Campaign on JE in Tripura
Agartala: The Health department has launched an awareness campaign on Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Tripura after outbreak of the disease in neighbouring Assam, a senior official said on Thursday. Health secretary Dr Debasish Basu said, “We have informed all the Chief Medical Officers of the districts to remain alert about the spread of Japanese Encephalitis after the disease affected some parts of neighbouring Assam. We have also directed our officials to create awareness about it”. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of North Tripura district, Dr Jagdish Nama said on June 15 one patient was found infected with Japanese Encephalitis at Damcherra, a remote tribal hamlet in the district. “We visited the patient’s locality. We started awareness camps in the area and other adjacent areas. We have also alerted our staffs in various primary health centres in our district to keep a close watch on the situation”, he told reporters. More than fifty people have died of Japanese Encephalitis in Assam since January this year. (PTI)
Officer transferred to Arunachal
New Delhi: Senior IPS officer Madhur Verma, spokesperson of the Delhi Police and its face on Twitter, has been transferred to Arunachal Pradesh, an official order of the Home Ministry said on Thursday. The order said Verma ‘stands relieved’ with effect from July 11 to join his new posting. Verma, who was also the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the VIP New Delhi district, was recently accused of “slapping and abusing” a traffic inspector for stopping his private vehicle being driven by a constable on the wrong side. The traffic policeman had filed a complaint with the police commissioner and an inquiry was ordered in the matter. Verma, however had denied the allegations. A 2005 batch IPS officer, Verma has served as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) as well as in the Crime Branch. Verma was involved in solving the sensational 2014 case in which a woman, working with a Gurgaon firm, was allegedly raped by an Uber cab driver. He has also been the face of Delhi Police on Twitter and is one of the few officers who is active on the microblogging platform and responsive to grievances. During Verma’s tenure as DCP (North), the Delhi Police had moved an application urging the Juvenile Justice Board to treat a 17-year-old, accused of running over a 32-year-old marketing executive while driving his father’s Mercedes, like an adult under the new provisions of the law. (PTI)
Tripura shuts brick kilns
Agartala: The Tripura government has shut down all the 350 brick kilns in the state after they failed to obtain environmental clearances, a senior official said on Thursday. The decision comes in the wake of a recent high court order in this regard, Tripura State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) B K Agarwal said. “As per the July 3 Tripura High Court order prohibiting brick kilns from operating without environmental clearances, we have shut down all the brick kilns in the state as they do not possess the necessary certificates,” Agarwal told PTI. The brick kiln owners, however, can submit fresh applications at their respective district magistrate offices from Friday onwards, after meeting the requisite environmental criteria, he said. Agarwal said the department officials will then conduct fresh inspection of the kilns and send the reports to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. (PTI)
Mizoram gears up to prevent JE
Aizawl: The Mizoram government is planning mass awareness drives and screening of visitors from Assam to prevent an outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in the state, a senior health department official said Thursday. The steps are being taken after the disease killed 64 people and infected over 200 in neighbouring Assam, with which Mizoram shares a 123 km-long porous border. The senior health official said that though no case of JE infection has been reported in Mizoram, the efforts are being taken to prevent a possible entry from Assam. (PTI)
Population growth stews minister
Imphal: Health and Family Welfare Minister L. Jayantakumar Singh said that a scientific approach is required to solve the problems caused by increasing population in the country. Minister Jayantakumar was speaking as chief guest at the observance of World Population Day held today at Indian Medical Association hall, Lamphelpat, Imphal. He said that scarcity of land due to the ever increasing population has become a great challenge of the contemporary world. The concept of population explosion should be discussed and dealt with seriously he added. He said that Health, Education and Social Welfare Department have tied up to propagate awareness about the population problem. (UNI)
Varsities urged to develop state
Kohima: Nagaland Governor P B Acharya, who is also Chief Rector Nagaland University, stated that Nagaland can only be strengthened by the people of the state and called on the universities to play a proactive role in bringing greater heights to Nagaland. Addressing a Gratitude Programme at the Nagaland University in Kohima Campus, at Meriema today, Governor Acharya appreciated the dedication and passion of the teaching staff of Nagaland University and encouraged them to continue their duty towards building the Nation. He also stated that the students should time and again review their approach towards imparting knowledge to the students. He reiterated the importance of skill courses and said that students when they come out of the University should be able to stand on their own and called for dialog between trade, industry and educational institutions. (UNI)