New Delhi, February 10
A strong possibility of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents falling into the hands of terrorists has always been a cause for global concern. Realising it to be a serious issue, the government has been training its security personnel and doctors to deal with a possible terrorist attack on the most vulnerable target in the country—Delhi.

Managing disasters caused due to these agents is also a great challenge because of its widespread contamination. One such incident is the Mayapuri radiation leak in February 2010, which led to seven people getting infected and one fatality. The source of the radiological material, Cobalt-60, was traced to a Gamma Irradiator, which was sold by the Delhi University’s chemistry department to a scrap dealer based in Mayapuri.

Major General (retd) (Dr) J K Bansal, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and incharge of its CBRN division, said, “CBRN is a threat to the nation. It could be in the form of a dirty bomb used by terrorists or in the form of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Mayapuri incident and the chlorine leak at a Mumbai port.”

He said the dirty bomb is a conventional bomb that is packaged with radiological material.

When it explodes its material is dispersed as dust over a wide area. It exposes people to the hazardous material that can cause cancer, genetic damage and infertility, he said.

After realising that the police will always be the first responders to a CBRN situation, the NDMA conducted a two-day course for the Delhi police personnel from January 30.

Earlier in September, the NDMA had conducted a sensitisation programme for them in regard to CBRN preparedness.

Bansal said the disaster management body has trained 485 Parliament personnel in nine courses on CBRN security since November 2010. These men are from the Delhi police and varied security forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force.

The training of these personnel is important as India’s Parliament had suffered an attack on December 13, 2001, by five alleged terrorists who were armed to the teeth.

To ensure a proper and timely medical response to the people affected by CBRN disasters, the NDMA had trained 400 Delhi government doctors in 2010.

“Their training lasts about five days. And since then, we have been conducting regular refresher courses, which also last the same time period,” said Bansal.

In Delhi, only the AIIMS and the Army Research and Referral Hospital have facilities to manage CBRN situations.

The main focus of the training is to prepare the security personnel and medical staff on handling CBRN disasters and on being able to use radiation-detection equipment. Some of these devices are the stand-alone system that can detect radiation up to a range of 5 km.

At the inauguration of the two-day course on CBRN preparedness for the Delhi police, the Vice-Chairman of the NDMA, M Shashidhar Reddy had said 60 mobile radiation detection systems (MRDS) will be placed in 60 police stations across Delhi.

He added that 10 police personnel from each station would be trained in using these devices.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Training) Robin Hibu said, “The Delhi police is being imparted knowledge for the first time in CBRN preparedness. We will always be the first responders to such situations and so it is necessary for us to be trained.”

The Joint Commissioner of Police (Training) added that he had sent 47 Delhi police officers for the training course.

New Delhi, February 10
The Real Champs League 2013 which was an occasion for cancer survivors to celebrate their journey to victory in their battle for cancer here today reasserted the belief of medical experts that light sports help in the patient’s rehabilitation and faster recovery.

The sports initiative, organised by Max Healthcare, was graced by the Olympic champion Sushil Kumar who cheered the spirit of cancer survivors and awarded the race winners.

“In the past, cancer patients were usually scared of any physical activity. But now numerous studies have shown that exercise and physical activity is an effective way to counteract several of the negative effects of cancer. The value of exercise and light sports has been widely recognised for patients’ rehabilitation and mental recovery,” said Dr A K Anand, chief of radiation oncology, Max Healthcare.

Aptly, describing it as ‘Back to Life’, he said, “This is a way to motivate the courage of cancer survivors, guide them towards a cheerful and lively life ahead and educate them on the importance of fun and physical activity.”

According to the director of the surgical oncology, Dr Harit Chaturvedi, this initiative celebrates the fighting spirit of cancer patients and survivors.

“It has been seen that in all these survivors, it is their desire to win over cancer combined with the right treatment that gets them through. This is what makes them the real champions in life,” he said.

Director of the hospital’s medical oncology, Dr Anupama Hooda said, “Life just not ends with cancer. There are people who have been treated and cured of this problem. The key to its prevention is to go in for regular check-ups as advised by your doctor.”

New Delhi, February 10
While books in printed form remained much sought-after by the readers in India as was reflected in the queues at various stalls at the New Delhi World Book Fair, the business on the final day was not as much as it was expected. The crowd response was lukewarm and the visitors’ figure dipped to around 50,000.

The number of visitors fell by around 10,000 even as it was a Sunday. Many attribute it to the lack of uniformity in the prices of books, especially in the prices at which the books of the foreign publishers were available.

Though the stalls selling books at discounted rates attracted large crowds; on the whole, the presence of buyers at the book fair, which had 1,100 Indian and foreign publishers from countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Nepal, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the USA, the UK, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, etc., was thin.

There were several foreign book publishers who were selling books at their domestic rates.

In this regard, a Mysore-based researcher, P M Bhat, had approached the HRD ministry and in an e-complaint said, “There are some foreign publication stalls selling books at the rates applicable in their country.”

In response, chairman of the National Book Trust, M A Sikandar said that people who have such complaints should go to the departments concerned like Sales Tax and Service Tax. We are just a literary body and NBT’s main objective is to promote good reading habits among people.