Amritsar, February 8
Condemning the decision of the directorate of health services, ESI hospitals, Punjab, of declaring 18 posts of the pharmacist as surplus, the Punjab State Pharmacists’ Association today threatened to launch a protest against the decision.

Shamsher Singh Kohri, president of the association, terming the decision as victimisation of the employees, alleged that Dr Jyotinder Kaur Mendher, medical superintendent of the ESI hospitals here, have recommended the abolition of the posts by declaring them as surplus due to her personal conflict with the state government.

In a meeting of the pharmacists here today the association has decided to protest at Amritsar ESI hospital on February 10.

The copies of the decision has also been sent to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister, health minister, principal secretary (health) and director, ESI hospitals. The association urged other employees’ association to help them.

Jalandhar, February 8
Ushering in a revolutionary treatment for nervous disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, tumours and epilepsy, the Indian technologists are trying to develop nano-carriers that could safely deliver the drug specifically to the target area of the body.

“The blood-brain barrier that exists in the human body does not allow the dosage to enter the brain area from the blood stream. But a specialised transport mechanism has been devised by way of which medicines can reach the affected part using tiny bio-vectors,” said Dr Sanyog Jain, who is working with the Centre of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology at National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali.

Dr Jain said this while interacting with The Tribune during the closing ceremony of a two-day conference on ‘Nanomaterials: synthesis and applications’ at DAV College here today.

“We are working on exploiting the fact that brain cells allow nutrients, including sugars and aminoacids, to pass through them. These cells are also unique since they have a negative charge on them and are lipophilic in nature. So, we try to develop a formulation that is capsulated with vectors that have a positive charge, some lipid content and aminoacids”, he elaborated.

A young scientist, he said nanodrugs are more patient-friendly as these are safer, more effective and involve intake of a smaller dosage. Outlining the reasons, he said, “The drug reaches only the target area and cannot pose any harm to other vital organs. These are also protected against degradation caused by enzyme activity and higher pH in stomach and intestinal area”.

Dr Jain said a nanodrug for cancer was already available in the market. Introduced by the Indian company Dabur Research Foundation, Ghaziabad, he said the drug called Nanoxel could be administered intravenously to reach the affected part.

“The existing treatment which involves chemotheraphy and radiotherapy can be eliminated with the wonder drug, which means no hair fall or loss of healthy cells in the body, leading to weakness, body aches and giddiness. Such medicines also work on the receptor technique. The receptors on affected tissues need to be identified. These could be estrogen in case of breast cancer, folic acid for others and so on,” he discussed.

The pharma expert also talked about another nano-formulations being marketed in India for the treatment of psoriasis, a fungal skin disease. “Since the microbes settle skin deep, these have to be killed using nanoparticles which can cross skin barriers, being much more effective than a common ointment. The nanodrug to treat the disease is also administered topically,” he revealed adding that it had been developed recently by a PU scientist.

Kapurthala, February 8
Ok, so we have this happening event being organised in the middle of the town. The audience is awed as little kids display extraordinary grace and poise as they dance to art forms as sophisticated as the Bhratnatyam and the Kathak and sitting in the midst of the goosebumpy-electric air, residents witness smooth acts pulled off by sought-after celebrities.

An event such as this has to have high profile sponsors and affected glitterati associated with it, one thinks. But guess what? It’s all ‘sarkari’.

From the teachers who taught the kids those elegant moves, down to the guys who made arrangements for the artists to please the city audience, it’s all been organised by the government.

In a first of its kind event, a two-day cultural treat was organised by the Virsa Vihar Cultural Society, Kapurthala at the Virsa Vihar on February 7 and 8. February 7 saw the venue come alive with the performances of the students of the Kapurthala Kala Kendra. In all, 30 students participated in the dance. Classic vocal, folk and sufi singing were also presented by the students on the occasion.

Deepak Raja, of the Laughter Challenge fame, left the audience laughing their guts out with his comic act (the conformists had a problem with his double meaning jokes though). On February 8 students of the Kapurthala Kala Kendra delivered dance performances and Punjabi singer Lakwinder Wadali mesmerised the crowds with sufi and folk numbers.

Kapurthala DC J.M. Balamurugan said, “The event is an effort to showcase the talents of the students who have been learning various arts at the Kapurthala Kala Kendra for the last 4-5 months. Through this we also want the younger generation to be in touch with their heritage and tradition.”

Hoshiarpur, February 8
Resentment prevails among the owners of a large-scale industrial units, including a continuous process status industrial arc/induction consumers, against the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) due to the enhancement in the period and change in the time for peak load restrictions on consuming power from 4 pm to 9 pm from February 3, 2009, causing a direct loss to their production now.

Manager of Kakkar Complex Steel Pvt Ltd, Nasrala, Darshan Lal said prior to the new schedule, the PSEB had imposed a peak load restriction for three hours only from 6 pm to 9 pm daily.

Pathankot, February 8
The police busted an inter-state gang of robbers and arrested its four members and seized sharp-edged weapons from their possession.

Superintendent of police Harpreet Singh said a naka had been laid at Sumbli Chowk on the Pathankot-Gurdaspur road and a truck (HR-38-R-8115) was intercepted. Two country-made pistols, four live cartridges, two swords and some iron rods were seized during the search of the truck.

Harpreet Singh said the accused were identified as Manpreet Singh of Subanpur, Bagicha Singh of Abohar and Jaswinder Singh and Mukhtiar Singh of Kapurthala. He said during interrogation they confessed that they were on their way to target roadside godowns of the transport companies to steal valuable goods, including clothes and general merchant items.

Harpreet Singh said they revealed that they used a truck for lifting the booty. The police has registered a case under sections 25, 54 and 59 of the IPC against them.