Bathinda, September 30
No country for old men? Not quite as the days are gone when senior citizens would walk into the sunset after retirement. Now, far from hanging their boots, senior citizens in the city are busy turning into entrepreneurs and running successful business ventures.

Breaking away from the adage that no man loves life like him that's growing old, the elderly here have given a new meaning to the post-retirement life.

From catching on with their hobbies, which remained in the backseat while in service, the senior citizens now have their hands full, attending to work after having turned into entrepreneurs.

Bathinda, September 30
Call it a daring act of the thieves or the reluctance of the Punjab Police in cracking the whip on vehicle lifters, there has been a rise in the number of vehicles stolen from the high security areas like the Police Lines and the SSP office.

In the first instance, a policeman residing in quarters at the Police Lines had complained of a car theft a few months ago. In another instance, ASI Jangir Singh, deployed at the Cantonment police station, said his bike was stolen from the Police Lines a few days ago. The bike was parked outside the Police Lines on September 25. In a third instance, a Royal Enfield motorcycle, worth nearly Rs 70,000, borrowed by a head constable working in the office of the SSP, Bathinda, was stolen on July 3. The stolen vehicles are yet to be traced by the police.

In his complaint, head constable Shaminder Singh said his borrowed bike, Royal Enfield, was in the parking area of the DAC at 9 am on July 3. He found his bike missing when he was about to leave for lunch at 1.30 pm. An FIR was lodged on July 15 and since then there has been no trace of the bike.

"I made numerous phone calls to the investigating officer but to no avail. I went to see the stolen vehicles recovered at various police stations but failed to get my bike," he said.

Policemen said a contractor has been given the parking contract and slips are issued to those keeping their vehicles in the parking lot of the DAC. "This may bring down the number of thefts to some extent but the employees working in the government offices do not want to pay for the slips and their vehicles are still at the risk of being lifted," said police sources.

ASI Jangir Singh, whose bike was stolen from the Police Lines, said he was on duty at Maur Mandi during a rally. Jangir said he got the information that two thieves have been arrested at Rama Mandi from whose possession his bike was recovered. "But I am yet to get an official confirmation,” he said. Meanwhile, cops at the Rama said the two thieves were planning to sell off the motorbikes in Malout. The bikes were stolen from Tarkhanwala village.

Bathinda, September 30
In India, girls are wrongly being administered the vaccine for cervix cancer at the young age of 10 or 12, said Dr Vineeta Goel, senior consultant in radiation oncology at the Max Hospital in New Delhi.

In the city to attend a conference on radiation oncology, Dr Goel said people are largely aware of the cervix cancer but are not aware about the ways in which the vaccine has to be used. "The vaccine is to be administered just before the marriage or before a girl enters a sexually active age," she said.

Dr Goel explained that once administered, the efficacy of the vaccine lasts for only seven to eight years. Aping the western countries, doctors in India are immunizing the girls even at the age of ten.

"In western countries, children indulge in sexual activity at a very young age, which is not the case in India. Hence, spending Rs 10,000 on the vaccine becomes useless by the time a girl reaches a sexually active age in India," she said, adding that doctors should discourage the use of vaccine at a young age.

She added that in many cases, women as old as 40 to 45 years, get themselves immunized against the disease, which again proves to be futile.

"An intra-muscular medicine, the vaccine serves no purpose in such elderly women. Moreover, the vaccine provides protection by only 70 per cent.

Dr Goel said besides the vaccine, women should take all possible precautions. A disease which is more prevalent among the rural women owing to multiple child births, cervix cancer can largely be prevented. "Women should avoid multiple sex partners and multiple pregnancies. It is very important to maintain the hygiene of sexual parts," she said. She added that any kind of white discharge or unusual bleeding from the cervix (bleeding occurring between two menstrual cycles) and consistent pain in the lower back should be viewed with suspicion and accorded immediate clinical attention.

Talking about breast cancer, which is more prevalent among the urban women, Dr Goel said there was no vaccine against the disease. She added that detection through self-examination of the breast and annual tests are the only way to keep a tab on the disease.

"After the age of 25, every woman should undertake self-examination of the breast every month and go for a clinical check-up every year," she said.

Bathinda, September 30
Punjab is not the only state in the country to face the problem of cancer. People in other states too are battling the malady. The problem is that Punjab has not developed as much cancer treatment facilities as needed, said Dr KT Bhowmik, a senior oncologist and additional medical superintendent at Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi.

Dr Bhowmik, who was here in the city to attend the conference of the North Zone Association of Radiation Oncologists of India (AROI), that concluded today, said, “Punjab has been projected to be a state reeling under the scourge of cancer whereas the ailment is present in every state. It is just the projection that has made all the difference. In Punjab, people slept over cancer cases for too long and responded late, resulting in the highlighting of the problem.”

He added that the malady has started striking people in their most productive age and is no longer an ailment of the elderly.

Dr Bhowmick said the phenomenon of the migration of population for treatment is universal, which explains why the “cancer train” to Bikaner runs packed with patients who visit the place for treatment.

Praising the Punjab government's initiative to establish a state-of-the-art cancer treatment hospital at Bathinda and Faridkot, Dr Bhowmik said more such infrastructure and expertise is needed in the field of cancer treatment.

“The need of the hour is to have cancer detection and treatment initiated with the help of the latest technology, but at nominal rates. The Punjab Government is headed in this direction,” he added.

Dr Bhowmik said the Central Government has allocated a number of funds for different health purposes, but they are underutilised. “The state governments are not able to spend the health funds allocated to them as most of the projects aided by the Centre run on the basis of contribution from the state government also,” he said.

He said despite all the odds, patients in India are more privileged than their American counterparts. “In America, 15 per cent of the people suffering from different diseases die as they do not get medical help on time. In India, we are fortunate enough to have a network of government-run hospitals where everyone can be treated,” he said.

Punjab has been projected to be a state reeling under the scourge of cancer whereas the ailment is present in every state. It is just the projection that has made all the difference. In Punjab, people slept over cancer cases for too long and responded late, resulting in the highlighting of the problem. The problem is that Punjab has not developed as much cancer treatment facilities as needed. The need of the hour is to have cancer detection and treatment initiated with the help of the latest technology, but at nominal rates.

— Dr Kt bhowmik, senior oncologist, Safdarjang hospital, New Delhi

Bathinda, September 30
The two-day conference of the North Zone Association of Radiation Oncologist concluded here today.

At the onset of the morning session, best papers of post-PG students were presented.

Judges for the event were Dr Kanwaljit, Dr Abita Joneja, Dr Manish Pandey and Dr Rajeev Devgan.

Dr SC Sharma from the PGIMER, Chandigarh, presented a paper on the management of breast cancer and recent advances in its radiation treatment.

DR Sharma said that new advances were taking place in the radiation treatment of breast cancer over the last decade.

In the CME lecture on advances in radiotherapy, Dr Shikha Halder talked about cyberknife - recent advancements in radiotherapy while Dr Vineeta Goel dwelled on whole body skin irradiation.

Others who spoke on the occasion were Dr PC Julka, Dr Anshil Munshi, Dr Sapna Nangia, Dr Ashok Chauhan and MK Munjal.

A panel discussion on adaptive radiotherapy - rationale and challenges was held.

The panelists included Dr Jaskaran Sethi, Bikramjeet Singh, Dr Pramod Kumar Sharma, Dr Saji Oomen and Dr Swarupm Mitra.

Dr Anil Bansal moderated the discussion.

Earlier on Saturday evening, the inaugural ceremony of the conference was held. Vice-chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, Dr SS Gill and vice-chancellor, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Dr Jai Rup Singh presided over the function that was attended by around 250 delegates and around 200 doctors from the local medical fraternity.

Dr Gill emphasised on the need of early detection of cancer and door-to-door survey, which will be conducted for this purpose. Dr Jai Rup talked about role of collaborative research between universities and other government and private institutes for use of cutting-edge technologies for studies on molecular level.

Life-time achievement awards to stalwarts in radiotherapy were awarded to former professor and head of the PGIMER Dr BD Gupta, Dr S Ayyagari from Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, and ex-director and principal, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Dr HL Kapoor.

Dr S Shrivastava from the Tata Hospital, Mumbai, said the conference had wonderful scientific feast. Dr. Rajiv Seam from Medical College, Shimla, said the conference was a treat of latest burning issues in the management of cancer.

Bathinda, September 30
Some miscreants tried to set ablaze a house on the Amreek Singh road by throwing bottles filled with kerosene. The owner of the house, Meenu, received minor burns on her hands.

It is learnt that some unidentified persons threw the bottles. Initially, the owner thought that there was a blast in LPG cylinder. Later, it was found that the burning bottles were coming from outside. Cops were informed about the incident. — TNS

Bathinda, September 30
Under the Wildlife Week starting from October 2, visitors have been offered free entry to the Deer Park, Bathinda. The entry would also be free at the Mahendra Choudhary Zoological Park, Chhatbir at Mohali and at the Deer Park in Patiala.

The zoo would remain closed on October 2 but it would open for the public without tickets from October 3 to October 8. A state-level function to mark the Wildlife Week will be organised at Chhatbir Zoo.

District Forest Officer K Kannan said the renovation and construction work at the Bir Talab Zoo was going on at war footing. Apart from renovating the entrance, RO system and toilet has also been made functional on the zoo premises. Landscaping had also been improved. The work on new cages is almost complete and rest of the works would be completed within one year.

Bathinda, September 30
In an effort to check drunk driving, the police has intensified the night vigil in the city.

Nakas are laid during the late hours to stop the menace. In one such naka laid near Bhagu Road last night, the police caught three young boys, who were shouting. The car they were travelling in was being rashly-driven. A case has been registered against Ranjit Singh of Deon, Jagmeet Singh of Buladewala and Kuldeep Singh of Barkandi village for not stopping at the police naka and misbehaving with the police party.

In a complaint, ASI Jaswant Singh of the Civil Lines police station reported that the boys were found drunk during a naka laid on the Bhagu Road-100 feet road.

He said a rashly-driven silver-coloured Hyundai Accent car bearing registration number PB-65-C-0198 was signalled to stop by the police party. Instead of slowing down, the driver accelerated the speed and zipped past the cops on duty. The policemen had a narrow escape and passed on the information to the next naka laid near the 100 feet road.

The boys in the car seemed to be drunk as they were shouting and singing loudly in the car. Their car was forced to stop at the next naka.

"They all were brought to the police station and given a dressing-down as they were under the influence of intoxicants and were misbehaving with the cops. Their medical examination was conducted and a case was registered against them," said the Civil Lines SHO, Gurdev Bhalla.

He said the incident took place at around 9.30 pm and there was a lot of traffic on the road at that time. "Had the boys not been nabbed, they would have surely injured someone or would have hurt themselves," Bhalla said.

He said the boys belong to the families having agricultural land. All the boys except for one were studying. The other one was working, he said.

Bhalla said the night vigil has been intensified for the past few days to impose a sense of security among the city residents. "Strict instructions are received from the seniors to check the bad elements roaming on the roads especially during night," Gurdev said.

Bathinda, September 30
Technical and soft skills training programmes were organised at the Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh (PTUGZS) campus during this week for creating better placement opportunities for students graduating from the institute.

In a press statement issued here, the institute's spokesperson stated that the six-day long programme concluded this week. The aim for holding the programmes was to prepare students to face challenges posed by the corporate world, in an effective manner.

The specialised training programme also aimed at personality development of students by conducting mock interviews and group discussion sessions, improving their communication skills and encouraging them to interact with their peer group.

The Punjab Technical University patronised the programme that was conducted by the Skill Development and Training (SkiDT) Centre, Amritsar.

Also, a team of experts comprising retired Army officers from the Olive Green, Chandigarh, enlightened the students about opportunities available in the Indian Armed Forces.

Colonel Chahal and Colonel Ashok proposed to set up an SSB (Service Selection Board) Training Centre on the campus, which will prepare students for rigorous selection process for entry into the three wings of Indian Armed Forces.

The programme received an enthusiastic response from the students. The NCC wing of the campus organised the programme under the guidance of Dr Rajeev Varshney.

Further, over 150 students of all engineering branches of the PTUGZS campus participated in an motivational-cum-awareness seminar organised by Major Amit Bhardwaj of the Indian Army at the Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo.

The seminar aimed at introducing the UES (University Entry Scheme) of the Indian Army to BTech pre-final year students.

Besides, two technical workshops were held which saw active participation of students of the CSE department of the campus.

Dr Sanjiv Aggarwal, the head of the department, stated that the CQLsys Technologies, Mohali, conducted a workshop on latest industry requirements such as PHP Developer, Web Designer, iPhone Developer and dot NET Developer etc.

In another workshop conducted by the Techno Campus, Ludhiana, the experts stressed on the need for knowing the pulse of industry and going all out to make students ready for jobs and equip them with much required boost for competitive job market.

The main objective of the programme was to focus on analysing the strengths and weakness of students and create an effective recruitment plan.

The PTUGZS Campus director, Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal, thanked members of all the departments for the activities carried out during the week.

Bathinda, September 30
Ace rifle shooter from Bathinda and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Punjab, Avneet Kaur Sidhu, PPS, today won a gold medal in the 48th Punjab State shooting championship competition that the concluded at the state shooting range, Mohali.

Avneet won the gold medal in 10 metre air rifle category, said Amrit Pal Brar, general secretary of the Punjab State Target Shooters Association. — TNS