By Ravindra Saini in Dehradun

India is gradually moving to use one emergency telephone number across the country, 108, on the lines of America’s 911 and Britain’s 999. In June, the state of Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand adopted this number for providing emergency medical services. The 108 service for Delhi is said to be in the pipeline.

The three-year-old Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) service also operates in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir, hoping to provide services to 100 million people by 2010. This is India’s first coordinated response service at one number across the country, like the UK’s 999 and Europe’s 112 taking a call every two seconds. The 108 service in India is ambulance-based. It has more than 600 advanced life-saving ambulances operating in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The Tamil Nadu government has made available 200 such emergency medical technician-manned ambulances for the EMRI service. The service is free of charge.

The next time you holiday in the hills of Garhwal and find yourself in the midst of trouble, dialing 108 for immediate help can prove beneficial and at times life saving.

When a group of five foreign tourists found themselves caught in an avalanche on their way to Gaumukh, the origin of river Ganga, they were surprised to see help arriving within hours at the dizzying elevation of 4.255 meters in the Garhwal Himalayas.

In another incident, two critically injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital in a matter of 30 minutes in the dead of the night on May 24 when a landslide struck their house in a remote village of Pauri district.

The EMRI 108 emergency service completed its 108th day in Uttarakhand on September 1. Fifteen more ambulances were launched taking the total number to 45. Chief Minister BC Khanduri and Health Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’ flagged off the ambulances from Coronation Hospital premises in Dehradun. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Khanduri asserted, “For Uttarakhand, the EMRI 108 emergency service has come as a boon.” He maintained that the service was launched in the state with great expectations and it had come up to expectation. Within a short span of time, it had earned a strong credibility amongst people for itself, he said, Shri Khanduri added that although the 108 service had been operating effectively, so far, there could still be room for improvement.

“Government is open to any suggestions for improvement in the service by EMRI 108 staff,” he said. The Chief Minister stressed on using the facility in a positive way and urged the emergency teams to avoid misuse. He expressed appreciation of the effort being put in by the emergency team in serving the people.

Dr. Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’ said the 15 new ambulances would start rendering their services in Pithoragarh, Almora, Haldwani, Nainital, Rudrapur, Kashipur, Ranikhet, Garampani, Dwarahat, Kausani, Ramnagar, Vyasi, Rudraprayag, Bhikhyasen and Chamba.

After the Government of Uttarakhand and EMRI signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 8, the service was launched with the first 10 ambulances on May 15 this year and it had attended to more than 5500 cases in its 108 days of existence. The EMRI Call Centre is receiving an average of 2080 emergency calls per day and more than 4620 victims have received emergency treatment so far.

So far, 1281 injury cases, including 873 road traffic accidents, and 408 other injuries and 999 pregnancy cases have been dealt by 108. Out of 4620 victims, 1579 (35%) were from Dehradun, 626 (14%) from Chamoli, 487 (11%) from Uttarkashi and the remaining 1928 (40%) belonged to other districts. In all, 4027 victims were admitted to hospitals. The average emergencies the 108 service is dealing with per day stands at 50. Dehradun district has been the busiest location for 108 services with 35 per cent of the total cases occurring here followed by Chamoli and Uttarkashi with 11 per cent, each.

News Source: http://www.organiser.org/

New Delhi (PTI), 21 Sep 2008

After successfully putting Kalka-Shimla Railway on the map of World Heritage Sites, railways is now planning to bring the same status for the prestigious Oak Grove School situated at Musoorie hills near Dehradun.

In a first of its kind initiative by railways, a school complex is being proposed for getting recognition from the UNESCO as World Heritage Site (WHS).

“We are preparing documents to be submitted to the UNESCO proposing the century old Oak Grove School at Jharipani in Uttaranchal as WHS,” said a senior Railways Ministry official.

Started by East India Railway in 1888 with an endowment fund of Rs 2 lakhs on the recommendation of the School Committee, it was set up to help their European and Anglo- Indian employees provide public school education as prevalent in Europe those days.

However, it will not be nominated as an old school.

“The documentation will describe how industrialisation process brought about by railways in India led to the need for a such school to be established by a Western nation for their requirement in a colonised country and which has now emerged as an outstanding example of our cultural heritage conserving country’s traditional values,” said the official.

“We would give details to the UNESCO as to why the Oak Grove School should be declared as a world heritage site, he said.

News Source: http://www.hindu.com

20 Sep 2008

Today the whole nation is singing praises of Inspector Mohan Chandra Sharma – an exemplary courageous, gallant, dutiful & efficient police officer. While he should have been bedsided to his ill son desperately battling dengue, Inspector MC Sharma was fighting the terrorists to safeguard the nation’s security. Though he was victorious in the battle, but he ultimately lost his battle against life.

While Police Officials may not hold a worthy place in the hearts of a common citizen because of prevailing dishonesty and corruption; officers like Inspector Mohan Chandra Sharma certainly emerge as a role model setting an ideal example of courageous and dutiful police officer and bringing good name to the police department. Today the whole nation recognizes this true hero and paying tributes to his bravery.

Inspector Mohan Chandra Sharma has been awarded 150 times including 7 gallantry awards which include 2 President’s Police Medal. Being an encounter specialist, he has to his credit gunning down 35 terrorists and 40 gangsters while arresting 80 terrorists and 120 gangsters during his 19 years of police service.

On Friday, when he left for Batla House to lead the operation, his son was admitted with dengue to the Kalra Hospital at Kirti Nagar. When informed about the tip-off about suspected militants hiding in a flat, he rushed to the spot in the morning. When the encounter started, Inspector Sharma was apparently not wearing a bullet-proof jacket.

While he sustained a bullet injury in the stomach, the other two hit him on the thigh and the right arm. A profusely bleeding Inspector Sharma was rushed to the hospital, where he was operated upon. But he died at 7 p.m.

“It is officers like your husband who make us all feel confident that our security is in safe hands,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Sharma’s wife. “Your husband’s passing away is a great loss for our country and society.”

May this other (Man)Mohan also learn a lesson from Inspector MC Sharma and show courage to take some critical decisions to safeguard the nation’s security and combat terrorism so that the nation doesn’t loose heroes like Mohan Chandra Sharma.

We salute such a real hero and pay our tributes to Inspector Mohan Chandra Sharma and express our heartiest condolence to the grieved family. The whole nation is equally grieved with the demise of Inspector Sharma.

References: Hindustan | The Hindu

12 Sep 08

Wipro Infotech, the India and Middle East IT business of Wipro, has unveiled its second manufacturing unit at Kotdwar in Uttarakhand. Spread over 5.8 acres of land at the foothills of the Himalayas, the plant will manufacture servers, storage, notebooks, desktops and allied IT electronics.

The plant has a manufacturing capacity of approximately 1000 machines a day. The company however did not disclose the investment in this project. According to the company, due to its proximity to the northern parts of India, the unit will cater to customers in northern parts of the country.

Anand Sankaran, chief executive, Wipro Infotech said, “The addition of the second facility is another expression of our commitment towards Wipro’s computing business which has shown robust growth over the years. As the subcontinent reaps the benefit of being one of the fastest growing economies we felt the need to equip ourselves with enhanced manufacturing and delivery capabilities.”

The new unit is a Green facility which will manufacture 100 per cent Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) compliant products.

News Source: http://www.business-standard.com

Dehradun, 7 Sep 2008

As many as 13 specialised mobile hospitals will shortly be set up in Uttarakhand in order to provide best medical facilities at the doorsteps and to tackle emergencies like accidents in the hill state.

Health Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said road accidents were common in the state with nearly 300 to 500 persons being killed every year in such incidents and most of the time, people do not get medical facilities in time.

These mobile hospitals, having specialised teams of doctors and surgeons, would be stationed at the district headquarters and could be rushed on the distress call. Nishank claimed that Uttarakhand would be the first state in the country to have hospitals on wheels.

Each mobile hospital, which would be equipped with all facilities, would be built with a cost of Rs 1 crore.
These hospitals would be run in PPP mode, he said. The government has invited global tenders, which would be finalised in two months time and it has so far received 130 tenders, Nishank said.

The government has also decided to build 20 trauma centres across the state and an amount of Rs 100 crore will be spent in this regard, he said.

In addition to this, the government would spend Rs 150 crore for the upgradation and modernisation of the primary health centres. To support the mobile hospitals and primary health centres, the government is setting up a number of blood banks at the district-level.

News Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com