Hoshiarpur, September 28
As many as 29 cases of suspected dengue fever have been reported in the district, of which eight are confirmed.

Disclosing this here today, Civil Surgeon Dr Ravi Parkash Dogra said there were six suspected dengue fever cases in the Civil Hospital of which one was discharged this morning.

Samples of platelet count of eight patients had been sent to the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar. Samples of another eight patients were being sent for analysis to Jalandhar. Only one confirmed dengue fever patient, who had also developed some other complications, had been referred to the DMC, Ludhiana.

The Civil Surgeon claimed that the situation was under control. He said a separate ward had been set up for eight dengue patients in the Civil Hospital. However, arrangements had also been made to house at least 20 more patients at a time.

He appealed to the people to maintain cleanliness in and around their houses, clear stagnant water from their air-coolers, flower pots and waste tyres or pits, etc., as these were the breeding places of dengue mosquitoes.

Nawanshahr, September 28
Gurtej Singh, Ajmer Singh, Daljit Singh, Jatinder Singh, Nikhil Kumar and Prahlad Singh are among those young policemen who have been strengthening the endangered parts of the Dhussi bundh with sandbags to save villages along the Sutlej from the fury of floods. With the zeal and dedication, these newly recruited youths for disaster management have won accolades from the residents of Burj Tehal Dass, Lasara, Pandrawl, Aur and Urapar villages.

Motivated by SSP Narinder Bhargav to take the alarming situation both as a challenge and an opportunity to serve the people in distress, the newly recruited youths, now affectionately called by the villagers as “Bhargav sena”, have been performing the rescue operation for the past five days.

“The sigh of relief on the faces of villagers, who have been facing a threat of floods, has given us a great contentment and we are not feeling any inferiority complex or tiredness,” said these youths, adding “while saving the Dhussi bundh, we have got the opportunity to serve the people at the time when they need our help the most.”

SSP Bhargav has galvanised the police force into a disaster management force in the district. During one month, the police force has been deputed to save the villagers from the fury of floods at Tajowal Mandala, Burj Tehal Dass and Mirzpur at the time when the Dhussi bundh at these sites was at critical stage. “To avoid a chaos during the rescue operation, a plan for carrying out the operation in a planned manner was prepared by the district police,” said Bhargav, adding that lists of all the required persons and NGOs for providing tractor-trailers, sandbags, labour, skilled labour for weaving iron nets had been prepared.

Besides the police and the civil administration, villagers and NGOs had also been contributing a lot by organising langars for providing meals, tea, snacks, etc., to the persons working at the Dhussi bundh sites in the district.

Jalandhar, September 28
Keeping in view the increasing demand of milk, its stagnant production and cold response of the marginal dairy farmers to the recently introduced artificial insemination scheme, the government has decided to offer the imported semen of highly yielding species of bulls, “Holstien-Friesen”, at prices half as that of currently charged by the Department of Animal Husbandry.

In an effort to enrich the breed quality and lactation capacity of the cattle in the state, the government procured nearly one lakh doses of the high quality semen from the US in December last and fixed the cost at Rs 200 per dose.

Dr HS Sandha, Director, Animal Husbandry, Punjab, said that the government has agreed to provide 50 per cent subsidy on the product under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) Scheme. With the assistance, per dose cost would automatically be reduced to half as that of present cost, he claimed. “We have already floated global tender to import 1.5 lakh more doses of high quality semen. Some of the reputed firms from the US, Canada and European nations have applied for the same. Although the bid is yet to be materialised, we hope that the prices would remain below Rs 100 per dose,” he added.

Artificial insemination with the said quality of semen makes cattle produce milk in the range of 13,000-17,000 litres per lactation (305 days per year) against 5,000-8,000 litres in case of cattle artificially inseminated with semen produced in local bull farms. The semen produced in such farms is available only at Rs 30 per dose.

Quizzed about the acceptance of imported variety, Dr N.K. Sharma, President, Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association, said only rich and well-off dairy farmers are opting for the variety and till the cost is revised it would be very difficult for poor and marginal farmers to adopt the scheme.

Most of the farmers, especially in the districts of south and south west Punjab and Majha region, opt for locally produced variety, he added.

Hoshiarpur, September 28
Activists of the Senior Citizens Welfare Council have expressed their concern against the non-implementation of various welfare schemes, including the national policy for aged persons and old-age social income security project at the ground level framed by the Central and state governments despite many assurances.

In a representation to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Punjab, association president and general secretary Brig Surjit Singh (retd) and K.R. Ahluwalia, respectively, stated that the Indira Gandhi National Old-Age Pension Scheme which had assured a minimum sum of Rs 400 per month to a senior citizen had not been implemented so far in Punjab.

They urged the Prime Minister to instruct the Chief Minister of Punjab to initiate constructive steps to overcome the plight of a number of senior citizens in the state so that they could spend the evening of their life in a dignified manner. The Indian Railways had extended 30 per cent rebate in its fare to the senior citizens travelling in trains. But Punjab had not extended this facility to the deserving senior citizens through the Transport Department and medical institutions so far which was need of the hour.

The Income Tax Department has fixed 65 years as the age to be a senior citizen for extending tax benefits whereas banks, railways and other central institutions, including FEMA through the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, considered 60 years as the age to be a senior citizen. This discrimination and disparity may be removed and a uniform age of 60 years for senior citizen fixed for all intents and purposes.

Nawanshahr, September 28
Three engineering students have been booked for their alleged involvement in ragging.

Giving details, SSP Narinder Bhargav said on the basis of the complaint lodged by Bhupal Singh, Vice-Principal of IITT College, Pojewal, a case under Sections 341, 355, 506 and 34 of the IPC was registered against three students - Amit Mishra, Rakesh Kumar (ECE second year) and Vinay Kumar (chemical engineering second year) - at Pojewal police station.

In his complaint, the Vice-Principal had stated that he had received a number of complaints from junior students that they were being threatened, abused and forced to do some objectionable things by some seniors.