Dehradun, December 1
The first drop-in centre (DIC) at Dehradun is empowering people living with AIDS/HIV (PLAH) who are forced to live on the margins.Not only do PLAH bond with each other sharing their problems, but are also being counselled about the merits of leading a healthy and stress-free life.

Supported by the Family Health International, an NGO, and the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), the second drop-in centre will be shortly set up at Haldwani followed by other districts.

“A session at the DIC helps me regain my confidence. The counsellors ensure that we regularly check immunity levels to monitor our health and if need be, go for CD4 count tests also,” said a patient who now regularly visits DIC.

In the future, a network of DICs will be spread in all districts to be manned exclusively by PLAH.

“At the drop-in centre, HIV/AIDS persons can hope to get access to medical and even legal aid. We have started looking for a suitable place to house the centre.

“Financial and psycho-social support in caring for family members with HIV and financial schemes for widows and grandmothers who care for the affected children is a must,” said Dr PC Kapri, Additional Project Director of the State AIDS Control Society.

To protect the rights of HIV+ persons with reference to property and provide them with better livelihood options, many programmes encouraging economic independence, which can have a large impact on reducing PLAH vulnerability, are being promoted through the DIC network.

“At the centre, there are two male and female social workers who counsel the clients about how they should take care of themselves. Most of PLAH lose their will to live and their families too turn their back on them. We counsel them about building relationships,” said Anand Singh Tomar, Project Manager, DIC.

He added that the centre recently handled a case of a woman from Uttarkashi whose husband and family members had abandoned her after she tested HIV positive. “Not only did we ensure that the woman take up anti-retroviral treatment (ART), but we counselled family members to voluntarily give her property rights or face action,” said Tomar.

The centre is also providing holistic care to street-based individuals (called clients) who use brown sugar, a crude form of heroin. The DIC counsellors are quick to counsel the youth against the use of drugs and encourage them to opt for tests.

Dehradun, December 1
Committed to the theme of ‘universal access and human rights’, the Uttarakhand AIDS Control Society (USACS) launched an Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) van today.

“The van equipped with counselling and testing facility will be able to increase the reach of diagnosis and treatment facilities to the affected,” said Dr Uma Kant Panwar at a function held today to mark World AIDS Day.

He said detection, treatment and counselling continued to be the corner stone of the AIDS programme in the state. “We have established an Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Centre in Haldwani which is proving to be a boon for patients,” said Dr Panwar.

Director-General, Health, HC Bhatt said the AIDS virus could be controlled through awareness and prompt treatment. To bolster voluntary blood donation efforts in the state, besides launching a blood transport van, the Uttarakhand Health Department today instituted awards for higher learning institutions making yearly blood donations.

Dr Meenakshi Uniyal, Joint Director, Information in Education and Communication (IEC) and Blood Safety, said institutions of higher learning undertaking blood donations and contributing 1,000 units of blood yearly would be given a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh along with a commendation certificate and a shield.

“Those contributing 500 units of blood annually will be given a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and less than 500 units will be given a cash prize of Rs 25,000. The cash prize will go towards the welfare of students,” said Dr Uniyal.

She said regular donations act as a protective shield against HIV/AIDS as prior to undertaking blood donation, tests for AIDS were also performed.

A blood donation camp was also held at the Doon Hospital Blood Bank in which girl students from GRD Academy donated blood.

The Agnes Kunze Society, under its Hope project, held an awareness rally at the Madrasi Colony and rest camp. The rallyists carrying placards marched in unison calling for ending discrimination against AIDS patients. The rally ended at the Parade Ground.

A cultural programme to spread awareness about AIDS was also held in which troupes performed different folk dances to educate the masses. A scene from the Raj Yatra, performed expertly by schoolchildren of the Hope organisation, was appreciated by one and all.

Later, schoolchildren gave vent to their creativity by participating in a painting competition.

Dehradun, December 1
Marking the first week of December as World AIDS Week, Beginning, a social organisation, today visited the city gymnasium to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS among the youth.The youth were given a small talk on AIDS and were also given literature for reference.

The founder of the organisation emphasised on the need to educate the young generation about AIDS. “Youth are our future and it is up to elders to instill in them social responsibility,” said Hemant Kumar Sethi, founder of the organisation. 

A match in the Sub-Junior Mir Iqbal Hussain Inter-School Coca Cola Football Championship in progress at Ambedkar Stadium, Dehradun, on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, December 1
Maharishi Vidya Mandir outshone Summer Valley School 4-0 on the second day of the Sub-Junior Mir Iqbal Hussain Inter-School Coca Cola Football Championship held at Ambedkar Stadium here.

Vidya Mandir steadily made progress during the match and this spelt trouble for their opponents. The winning team scored two goals in each half.

Shaurya (20th, 40th), Suraj (21st) and Sandeep (60th) scored for the winning team in this one-sided encounter.

In another match played today, DAV Public School was beaten by a narrow margin of a goal by CNS. The latter scored through Anand in the 12th minute.

Dehradun, December 1
Dee.Bee XI thrashed IPM by eight wickets in the Beehive Challenger Trophy T20 Cricket Tournament here today.IPM chose to bat first after winning the toss. They set a target of 107 runs losing all wickets in 20 overs. Shazad (39) and Abhishek (20) mainly contributed to the team total. Harvinder (12) and Pramod (11) also chipped in.

Dabbu captured five wickets and Kiran, Varun took two wickets each for Dee.Bee. In reply, Dee.Bee scored 110 runs in 13.1 overs losing two wickets. Varun (37), Kiran (29) and Mukesh Ranjan (27) fashioned the win.

Harvinder and Rohit pocketed a wicket each for the bowling side, but that couldn’t make much of a difference.

Law students burn an effigy of the Garhwal University authorities in Dehradun on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, December 1
Annoyed by the delay in the release of the final date sheet for the semester examination, students of DAV PG College, Law Department, burnt an effigy of the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna University’s Registrar at entrance of the college campus here today.

Under leadership of Professional Course representative Rajneesh Mohan, the agitators staged a demonstration and gheraoed college Principal BL Nautiyal. The law students alleged that the university was misleading the students by repeatedly changing the examination dates.

Talking to The Tribune, third semester student Shobhit Aggarwal said, “The law classes have been disrupted due to the repeated changes in the exam schedule. Earlier, the exam date was November 25, as announced by the university. It was later changed to November 29 and now, it was again changed to December 10. The repeated changes have confused the students”.

“The courses of third and fifth semesters are being completed in a year’s time, whereas these were supposed to be finished in six months. It seems that the entire law course will end in five years instead of three years. Such a delay will surely ruin the career of many students, while making them ineligible to appear in other competitive examinations,” added Shobhit.

“We have given memorandums and have staged dharnas in favour of our demands, but nothing has been materialised as yet. Till now, the university and the college authorities have been giving fake assurances. The college administration has been playing with the career of the students. Such an attitude of the university will not be tolerated,” said Rajneesh Mohan. However, college principal BL Nautiyal assured the students of informing them about the final exam schedule.

Dehradun, December 1
As part of its golden jubilee celebrations, the Northern Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), held a painting competition here today.On topics such as wildlife, pollution and environment, a large number of schoolchildren from five different schools of Dehradun participated in the competition. These included children from both government and private schools.

Scientist, ZSI, Dr Archana Bahuguna coordinated today’s event with the assistance of Dr Vinita Sharma and Dr Narendra Sharma. The programme was conducted under the supervision of Officer-in-Charge and Additional Director, ZSI Northern Regional Centre, PT Bhutia.

At tomorrow’s event, a quiz competition for classes VIII to X will be organised. JP Sati and Dr AN Rizv are slated to preside over the proceedings.

On December 3, hands-on training on collection, preservation and maintenance of fauna will be imparted by ZSI scientists to students from DAV, DBS, FRI and Guru Ram Rai colleges.

The celebrations will culminate on December 10. Prize distribution will take place on the concluding day.

Dehradun, December 1
Players of the state left for the 36th National Women Games that will be played from December 4 to 7 in Karnataka. From Uttarakhand, volleyball, kho-kho and kabaddi players are taking part in the Games.

A total of 34 participants are there. This includes 13 volleyball, 11 kho-kho and 10 kabaddi players. Coaches and managers are also accompanying the players.