Jalandhar, November 27
Inauguration of the trauma centre in the Civil Hospital here today turned out to be a show of gross violations. Right from hurriedly shifting of seriously ill patients up to high voltage sound system within the premises of the hospital were the hallmark of the day.

Patients, who were present in the trauma centre at the time of inauguration, were shifted to the ICU just three hours before the arrival of the Health Minister. These patients had already been undergoing treatment in the old building for the past 10 days and as per sources, the condition of the patients was not that much critical which would force the doctors to shift them to the new building.

“There is some problem in the power supply. I had conveyed to the technician concerned in the morning. It will be rectified soon,” said Medical Superintendent Ashok Nayyar when asked about the switching off of the newly installed equipment.

When The Tribune team visited the centre in the evening, cardiac monitors and ventilators were not working.

As the staff was diverted from the periphery to the centre just yesterday, it is also learnt that barring a few no formal demonstration had been given to some of the staff nurses posted in the centre. There was nobody to stop visitors and attendants who walked inside the ICU with shoes on.

Though hospitals are declared silence zones, high-voltage DJ was played by the hospital authorities. “Within a radius of 100 metres around schools, hospitals and courts, nobody can play high-voltage DJ or use pressure horns. This has been clearly directed by the Supreme Court in 2005,” said a senior official of the Punjab Pollution Control Board.

Jalandhar, November 27
Guru Nanak Dev University Vice-Chancellor Ajaib Singh Brar today stressed on the need to overhaul the present education system to make it more research oriented. He said that curriculum upgradation and continuous evaluation were the need of the hour “if we want to see ourselves competing with global leaders in the field of technical education”.

Brar said this after inaugurating Punjab’s first nanotechnology research centre set up by the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology on its premises here.

Director-Research of DAVIET and man behind nanotechnology lab Dr H.S. Virk mentioned the challenges that Brar faced during his stint at various workplaces.

Addressing the faculty of DAVIET, Brar highlighted the present education and development scenario in India. He emphasised that research is the key to success and called upon the faculty to teach with a research-oriented mind.

Brar said the Central government was investing a lot of money in higher education. During the last five years, the government had allocated a huge amount for improving its status, he observed.

He expressed the need to change the curriculum for a more practical one. He called upon the faculty members to emphasise more on experimental research to impart newer technology to the world. “Students should be encouraged to a carry out practical experiments. Curriculum should also be redesigned with an approach to make it more practical. We are good at theory but weak at practical work. In Guru Nanak Dev University, we are planning to start a new course in chemistry,” he said.

Hoshiarpur, November 27
To improve female sex ratio in rural and urban areas of the district, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Hoshiarpur, has started a special drive to make awareness in the public about the ill-effects of female foeticide.

A nine-member committee, Doctors Against Sex Selection (DASS), led by Dr Manju Sharma and consisting of Dr Kuldip Singh, Dr Naresh Sud, Dr Ashok Gupta, Dr Keshav Sud, Dr Harbhajan Singh, Dr Manorma Kalia, Dr Kamal Chaudhary and Dr Anoop Kumar has been constituted to do the task.

In a press release here today, Dr Manju Sharma stated that for the awareness of public, signboards carrying slogans like “Dhian nahin rehangiyan, tan nuhan kithon aungiyan” had been displayed in all corners of the town. People would read regularly the slogans against sex selection which would certainly change their mindset.

The DASS committee was trying hard to improve the sex ratio in rural and urban areas, said Dr Manju Sharma and added that in case anyone was found indulging in sex determination he would be dealt with accordingly.

Jalandhar, November 27
The decision of the Education Department authorities to provide free computer education till Class VIII in government schools seems to be a big hoax as a majority of the schools in the district lack 
the basic infrastructure for running computer labs.

While some computer labs are in working condition the rest are running the show from makeshift arrangements in their schools. The computer education is also clogged with lack of trained staff.

According to the information available with The Tribune, nearly three government schools in the city do not have the required infrastructure to run the labs. These are the government schools at Kabir Nagar, Tej Mohan Nagar and Bhullar Qadian.

ICT coordinator in the district Harish Kumar said they had been looking forward to the upgradation of these schools. “We would soon attach these schools with the nearby local schools equipped with a computer lab for providing free computer education,” he said.

At present there are 426 computer labs in the district and nearly 576 sanctioned posts of computer teacher. And out of these as many as 24 posts are lying vacant. “How can the authorities claim to provide quality computer education when even the schools situated within the city limits lack the basic infrastructure? Under these circumstances we can well imagine the status of schools in the remote areas,” said a teacher requesting anonymity.

Director-General School Education (DGSE) Krishan Kumar said to ensure quality computer education to the students they had decided to provide computer labs in as many as 480 government schools in the state. “Each lab would be equipped with five computers. We have floated tenders for the same,” he added.

The DGSE said computer teachers had been asked to appear for the mandatory computer test scheduled for January 17, 2010. “In addition to this, even the computer teachers who were recruited by the respective DEO before 2006 would also appear for this test.,” he maintained.

Nawanshahr, November 27
The police claims to have busted a gang of vehicle-lifters and burglars by arresting three of its members at a naka on the Punia-Goslan road on Thursday.

The arrested members were identified as Rishi Kumar of Gunachaur village, Makhan Singh of Bharo Mazara and Harpreet Singh of Kamam village.

Rakesh Aggarwal, Senior Superintendent of Police, told mediapersons today that the miscreants were nabbed by a police party at a naka. The accused were riding two motorcycles (PB-32-N-9105 and PB-37-C-6805).

Seeing the police party, they tried to flee but were overpowered by the police. The police has seized two countrymade .12-bore pistols, four cartridges, one knife, six stolen motorcycles and five mobile phone sets from their possession.

With the busting of the gang, the police has solved 24 incidents of vehicle lifting and snatching of motorcycles, mobile phones, gold ornaments and cash. Cases at various police stations at Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Behram and Banga had already been registered against them, said the SSP.

Jalandhar, November 27
As many as 455 students of the Apeejay College of Fine Arts were awarded degrees at the 32nd convocation held here today.Dr Ajaib Singh Brar, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, conferred the degrees on the students.

The VC urged the students to stay rooted to the rich Indian culture, especially Punjabi traditions.

He also said that society should work towards bringing women at par with men in the professional field. Earlier the students presented a cultural programme on the occasion. — TNS