Amritsar, May 27
Although sexual transmission remained a major cause of spreading HIV infection, the recent observations by the Health Department revealed some startling facts that the reuse of syringes and needles by quacks is also one of the prominent reasons for it.

The quacks are wreaking havoc on society by not only spreading drug addiction, but also HIV/AIDS in the region.

The fact came to light during the HIV and TB committee meeting, which was held recently at the Community Care Centre being run by the Red Cross Society near Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here.

“According to the data available with the government medical college about 3 per cent of the patients have contracted the disease due to the use of infected syringes and needles by the quacks,” said an official, who was also the part of the meeting.

Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu, who is the Chairman of the committee, said the aspect always remained overlooked and needed to be urgently addressed. He said the number of HIV patients, contracting the disease due to infected syringes, have shown an increase.

“Not only HIV, the reuse of infected needles and syringes also contributes in spreading hepatitis B and hepatitis C,” he said.

The administration would launch a campaign to spread an awareness about avoiding the reuse of such needles and syringes, besides initiating action against quacks who were responsible for the spread of the deadly diseases, said the DC. He immediately shot letters to sarpanches of the villages in the district to identify those quacks and make them aware of not reusing the needles and syringes without getting it disinfected by boiling.

However, the sources pointed out that practically it was not possible to keep a watch on quacks, especially in the rural areas, as there was a wide gap between the promises made and provisions of quality health services in the rural belts.

“As the quality health services are almost negligible in rural areas, the people tends to go to quacks for treatment and hence the spread of these diseases,” said the authorities.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner, while lauding the services of the Community Care Centre, pointed out that from April, 2008, to March, 2009, about 1,185 HIV patients visited the community centre, while 1,206 patients visited during 2009-2010. During the current year 1,079 patients got admitted to the centre, who were provided with free counseling and medication.

Amritsar, May 27
Now, the people will not have to make rounds of their area police stations for various works such as verifications, information under the RTI Act or redressing of their grievances.

The Police Department, under its community policing programme (SAANJH), is setting up five community police suvidha centres (CPSC), which would be opened shortly.

“The construction work of these centres has already been completed and the staff has been recruited. The staff members have been provided with proper training in dealing with people, gathering and providing them with the necessary information,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Amar Singh Chahal.

These centres would be opened at Civil Lines, Cantonment, B-Division, C-Division and D-Division police stations here.

“Once made operational, the people would not have to visit police stations for even minor works such as passport verifications, status of complaints filed with the Police Department, current status of investigations in various cases, etc,” said DCP.

The staff, comprising 8-10 members, would be headed by an Inspector-level officer. Separate counters would be established to deal with different queries required by the public, said Chahal, while adding that these centres would have the representatives of the police, administration and civil society. These would be collectively managed by the community and Police Department, he said.

It is evident to mention here that the SAANJH programme was started by the state government to bring in necessary administrative reforms in the working of the Punjab Police. SAANJH is an institutionalised effort in which participation of the community has been made integral at all levels. It provides space for police-community partnership in crime prevention, redressing of grievances, victim assistance and information related to law, rules and procedures, civic rights and duties.

Such centres would be part of all police stations in the near future, while they would also be constructed at subdivisional levels. All these centres would be interconnected and linked with the headquarters at Chandigarh.

Amritsar, May 27
The unhealthy practice of burning natural refuse or garden waste, adopted by fourth-class employees of various government institutions, is taking a toll on the greenbelts in the city.And once the greenbelts are destroyed, no authority takes headache to revive them especially along the road sides and inside government institutions.

Ironically, till now no steps have been initiated by the administration, civic authorities as well as the departments concerned to check and end this practice.

Greenbelts outside Guru Nanak Dev University and cantonment area are perfect example. Latest to be in the list is the greenbelt inside ESI hospital.

A large part of the greenbelt alongside the boundary wall of Guru Nanak Dev University was destroyed in a fire, allegedly lit up to destroy the congress grass and waste.

The district administration and municipal corporation under its “Go Green, Go Clean” campaign planted large number of trees. But majority of them got destroyed in the summer season.

“Destruction of natural refuse by burning has put greenbelts of the holy city under threat,” said Gurbhej Singh of Mission Aagaaz.

“Every time the environmentalist and social workers approach authorities, nothing is done beyond mere assurances. It’s the responsibility of each and every individual to protect the greenbelts. We have written to the MC a number of times especially the huge loss to flora and fauna in cantonment area due to this reason but perhaps they care a little about the green wealth of the city. Burning of residue not only destroys greenbelts but it also adds to global warming,” he rued.

Kahan Singh Pannu, Deputy Commissioner, pointed that saving the greenbelts is the responsibility of the municipal corporation. But unfortunately civic authorities lacked dedicated horticulture wing to safeguard greenbelts and this proved to be a major setback to “Go Green Go Clean” campaign launched by the administration.

“The administration in collaboration with a number of NGOs planted a large number of trees. However, the maintenance level on part of MC authorities is not up to the mark. We have written to the MC officials in this regard a number of times. We will again take up the issue with our counterparts in the civic department.”

DPS Kharbanda, Commissioner, MC, said the civic authorities were very much concerned about this.

“The House in its recent meeting passed a resolution to maintain these greenbelts under public-private partnerships. There were about 44 greenbelts identified by the department and several private companies have approached the corporation. We are going to publish an advertisement in this regard and hopefully more companies would come forward to maintain these greenbelts,” said Kharbanda. 

Amritsar, May 27
The Department of Food Science and Technology of Guru Nanak Dev University offers technical courses in BTech (Sugar and Alcohol Technology), BTech (Food Technology), MSc (Food Technology) and PhD degree.

Dr RSS Kaler, head of the department, said the admission for 30 seats in BTech (sugar and alcohol technology) will be on the basis of merit in Class XII (non-medical). Interested candidates are required to submit their application form online up to June 15.

Another lot of 60 seats in BTech (food technology) will be on the basis of the score obtained in AIEEE. The counselling for admission will be held by Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar. The ongoing online fee deposit process for counselling would continue till June 7 by PTU at its website www.ptuaccounts.ac.in.

For 30 seats in MSc (food technology), the admissions will be done on the basis of entrance test to be conducted by the department on July 4. The eligibility conditions for the admission in MSc (food tech) is available on university website www.gndu.ac.in.

Meanwhile, the department is having well-equipped labs with the latest equipment like HPLC, GPC, differential scanning calorimeter, Brookfield viscometer, dynamic rheometers, NIR spectrophotometer and pilot scale facilities for processing fruits and vegetables.

The department has established Food Industry Service Centre which provides R & D as well analysis services to the local food industry of Punjab along with the routine tests which can be of use to common man for his satisfaction and information. Funding from various bodies like UGC, DBT, DST, CSIR is available for research work.

Meanwhile, the department is having well equipped labs with the latest equipment like HPLC, GPC, differential scanning calorimeter, Brookfield viscometer, dynamic rheometers, NIR spectrophotometer and pilot scale facilities for processing fruits and vegetables.

“The department has established Food Industry Service Centre which provides R & D as well analysis services to the local food industry of Punjab along with the routine tests which can be of use to common man for his satisfaction and information. Funding from various bodies like UGC, DBT, DST, CSIR is available for research work,” told Kaler.

However, the faculty has been honoured with awards like INSA Young Scientist Medal, CNR Rao Foundation Award, Pran Vohra Award, Fellowship of INSA and NAAS etc.

In the current academic year companies like Coca Cola, Nestle , ITC , Simbhaoli Sugars, Spray Devices, Renuka Sugar, Mohan Meakins Limited, Nestle Pvt Limited, local cooperative & private sugar industries of Punjab provided jobs to the students.

They also visited the customs wing at Attari railway station to observe the import-export practices being undertaken through the Samjhauta Express. — TNS

The company launched its ‘onsite inva service’ in Amritsar on Tuesday. SK Vaish (Regional Sales Manager -North) Rs 200 would be charged from those customers whose batteries had crossed warranty period. — TNS

Amritsar, May 27
To spread the rich Sikh cultural heritage and traditional values, Shaheed Sikh Missionary College, Amritsar, under the patronage of the SGPC is organising gurmat camps in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

As many as 200 children from Amritsar, Talwandi Sabo, Anandpur Sahib and Barnala would perform religious programmes like gurmat sangeet, gatka, kirtan, etc, during the camps.

Principal of Shaheed Sikh Missionary College Dr Suba Singh, who is also the coordinator of the programme, said the initiative was conceptualised to spread the significance of Sikh heritage among the children who live outside Punjab.

Amritsar, May 27
The District and Sessions Judges from all over Punjab would meet here tomorrow to deliberate on the various welfare schemes being run by the legal services authorities, including free legal aid to the people who could not afford to pay the fees of advocates to fight cases.

Informing this H.S. Madaan, District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman of the district legal services authority, and Rakesh Kumar, Chief Judicial Magistrate, said about 16 District and Session Judges from all over the state were likely to arrive for the meeting. He said a front office of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority would be inaugurated, which would help the litigants in filing the complaints and fighting their cases. The office would comprise two retainers (advocates) and paralegal volunteers.

Justice M.M. Kumar, Executive Chairman, Punjab State Legal Services, and U. Sarat Chandran, member secretary, National Authority of Legal Services, would be chairing the meeting.

A lok adalat would also be organised at the court complex, while a seminar on legal literacy would be held at Naushehra village in the evening. 

Amritsar, May 27
With a view to encourage farmers for go in for crop diversification, the horticulture wing of the district administration observed Horticulture Farming Day at Farvaria village, falling under Ajnala tehsil, on Wednesday.

Apprising the farmers, who turned up from various villages to attend the occasion, of the profitability and the proposed subsidies being extended by the state government in this direction, Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu advocated them to spare some portion of their land for maintaining net houses and green houses to sow papaya, banana, kinnow, peach, lemon and pear.

The state government has offered subsidies to the tune of Rs 45,000 per hectare on sowing lemon, Rs 24,750 per hectare for peer and peach and Rs 41,602 per hectare for banana.

Besides this, other lucrative schemes included Rs 40,000 per kanal for establishing net house, Rs 41,602 on vermi compost unit Rs 30,000 (per unit), on honey bee rearing Rs 1,500 (per box), on low tunnel Rs 15,000 per acre, on pack house Rs 1.5 lakh per unit, on head rotary tiller Rs 60,000, on ordinary green house Rs 4,67,500 per two canals and maximum Rs 18,70,000 per acre, on high-tech green house Rs 7,32,500 on per two canals and maximum Rs 29,30,000 per acre, on cold store of 5,000 metric tones capacity Rs 1.20 crore, under National Horticulture Mission.

“These days when the land holdings are shrinking, the farmers should go in for net house-based agriculture, because in a net house agriculture farmers can achieve Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh as income,” he said.