Accelerated rise in patients of chronic liver disease in Punjab

Dr.  Malhi expressed his concerns on situation

Ludhiana: August 20 2016: (Punjab Screen Team):

The team at SPS Hospitals, Ludhiana has successfully performed its first liver transplant surgery. Under the stewardship of Dr. Subash Gupta, Director, Centre for Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, led by Dr. Arindam Ghosh, Senior Consultant, Liver Transplant & G.I. Surgery & Dr. Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi, Senior Consultant & Head, Department of Gastroenterology. As a team they have successfully given a new lease of life to a patient suffering from end stage liver disease, due to chronic HCV infection.

 Dr. Gupta is one of the world’s leading Liver Transplant surgeons and a proud recipient of the Dr. B C Roy award. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Subash Gupta added “Our endeavour has been to offer a comprehensive program that takes care of all liver diseases from babies to the geriatric age group. Thought our foray into Ludhiana, we wish to establish a liver transplant program of repute to serve the people of this region and beyond”

Dr. Arindam Ghosh SPS Hospitals said, “the success of this liver transplant exhibits the high quality, safety, reliability and affordability of our healthcare services. This world class liver transplant program at Ludhiana will not only benefit the people of Punjab but will also cater to the needs of those requiring liver transplants from the neighbouring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan”.

  Dr. Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi expressed his concerns regarding accelerated rise in number of patients of chronic liver disease in Punjab. He informed that Hepatitis C, alcoholism and obesity (metabolic syndrome) are three major culprits for liver damage in our state. According to Dr. Malhi, need for awareness among public, regular testing for disease evaluation and early treatment can reverse/ delay the progression of disease. But in advanced cases, the only ray of hope is liver transplantation.

End stage liver disease is a potentially fatal condition in which there is a progressive loss in liver function over a period of months or years. According to Dr. Arindam Ghosh, in such situations the liver is no longer able to work at a level needed for day-to-day life.

According to Dr. Ghosh, with improvement in surgical techniques this operation ensures safety of both the donor and recipient of liver transplant with excellent short and long term outcomes. He further added that liver donation is absolutely safe and remaining liver of donor as well as the liver donated to recipient regenrates to its normal in few weeks and recipient & donor can lead normal life afterwards.

Commenting on the occasion Dr. Ubaid Hamid, Medical Superintendent, said, “we have established the most up to date and state of the art infrastructure geared towards undertaking successful liver transplants with the highest level of clinical excellence and highest standards of patient safety.

 Patient Swaran Kaur (name changed) was diagnosed as decompensated chronic liver disease due to Hepatitis C virus infection. She was admitted multiple times due to various complications. Her chances of survival beyond 3 months looked very bleak due to her advanced liver disease. After proper councelling her daughter Jaspreet Kaur(name changed) gave her half of her liver for living donor liver transplant for her mother.Both recipient mother and donor daughter recovered well after surgery.

SPS Hospitals,Ludhiana have started Liver clinic where chronic liver disease patients will be jointly seen by Medical gastroenterology & Hepatology and Liver Transplant Team and will be given state of art world class treatment.

A Real Story--From Clinical Death to Life!

Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 3:58 PM

Angush was listless, with no pulse, no breathing

We often hear the poor quality of medical education today and often brand institutions on ‘hearsay’ complaints. But the case may be different.

Here is a story of young medical students Allen, Karanvir, Sanal, Akash & Nishit from Delhi, Ludhiana, Kochi & Odissa respectively, of first year who practiced what they were taught in their first year and saved the life of a young boy after more than 1 hour of cardiac arrest with no breathing and pulse following an apparent electrocution in the city of Ludhiana.

Ankush a 20 year old 1st year medical student of CMC who went with his friends to a park in the city in the evening was suddenly found lying on the rail tracks of a toy train in the park. When his friends noticed that he was not with them & turned back, only to see him lie flat on the small rail track. They called onto him to get up as a toy train was about 100 meters away. There was no response and five of them went to see what happened when someone nearby said, “watchout” he may have got electrocuted from the plate in between the rail tracks.

One of the boys had instant courage to pull him out after telling the others, if he also gets a shock, kick them both out with their shoes?!!

But, providence, nothing happened to the young savior, but Angush was listless, with no pulse, no breathing.

The boys started cardiac massage, the other mouth to mouth breathing and the third kept feeling the pulse. The others took turns to massage and breathe. When they saw that Angush suddenly gasped, was encouraged to continue with the process. Few minutes later a feeble pulse was felt!!

Then the boys decided to bring him to CMC emergency No Ambulance around, they carried him on to an autorickshaw on the road and three of them sat with him while two others used their moped & scooter to pilot the auto rickshaw through the busy crowded streets & Jagraon bridge. The pulse disappeared while in the autorickshaw!!  The boys did’nt loose heart but continued to massage and breathe for their friend mouth to mouth in turns.

After nearly 25- 30 minutes they reached CMC Hospital Casualty Services. All the doctors and seniors attended on him immediately, it was around 08:15 pm then he was intubated, i.e. tube inserted in his trachea for breathing, and cardiac resuscitation started. In about 10 minutes the heart started beating again, thanks to the effort of the cardiologists neurosurgeons, and other emergency doctors there. He was totally unconscious & severely acidotic due to prolonged stoppage of the heart.

With hope, he was managed in the ICU, with intensivist, specialists in medicine, cardiology, neurology and nephrology attending on him. He was given due attention to vital parameters and correcting each deficiency and maintaining adequate temperature.

3 days later he started opening his eyes & responding to calls. It is now 10 days he is out of the ICU, eating well and has started to walk. But he doesn’t remember exactly what happened to him!!

A collective effort, the students practicing what they were taught irrespective of their brilliance, often overstated, and an example to many others to act in an emergency & help out others in need.  I do hope it will also be a lesson for all, including ourselves to have our roads maintained without encroachment to allow vehicles to move, for we do not know how many suffer silent death because of our apathy to enforce discipline on the roads & public places.

A word of thanks to Mr. Rai of the Hero Cycles & team who have now barricaded the rail tracks.

Director 

CMC & Hospital

Ludhiana

Two Days Rabi Workshop Inaugurated at PAU

Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 5:31 PM

Vice Chancellor Dr. B.S. Dhillon was the Chief Guest

Ludhiana: 16 August 2016: 

(Rector Kathuria//Pardeep Sharma//Punjab Screen):

Two-days Rabi workshop has been organized by Directorate of Extension Education in Pal Auditorium at PAU, Ludhiana.  On this occasion, PAU Vice Chancellor, Dr. B. S. Dhillon was the Chief Guest and Dr. J. S. Bains, Director of Agriculture, Punjab was the Guest of Honour. The Agricultural Development Officers, Agriculture Officers, Chief Agriculture Officers from all over the state, scientists from different KVKs, University scientists from different disciplines and extension specialists have participated in the workshop. 

Dr. Dhillon emphasized on judicial use of chemicals in agriculture and we have to step towards the less use of insecticides.  While discussing about the bio-fertilizers, he urged upon the conservation of nitrogen and phosphorous nutrient in the soil.  He appreciated the joint efforts of extension specialists and University scientists to control the incidence of white fly.  Similarly, he emphasized on joint efforts to control yellow rust in wheat.   While talking about cooperative farming, Dr. Dhillon said that we should adopt agricultural machinery through cooperative societies by which we can reduce the initial cost on agriculture.  On this occasion, Dr. Dhillon also appreciated the cooperation rendered from Punjab Govt. and agriculture department and gave assurance from University for any agricultural crisis in future.  Dr. Dhillon, further stated that agricultural accounting is must.  So, there is dire need to aware the farmers regarding this.  In view of increasing temperature, there is need to re-schedule the sowing time of crops.    

           Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Bains focused on the future targets of different crops.  He stated that Punjab occupies 1.5 percent area of the country and contributing a lot in central pool.  He stated that in collaboration with PAU we have achieved the new heights in agriculture which are appreciable.  He encouraged the officers, scientists and extension specialists to participate in open discussion so that the right direction can be given to agricultural research.  He said that new research experiments should be planned in view of climate change and farm operations should be planned according to weather forecast.  He emphasized on great contribution of bio-technology and nano-technology practices in future. 

           Dr. R. K. Gumber, Director of Research, PAU highlighted the new recommendations of the University.  He also informed about the research works going on in the University. 

           Dr. H. S. Dhaliwal, Dean, College of Agriculture welcomed the delegates.  On this occasion, the exhibition was displayed by different departments of the University to show the new technologies and techniques. 

           The organizer of this workshop, Dr. R. S. Sidhu, Director of Extension Education while giving thanks to the participants, he discussed about the challenges in extension works in Punjab agriculture.  He stated that while controlling the incidence of white fly, yellow rust and mealy bug we have earned the faith of Punjab farmers and we have to work hard to maintain this faith.  We have to reach the door of every small farmer to guide them

PAU VC Addresses media on whitefly incidence

We can manage whitefly incidence-Dr. Dhillon

Ludhiana:5th August 2016:

(Rector Kathuria//Pardeep Sharma//Punjab Screen):

Addressing the press conference on ‘whitefly incidence’ today, Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Head, Inter-state Monitoring Committee on White fly, said that the University scientists and the State Department of Agriculture were making all out efforts to control whitefly. He stated, “We expect we can manage whitefly incidence.” In Khuian Sarwar village of Fazilka district, whitefly attack on cotton is a matter of concern, he told. But according to the comparative study of white fly incidence during 2015 and 2016, the incidence is less this year, he said. 

Dr Dhillon disclosed that Punjab Government has provided Rs 70 lakh for research in this direction and has recruited 500 scouts and 50 field supervisors to check infested cotton fields and prevent damage to the cotton crop. “PAU has been focusing on clean cultivation, good quality seed, timely sowing, proper monitoring and timely remedial action, quality control of pesticides, and creating awareness about identification of severity of incidence and management methods,” he informed. Further, Dr Dhillon said that PAU has also deployed faculty and students for monitoring and management of the menace. Besides, farmers’ training camps were organized by the University in addition to bringing out a crop calendar and a literature on cotton, he told. Not only this, the University has imparted trainings to pesticide dealers, and organized several radio/TV talks on management of insect-pests of cotton, he added.

Referring to ploughing up of cotton fields, Dr Dhillon said that there were many factors responsible for the same like fear among farmers due to last year’s attack, early appearance of whitefly, new tubewell connections, poor crop stand due to hailstorm, etc.

           Talking about the status of insecticides, he said that the recommendations (insecticides) made by PAU killed 70-90 per cent of whitefly whereas other recommendations killed only 25-30 per cent of whitefly. “PAU has recommended six insecticides for whitefly control,” he revealed. As told by the senior official of PAU that the area under cotton in the state has slipped from 4.00 lakh hectares to 2.57 lakh hectares, Dr Dhillon said, “Seeing the present growth of the crop, we expect normal yield.”

           Dr Dhillon also said that cotton cultivation in Punjab differed from that in Haryana. Long term strategy has been planned among PAU, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana); Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner (Rajasthan); RS- Central Institute for Cotton Research, he added.

Present on the occasion were Dr P.K. Khanna, Registrar; Dr R.S. Sidhu, Director of Extension Education; Dr R.K. Gumber, Director of Research and Dr Balwinder Singh, former Director of Research, PAU.

NASA Administrator Pays Tribute to Astronaut Scott Kelly

Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 10:14 PM

We will never forget the 700 stunning images he posted

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the retirement of astronaut Scott Kelly:

“When the first Americans set foot on Mars, they will be following in the footsteps of one of the finest astronauts in the history of the space program, my friend, Commander Scott Kelly.  After spending an American record 520 days in space – including his Year in Space – I can think of no one more deserving of some well-deserved rest and time on the same planet as his family and friends. 

“All of us in the NASA family -- and indeed in the broader scientific community -- are grateful that he was willing to sacrifice time with his loved ones, meals that don’t come in a bag, a cold beer, hot showers, cool autumn breezes, the sounds of birds chirping, the ability to lay his head on an actual pillow and so much more of the pleasures of life during his year of research and experimentation the International Space Station.

“We will never forget the 700 stunning images he posted to social media, the leadership he demonstrated as ISS Commander for the last six months and, most of all, the impact that all his missions and years of service will continue to have on our Journey to Mars.”

Workshop on Farm Trials and Frontline Demonstrations

Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 4:41 PM

A special report on  Animal Science at GADVASU

Ludhiana-11-April, 2014

A One day Workshop on Farm Trials and Frontline Demonstrations for Subject Matter Specialists of Animal Science was organized on 11^th April, 2014. Directorate of Extension Education, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University Ludhiana under the aegis  of Zonal Project Directorate Zone-I,  ICAR, PAU Campus, structured the event. The Workshop was inaugurated by Dr V.K.Taneja, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU, Ludhiana. While inaugurating the Workshop, Dr Taneja stated that animal science is an important component in the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) especially keeping in view the diversification of agriculture in state of Punjab. Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University has developed technologies in livestock, poultry, fisheries and value addition of  livestock products. These technologies need to be disseminated to the farmers for its effective utilization, thus increasing the productivity of animals and subsequently augmenting the income of the farmers. Dr Taneja also emphasized that the KVKs of PAU and GAVASU should work in unison for the betterment of the farming community. Dr S.Prabhu Kumar, Zonal Project Director, Zone-1, PAU Campus, Ludhiana  stated that it is first time that  such workshops are separately being conducted for each discipline of   KVK and he explained  that the role of the animal scientists in KVKs is increasing day by day in the  present set-up. Dr SNS Randhawa, Director of Research, GADVASU, Ludhiana gave a presentation highlighting the different technologies developed by GADVASU, Ludhiana for its use at field level for the benefit of the livestock farmers. Heads of Departments and senior faculty members participated in the workshop and provided their useful suggestions for finalizing the OFTs and FLDs. On farm trials  and frontline demonstrations in the field of animal sciences and fisheries to be undertaken at KVKs of PAU and GADVASU during the year 2014-15 were discussed and finalized. Fourteen  Animal Scientists from different KVKs of  Punjab participated and made their presentations regarding OFTs and FLDs. Dr R.S.Sahota, Director of Extension Education, GADVASU presented the vote of  thanks and advised the scientists to develop an attitude  for  extension so  that  livestock farmers can get  benefitted through  timely dissemination  of information and technologies.

Blood irradiator would be inaugurated on 14th Feb

Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 2:13 PM
Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology in modern medicine: diagnosis, therapy and research”

Courtesy Photo

Ludhiana, 10th Feb.2014 (Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria):
Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology in modern medicine (diagnosis, therapy and research) have seen a significant growth in our country in the last 50 years. The CME is being organized to present recent research and development in the field of radioisotopes and radiation technology and to create awareness on the beneficial uses and applications of these technologies. The CME will also provide a platform for fruitful interactions between potential users with scientists and technology providers.
It is being jointly organized by National Association for Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation in Industry (NAARI) Mumbai), Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), Mumbai and Christian Medical College (CMC), Ludhiana.

CMC Ludhiana was able to initiate the transplant programme by procuring a blood irradiator through a grant from Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) which is one of the applications of radioisotopes other than radiotherapy.

On 14th February 2014, the blood irradiator would be inaugurated by S. Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Adviser to Chief Minister, Punjab and the symposium would be inaugurated by Shri SS Bajaj, Chairman, AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Govt. of India, Mumbai.

The programme would be over 2 days and Punjab medical council has awarded 4 credit points for the symposium on 15/2/14

Eminent faculty from India will be giving lectures and about 300 participants are expected the conference.

ESSO - Providing Scientific and Technical Support

21-January-2014 16:03 IST
A Special Feature on Earth Sciences                 Happy Republic Day 2014By all measures, 2013-14 has been the most challenging, eventful and productive years for various endeavors of the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) in the recent past.  One of the important milestones accomplished during year is commencement of full-fledged operations at the 3rd Antarctic Station “ Bharati”.  India has been accorded observed status in

the Arctic Council in recognition of India’s scientific contribution and endeavour in Polar research.  During the year, the country witnessed a number of natural disasters such as tropical cyclones Thane, Phailin, and Helen and extreme events like landslides in Uttarakhand and floods in Andhra, Gujarat due to intense precipitations, and earthquakes besides strongest southwest monsoon of the recent years. It was a daunting task to issue timely and reliable information on rainfall, winds, storm surges, high waves which have been successfully performed. This has received an overwhelming appreciation from a wide range user community.  The improvement in forecasting of various events has been accomplished primarily due to coordinated effort of all the entities of ESSO and strengthening of observations networks of ocean and atmospheric sectors, assimilation of data, implementation of high resolution global and regional ocean atmospheric models.  The high performance computing system has been upgraded from the existing 70 Teraflop to storage archival capacity of one Petabyte, which is ranked at 36th position in the world’s top 500 and first in the country.  The Agro-Meterelogical advisories have been extended to all the 600 districts of the country and sub-district services are being done on pilot scale in selected districts. Currently, over 4.2 million farmers have subscribed to the agro-advisory services. For the first time in India, an indigenous climate model has been employed for studying variability and predictability of monsoon on seasonal, interannual and decadal time scale. The long range forecast for the season (June-September) rainfall for the country as a whole was 104-108% against actual rainfall of 106% of LPA for the year 2013.

With regard to ocean mineral survey and exploration, the work was productive. A series of seven major research cruises of 30 days each have been conducted in the central Indian Ocean Basin for acquisition of marine geophysical data, where the newly developed deep-see mining technologies were tested and made operational on experimental basis. These include testing of ROSUB at the mining site for exploitation of hydrothermal sulfides, which transmitted real-time data from the Indian Ridge in the Indian Ocean to oversee monitoring the operations from Chennai.  India’s filed the application for allotment of a site for exploration of Polymetallic Sulphides in the Indian Ocean during meeting of the International Seabed Authority, Kingston, Jamaica, held from 8-19 July 2013. Towards providing improved earthquake information, a set of 75 Broadband seismic and GPS receivers have been established. The state of the art Indian tsunami early warning system is now capable of issue advisories on tsunamis occurred not only due to earthquakes anywhere in the Indian Ocean but also landslides as demonstrated during the recent Pakistan earthquake.   As per India’s commitment to the UNESCO, the International Training Centre of Operational Oceanography was established and made operational for promotion of capacity building and training activities for the countries of the Indian Ocean Region. Under the outreach programs, the ESSO had organized Earth Science Olympaid in September 2013.  The economic benefits of various services being rendered by ESSO across the sectors are well recognized, which contributes sustainably to the GDP. Lastly, the ESSO’s participation of various activities emerged from the Result Framework Document effort. Viz., preparation of Action Plans for ISO 9001:2008, and effort should be made for improve Innovations and Citizen’s charters have been rated as one of the best. The evaluation of performance of the RFD of ESSO has secured 94% consistently for the 3rd year. 
(PIB Feature)
*******
*Inputs from the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
SS-148/SF-148/21-01-2014
RTS/HSN

Dr. Suman Sahai explained the hiden truth of GM Crops

Sat, Nov 30, 2013 at 5:03 PM
Neither safe for health 
Nor will solve the problems of food security 

Ludhiana: 30 November 2013: (Rector Kathuria//Punjab Screen): The genetically engineered crops are neither safe for health nor they will solve the problem of food security; instead they contribute to lower yields, increased use of herbicides/insecticides, unpredictable performance, poor economic returns, and a progressive monopoly on food by big corporations. They also encourage herbicide-tolerant weeds and pesticide-resistant superbugs, belying their purported goal of "feeding the world". Instead these large food corporations are actually more the cause of world hunger currently, than they are the solution to it. This was said by internationally renowned scientist Padma Shri  Dr.Suman Sahai founder of the Gene Campaign while delivering a talk at a function organized by the Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha(BJGVJ) in coordination with Environment Society and Science society  Government College for Girls Ludhiana with the cooperation of Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) today on  30^th November 2013. Genetic mutations have occurred in nature in long period of time as a result of laws of nature as per the environmental and other conditions. Nature provided safeguards to any negative effect of such mutations. But the genetic modification in the laboratories is fraught with dangerous consequences and amounts to playing with nature, she warned. Several researches have shown that the genetically engineered food has harmful effects on the health of mammals in general. How can then the human be safe from the adverse effects, she questioned? Big corporations like Monsanto are promoting this with the sole aim of earning huge profits. This will force the farmers worldwide to buy seeds from these corporations. It is pertinent to note that the farmers generally save their own seeds for the next crop. Moreover any disease occurring on such crops will not be easily managed.  The medicines produced by Monsanto and allies will have to be used to treat. The corporation will thus earn double profit. She further warned that the GM crops could be an environmental disaster and bio terrorism imposed by the big corporations. She demanded that the government of India should reconsider its policy towards the GM food.

Dr Rajinder Pal Singh Aulukh – Agriculture Development Officer said that organic farming is the only answer for a healthy food. The yield may be initially low but after two to three years the results are good. Reckless use of insecticides and pesticides has added to the health problems among us.  He also emphasized the need to manage crop residue in situ as this promotes fertility of soil.

Dr Arun Mitra – General Secretary BJGVJ said that in some of the western countries the GM foods are separately labeled and grown. But in Indian conditions it would be impossible to do it. Therefore they have to be shun. He demanded that our universities should do R&D according to our needs and conditions instead of depending on the multinational corporations.

Mrs.Gurminder Kaur – Principal of the college said that it is important for the students to be well versed with the newer happenings around. Such events are helpful in increasing their knowledge and sensitizing them on newer issues.

Maj. Sher Singh Aulukh – President BJGVJ thanked the college principal for her cooperation in organizing such events.

Dr Manju Sahnir Secretary Science society and Environment Society said that the societies  interacts on scientific issues of general concern time to time. 

Shri M S Bhatia Organsing Secretary BJGVJ Ludhiana said that the Jatha will plan further activities on the issue.

Students of the college compeered the stage.

Burning of paddy straw is detrimental-Dr. Manoj Sobti

Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 5:01 PM
We all have to realize our duty

Ludhiana 12 October 2013:(Rector Kathuria//Punjab Sacreen): The Indian Medical Association  (IMA) and Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha (BJGVJ) have cautioned farmers against burning of paddy straw, which is detrimental both to our health and fertility of the soil.Addressing a press conference on the subject at the IMA House today Dr Manoj Sobti, President IMA Punjab said that as doctors we are much concerned about the issue as buring of paddy straw and wheat straw release smoke which is highly detrimental to our health. Both administration and the farmers have to realize their duty.  Speaking on the occasion Dr Karamveer Goyal, President IMA Ludhiana and Medical Specialist, cautioned the farmers that the smoke emitted as a result of burning of paddy straw or wheat straw could affect our respiratory system and thereby other systems of our body. Lung diseases and diseases of nose and throat get aggravated thus incapacitating the person. He reminded them of when on 12th October in 1998 smoke had engulfed almost whole of state of Punjab causing panic among the people.

Dr Arun Mitra – general Secretary of the BJGVJ said that the water vapours collect around the smoke particles suspended in the air which then forms smog. He reminded of the London Smog in 1950 in which 3500 people were killed.  Maximum permissible limit of the Respirable Suspended Particles (RSPM) in the atmosphere is 60ig/m3. But on Jagraon Bridge in Ludhiana it is invariably at 300 ig/m3. This further increases when  smoke from the paddy straw burning mixes with the air of the city.
Similarly the GM Crops which are being promoted in the name of High Yield Resistant to infections have to be seen with skepticism. Worldwide experience and researches have shown that the GM foods have detrimental effect on the health of the mice. It will be unwise to promote the GM crops without studying the impact on human health.  It has also been observed that if the GM food catches infection then they do not respond to ordinary drugs. Thus special drugs will have to be used by the farmers which would cost them heavily. This would only benefit the companies like Monsanto. 

Dr Rajinder Pal Singh Auluck Agriculture Development Officer warned the farmers that by burning paddy straw we destroy useful elements in the soil. Over one lac tones of nitrogen gets destroyed as a result. This causes loss of nitrogen over 100 Crores of rupees just in  Punjab. On the other hand if we dump the Parali in the soil  it turns in to healthy manure and adds to Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potash and other elements.  The concept of destroying crops residue has to change to that these are no more waste products but some thing that can be utilized for the better of productivity.

Major (Retd) Sher Singh Aulukh – President of the Jatha said that they would carry forward this message to people by holding such gatherings time to time in different parts of the district. He also appealed to the people to come forward against  increasing intoxication which is affecting the potential of our youth.

Sh.Maninder Singh Bhatia – Organising Secretary BJGVJ said that the organization has completed 21 years on 2nd October and we have been creating awareness on several issues related to environment since 1992.

Those who attended the press conference on behalf of the IMA included Kulwant Singh,  Dr Subhash Singla-Secretary,  Dr R K Sharma – President Elect. Those who attended the event on behalf of the Jatha include DR Gurpreet Rattan, Mrs Gurcharn Kocher, Shri I S Sodhi, Shri Krishan Lal Malik.

Burning of paddy straw is dangerous

Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 4:12 PM
Detrimental to both human health and fertility of soil Promotion of GM Crops without proper trials on human health harmful 

Ludhiana 7 October 2013: (Punjab Screen Bureau): The Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha (BJGVJ) has cautioned farmers against burning of paddy straw, which is detrimental both to our health and fertility of the soil. These views were expressed at a gathering organized by the BJGVJ in association with Gram Panchayat village Baranhara Talwara, on Hambran Road, Ludhiana.The subject was  “Effect of GM Crops and Paddy Straw Burning”.  Speaking on the occasion Dr Arun Mitra - General Secretary BJGVJ cautioned the farmers that the smoke emitted as a result of burning of paddy straw or wheat straw could affect our respiratory system and thereby other systems of our body. Lung diseases and diseases of nose and throat get aggravated thus incapacitating the person. He reminded them of when on 12th October in 1998 smoke had engulfed almost whole of state of Punjab causing panic among the people. Similarly the GM Crops which are being promoted in the name of High Yield Resistant to infections have to be seen with skepticism. Worldwide experience and researches have shown that the GM foods have detrimental effect on the health of the mice. It will be unwise to promote the GM crops without studying the impact on human health.  It has also been observed that if the GM food catches infection then they do not respond to ordinary drugs. Thus special drugs will have to be used by the farmers which would cost them heavily. This would only benefit the companies like Monsanto. 
Dr Rajinder Pal Singh Aulakh- an agriculture expert warned the farmers that by burning paddy straw we destroy useful elements in the soil. Over one and half lac tones of nitrogen and sulpher get destroyed as a result. This causes loss of nitrogen and sulpher over 200 Crores of rupees just in  Punjab. On the other hand if we dump the Parali in the soil  it turns into healthy manure and adds to Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potash and other elements.  The concept of destroying crops residue has to change to that these are no more waste products but some thing that can be utilized for the better of productivity.  
Major (Retd) Sher Singh Aulakh – President of the Jatha said that they would carry forward this message to people by holding such gatherings time to time in different parts of the district. He also appealed to the people to come forward against  increasing intoxication which is affecting the potential of our youth.
Sh.Maninder Singh Bhatia – Organising Secretary BJGVJ said that the organization has completed 21 years on 2nd October and we have been creating awareness on several issues related to environment since 1992.

S.Kuldeep Singh Khangoora progressive farmer lauded the role of the Jatha on for organizing the event at in their village. The information provided will definitely make the farmers shun the practice of burning paddy straw. Mrs. Satwant Kaur Sarpanch Baranhara, Mrs. Amarjeet Kaur Sarpanch Talwara, Manmohan Singh Gill Former member, Narinder Singh Chanchal, Rajwinder singh,  Jagtar singh, Jaswinder Singh Rajpreet Kaur, Mukhtiar singh participated on behalf of the village and                                                        
those who attended the event on behalf of the Jatha  Mrs Kusum Lata-Secretary,Sh.Gurnam Singh Sidhu,Sh.Avtar Chhiber,Sh.Randhir Singh Dheera, Sh.Rajwinder Singh Khangoora.

Installation ceremony of Science Society

The Chief Guest was Dr. Arun Mittra

Ludhiana: 2 September 2013: (Vishal//Punjab Screen): Installation ceremony of  Science Society was organized in the premises of  Govt. College for Girls Ludhiana . The Chief Guest for the occasion was Dr. Arun Mittra, Ear,Nose, Throat Surgeon in Ludhiana. He is also the National General Secretary of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD). The worthy principal Mrs. Gurminder Kaur  also grace the occasion with her presence and delivered  the  welcoming  speech.  Dr. Arun Mittra mentioned  about how we can build a secured future through peace and health. He also stressed  that like all industries, the thermal generation of electricity produces waste. Whatever fuel is used these wastes must be managed in ways which safeguard human health. He also discussed about the world’s worst nuclear disaster occurred few years back.
                       Renewable energy sources such as hydro and wind  are expected to be capable of supplying energy to the human world for another  one billion years at which point the predicted increase in heat from the sun is expected to make the surface of the earth to hot for   water to exist.
               The worthy principal Mrs. Gurminder Kaur  said that Science Society is working hard  to improve the standards of science wing. Atomic energy is very dangerous and we should totally  ban this energy throughout the world for our betterment.
       The staff members who graced the occasion with their benign presence were Dr. Manju Sahni,Head of Science Society.Mrs.Varinderjit Kaur,Mrs. Kripal Kaur, Prof. Baldev Singh   Dr. Mamta Kochhar, Dr.Madhvi Vashisht. In the end the vote of thanks proposed by the president of Science Society.

The web-weaving behavior

Why Spiders Do Not Stick to Their Own Sticky Web Sites

                                              Photo Courtesy:InfoVisual

Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and University of Costa Rica asked 
why spiders do not stick to their own sticky webs. Repeating old, widely quoted but poorly 
documented studies with modern equipment and techniques, they discovered that spiders’ legs are 
protected by a covering of branching hairs and by a non-stick chemical coating. Their results are published online in the journal, Naturwissenschaften. 
They also observed that spiders carefully move their legs in ways that minimize adhesive forces as they push against their sticky silk lines hundreds to thousands of times during the construction of each orb.   
The web-weaving behavior of two tropical species, Nephila clavipes and Gasteracantha 
cancriformis, was recorded with a video camera equipped with close-up lenses. Another video camera coupled with a dissecting microscope helped to determine that individual droplets of sticky glue slide along the leg’s bristly hair, and to estimate the forces of adhesion to the web. By washing spider legs with hexane and water, they showed that spiders’ legs adhered more tenaciously when the non-stick coating was removed. 
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit 
of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its 
importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes 
conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. 
Website: www.stri.si.edu.  

Spiders carefully move their legs
The web-weaving behavior 
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Seminar on wetlands organized by BJGV Jatha

Sat, Feb 2, 2013 at 5:30 PM
Punjab has 14 wetlands like Harike, Kanjli and Nangal
To observe the WORLD WETLAND DAY a seminar was organized today by Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha Distt. Ludhiana in co-ordination with  Punjab State Council for  Science & Technology at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Public School, Haibowal Kalan Ludhiana. Inaugurating the seminar Dr. Arun Mitra-General Secretary-BJGVJ emphasized the need to preserve our wetlands. He said that the human civilization has developed around the wetlands since ancient times But unfortunately due to unchecked human  activities coupled with greed of a few, the same wetlands have come under threat ultimately adversely affecting the human life itself and the flora and fauna around. Sh.Ranjit Singh Retired Principal and Vice-President of BJGVJ  gave a detailed lecture on the subject. He informed that there are more than 23000 wetlands  in our  country. Punjab has 14 wetlands like Harike, Kanjli and Nangal. Out of these Harike is the biggest with an area of 41 square Kms. Some types of birds from as far as polar regions come to this place covering a distance of 40000 Kms in 8 months. Sh.M.S.Bhatia-Organising Secretary of BJGVJ that the Jatha will make it a movement . He said that it is unfortunate that these wetlands are getting polluted by the polluted water of the rivers. This is causing serious threat to the migrant birds in particular. He demanded that  prevention of pollution of the wetlands should be taken seriously by the authorities. He informed that the Jatha will organize a trip of the students to Harike in near future. Principal of school Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Bhatia called upon the students to come forward and conserve the wetlands. She lauded the role of Jatha in spreading awareness about the preservation of ecology. She also thanked the participants.
Dr Arun Mitra
Mobile: 94170 00360