Free rapid testing for Covid-19 for GCG students

Friday: 9th October 2020 at 3:23 PM  

 Iron, Folic acid and Zinc tablets were also distributed    

Ludhiana: 10th October 2020: (Kartika Singh//Punjab Screen)::                     

A team of doctors from Punjab Health Department organized a camp, conducting free rapid testing for Covid-19 as a precautionary measure at Govt. College for Girls, Ludhiana. Dr. Seema Kaushal, Medical Officer UCHC, Jawaddi conducted Corona Awareness Drive to make people aware of the causes of infection so that the recovery rate gets better and mortality rate comes down. She gave valuable tips on nutritious and healthy diet. Moreover, to build a strong immunity against this virus Iron and Folic acid tablets and Zinc tablets were also distributed. The camp successfully accomplished under the able guidance of Officiating Principal Dr. Gurpreet Kaur and Dr. Sukhwinder Kaur, Incharge Student Council.  

World suicide prevention day contest

Tue, Aug 29, 2017 at 4:58 PM

PAU Extends date for receiving entries

Ludhiana: August 29th, 2017: (Kartika Singh//Punjab Screen)::

Dr. Sarabjeet Singh, Professor of Journalism, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), informed today that the last date for receiving entries for World Suicide Prevention Day Contest (by PAU) has been extended till Friday i.e. September 1, 2017. He said the University has already received a number of entries and there was huge enthusiasm among participants throughout the state. It is noteworthy here that the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, PAU, is organizing this state level contest in connection with suicide prevention initiatives. Every year World Health Organization (WHO) and International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) mark September 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day. This year the theme is “Take a minute – Change a life.”

Giving details, Dr. Sarabjeet Singh said, “The contest includes five competitions, namely writing of an essay, poetry, story, slogan coining, and poster making. There are two levels for participation: Level I- Students from class 9th to 12th and Level II – Youth in the age group of 18-35 years (residing in Punjab).” The topics have been designed in such a way that builds the remedial and coping skills of the people, thereby, helping them face the odds of life, he added. These include ‘How to pass difficult moments of life?,’ ‘Suicide: A Problem, not a Solution,’ ‘Perseverance is the hallmark of Punjabis,’ ‘Shun big fat Weddings/Bhogs,’ and ‘Boost brotherhood – Reduce tension.’  

           For essay contest, the word limit is 400-500 words, the creative poem should have a minimum of 8 lines, the number of slogans should be 3 to 5, the size of the poster should be half chart and story should be in less than 1000 words, he told. The language for the contest can be Punjabi, Hindi or English, he said. One can participate in one or more competitions, he said, adding that entries should be one’s own creation and no plagiarism should be involved.

Soft copies of entries can be sent at psvpau@gmail.com or hard copies can be mailed by post to Head, Department of Agricultural Journalism, Languages and Culture, PAU, Ludhiana.  Winners will be honored at PAU on Sunday i.e. September 10.

IDPD delegation going to Germany

Thursday, May 23, 2013, at 4:27 PM
Congress on Social and Health Effects of Small Arms from 30th May
Rising Arms Race is a serious threat
Indian Doctors for Peace and Development will undertake a bike tour

Ludhiana, May 22, 2013(Rector Kathuria): A 22 member delegation of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) is going to Germany to participate in the international congress on Social and Health Effects of Small Arms. This is first such congress being organized by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) at Villengen Schwenningen, the cities located near the major gun producing industry Heckler and Kohl from 30th May to 2nd June 2013. The congress will focus on “Small Arms – weapons of mass destruction, how their production, trade and use affects health and development, Economic roots and impact of global arms trade, Conversion, political framework and alternative security concepts and Solutions and Actions: Perspectives and activities international, regional, national”.
The Indian delegation includes doctors and medical students from Punjab – 7 and rest from other parts of the country. From Indian delegation Dr.Arun Mitra will make a presentation at the plenary session on the subject “Arms Race And Socio Economic Development South Asian Perspective”. Dr S S Soodan along with Dr Tipu Sultan of Pakistan will conduct a workshop on “Small arms production, trade and use affect health and development – Solutions and Actions”. Dr N S Bawa will put up an exhibition on the deadly effects of small arms. Four medical students from IDPD will undertake a Bike tour in Germany from Ulm to Villingen.
Number of Arms in India 40,000,000 and Pakistan 18,000,000 pose a serious threat to their population. Continued violence in the different parts of India has cost immense loss of life. More than 21000 people died in the terrorist related violence in  Punjab 1981 to 1995. Similarly more than 43000 people have died in the state of Jammu & Kashmir in the last 21 years. In the North Eastern part of India due to internal conflicts substantial number of people have died in the past. Everyday violence in Pakistan has led to 47000 people dead in the last 10 years. The civil war in Sri Lanka for quarter of a century, claimed around 130,000 lives. The UN estimates that 40,000 civilians alone died in the five months before the war's end in May 2009. Nepal reports a violent death rate of 6.2 per 100,000 in an average year between  2004 and 2009.
Therefore it is important that the production of small arms and their trade should be highly regulated and gradually phased out. IDPD has already demanded that no arms licenses should be issued to the civilians as these are mostly used for bullying purpose. We will further demand:
Permanent members of the UN security council are the chief producers and suppliers of small arms. There should be political and moral will to curtail their weapon industries.
All weapons should have international registry code to trace their origin.
Funds should be created to purchase and destroy illegal small arms.
Illegal trade and support to terror groups should be regulated in terms of small arms supplied.
Chief arms suppliers should consider human rights violations.
The recently signed arms trade treaty (ATT) should be amended accordingly.
IDPD has also planned an international students exchange programme at government medical college Amritsar, Faridkot and Bathinda.

No to insecure and hostile work environment

27-February-2013 18:49 IST
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace 
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2013 Sexual Harassment of Women

Courtesy Photo

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2012 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 26th February 2013. Lok Sabha has passed it in September 2012.Sexual Harassment at workplace is a violation of women’s right to gender equality, life and liberty. It creates an insecure and hostile work environment, which discourages women’s participation in work, thereby adversely affecting their economic empowerment and the goal of inclusive growth. However, there is no domestic law to address this issue except a few provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Supreme Court Guidelines in the case of Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan. The increasing work participation rate of women has made it imperative that a comprehensive legislation focusing on prevention of sexual harassment as well as providing a redressal mechanism be enacted.
The salient features of the Act are as follows:
(i)        It defines “sexual harassment at the workplace” in a comprehensive manner, in keeping with the definition laid down in the Vishaka judgment, and broadening it further to cover circumstances of implied or explicit promise or threat to a woman’s employment prospects or creation of hostile work environment or humiliating treatment, which can affect her health or safety.
(ii)       The definition of “aggrieved woman”, who will get protection under the Act is extremely wide to cover all women, irrespective of her age or employment status, whether in the organised or unorganised sectors, public or private and covers clients, customers and domestic workers as well.
(iii) While the “workplace” in the Vishaka guidelines is confined to the traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee relationship, the Act goes much further to include organisations, department, office, branch unit etc in the public and private sector, organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the employee during the course of employment including the transportation.
(iv)      Definition of employee covers regular/temporary/ad hoc/daily wage employees, whether for remuneration or not and can also include volunteers. The definition of employer includes the head of the Government department/organisation/institution/office/branch/unit, the person responsible for management/supervisions/control of the workplace, the person discharging contractual obligations with respect to his/her employees and in relation to a domestic worker the person who benefits from that employment.
(v) The redressal mechanism provided in the Act is in the form of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and Local Complaints Committee (LCC). All workplaces employing 10 or more than 10 workers are mandated under the Act to constitute an ICC. The ICC will be a 4 member committee under the Chairpersonship of a senior woman employee and will include 2 members from amongst the employees preferably committed to the cause of women or has experience in social work/legal knowledge and includes a third party member (NGO etc) as well.
(vi)  Complaints from workplaces employing less than 10 workers or when the complaint is against the employer will be looked into by the LCC. A  District Officer notified under the Act will constitute the LCC at the district level. LCC will also look into complaints from domestic workers.
(vii) LCC will be a five member committee comprising of a chairperson to be nominated from amongst eminent women in the field of social work or committed to the cause of women, one member from amongst women working in block/taluka/tehsil/manicipality in the district, two members of whom at least one shall be a woman to be nominated from NGOs committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with the issues related to sexual harassment provided that at least one of the nominees should preferably have a background in law or legal knowledge. The concerned officer dealing with the social welfare or women and child development shall be an ex officio member.
(viii)  A complaint of sexual harassment can be filed within a time limit of 3 months. This may be extended to another 3 months if the woman can prove that grave circumstances prevented her from doing the same.
(ix) The Act has a provision for conciliation. The ICC/LCC can take steps to settle the matter between the aggrieved woman and the respondent, however this option will be used only at the request of the woman. The Act also provides that monetary settlement shall not be made a basis of conciliation. Further, if any of the conditions of the settlement is not complied with by the respondent, the complainant can go back to the Committee who will proceed to make an inquiry. 
(x)  The Committee is required to complete the inquiry within a time period of 90 days. On completion of the inquiry, the report will be sent to the employer or the District Officer, as the case may be, they are mandated to take action on the report within 60 days.
(xi) In case the complaint has been found proved, then the Committee can recommend action in accordance with the provision of service rules applicable to the respondent or as per the rules which will be prescribed, where such service rules do not exist. The committee can also recommend deduction of an appropriate sum from the salary of the respondent or ask respondent to pay the sum. In case the respondent fails to pay such sum, district officer may be asked to recover such sum as an arrear of land revenue.
(xii) In case the allegation against the respondent has not been proved then the Committee can write to the employer/district officer that no action needs to be taken in the matter.
(xiii) In case of malicious or false complaint then the Act provides for a penalty according to the Service Rules. However, this clause has a safeguard in the form of an enquiry prior to establishing the malicious intent. Also, mere inability to prove the case will not attract penalty under this provision.
(xiv) The Act has provisions for providing reliefs to the aggrieved woman in the interim period including leave and transfer during the pendency of the inquiry.
(xv) The Act prohibits disclosure of the identity and addresses of the aggrieved woman, respondent and witnesses. However, information regarding the justice secured to any victim of sexual harassment under this Act without disclosing the identity can be disseminated.
(xvi) The Act casts a responsibility on every employer to create an environment which is free from sexual harassment. Employers are required to organize workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing the employees about the provision of this legislation and display notices regarding the constitution of Internal Committee, penal consequences of sexual harassment etc.
(xvii) An employer will be liable to a fine of Rs 50,000 in case of violation of his duties under the Act and in case of subsequent violations the amount of fine will be double together with penalty in the form of cancelation of his licence, withdrawal or non-withdrawal of the registration required for carrying out his activity.
(xviii) In case of domestic worker the procedure is different considering the nature of employment. A domestic worker can approach the LCC in case of any complaint. If the complainant wishes then conciliation may be carried out. However, in other cases if the complaint is proved prima facie then the LCC can forward the complaint to the police for registering the case and taking appropriate action under the relevant provision of IPC. 
(xix) Regarding monitoring, the Act provides that the State Governments will monitor implementation and maintain data for all State Government establishments as well as private establishments in their territory. For establishments of the Central Government this duty is cast on the Government of India.  All ICCs have to submit Annual reports to the employer who inturn will submit it to the district officer. All LCCs shall submit their annual report to the district officer. The district officers will submit the report annually to the State Governments.
(xx) The Central and State Governments are mandated to develop relevant IEC and training materials and organise awareness programmes to advance the understanding of the public on the provisions of this Bill.
(xxi) The Central Government will provide financial assistance to the States to meet the expenditure of fee and allowances payable to the members of the Local Complaints Committee. (PIB)  Sexual Harassment prevention Bill passed
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