanuman Das Goyal, said that now, the true meaning of tatkal would be implemented. Goyal said that taktal means immediately and 48 hours could not be termed as immediate. He said instead of helping the passengers, it had become a source of minting money for the touts.

Goyal also said that making identity cards mandatory at the time of booking tickets under the tatkal sewa would also help the genuine passengers. Echoing similar sentiments, the advisor to the Passengers Welfare Association, Bathinda, Rajinder Garg said the railway should have taken the decision earlier. He demanded that the railway should also take more "passengers-friendly" decisions.

Garg also welcomed the decision to extend the period in which agents are barred from booking tickets. In another attempt to tighten noose around the touts, the railway has extend the period during which agents would not be able to book the tickets. The period may be between 8 am and 10 am.

Bathinda, November 12
The Punjab Associate Schools Association (PASA) held its cultural function and annual sports meet, today.

Senior Deputy Mayor Tarsem Garg inaugurated the function wherein eight games were held. In the skipping competition in primary section, Rekha from New Khalsa School, Komal from Guru Gobind Singh School and Amandeep from Mata Gujri School secured first, second and third positions, respectively.

In the high section, Kajal from Saraswati Public School and Pushpa from Rita Public School secured first and second positions while Pinky from Shaheed Bhagat Singh School and Simran from St Heart Public School were bracketed third.

In the spoon lemon race boys section, Sushil from Sri Krishna Kanya School and Harpreet from Hemkunt School secured first and second positions while Vijay from Holy Heart, Sachin from Bhagat Singh Public School and Milan from St Heart Public were bracketed third. Amongst the girls, Gagandeep from Dasmesh School (Kotfatta), Anjali from Holy Heart School and Zeenat from Hemkunt School secured first, second and third positions.

In the long jump from boys section, Manpreet from Mata Gujri School, Mani from New Khalsa School and Harsimran from Rita Public school secured first, second and third positions, respectively. Similarly, from amongst girls, Sarabjit from Harjal School, Sarabjit Kaur from Guru Nanak (Kotfatta) and Usha from Rita Public school bagged first, second and third positions.

In the slow cycling contest, Navpreet from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Schools, Manpreet from Sri Krishna Kanya School and Amrik from Kiran Public School secured first, second and third positions.

In the 200 metre race, Manpreet from Mata Gujri School, Surinder Singh from Harjal School and Raj Kumar from Sri Krishna Kanya School secured first, second and third positions. In the banana race, Vandana from Pink Public School and Heena from Shaheed Bhagat Singh School shared the first position followed by Gurpreet from Guru Nanak School at second position and Suman from New Khalsa School at the third position. From amongst the boys in banana race, Amarjit from Sri Krishna Kanya School and Jaskaran from Kiran School shared the first position while Shubham from Guru Nanak School and Vinay from Shaheed Bhagat Singh School bagged second and third positions, respectively.

In shot put boys, Dilraj Singh from ACC School, Ravi Kumar from Sri Krishna Kanya School and Kundal from Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh School secured first, second and third positions, respectively.

From amongst the girls, Amrit Pal and Gurpreet Kaur from the ACC secured first and second positions while Salma from Samta School secured the third. In the three-legged race,Shivani and Gargi from Kiran School secured first position, Jaswinder and Neha from Sri Krishna Kanya School secured second place and Rajinder while Lovedeep from Guru Nanak School stood third. PASA president Rajinder Guddu Punjab, spokesperson Hari Om and Punjab secretary RK Verma honoured the winners.

Bathinda, November 12
Theatre is the true essence of life and reflection of society. Over a period of time, it has evolved into a strong medium for conveying things to the masses that other wise go unnoticed, said renowned theatre artist Sudesh Sharma, who holds the record for staging his play ‘Court Marshal’ 225 times in the year 2000 at Chandigarh.

In Bathinda, to participate in the 12-day fest of the Natyam Manch, Sharma’s ‘Court Marshal’ received accolades from the audience. It was for the 338th time that ‘Court Marshal’ was staged at the Balwant Gargi Open Air Theatre.

“When we were entering a new century in 1999, there was no activity in theatre. It was then that we decided that theatre should also evolve with age and at the dawn of the new century, we started turning over a new leaf in the book of the theatre,” Sharma said. He added that the theatre was at its best during the pre-Independence era when Parsi theatre and Bombay theatre were in their prime.

Emphasizing upon the need that he felt to re-invent theatre in 1999, Sharma held a series of fests. Now, he holds five fests in a year, which is the highest ever in this part of the region. Besides ‘Court Marshal’, he has successfully staged ‘Shaheed Ki Wapsi’.

Claiming that theatre is the only medium that directly connects the audience with the masses, Sharma said that a play needs to be staged again and again to create a wavelength with the people. “The human mind follows things that are repeatedly told. Our theatre acts in the same way. We have repeatedly held successful shows of ‘Court Marshal’ so that our characters develop a bond with the audience and many a time, we have seen faces amongst the audience that connect to us,” said Sharma.

He said that while the Punjab government's cultural and drama division is in penury, the neighbouring state of Haryana has developed the department in a much better way. “Theatre is neither commercial nor anyone would pay to watch a drama. It is the government that will have to step forward and take up cudgels on behalf of this art, which if lost, is impossible to restore,” he said.

Bathinda, November 12
For the counting of the CD-4 cells of the HIV/AIDS patients, a CD-4 cell counting machine was installed at the Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) Centre of the Civil Hospital here, recently. The machine cost Rs 12 lakh.

In-charge of the ART Centre, Dr Kasturi Lal said, “Earlier, they had been collecting blood samples for the purpose once a week on every Wednesday, however, they would now collect the same three times in a week.”

He said earlier for counting the CD-4 cells of the HIV/AIDS patients, they had been sending the blood samples of the patients to Patiala, but the same work would now be done here.