J A L A N D H A R

HIV bomb ticking in Punjab ?
TB-HIV coordination programme detects up to five HIV cases every month
Jalandhar, May 17
Three months after the implementation of World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for a coordinated effort in detecting HIV positive cases, the HIV-TB coordination programme is showing results at the local civil hospital. The programme has resulted in the detection of as many as four to five HIV positive cases every month. Doctors at the hospital have found that most HIV patients contract tuberculosis and that a majority of the cases detected are among drug addicts and labourers.

Sainik School honours Mattewal

Kapurthala, May 17 Sainik School Kapurthala honoured Punjab advocate-general Hardev Singh Mattewal at a special function held on the school premises here on Wednesday.

Punjab advocate-general H.S. Mattewal being honoured at Sainik School in Kapurthala on Thursday. —  Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

Troubled by DTOs, truckers shift base to Haryana
Phagwara, May 17
A large number of truck operators from Punjab, including that of Kapurthala, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts, have shifted their base to Haryana, reportedly due to considerable difference in permit fee and overloading charges in both states.

5 arrested for making spurious soft-drinks
Hoshiarpur, May 17
On the complaint by Ramesh Dutt and Manoj Kumar, raiding manager of Pinktron Consulting and Investigation India Private Limited, Gurgaon (Haryana), the local police booked five persons under Sections 272, 273 and 420 of the IPC on Tuesday night.

Batala peaceful
Batala, May 17
Akhand Kirtani Jatha International, the SSF (Grewal) and the SSF (Bhoma) held a procession against Dera Sacha Sauda. The shops were closed in anticipation of violence, but nothing untoward happened, district police chief R.N. Dhoke said. — OC

Convocation put off
Amritsar, May 17
The convocation of the DAV College for Education (for women), scheduled to be held here tomorrow, has been postponed indefinitely. This was informed by college principal Aruna Anand. — TNS 

HIV bomb ticking in Punjab ?
TB-HIV coordination programme detects up to five HIV cases every month
Anuradha Shukla
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 17
Three months after the implementation of World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for a coordinated effort in detecting HIV positive cases, the HIV-TB coordination programme is showing results at the local civil hospital. The programme has resulted in the detection of as many as four to five HIV positive cases every month. Doctors at the hospital have found that most HIV patients contract tuberculosis and that a majority of the cases detected are among drug addicts and labourers.

With TB affecting most of the HIV carriers because of a depleted immune system, centres like the civil hospital had trouble with patients who could not be cured even after prolonged treatment, say senior doctors. The hospital, which set up and an anti-retro viral (ART) centre, is registering a good response as affected patients are coming from far corners of Punjab.

With the implementation of the programme, the hospital is successful in detecting HIV positive cases, which are then referred to the department concerned. Sources say TB patients are tested for HIV in case patients fail to respond to treatment and information of the HIV positive case is only given to the patient himself. The doctors are instructed not to mention the HIV status of the patient on the detail form filled by them.

“A potential group of patients is selected through the programme. They are then referred for treatment to the newly set up ART centre at the hospital where medicines are distributed free of cost,” says TB specialist Dr Rajiv Sharma. “A majority of the HIV cases referred are from highly vulnerable groups like drug addicts and labourers,” says Dr Sharma.

The coordination between the TB department and the ART centre has resulted in more detections as those affected know that help is at hand and the confusion over the real ailment ends, say doctors here. “TB being an endemic in our country is a disease which mostly affects those with HIV and thus the programme to detect and refer these patients for effective help becomes crucial,” says Dr Sharma.

Sainik School honours Mattewal
Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, May 17
Sainik School Kapurthala honoured Punjab advocate-general Hardev Singh Mattewal at a special function held on the school premises here on Wednesday.

An alumnus of the school, Mattewal handed over a demand draft for Rs 55 lakh to principal Colonel Tyagi on behalf of the Punjab government on the occasion.

Deputy Commissioner J.M. Balamurugan, DIG Jalandhar range Narinderpal Singh and SSP Rakesh Agarwal were present in the function.

Troubled by DTOs, truckers shift base to Haryana
Anil Jerath
Tribune News Service

Phagwara, May 17
A large number of truck operators from Punjab, including that of Kapurthala, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts, have shifted their base to Haryana, reportedly due to considerable difference in permit fee and overloading charges in both states.

Truck operators have claimed that due to harassment at the hands of district transport officers (DTOs) and higher charges, they were shifting to the neighbouring state. Balbir Chand, coordinator, state-level truck operator associations of Punjab, claimed, “Truck operators in the state are passing through a very difficult phase due to bureaucratic procedures of the transport department and higher charges.”

For instance, he said, in Punjab operators had to wait for more than a month to get the registration number for trucks from DTOs and had to pay Rs 6,250 as permit fee. But in Haryana, registration was done within a day or two and the permit fee was just Rs 3,000. Due to shifting of truck operators, he claimed, the state government was also losing hefty amount every year. The Kapurthala Truck Operators Association claimed that around 150 local truck operators had already shifted to Haryana.

“Why should we continue our business here when the state government and especially its transport department is bent on crushing our trade. How can we remain in business, when the state government has fixed district wise quotas for the DTOs to collect monthly fee,” a truck operator asked.

Insiders point out that in Haryana the DTOs charge a fixed amount of Rs 2,000 per tonne for overloading, but in Punjab there is no upper limit of fine and DTOs charge up to Rs 5,000 for one tonne of extra load. It may be mentioned that under the Motor Vehicles Act, up to 9 tonnes of weight can be loaded in a normal truck. However, most of the truckers load up to 15-17 tonnes of weight.

According to information available from the state transport authorities of Punjab and Haryana, 98,643 trucks were registered in Punjab as against 28,144 trucks in Haryana by 2003-04. But during the next two years, new truck operators of Punjab preferred Haryana and other neighbouring districts for registration.

Balbir Chand said, “DTOs in Punjab are forcing us to get registration in the state. In case of trucks bearing Haryana registration numbers, they impose Rs 1,000 as additional fine for a minor offence.”

He said to save the business in the state, a policy in consultation with major truck operators’ unions be evolved. “Due to stiff competition from railways and with the entry of new operators, the margins in the trade had gone down. The state government should intervene as the business was providing employment to lakhs of people and making significant contribution to the state exchequer”.

5 arrested for making spurious soft-drinks

Hoshiarpur, May 17
On the complaint by Ramesh Dutt and Manoj Kumar, raiding manager of Pinktron Consulting and Investigation India Private Limited, Gurgaon (Haryana), the local police booked five persons under Sections 272, 273 and 420 of the IPC on Tuesday night.

According to sources, the police raided a house at Mohalla New Jagatpura and arrested Partap Singh, Ajit Ram and Sanjiv Ram and Kamlesh Kumar and seized a soft-drink making machine and a number of bottles of spurious soft-drinks of various popular brands. The police has also arrested Ravinder Walia and a soft-drink making machine was also seized from his shop. — OC