Rani Lakshmi Bai remembered
Amritsar, May 19
The Rani Jhansi Society today felicitated 80 students of various schools of the city. They were honoured for doing well in a painting contest, organised to recall the valiant tale of Rani Lakshami Bai.



BJP national vice-president Laxmi Kanta Chawla being honoured during a programme organised by the Rani Jhansi Society in Amritsar on Sunday. A Tribune Photogarph

Obese people avail of free consultation at bariatric camp 
Amritsar, May 19
People suffering from obesity in the city availed the free consultation facility at a bariatric camp, organised by Hargun Hospital, here today. The camp was organised with the support of New Delhi-based Nova Specialty Surgery. A significant number of the participants in the camp were obese children.

Experts dwell on rise in diabetes cases at national summit
Amritsar, May 19
The National Diabetes Summit under the aegis of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Dr Mohan's Diabetes Education Academy was organised at Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research here today.



SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar along with doctors during a national summit on diabetes at Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Amritsar on Sunday. A Tribune Photograph

 

 

Amritsar, May 19
After scrapping the old pattern of development grants (limited to Rs 50,000) per ward, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has conceptualised a policy to release funds to the tune of Rs 11 lakh to each ward.

This draft plan would be tabled in the next MC House meeting scheduled to be held on May 30 for seeking final nod. Under the new format, every councillor would be entitled to have Rs 5 lakh each for civil work, operation and maintenance (O&M) and Rs 1 lakh for rectifying any streetlight and maintenance of parks in their wards.

It has been learnt that a number of complaints were received from the residents that the meagre amount of Rs 50,000 never served any purpose and that the money spent was of little use. Apart from this, the councillors, too, found it to be a tedious exercise to get their files cleared from the MC officials, whose integrity, too, had come under scanner while processing the files.

Taking this into account, the MC had stopped the old pattern of releasing the Rs 50,000 grant for the past over three months, while inviting the ire of the councillors.

Regarding the new format, the councillors are susceptible about how the funds, which are supposed to be disbursed among them, would be generated and what hardship they have to face in get the amount rolling in several lakhs of rupees, released, especially, when they had a bad experience of get a meagre amount of Rs 50,000 released in the past.

A high-level meeting was conducted under the aegis of MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh and Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora recently, wherein it was decided to give a grant of Rs 11 lakh to each of the 65 wards. This implied that the holy city needed at least Rs 7.15 crore to implement the plan in its true letter and spirit.

Amritsar, May 19
Continuous burning of refuse in the city and on its outskirts has offended environmentalists and vigilant residents, who brought the matter to the notice of the district administration.

Deepak Babbar of the Mission Agaaz said the remains of plants and trees and refuse are set on fire to escape the grueling task of collecting and disposing them. “The matter is of utmost concern as area outside Guru Nanak Dev University and around cantonment is being used for burning refuse,” he rued. He said the burning of refuse not only adds to pollution in the city, but also destroys insects, which are beneficial for soil.

He said it was a matter of concern that the city has less than two per cent of the area under green cover. There are as many as 375 parks spread over about 385 acres in 65 wards of the city, but most of these are in posh colonies.

“Where and how did we miss on the green cover is an intriguing question and that, too, after organising several green campaigns in the city from time to time,” said Babbar. He said though the city ranks number one in the country for rapidly developing green cover in the city, but there is a long way to go to achieve the minimum standard of green cover mandatory for each city.

By burning garbage in the bins or accumulated waste on the streets, the life of innocent persons is put to risk as they have to bear the smoke for the whole day.

As no thought is given to segregate the trash here, it is very likely that all plastics, polystyrene (such as foam cups), dry and wet waste is burnt at a stretch, which release hazardous gases. Medical experts said the smoke from burning trash in a barrel contains particulate matter, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, benzene, styrene, formaldehyde, arsenic, lead and chromium, etc.

Another environmentalist Gurbhej Singh, a resident of McLeod Road, said garbage heaps are spotted in almost all parts of the city, like Court Road, Albert Road, Queens Road, Basant Avenue or roads near the railway station. Over the past sometime, it has become a common practice to hear and learn the fall of trees on these roads. The fall of trees is shown as a natural process, which is contrary to the truth, he averred.

“It has been noticed that many trees developed cavities following constantly burning of refuse around these and as a result they eventually fall. Thus, providing a wider look to the facade of shops in these areas,” he remarked.

Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said stern directions had been issued to the safai karamcharis not to set the refuse on fire. He added that many individuals also resorted to such activities, which would be checked. The people needed to develop understanding towards their immediate environment and take steps to protect it.

Amritsar, May 19
Most of the public offices in the district do not seem to be people friendly at all, especially in the scorching heat, as they cannot provide even basic facilities as shade and cold water to the visitors.

The visitors have to wait for their turns to get their works done while standing. They complained that there are not adequate fans and sitting arrangements.

The cold water for drinking seems a luxury for the common visitors. A visit to the District Transport Office (DTO) here revealed that applicants have to stand in the sun outside the windows.

Visitors complained that at least the administration could install a few sheds to save people from heat and rain. "Even during the rainy season, people would have to stand in the open. It is not humane," said a visitor, Kuldeep Kaur.

Visitors complained due to heavy rush of applicants, the Suwidha Centre at the District Transport Office got jam-packed. The suffocation due to huge rush of people and standing for long hours make things difficult for the general public, especially senior citizens.

Even at the local bus stand the general public complained of inadequate facilities of drinking water and fans. A visitor, Harnam Dass, said, "May be this a conspiracy by the shopkeepers selling bottled water and cold drinks that water cooling machines are not working normally. If there is no cold water at these machines, people would have to buy bottled water or cold drinks and shopkeepers would make more money."

Visitors at the district courts also complained of inadequacy of cold drinking water. Visitors to various offices in the district shopping complex demanded that there should be some resting place for visitors.

A visitor said, "Sometimes people have to wait for the employees to resume their work after lunch to get their work completed. As such people have to sit under the shade of trees. Though it provides little comfort, but as the temperature would go up it would become unbearable."

Visitors to the Civil Surgeon Office complex complained that the sitting arrangements for general public were inadequate. "There are only a few chairs inside the Suwidha Centre and none at the birth and death registration counter. People have to remain standing mostly," said Sukjeet, a visitor.

Amritsar, May 19
Various organisations and institutions carried out eco-awareness activities throughout the week here. With the holy city struggling to deal with serious environmental problems like pollution, stubble burning despite being declared smoke-free city, water conservation, sewage and garbage disposal, waste management and many more issues were raised to create awareness about the environment.

The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) organised a biodiversity camp at Government School, Nuashera, this week. The activity involved women from different walks of life and they were educated about the eco-friendly methods for a healthy life.

Speaking at the camp, Rajni Bhrany, president, AIWF, encouraged the organic living. "There are many plants, medicinal and others, which could be easily grown in a kitchen garden. Our home could be turned into an organic kitchen by growing seasonal and eco-friendly varieties of plants. Turmeric, chillies, tomatoes and various other vegetables and herbs can be grown in our kitchen garden and the kitchen waste can be converted into compost. It's a healthy practice and many people in the US and Europe have adopted it for a healthy living," she said. Renu Bhardwaj, Professor of botany at GNDU, taught the participants about the various bio-friendly varieties of plants.

The Mission Aghaaz, an NGO, too, organised various activities and raised the issues like stubble burning and banning the use of insecticides. "Every morning, we wake up to a backyard filled with the soot and ash from the burnt stubble in villages. Stubble burning has become the biggest threat to our environment and educating farmers to shun the practice was the motive of our activities," said Dipak Babbar, general secretary, Mission Aghaaz.

The Mother Earth Programme apprised the students, belonging to BPL families, of the present day condition of environment. " The NGO has involved a lot of farmers in villages and is also rewarding the farmers who are renouncing the practice. The farmers who have started using alternate methods for disposing stubble have been made volunteers of the Mission Aghaaz and are now working with us to create awareness regarding the issue. Its a small step towards solving a big problem," said Dipak.

Students too joined in the cause of mother nature by doing their bit. Innovatus, an exhibition of products made from eco-friendly and waste material, was held at Springdales School . The exhibition with the theme, "Green", was aimed at educating the masses about the sustenance of life and encourage the use of natural things.

Rajiv Kumar Sharma, principal, Springdales Senior Secondary School, said "Various booths were decorated with the stuff made up of bamboo and jute to stress on the need to cut wastage of materials by making use of them." He said," The students were taught to reuse waste material to inculcate aesthetic sense in them and to curb wastage." The exhibition had put eight skills on display that included cooking, sketching, crafts, calligraphy and graphics. 

Amritsar, May 19
Increasing the number of seats in various courses in affiliated colleges, approval to provide a special chance to the reappear candidates of semester system (except credit-based evaluation system) and starting a new education department at the university campus were discussed along with the routine agenda, approved by the Syndicate of the Guru Nanak Dev University, here today.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Ajaib Singh Brar presided over the meeting while Registrar Dr Inderjit Singh presented agenda of the meeting. Prof Brar said keeping in view the future of the students, the university would provide them with a special chance to clear their semester. The move would benefit the students who appeared in their final semester examination till May 11 this year, but lost all chances to reappear.

Elaborating further, Prof Brar said the chance could be availed by paying a penalty of Rs 20,000 per paper, along with regular charges. “The students would appear in examination with current syllabus. However, this provision is not applicable to the credit-based evaluation system and annual examination system”, he said.

As per the demand, the number of seats to various undergraduate and postgraduate courses, being run in the affiliated colleges, have been increased from the one unit of 30 seats to the one unit of 60 seats in some courses.

A new education department would also be functional from this academic session and two teachers have already been appointed for the purpose. As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Government of India, GNDU would provide a special provision in admission to Kashmiri migrant students in various courses.

The Syndicate also approved increase in the honorarium of teachers, involved in evaluation of answer sheets. The honorarium has been increased from Rs 15 to 18 per answer sheet.

However, no travelling allowance will be paid. Meanwhile, the Syndicate also gave approval to PhD thesis under various faculties and to various appointments. 

Amritsar, May 19
The Rani Jhansi Society today felicitated 80 students of various schools of the city. They were honoured for doing well in a painting contest, organised to recall the valiant tale of Rani Lakshami Bai.

The programme was held at DAV Senior Secondary School. BJP National vice-president Lakshami Kanta Chawla said three students from each participating school were picked up on the basis of their performance in the painting contest held on the theme of Rani Jhansi. She said of the students, three would be selected in the next round of painting contest and they would be honoured on the martyrdom day of Rani Jhansi, which would be observed on June 18.

She said the present generation need to be educated and informed about the Rani of Jhansi and her tales of valour of. She said the youth inspired by such freedom fighters would easily overpower social evils like female foeticide, dowry, eve-teasing, drug addition to make a strong nation. — TNS 

Amritsar, May 19
The National Diabetes Summit under the aegis of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Dr Mohan's Diabetes Education Academy was organised at Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research here today.

Inaugurating the summit, Avtar Singh Makkar, president, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and chairman of the SGRD Trust said, "The prevalence of diabetes is increasing at an extremely rapid pace in Punjab. The summit is a good initiative to educate physicians and patients in the management of diabetes."

A special lifetime achievement award was conferred on Padam Shri Dr V Mohan on the occasion.

He said according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) half of the people infected with diabetes remained undiagnosed globally.

India has the second highest number of diabetes patients in the world, which is expected to increase to 101.2 million by 2030. Dr V Mohan added that it had been observed during a study on diabetes by the Department of Biochemistry, Government Medical College, Amritsar, that every fourth family had the history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, suggestive of the fact that the age of onset of diabetes mellitus was coming down (19-24 years) in males and females. He said according to the study, females were more prone to the disease as compared to the males.

During the summit, the third cycle of the certificate course in diabetes management for physicians was also announced. Around 2,700 physicians across India have completed the certificate course and it proposes to train another 2,300 more primary care physicians. Many experts participated in the event.