12052015 TOIPUC MP 02 1 COL R1 - The Times of...
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TIMES CITY THE TIMES OF INDIA, PUNE | TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015 BENDING OVER CELLPHONES AFFECTING POSTURE, DOCS WARN AGAINST PROLONGED USE OF DEVICES | 4 DISTRICT CONSUMER FORUM REJECTS INSURANCE CLAIM FOR WANT OF VALID LICENCE | 4 Pune: Mite-borne rickettsial infection, seen primarily in the rural populace in the past, is now being increasingly detect- ed in people residing in expand- ing cities across the country. The resurgence of this dis- ease can be attributed to rising urbanization — the vectors, ticks and mites, have now found their residence in urban bushes, with the increase in transport, influx of people and city limits merging into nearby rural areas. The disease epidemiology, experts say, has been changing with increasing urbanization. In view of this, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has developed guidelines on di- agnosis and management of rickettsial diseases in India this year. Of all rickettsioses cases, scrub typhus is the most common and accounts for upto 50% of undifferentiated fever presenting to hospital. “Rickettsial infections are generally incapacitating and difficult to diagnose, untreated cases have case fatality rates as high as 30-45% with multiple organ dysfunction, if not promptly diagnosed and treat- ed. The ICMR’s guidelines de- fine a framework for recogniz- ing manifestations, identifying appropriate diagnostic tests and initiating prompt and ef- fective treatment,” M D Gupte, chair (epidemiology), ICMR, told TOI on Monday. The vast variability and non-specific presentation of this infection have often made it difficult to diagnose clinical- ly. Acute fever is the most com- mon presenting symptom asso- ciated with breathlessness, cough, nausea, vomiting, myal- gia and headache. Besides, an eschar (a dead tissue that sheds or falls off from healthy skin) at the site of chigger bite can be seen in early disease and is a useful diagnostic clue in scrub typhus, though its frequency varies from 7-97%. While a rash is considered as hallmark of rickettsial dis- ease, it is neither seen at pre- sentation nor in all patients. Presence of rash is common in spotted fever and extremely rare in scrub typhus. “However, none of these clinical symptoms and signs, including eschar, is diagnostic of rickettsial disease. There- fore, epidemiological factors pertaining to geographical ar- ea, habitat, occupation, move- ment of the subject (vocational or recreational) could assist in reaching a diagnosis of rickett- sial disease with certainty and initiating treatment on time,” Gupte said. Complications of scrub ty- phus usually develop after the first week of illness. Jaundice, renal failure, pneumonitis, acute respiratory distress syn- drome (ARDS), septic shock, myocarditis and meningoence- phalitis are various complica- tions known with this disease Pneumonia is one of the most frequent complications of scrub typhus which manifests as a non-productive cough and breathlessness and leads to ARDS which could be life- threatening. Severe complica- tions include hepatitis (inflam- mation of the liver), renal or kidney failure, meningo-en- cephalitis (inflammation of the brain and meninges) and myo- carditits (inflammation and damage to the heart muscle) with shock may occur in var- ying proportions of patients. “Prompt antibiotic therapy, even based on suspicion, short- ens the course of the disease, lowers the risk of complica- tions and reduces morbidity and mortality due to rickettsial diseases. Currently, doxycy- cline is regarded as the drug of choice,” infectious diseases ex- pert Bharat Purandare said. There is an urgent need for physicians and health-care workers at all levels in India to been reported from several states in India, including Jam- mu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Ra- jasthan, Maharashtra, Karna- taka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Maharashtra, cases of typhus fever are usually report- ed from the Shreerampur belt in Ahmednagar district and Satara district. “The history in- dicates contact with cattle. The cases of tick typhus in Pune have a contact history of dogs. Besides, body louse-borne ty- phus infection is also seen among people from lower socio- economic strata,” a senior phy- sician from Deenanath Man- geshkar hospital said. be aware of the clinical fea- tures, available diagnostic tests and their interpretation, and the therapy of these infections. “The guidelines have been developed to help treating phy- sicians towards correct diag- nosis and treatment. For want of awareness in physicians and the community, diagnostic de- lays result in patients present- ing to tertiary care centres with acute respiratory distress syn- drome (ARDS) and other se- vere complications. The guide- lines will definitely help in diagnosing and treating these cases and bring in uniformity in line of treatment,” said an infectious diseases expert. Cases of rickettsioses have ICMR gears up to tackle rising cases of mite-borne infections Pune: The newly-formed Pune Metropolitan Region Devel- opment Au- thority (PMRDA) plans to prepare a de- velopmental plan for the Pune metropolitan region in the next one year, Gir- ish Bapat, PMRDA head and district guardian minister, said here on Monday. Over 400 villages spread across an area of 3535sq km around Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are part of PMRDA. The authority, which officially started functioning on May 1, is expected to look in- to control development of the entire region spread in fringes of both cities. Bapat, who held PMRDA’s maiden meeting on Monday, said that the authority will en- sure planned construction ac- tivity in the entire area. “For this, work of prepar- ing the development plan will be taken up with top priority. We are not planning to out- source the work to a private agency. The PMRDA will con- stitute a separate committee of about 25 experts from various departments, including town planning and revenue depart- ments, to formulate the devel- opment plan. We will ensure that the committee is formed at the earliest,” Bapat added. The minister further said that there are plans to send a proposal to the state govern- ment to increase PMRDA’s ju- risdiction. He said that revi- sion of limit was necessary because the existing area of PMRDA was marked about 15 years ago in 1998. “Lot of devel- opment and changes have tak- en place in last few years in and around the area. It is necessary to include some more parts un- der PMRDA,” Bapat said. He said the authority will immediately take up a study on the extension of PMRDA limits and submit a report to the gov- ernment in next one month for approval. PMRDA to ready development plan in one year TIMES NEWS NETWORK Hamburg: Eighteen years af- ter a busy junction in Aundh was named Bremen Chowk, symbolising Pune’s associ- ation with the industrial town of Bremen in Germany, the fo- rum catalysing this collabora- tion of ideas and experts from the two cities has closed. Curtains came down on the Pune-Bremen Solidarity Fo- rum, which had started in 1980, in January this year, with the forum struggling to attract young blood. “This is a volun- tary group supported by the Bremen parliament and the Bremen government. The av- erage age of (forum members) was 60 to 70 in both Pune and Bremen. The partners were finding it difficult (to get young people),” said Gunther Hillig- es, founder of Pune-Bremen Solidarity Forum. Hilliges was also its president until it closed in January. In its 30 years, the forum forged alliances between edu- cational institutions and in- dustrialists, successfully ex- ported India’s ‘gobar gas plant’ idea to farmhouses in Bremen, but could not get a key project – of getting the Mula-Mutha riv- er cleaned – to yield the desired result. Speaking to TOI from Bre- men, Hilliges (75) said collabo- rations between the two cities may continue if the partners so will, but the forum was no longer needed to broker alli- ances as communication is much easier now. “There was a time when letters from Pune were routed via the foreign ministry. It took two months for the letters to reach us,” he said, adding that now all inter- actions are on email. The forum had come up four years after Terre Des Hommes started its activities in Pune, working with hand- icapped children or those with special needs. “Pune was se- lected as the former CEO of Terre Des Hommes lived there. The first project partner was KEM hospital,” recalled Hillig- es, who was on the board of Terre Des Hommes and had started receiving letters from the Indian partners to broaden their scope of work. What followed was the for- mation of the forum and a se- ries of exchanges and partner- ships. Key among them was students from the Bremen and Pune universities coming to- gether to devise a plan to clean the Mula-Mutha in Pune and the Wesar River in Bremen. “The universities ex- changed students and various faculties from both universi- ties came together. We were lucky in Bremen. Administra- tors were able to contain influx of dirty water into Wesar and now we are talking about sourcing drinking water from it. Thirty different species of fish are found in this water now and people are allowed to swim. But Mula Mutha has on- ly worsened,” Hilliges said, at- tributing the state of the rivers in Pune to weak political will. Another tie-up was be- tween Deenanath Mangesh- kar Hospital and Bremen Hos- pital with a clutch of doctors and nurses from Pune visiting Bremen for a month-long training programme. The two cities also collaborated to get young people interested in the history and culture of their re- spective countries – with the Übersee Museum Bremen partnering with Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum in Pune and the two exchanging experts. The forum’s oldest part- ners in Pune, Arbutus, which works on environmental pro- tection and sustainable devel- opment, is hopeful that the col- laboration goes on. “You don’t get people to carry it forward. Young people are too busy and don’t get time. But the contacts are there and strong links have been formed,” said Dr Meera Bondre, who, with her hus- band Arwind, founded Arbu- tus. She added there is hope. Arbutus is bringing out a Ger- man booklet in which young people from Pune and Bremen have exchanged their views on the good life today and tomor- row. 35-yr-old transnational solidarity forum downs shutters, but bonds remain Roli Srivastava@timesgroup.com n 1976 | Terre Des Hommes starts activities in Pune for children in need n 1980 | The Pune-Bremen Solidarity Forum is formed with a view to engage in areas of sustainable development n November 19, 1997 | The Pune-Bremen Maitri Chowk is inaugurated The main reason to set up the forum was to overcome tradi- tional prejudices. In 1982, we held a painting competition in Bremen on impressions on India. Children drew tigers and the holy cow. But today people are aware that India is a lead- ing country in computer technology Gunther Hilliges | FOUNDER, PUNE-BREMEN SOLIDARITY FORUM THE PUNE-BREMEN COLLABORATION Partnerships n Student exchange between Pune and Bremen universities for cleaning of the Mula-Mutha in Pune and Wesar in Bremen n Around 40 companies from Bremen have links to Pune and have regular meetings at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries & Agriculture n Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Bremen Hospital collaborate on a training programme n 15 NGOs from Bremen are still working with children in need n Since 10 years, 20 students from Symbiosis, Pune, come to the Hochschule Bremen for an academic programme. Twenty students from Bremen visit Pune n School children have written a book together: Three wi shes for the future Bremen Chowk Artistes from Bremen at the Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum Pune: Three Afghan stu- dents were arrested on Mon- day for allegedly thrashing and sodomising a 21-year- old man, who also hails from Afghanistan. The incident took place in Kondhwa on Sunday night. The Kondhwa police said one of the three suspects and the complainant, who is pur- suing his B A, study in the same private college in the city. The other two are from different colleges, where one is pursuing his B Com and the other is an engineer- ing student. Police said the fourth suspect , who is also a foreign national studying in a city college, is absconding. Police said on May 10, the complainant’s classmate had invited the former to a party at his rented flat in Kondhwa. “The other three suspects joined them later that night. All of them had dinner and consumed li- quor. Later, one of them played music and asked the complainant to dance. When the latter refused, the sus- pects started beating him,” said Rajendra Mokashi, se- nior inspector of the Kondh- wa police station. Mokashi said when the complainant shouted for help, one of the suspects gagged him with a piece of cloth. “The suspect who is pur- suing his B Com allegedly sodomised the complainant. The other two attempted to sodomise him,” Mokashi said. Mokashi said the com- plainant somehow managed to escape and approached the police station. “We have arrested the suspects under sections 377 (unnatural offence) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. We have launched a search to trace the fourth suspect. He has also been booked under the same charges” he added. Assistant inspector of the Kondhwa police station Satish Pawar is investigat- ing the case. Three Afghan students arrested for sodomy TIMES NEWS NETWORK Police said they have launched a search for the fourth suspect, who is also a foreign national studying in a city college Pune: The city-based Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Pan- chayat (KKPKP) in associ- ation with the SNDT College has drafted a list of recom- mendations for effective im- plementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. These recommendations include better management of help centres, effective griev- ance redressal system and end discrimination in schools among others. The draft was prepared during a programme jointly organized by the SNDT Women’s University’s Depart- ment of Continuing & Adult Education & Extension and the KKPKP. As many as 100 parents came together to dis- cuss their experiences and that of their childrens’ while interacting with schools and the state administration. “The Act is in its fourth year of implementation, so it is a good time to take stock of the issues in city and Pimpri Chinchwad from the parents’ perspective. Parents, mostly from the working class, shared both positive and neg- ative experiences in the first session. The common thread was the parents their desire to ensure what they considered will provide their children with the best education– an English-medium private school,” said Poornima Chi- karmane of the SNDT Univer- sity during a press conference on Monday. During the meet, parents discussed about uncoopera- tive officials who delayed in- come certificates, hostile schools and also how they were made to run from pillar to post for documents. “I have studied till class II, but I want my daughter to be a collector,” said Jyoti Shinde, who took part in the discussion. The report of the pro- gramme prepared by SNDT University and the KKPKP al- so highlighted that the RTE Act has made it difficult for the parents and children. However, what remains is to ensure that the provisions are implemented in the spirit, the report said. “The gathering resolved to send a petition to the state education minister and the chief minister,” said Mai- trayee Shankar of the KKPKP. The Akhil Bhartiya Samajwadi Adhyapak Sabha, the Action for the Rights of the Child (ARC), Swadhar and Maher also participated in the event. Wastepickers’ association drafts plan to implement RTE Act TIMES NEWS NETWORK n Better management of help centres n Effective grievance redressal system n Ending discrimination in schools n Define neighbourhood schools n Defining entitlements and other provisions under the RTE Act n Create awareness and publicity n Enlist documents required for admission n Improve interaction between parents and teachers THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS Pune: The newly-formed Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has decided to crack down on illegal construction in the metropolitan region. It plans to establish separate vigilance squads to keep check on illegal constructions besides implementation of heavy fines and cutting of power and water supply. Girish Bapat, chairman of PMRDA, on Monday said the authority plans to come out with various measures to re- strict illegal con- structions in the PMRDA area. He said besides strict ac- tion against developers, there is also a plan to create aware- ness among Sarpanch, police patil and tehsildars of all the villages notified under PMRDA to ensure that no ille- gal constructions are enter- tained in their respective juris- dictions. Bapat also said that the authority will not hesitate to initiate action against a Sar- panch and revenue officials if illegal constructions are spot- ted in their jurisdictions. Bapat said the authority will further start a police sta- tion to help the administra- tion keep check on illegal con- structions. The Pune Municipal Cor- poration (PMC) will extend a helping hand to the PMRDA to deal with illegal construc- tions. “The PMC will provide infrastructure as well as hu- man resources support to the new authority. The expertise on processes to carry out drives against the unautho- rized and illegal construc- tions will be shared with the officials of PMRDA,” Mayor Dattatraya Dhankawade told reporters on Monday. He said the PMC will help PMRDA in setting up the ten- dering systems, manpower management sys- tem and machin- ery management to raze the illegal construc- tion. The training about legal- ities regarding the illegal con- structions will be imparted to new staff of the authority, most of which will be recruit- ed on temporary basis. Illegal constructions is a major issues in PMC areas. As per PMC’s data, in last couple years, the civic body has acted against over 4,200 illegal con- structions. As part of the drive, illegal sheds and houses built in concrete on an area of around 25.5 lakh sq ft in slum pockets of Shivajinagar, Kasba Peth, Wad- gaonsheri, Ambegaon, Koth- rud, Katraj, NIBM Road and Pashan were demolished. Squads to check illegal buildings TIMES NEWS NETWORK HEAVY FINES ä If patients come with complications to primary health facility and treating physician considers it as rickettsial infection, treatment with doxycycline should be initiated ä Patients should be referred to secondary or tertiary centre in case of complications like ARDS or multi organ dysfunction. In addition to recommended management of community acquired pneumonia, doxycycline is to be initiated when scrub typhus is considered likely ä In fever cases of duration of five days or more where malaria, dengue and typhoid have been ruled out; doxycycline and azithromycine should be administered once scrub typhus is considered likely (SOURCE: GUIDELINES FOR DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF RICKETTSIAL DISEASES IN INDIA 2015: INDIAN COUNCIL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH AND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESEARCH, UNION MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE, NEW DELHI) THE NEED FOR GUIDELINES ä The care and management of people with rickettsial diseases is done primarily by the general practitioners and physicians. However, there are no clear directions or guidelines for its management ä A need for availability of a set of guidelines which can be used by doctors, scientists and public health workers all over the country was strongly felt ä With this in view, Department of Health Research (DHR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) took the initiative to formulate the guidelines for the diagnosis and management of Rickettsial diseases in India ä The guidelines define a framework for recognizing manifestations, identifying appropriate diagnostic tests and initiating prompt and effective treatment ä These guidelines have been developed for scientific purpose with the aim to provide physicians and health care workers with practical information to assist with the diagnosis and care of patients with rickettsial infections ä These guidelines also aim to stimulate thinking among scientists interested in developing this area in the country at the various levels of health care and thus help the people to lead a normal and healthy life DEFINITION OF SUSPECTED/ CLINICAL CASE ä Acute undifferentiated febrile illness of 5 days or more with or without eschar should be suspected as a case of Rickettsial infection. (If eschar is present, fever of less than 5 days duration should be considered as scrub typhus) ä Other presenting features may be headache and rash (rash more often seen in fair persons), lymphadenopathy (lymph nodes which are abnormal in size) multi-organ involvement like liver, lung and kidney involvement ä The differential diagnosis of dengue, malaria, pneumonia, leptospirosis and typhoid should be kept in mind DEFINITION OF CONFIRMED CASE A CONFIRMED CASE IS THE ONE IN WHICH: ä Rickettsial DNA is detected in eschar samples or whole blood by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test ä Rising antibody titers on acute and convalescent sera detected by Indirect Immune Fluorescence Assay (IFA) or Indirect Immunoperoxidase Assay (IPA) ä Indirect Immunoperoxidase Assay (IPA) and Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) are considered serological gold standards but are available at laboratories with higher level of facilities and expertise ä Molecular diagnosis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is available only at few centres in India ä However, ELISA based tests, particularly immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture assays can be made available at secondary level and tertiary levels of health care like District hospitals and medical colleges ä Weil-Felix test which is helpful in establishing presumptive diagnosis can be considered at primary level of health care as they can be easily set up with moderate level of infrastructure and expertise at least in areas affected by scrub typhus THERE ARE VARIOUS LABORATORY TESTS AVAILABLE FOR DIAGNOSIS OF RICKETTSIAL DISEASES LABORATORY TESTS THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDER NEEDS TO DO THE FOLLOWING H ead of PMRDA Girish Bapat said that the authority has decided to adopt the latest software to monitor daily work. The software will help track every file and also generate update on progress report and send an update through SMS to the applicant’s mobile number. This will ensure transparency and speedy disposal of applications without unnecessary delays, Bapat said. There are about 324 cases with PMRDA. The authority plans to process all the files in the next 10 days. The authority will have a team of about 275 staff members. There is also a plan to establish nine departments to streamline work. Amongst these will be planning, illegal construction, accounts, establishments, general administration, traffic and transportation. Nine departments, latest technology Urbanisation Brings With It A Disease That Was Once Restricted To Rural Areas Umesh.Isalkar@timesgroup.com Pics: Shyam Sonar
Transcript of 12052015 TOIPUC MP 02 1 COL R1 - The Times of...
TIMES CITYTHE TIMES OF INDIA, PUNE | TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015
BENDING OVER CELLPHONES AFFECTING POSTURE,DOCS WARN AGAINST PROLONGED USE OF DEVICES | 4
DISTRICT CONSUMER FORUM REJECTS INSURANCECLAIM FOR WANT OF VALID LICENCE | 4
Pune: Mite-borne rickettsialinfection, seen primarily in therural populace in the past, isnow being increasingly detect-ed in people residing in expand-ing cities across the country.
The resurgence of this dis-ease can be attributed to risingurbanization — the vectors,ticks and mites, have nowfound their residence in urbanbushes, with the increase intransport, influx of people andcity limits merging into nearbyrural areas.
The disease epidemiology,experts say, has been changingwith increasing urbanization.In view of this, Indian Councilof Medical Research (ICMR)has developed guidelines on di-agnosis and management ofrickettsial diseases in Indiathis year. Of all rickettsiosescases, scrub typhus is the mostcommon and accounts for upto50% of undifferentiated feverpresenting to hospital.
“Rickettsial infections aregenerally incapacitating anddifficult to diagnose, untreatedcases have case fatality rates ashigh as 30-45% with multipleorgan dysfunction, if notpromptly diagnosed and treat-ed. The ICMR’s guidelines de-fine a framework for recogniz-ing manifestations, identifyingappropriate diagnostic testsand initiating prompt and ef-fective treatment,” M D Gupte,chair (epidemiology), ICMR,told TOI on Monday.
The vast variability andnon-specific presentation ofthis infection have often madeit difficult to diagnose clinical-ly. Acute fever is the most com-mon presenting symptom asso-ciated with breathlessness,cough, nausea, vomiting, myal-gia and headache. Besides, aneschar (a dead tissue that shedsor falls off from healthy skin) atthe site of chigger bite can beseen in early disease and is auseful diagnostic clue in scrubtyphus, though its frequencyvaries from 7-97%.
While a rash is consideredas hallmark of rickettsial dis-ease, it is neither seen at pre-sentation nor in all patients.Presence of rash is common inspotted fever and extremelyrare in scrub typhus.
“However, none of theseclinical symptoms and signs,including eschar, is diagnosticof rickettsial disease. There-fore, epidemiological factorspertaining to geographical ar-ea, habitat, occupation, move-ment of the subject (vocationalor recreational) could assist in
reaching a diagnosis of rickett-sial disease with certainty andinitiating treatment on time,”Gupte said.
Complications of scrub ty-phus usually develop after thefirst week of illness. Jaundice,renal failure, pneumonitis,acute respiratory distress syn-drome (ARDS), septic shock,myocarditis and meningoence-phalitis are various complica-tions known with this disease
Pneumonia is one of themost frequent complications ofscrub typhus which manifestsas a non-productive cough andbreathlessness and leads toARDS which could be life-threatening. Severe complica-tions include hepatitis (inflam-
mation of the liver), renal orkidney failure, meningo-en-cephalitis (inflammation of thebrain and meninges) and myo-carditits (inflammation anddamage to the heart muscle)with shock may occur in var-ying proportions of patients.
“Prompt antibiotic therapy,even based on suspicion, short-ens the course of the disease,lowers the risk of complica-tions and reduces morbidityand mortality due to rickettsialdiseases. Currently, doxycy-cline is regarded as the drug ofchoice,” infectious diseases ex-pert Bharat Purandare said.
There is an urgent need forphysicians and health-careworkers at all levels in India to
been reported from severalstates in India, including Jam-mu and Kashmir, HimachalPradesh,Uttarakhand, Bihar,West Bengal, Meghalaya, Ra-jasthan, Maharashtra, Karna-taka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
In Maharashtra, cases oftyphus fever are usually report-ed from the Shreerampur beltin Ahmednagar district andSatara district. “The history in-dicates contact with cattle. Thecases of tick typhus in Punehave a contact history of dogs.Besides, body louse-borne ty-phus infection is also seenamong people from lower socio-economic strata,” a senior phy-sician from Deenanath Man-geshkar hospital said.
be aware of the clinical fea-tures, available diagnostic testsand their interpretation, andthe therapy of these infections.
“The guidelines have beendeveloped to help treating phy-sicians towards correct diag-nosis and treatment. For wantof awareness in physicians andthe community, diagnostic de-lays result in patients present-ing to tertiary care centres withacute respiratory distress syn-drome (ARDS) and other se-vere complications. The guide-lines will definitely help indiagnosing and treating thesecases and bring in uniformityin line of treatment,” said aninfectious diseases expert.
Cases of rickettsioses have
ICMR gears up to tackle risingcases of mite-borne infections
Pune: The newly-formed PuneMetropolitanRegion Devel-opment Au-thority(PMRDA) plansto prepare a de-velopmental
plan for the Pune metropolitanregion in the next one year, Gir-ish Bapat, PMRDA head anddistrict guardian minister, saidhere on Monday.
Over 400 villages spreadacross an area of 3535sq kmaround Pune and PimpriChinchwad are part ofPMRDA. The authority, whichofficially started functioningon May 1, is expected to look in-to control development of theentire region spread in fringesof both cities.
Bapat, who held PMRDA’smaiden meeting on Monday,said that the authority will en-sure planned construction ac-tivity in the entire area.
“For this, work of prepar-ing the development plan willbe taken up with top priority.We are not planning to out-source the work to a privateagency. The PMRDA will con-stitute a separate committee ofabout 25 experts from variousdepartments, including townplanning and revenue depart-ments, to formulate the devel-opment plan. We will ensurethat the committee is formed atthe earliest,” Bapat added.
The minister further saidthat there are plans to send aproposal to the state govern-ment to increase PMRDA’s ju-risdiction. He said that revi-sion of limit was necessarybecause the existing area ofPMRDA was marked about 15years ago in 1998. “Lot of devel-
opment and changes have tak-en place in last few years in andaround the area. It is necessaryto include some more parts un-der PMRDA,” Bapat said.
He said the authority willimmediately take up a study onthe extension of PMRDA limitsand submit a report to the gov-ernment in next one month forapproval.
PMRDA to readydevelopment
plan in one yearTIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hamburg: Eighteen years af-ter a busy junction in Aundhwas named Bremen Chowk,symbolising Pune’s associ-ation with the industrial townof Bremen in Germany, the fo-rum catalysing this collabora-tion of ideas and experts fromthe two cities has closed.
Curtains came down on thePune-Bremen Solidarity Fo-rum, which had started in 1980,in January this year, with theforum struggling to attractyoung blood. “This is a volun-tary group supported by theBremen parliament and theBremen government. The av-erage age of (forum members)was 60 to 70 in both Pune andBremen. The partners werefinding it difficult (to get youngpeople),” said Gunther Hillig-es, founder of Pune-BremenSolidarity Forum. Hilliges wasalso its president until it closedin January.
In its 30 years, the forumforged alliances between edu-cational institutions and in-dustrialists, successfully ex-ported India’s ‘gobar gas plant’idea to farmhouses in Bremen,but could not get a key project –of getting the Mula-Mutha riv-er cleaned – to yield the desiredresult.
Speaking to TOI from Bre-men, Hilliges (75) said collabo-rations between the two citiesmay continue if the partnersso will, but the forum was nolonger needed to broker alli-ances as communication ismuch easier now. “There was atime when letters from Punewere routed via the foreignministry. It took two monthsfor the letters to reach us,” hesaid, adding that now all inter-actions are on email.
The forum had come upfour years after Terre DesHommes started its activitiesin Pune, working with hand-icapped children or those with
special needs. “Pune was se-lected as the former CEO ofTerre Des Hommes lived there.
The first project partner wasKEM hospital,” recalled Hillig-es, who was on the board of
Terre Des Hommes and hadstarted receiving letters fromthe Indian partners to broaden
their scope of work.What followed was the for-
mation of the forum and a se-
ries of exchanges and partner-ships. Key among them wasstudents from the Bremen andPune universities coming to-gether to devise a plan to cleanthe Mula-Mutha in Pune andthe Wesar River in Bremen.
“The universities ex-changed students and variousfaculties from both universi-ties came together. We werelucky in Bremen. Administra-tors were able to contain influxof dirty water into Wesar andnow we are talking aboutsourcing drinking water fromit. Thirty different species offish are found in this waternow and people are allowed toswim. But Mula Mutha has on-ly worsened,” Hilliges said, at-tributing the state of the riversin Pune to weak political will.
Another tie-up was be-tween Deenanath Mangesh-kar Hospital and Bremen Hos-pital with a clutch of doctorsand nurses from Pune visitingBremen for a month-long
training programme. The twocities also collaborated to getyoung people interested in thehistory and culture of their re-spective countries – with theÜbersee Museum Bremenpartnering with Raja DinkarKelkar museum in Pune andthe two exchanging experts.
The forum’s oldest part-ners in Pune, Arbutus, whichworks on environmental pro-tection and sustainable devel-opment, is hopeful that the col-laboration goes on. “You don’tget people to carry it forward.Young people are too busy anddon’t get time. But the contactsare there and strong links havebeen formed,” said Dr MeeraBondre, who, with her hus-band Arwind, founded Arbu-tus. She added there is hope.Arbutus is bringing out a Ger-man booklet in which youngpeople from Pune and Bremenhave exchanged their views onthe good life today and tomor-row.
35-yr-old transnational solidarity forum downs shutters, but bonds remainRoli [email protected] p
n 1976 | Terre Des Hommes starts activities in Pune for children in need
n 1980 | The Pune-Bremen Solidarity Forum is formed with a view to engage in areas of sustainable development
n November 19, 1997 | The Pune-Bremen Maitri Chowk is inaugurated
The main reason to set up the forum was to overcome tradi-
tional prejudices. In 1982, we held a painting competition in Bremen on impressions on India. Children drew tigers and the holy cow. But today people are aware that India is a lead-ing country in computer technologyGunther Hilliges | FOUNDER, PUNE-BREMEN
SOLIDARITY FORUM
THE PUNE-BREMEN COLLABORATION
Partnershipsn Student exchange between Pune and Bremen universities for cleaning of the Mula-Mutha in Pune and Wesar in Bremen
n Around 40 companies from Bremen have links to Pune and have regular meetings at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries & Agriculture
n Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Bremen Hospital collaborate on a training programme
n 15 NGOs from Bremen are still working with children in need
n Since 10 years, 20 students from Symbiosis, Pune, come to the Hochschule Bremen for an academic programme. Twentystudents from Bremen visit Pune
n School children have written a book together: Three wi shes for the futureBremen Chowk
Artistes from Bremen at the Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum
Pune: Three Afghan stu-dents were arrested on Mon-day for allegedly thrashingand sodomising a 21-year-old man, who also hails fromAfghanistan. The incidenttook place in Kondhwa onSunday night.
The Kondhwa police saidone of the three suspects andthe complainant, who is pur-suing his B A, study in thesame private college in thecity.
The other two are fromdifferent colleges, whereone is pursuing his B Comand the other is an engineer-ing student. Police said thefourth suspect , who is also aforeign national studying ina city college, is absconding.
Police said on May 10, thecomplainant’s classmatehad invited the former to aparty at his rented flat inKondhwa. “The other threesuspects joined them laterthat night. All of them haddinner and consumed li-
quor. Later, one of themplayed music and asked thecomplainant to dance. Whenthe latter refused, the sus-pects started beating him,”said Rajendra Mokashi, se-nior inspector of the Kondh-wa police station.
Mokashi said when thecomplainant shouted forhelp, one of the suspectsgagged him with a piece ofcloth.
“The suspect who is pur-suing his B Com allegedlysodomised the complainant.The other two attempted tosodomise him,” Mokashisaid.
Mokashi said the com-plainant somehow managedto escape and approachedthe police station.
“We have arrestedthe suspects under sections377 (unnatural offence) and323 (voluntarily causinghurt) of the Indian PenalCode. We have launched asearch to trace the fourthsuspect. He has also beenbooked under the samecharges” he added.
Assistant inspector ofthe Kondhwa police stationSatish Pawar is investigat-ing the case.
Three Afghanstudentsarrested
for sodomy TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Police said theyhave launched asearch for thefourth suspect, whois also a foreignnational studying ina city college
Pune: The city-based KagadKach Patra Kashtakari Pan-chayat (KKPKP) in associ-ation with the SNDT Collegehas drafted a list of recom-mendations for effective im-plementation of the Right toEducation (RTE) Act.
These recommendationsinclude better management ofhelp centres, effective griev-ance redressal system and enddiscrimination in schoolsamong others. The draft wasprepared during a programmejointly organized by the SNDT
Women’s University’s Depart-ment of Continuing & AdultEducation & Extension andthe KKPKP. As many as 100parents came together to dis-cuss their experiences andthat of their childrens’ whileinteracting with schools andthe state administration.
“The Act is in its fourthyear of implementation, so itis a good time to take stock ofthe issues in city and PimpriChinchwad from the parents’perspective. Parents, mostlyfrom the working class,shared both positive and neg-ative experiences in the first
session. The common threadwas the parents their desire toensure what they considered
will provide their childrenwith the best education– anEnglish-medium private
school,” said Poornima Chi-karmane of the SNDT Univer-sity during a press conferenceon Monday.
During the meet, parentsdiscussed about uncoopera-tive officials who delayed in-come certificates, hostileschools and also how theywere made to run from pillarto post for documents. “I havestudied till class II, but I wantmy daughter to be a collector,”said Jyoti Shinde, who tookpart in the discussion.
The report of the pro-gramme prepared by SNDTUniversity and the KKPKP al-
so highlighted that the RTEAct has made it difficult forthe parents and children.However, what remains is toensure that the provisions areimplemented in the spirit, thereport said.
“The gathering resolvedto send a petition to the stateeducation minister and thechief minister,” said Mai-trayee Shankar of theKKPKP. The Akhil BhartiyaSamajwadi Adhyapak Sabha,the Action for the Rights ofthe Child (ARC), Swadhar andMaher also participated inthe event.
Wastepickers’ association drafts plan to implement RTE Act TIMES NEWS NETWORK
n Better management of help centres
n Effective grievance redressal system
n Ending discrimination in schools
n Define neighbourhood schools
n Defining entitlements and other provisions under the RTE Act
n Create awareness and publicity
n Enlist documents required for admission
n Improve interaction between parents and teachers
THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS
Pune: The newly-formedPune Metropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority(PMRDA) has decided to crackdown on illegal constructionin the metropolitan region. Itplans to establish separatevigilance squads to keepcheck on illegal constructionsbesides implementation ofheavy fines and cutting ofpower and water supply.
Girish Bapat, chairman ofPMRDA, on Monday said theauthority plans to come outwith various measures to re-strict illegal con-structions in thePMRDA area.
He said besides strict ac-tion against developers, thereis also a plan to create aware-ness among Sarpanch, policepatil and tehsildars of all thevillages notified underPMRDA to ensure that no ille-gal constructions are enter-tained in their respective juris-dictions. Bapat also said thatthe authority will not hesitateto initiate action against a Sar-panch and revenue officials ifillegal constructions are spot-ted in their jurisdictions.
Bapat said the authoritywill further start a police sta-tion to help the administra-tion keep check on illegal con-structions.
The Pune Municipal Cor-poration (PMC) will extend ahelping hand to the PMRDA todeal with illegal construc-tions. “The PMC will provideinfrastructure as well as hu-man resources support to thenew authority. The expertiseon processes to carry outdrives against the unautho-rized and illegal construc-tions will be shared with theofficials of PMRDA,” MayorDattatraya Dhankawade toldreporters on Monday.
He said the PMC will helpPMRDA in setting up the ten-dering systems, manpower
management sys-tem and machin-ery management
to raze the illegal construc-tion. The training about legal-ities regarding the illegal con-structions will be imparted tonew staff of the authority,most of which will be recruit-ed on temporary basis.
Illegal constructions is amajor issues in PMC areas. Asper PMC’s data, in last coupleyears, the civic body has actedagainst over 4,200 illegal con-structions. As part of the drive,illegal sheds and houses built inconcrete on an area of around25.5 lakh sq ft in slum pockets ofShivajinagar, Kasba Peth, Wad-gaonsheri, Ambegaon, Koth-rud, Katraj, NIBM Road andPashan were demolished.
Squads to check illegal buildingsTIMES NEWS NETWORK
HEAVY FINES
ä If patients come with complications to primary health facility and treating physician considers it as rickettsial infection, treatment with doxycycline should be initiated
ä Patients should be referred to secondary or tertiary centre in case of complications like ARDS or multi organ dysfunction. In addition to recommended
management of community acquired pneumonia, doxycycline is to be initiated when scrub typhus is considered likely
ä In fever cases of duration of five days or more where malaria, dengue and typhoid have been ruled out; doxycycline and azithromycine should be administered once scrub typhus is considered likely
(SOURCE: GUIDELINES FOR DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF RICKETTSIAL
DISEASES IN INDIA 2015: INDIAN COUNCIL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH AND
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESEARCH, UNION MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY
WELFARE, NEW DELHI)
THE NEED FOR GUIDELINESä The care and management of people with rickettsial diseases is done primarily by the general practitioners and physicians. However, there are no clear directions or guidelines for its management
ä A need for availability of a set of guidelines which can be used by doctors, scientists and public health workers all over the country was strongly felt
ä With this in view, Department of Health Research (DHR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) took the initiative to formulate the guidelines for the diagnosis and management of Rickettsial diseases in India
ä The guidelines define a framework for recognizing manifestations, identifying appropriate diagnostic tests and initiating prompt and effective treatment
ä These guidelines have been developed for scientific purpose with the aim to provide physicians and health care workers with practical information to assist with the diagnosis and care of patients with rickettsial infections
ä These guidelines also aim to stimulate thinking among scientists interested in developing this area in the country at the various levels of health care and thus help the people to lead a normal and healthy life
DEFINITION OF SUSPECTED/CLINICAL CASEä Acute undifferentiated febrile illness of 5 days or more with or without eschar should be suspected as a case of Rickettsial infection. (If eschar is present, fever of less than 5 days duration should be considered as scrub typhus)
äOther presenting features
may be headache and rash (rash more often seen in fair persons),lymphadenopathy (lymphnodes which are abnormal in size) multi-organ involvement like liver, lung and kidney involvement
ä The differential diagnosis of dengue, malaria, pneumonia, leptospirosis and typhoid should be kept in mind
DEFINITION OFCONFIRMED CASE
A CONFIRMED CASE IS THE ONE IN WHICH:ä Rickettsial DNA is detected in eschar samples or whole blood by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test
ä Rising antibody titers on acute and convalescent sera detected by Indirect Immune Fluorescence Assay (IFA) or Indirect Immunoperoxidase Assay (IPA)
ä Indirect Immunoperoxidase Assay (IPA) and Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) are considered serological gold standards but are available at laboratories with higher level of facilities and expertise
ä Molecular diagnosis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is available only at few centres in India
ä However, ELISA based tests, particularly
immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture assays can be made available at secondary level and tertiary levels of health care like District hospitals and medical colleges
ä Weil-Felix test which is helpful in establishing presumptive diagnosis canbe considered at primary level of health care as they can be easily set up with moderate level of infrastructure and expertise at least in areas affected by scrub typhus
THERE ARE VARIOUS LABORATORY TESTS AVAILABLE FOR DIAGNOSIS OF RICKETTSIAL DISEASES
LABORATORY TESTS
THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDER NEEDS TO DO THE FOLLOWING
Head of PMRDA Girish Bapatsaid that the authority has
decided to adopt the latestsoftware to monitor daily work.The software will help trackevery file and also generateupdate on progress report andsend an update through SMS tothe applicant’s mobile number.This will ensure transparencyand speedy disposal ofapplications withoutunnecessary delays, Bapatsaid.
There are about 324 caseswith PMRDA. The authorityplans to process all the files inthe next 10 days. The authoritywill have a team of about 275staff members. There is also aplan to establish ninedepartments to streamlinework. Amongst these will beplanning, illegal construction,accounts, establishments,general administration, trafficand transportation.
Nine departments,latest technology
Urbanisation Brings With It A Disease That Was Once Restricted To Rural Areas
Pics: Shyam Sonar
