Dehradun, March 24
While the country debates the exact representation it wants by women and the High Court directs the length of representation of women in the services, Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) here quietly achieved another milestone on March 20, exactly after a week of the 88th Founder’s Day celebrations when Senior Under Officer (SUO) Swarnima Thapliyal crossed the “final step” to don the uniform and join the Corps of EME.

Her father is a mathematics teacher at the RIMC. Remembered as a determined and a gritty woman cadet, she overcame many odds and was able to impress one and all with her performance and conduct.

Recalling her journey so far and acutely aware of the expectations of Rimcollian fraternity and consequent attention and scrutiny she is likely to undergo in her military career, she fondly reminisced that her RIMC days were full of fun and learning. Her determination to wear the uniform increased when she found her classmates joining the NDA.

At the RIMC, Swarnima was an all-rounder as she not only represented the RIMC in national shooting, but also took part in many inter-school music competitions. She strove hard in mastering the skill of singing as well as playing the sitar. She also was a good hockey player as well as an excellent swimmer.

At Officers Training Academy, Chennai, Swarnima is the first in the Order of Merit among officers joining the EME and her present unit is being commanded by another distinguished Rimcollian, Col Mohit Gandhi.

Col H Dharmarajan, SM, Commandant, RIMC, said she had brought laurels to the Rimcollian fraternity as she was the first Rimcollian Lady Officer to be commissioned in services. He was sanguine that Lieutenant Swarnima would always keep the RIMC flag flying high. 

Haridwar, March 24
In a major political development over the issue of the Akhada Parishad taking an agitational route demanding instant closure of hydro power projects coming up on the Ganga, Union Minister for Labour and Employment and MP form Haridwar Harish Rawat has put onus on the state government.

At a meeting with Akhada Parishad national president Mahant Gyandas at the Bairagi camp late last night, Rawat had a long discussion on the issue. Citing seriousness of the Congress-led Central government on this issue, Rawat said the Centre could only do something if first the state government sent a proposal regarding this matter.

The parliamentarian said he would take up the issue with the Central government, but this matter could only be resolved if the state government took a clear decision as it was not in the purview of the Central government alone to abandon the projects.

But, the Akhada Parishad chief is still quite adamant on the stance taken by the parishad setting the March 28 as deadline for launching the agitation. The parishad had conveyed to the state government through Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik that it wanted for the projects be totally abandoned for those were hampering the constant flow of the holy river.

Gyandas said the Ganga had a special religious and mythological significance to crores of people. He extended an argument taht if the Ganga would not be there, then how could Haridwar exist.

The impromptu visit of Rawat is seen as a major political move with the BJP-led state government finding itself in a fix over this matter. And now with the Congress parliamentarian putting the onus on the state government, the ball was in the court of the BJP which has very less time left to either pacify the akhadas or take a stern decision on this matter.

Haridwar, March 24
The Maha Kumbh in Haridwar has created a perfect amalgamation of religion, culture and politics. Managing time from their busy schedule, politicians and film stars are also coming to Haridwar as common persons.

Former Chief Minister of Orissa Girdhar Gomang, apart from performing Kumbh rituals, gave an awesome cultural performance at a function. Everyone present at the function wouldn’t believe for a while that the former Chief Minister and eight-time Lok Sabha member was performing as an artiste. As a cultural artiste from Orissa, Gomang enlivened the atmosphere at Swami Adhokshanand Maharaj Ashram.

Gomang not only performed as an artiste, but also directed a special tribal musical presentation. As he took a musical instrument in his hands, the audience welcomed him with a grand applause. Gomang showcased his music skills on a plate and 10 utensils as he created a melodious music in synchronisation with fellow artistes. After Ganesh Vandana, Orissan noted folk singer duo of Rashmita Das and Devashish Patnayak sang bhajan “Om Namah Shivay...” on the beats of Gamang’s musical equipment.

Twenty Orissan artistes aided Gamang in the performance and the audience watched the whole performance with rapt attention. The other performances of the Orissan artistes included dances worshipping Lords Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh and Maa Durga.

Apart from the Orissan political heavyweight, there was another political personality in the city. Governor of Bihar Devanand Kunwar was also in the city for the Kumbh. He took part in a yagya along with Shankaracharya Adhokshanand. The Governor didn’t speak on political matters terming his visit as totally personal one. He termed the Maha Kumbh as the biggest event of the world and added that everyone should pray for peace and prosperity of the world.

Dehradun, March 24
Sadhav Singh Chauhan (76) of Pauri was part of the Assam Rifles that made its valuable contribution in the 1962 Indo-China war. He lost both legs due to frostbite, as there was heavy snow near the China border in 1967. His one leg had to be amputated and other stopped working.

But things remain difficult for him even after giving his life to save the pride of the country. Chauhan like his other colleagues has been struggling for years to get disability/medical pension. After fighting the country’s enemies at the border, he is now fighting for survival of his family.

These ex-jawans and widows of the martyrs were honoured today here at Rangers College on the Raising Day of the Assam Rifles.

“It will take 10 to 15 days on foot in highly hostile environment and conditions, to reach the place near the China border during that time. Due to the heavy snowfall on the border, my legs got frozen. The doctors amputated one while other leg doesn’t work now,” Chauhan told The Tribune. Chauhan’s son, survived by three children and a wife, died in an accident and Chauhan is the only one who is bringing up the family with his little pension. He said they wrote to the government several times to give disability pension, but to no avail.

Widow Basanti Devi also hops to get medical pension. Her husband ex-jawan of the Assam Rifles, Dayal Singh Negi died of cancer five years ago and her son was murdered. She is also suffering with breast cancer.

Ashok Chakra awardee Col Inder Singh Rawat (96) said they had three demands, the establishing of peace posting centres for the Assam Rifles jawans, the canteen and the ECGH facilities for them like the Army and other paramilitary forces. “Since the jawans remain on border areas under tough conditions, there is a need of four to five peace postings centres like in the Army. The jawans could be posted there on rotational basis of three years,” added Rawat.

Highlighting the role of Assam Rifles in Arunachal Pradesh, he said if Assam Rifles had not been there, the state would have lost its existence. Earlier, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank honoured the ex-jawans and the widows of the jawans during the Raising Day programme of the country’s oldest paramilitary force.

He offered shawls to the widows and gave away mementos to the ex-jawans. In his address, he said he would hold a meeting discussing the demands of the Assam Rifles. MLA Ganesh Joshi was also present on the occasion.

Dehradun, March 24
Principal Secretary (Health) Keshav Desi Raju today said those involved in the Tuberculosis Control Programme should be able to detect more TB cases in the hills and refused to give much credence to the number of cases at 70,000 in the state.

He said the disease was old in the hills and many patients, especially women, did not come out in the open. “It’s our duty to bring them out and provide first line of treatment in the form of directly observed treatment (DOTS),” said Raju.

He was speaking on the World Tuberculosis Day programme hosted under the aegis of the State Tuberculosis Programme.

He also called for coordinating efforts between TB and AIDS and said cross referral treatment was the need of the hour.

While Dr AP Mamgai, state TB control officer and Director of the national programme, said with the appointment of laboratory technicians in the state, the TB programme would further get a boost in detection of cases.

On the other hand, Dr Pooja Bhardwaj, Director of Ayurveda and Siddha, said tuberculosis usually attacked patients whose immunity level was low, but both ayurveda and homeopathy had several medicines that boosted the immunity system. “We can work together and conduct trials for such medicines that can be used along with DOTS for the well-being of the patient,” said Dr Bhardwaj.

Dr CP Arya, Health and Family Welfare DG, called for adoption of a sensitive approach towards patients so that they could approach the treatment with ease, without fearing stigma.

Significantly, the state will be launching the Multi-Drug Resistance Tuberculosis programme this year as soon the accreditation is granted for the laboratory that has been set up at the DG office.

In all there are 3 per cent of cases in this category and around 12 per cent to 17 per cent of cases that may be undergoing DOTS treatment.

Dehradun, March 24
Tuberculosis (TB) has tremendous impact on a patient’s household in terms of income, health education and nutrition. A sociological study conducted by a non-government organisation, Horizon of Prosperity and Education (HOPE), in Uttarakhand has pointed out that the disease seemed to strike the young and was prevalent in the age group 15-59 years, the most productive years of one’s life. Fear and stigma of tuberculosis had a greater impact on women than on men.

“Men abandon wives, nobody marries a single girl suffering from TB. Fear of becoming homeless and social isolation leads a majority of women diagnosed with TB dismiss their constant cough as seasonal. But once they come out in the open, women in more numbers than men adhere to the treatment,” said Dr VS Tolia, District Tuberculosis Officer.

During the course of a study, it came to light that poverty and TB are closely related. Lack of education, malnutrition and poor living conditions increase the risk of infection.

Despite providing free directly observed treatment (DOTS) to the patients at government centres and involvement of health workers, who ensure that the TB patients don’t break the treatment, no financial allocation is made for immunity boosting diet.

“While regular intake of medicines (through DOTS) coupled with a healthy diet boosting the immunity system can help a TB patient recover from the deadly disease, a healthy diet is difficult to come by for a patient who is already poor. No allocation is made for these patients who already lead a hand to mouth existence,” said Kanta, a health worker with HOPE.

The social worker and DOTS provider, she has managed to help two patients Pooran and Jagdish fully recover from TB. “The condition of Jagdish is worrisome, as his 12-year-old daughter and wife too are TB patients. He is a labourer and hardly manages to make two ends meet. A nutritious diet that comes along with the treatment could have been beneficial, but it is not the case,” said Kanta.

She had a task cut out as both patients after starting the treatment in 2008, abruptly stopped it and began drinking and living in unhygienic conditions. “Finally, my pleading and persuasion worked and they both began taking the treatment,” said Kanta.

Dehradun, March 24
The PCA defeat UP star by 23 runs here today during the ongoing Uttarakhand-UP Real Host Cup Cricket Tournament being organised by the Uttarakhand Youth t-20 Cricket Association in Biharigarh.

The PCA elected to bat first after winning the toss. The team scored 132 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Adesh scored 23 runs and remained the the top scorer for the side.

For UP Star, Anuj took three wickets while Pintu and Ravinder pocketed one wicket each.

In reply, UP Star’s batsmen couldn’t do much in front of the disciplined bowling display of the PCA. Vishvdeep and Naeem bowled superbly and took three wickets. Ajay and Rakam also took two important wickets each and turned the match in their favour.

Dinesh was the highest scorer with 30 runs for UP Star. Rest of the batsmen failed to contribute and couldn’t face the bowling of its rival and the team bundled on a total of 108 runs in 16 overs.