HEALTH

Military Nursing Service celebrates Raising Day
Our Correspondent

Meerut, October 1
 To mark the day when a permanent Nursing Service was formed in the Indian Army, which consisted of 12 matrons, 18 sisters and 25 staff nurse, who were exclusively received from the India, on the first day of October in 1926, the Military Nursing Service today celebrated it 78th Raising Day. The MNS, which has the motto “service with smile”, is currently headed by Major-General Usha Sikdar. According to senior officials at the HQ in Meerut sub area, the friendly look and attitude of MNS officials give a new lease of life to the patient soldiers besides creating a homely atmosphere for the soldiers admitted in hospitals. The patient soldiers also treat MNS officials as there own family members.

The Military Nursing Service in India has had a chequered history. After several jolts and jerks the MNS came to have its present status in the Indian Army. According to principal matron (off) Lt Col Arun Bala and Lt Col Ratnesh Sharma, the MNS in India started in March 1883 formally when the first batch of British trained Army nurses arrived for service troops (British). The service was then designated as the Indian Army Nursing Service (IANS) in 1896. In 1903 IANS was renamed Queen Alexander’s Military Nursing Service for India - QAMNS (I).

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 stimulated interest in nursing care of the poor Indian soldiers, who were struggling for their life at various fronts in Europe and in Asia. Therefore, the British were compelled to start a Temporary Nursing Service for Indian Soldiers (TINS). As a result of an appeal made for trained nurses in India in August and September 1915, 60 temporary nurses were appointed. TINS served in Indian and British troops hospitals in India, Aden, Mesopotamia and Egypt during World War I. After World War I, a number of temporary nurses were released and the few who were trained were posted to Indian station hospitals. On October 1, 1926, a permanent nursing service was first formed in India. The service was first designated as the Indian Military Nursing Service and made responsible for the supervision and training of the nursing section of the Indian Hospital Corps (IHC).

During World War II, a new cadre, IMNS (Temp) was introduced. Besides India Voluntary Aid Service and Auxiliary Nursing Service were established. A large number of the IMNS nurses were sent to different theatres of war in the Middle east, Africa, Europe and the Far East. They worked in base and fields hospitals and also in casualty clearing stations.

While some also served in hospital ships, their work was universally acclaimed and an eloquent proof of this was the declaration (ordinance XXX) issued on September 15, 1943, making the IMNS a part of the Indian Army and conferring on its members the status equivalent to commissioned officers.

On August 15, 1947, Indian became free, the QAIMNS nurses were returned and the Indian Military Nursing Service officers filled various posts that fell vacant. For the first time, one from among them, Mrs D. G. Howard, was appointed head of the service at the post of Chief Principal Matron with the rank of Colonel. The MNS now entered a new phase of development. There was general shortage of trained nurses in the country It was, therefore, decided to open military nursing training schools. At present, there are eight schools at Army Hospitals in Delhi, Lucknow, Jalandhar, Secunderabad, Calcutta, INHS Aswini (Bombay), CH Airforce, Bangalore, and INHS Sanjivani (Cochin). Besides these a nursing college was also set up in 1964 by reorganising the school at Pune. To recognise them as part of the Army, the practice of ranking sisters/ sr sisters, matron and so on was discontinued in 1959. The MNS now ranks them as Lieutenant, Captain, Major and so on.

The MNS now has 14 decorations (VSM), 42 commendations by the Army Staff (COAS) besides other prestigious awards.

SPORTS

Maruti-Suzuki Himalayan Rally
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, October 1
The fifth Maruti-Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya Rally, India’s most arduous motorsport event, will be held from October 7 to 10, under the aegis of the Himalayan Motorsport Association. The rally will be flagged off on October 7 from Shimla after the pre-event vehicle scrutiny a day earlier. The raiders will cover 2500kms over four days through tarmac, dirt and rocky terrain. The rally will pass through Jalori Pass, Rohtang Pass, Kunzum La, Kaza, Darcha, Sarchu, Pang and Patseo before culminating at Manali on October 10.

General manager of Maruti Udyog Ravi Bhatia, elaborating on Maruti Suzuki’s long-term commitment towards enhancing the appeal of motorsport in India, said “Maruti Suzuki recognised the tremendous potential for motorsport in India long ago, and the Raid-de-Himalaya has become one of the most coveted competitions, with international recognition.”

He said this year, a ‘reliability’ category will be introduced for the benefit of those motorsport enthusiasts who may not have the same experience as the professional rallyists. He said it will run on the State highways to minimise the risks and making the track safe for the racers. This race is open to only stock cars.

Mr Bhatia said the competition will feature three categories—reliability, X-treme for cars and X-treme for bikers.

President of the Himalayan Motor Sports Association Vijay Parmar said “this year’s rally will have the rare distinction of having the highest rally camp in the world at Morey Plains at Pang (15,900 feet) to test the physical endurance of the rallyists.”

Delhi Sports edge past Azad Club

New Delhi, October 1
Delhi Sports Club beat Azad Club 2-1 in a Super League match of the PNB Delhi State Hockey League for Clubs at the Shivaji Stadium on Tuesday. All the goals came in the second half.

Alok opened the account for Delhi Sports and Sandeep added the second goal. Vir Singh reduced the margin for Azad. Academy drew with Rajput Club 2-2 in another match. Shish Ram and Hari Das scored the goals for Academy while Virender and Lulbeer got the goals for Rajput.

Soccer final today

Simla Youngs will take on City Club in the final of the Lt Governor’s Cup Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium on Friday at 3 p m. In the semi-finals on Wednesday, Simla Youngs beat Indian National 2-1 while City edged past Raisina Sporting 1-0.

Ganga enter final

Ganga School defeated S S Mota Singh School, Janakpuri 4-0 to enter the final of the Swabhiman Hockey Tournament at the Ganga School ground. Anup, Parveen Hudo, Satish and Parveen were the goal-scorers. CICF defeated FCI 4-3 also to enter the final. In the girls section, Ganga beat Kendriya Vidyalaya, Keshavapuram 5-0. Sawita (2), Sushila (2) and Bunty were the scorers.

ADMINISTRATION

Licences of five fair price shops cancelled
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, October 1
The Food and Supplies Department has cancelled the licences of five fair price shops and suspended the supply of rationed commodities to 14 other fair price shops in Sonepat district during the current financial year. The action was taken against them for committing irregularities and malpractices in the distribution of rationed articles.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Balwan Singh, told mediapersons here today that the department had checked the records of as many as 80 fair price shops and issued

notices to the owners of 61 shops asking them to explain why their licences should not be cancelled. The department, he said, also confiscated the security deposits totalling Rs 9,600 of the depot holders on the charges of malpractices.

He also disclosed that the officials of the department had checked the record of 18 depot holders during September and cancelled the licence of only one depot for committing serious irregularities.

The officials, he said, also suspended the supply of three depots and issued show cause notices to the owners of 12 other depot holders on the similar charges.

According to the DC, the department officials had checked the record of five brick kilns and cancelled the licences of two brick kilns for indulging in irregularities in the selling of bricks.

The DC said that the department officials had checked 33 petrol pumps and eight LPG agencies in the district during the current financial year. The officials, he said, also initiated action against the erring petrol pump owners.