In brief

Saurashtra gets its first swine flu test lab in Rajkot
RAJKOT: The first swine flu test laboratory in Saurashtra started its operation at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Medical College in Rajkot from Friday. The facility has been set up after the region witnessed an alarming rise in H1N1 cases in winter. The Rajkot Civil Hospital so far has recorded 69 swine flu deaths. Doctors said with this laboratory,the samples will not be sent to B J Medical College in Ahmedabad and reports will be available faster.
The Rajkot Civil Hospital authorities said that with the availability of the facility with the basic laboratory safety-III standard testing of samples from seven districts in Saurashtra — Rajkot,Junagadh,Jamnagar,Amreli,Bhavnagar,Porbandar and Surendranagar — will be done at Rajkot on a daily basis.
Sources added that all the tests last week were done at the new laboratory,while same samples were sent to BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad to crosscheck the results. Authorities claimed that the results from both the laboratories have matched. Hospital sources said that a single swine flu test kit cost around Rs 6,000,while the entire test cost is Rs 10,000.

No sugar stock at Kandla Port: officials
Ahmedabad: While the State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories (SFCSF) from Maharashtra and Gujarat have sought the Union Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar’s intervention in processing of the imported raw sugar lying at Mundra and Kandla ports in Gujarat,the Kandla port authorities have reiterated that sugar vessels are given preferential berthing as directed by the Central government. The Kandla port authorities have stated that no refined or raw sugar stock is lying at the port and that they have handled about 1.4 MMT sugar giving the sugar vessels a preferential berthing. The authorities have further said that they had requested the private parties to clear the cargo on a priority basis.

Four IPS officers,35 DySPs transferred
AHMEDABAD: The State Home Department transferred four IPS officers and reshuffled DySPs on Friday. State Home Principal Secretary Balvant Singh confirmed the reshuffle. S G Bhati,Principal of Police Training Academy,takes over as DIG,Coastal Security and Intelligence. G S Malik,Add CP (Special Branch) takes over as Add CP in Vadodara City. He would also handle an additional post of the Principal of Police Training Academy,Vadodara. P C Thakur,IGP,SC/ST Cell ,takes over as IGP,Jails,while H P Singh,IGP ,Jails,has been given the charge of IGP,Communications and an additional post in SC/ST Cell. Singh added that 35 Deputy Superintendents of Police have been reshuffled.

Health dept,NHRC yet to recognise silicosis deaths in Khambhat
VADODARA: THE state Health Department and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) are yet to recognise the 57 deaths due to silicosis in the Khambhat region of the state. According to a survey by a health awareness promotion organisation,as many as 121 workers are affected with silicosis in Shakkarpur alone.
Interestingly,the findings were presented before the NHRC on October 3,2009. But NHRC officials have not included the agate workers of Khambhat in the list of silicosis victims. “We have got the representation,but it wasn’t included because there are no health department or government reports on the recent list,” said an NHRC official. Meanwhile,health officials in Anand district said that since most of these workers are employed in cottage units,it is difficult to get their statistics. The National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) had organised health camps in the area but they did not yield result. Dr Prakash Vaghela,the former head of Khambat Public Healthcare Centre (PHC),who is now serving as the Chief District Health Officer of Panchmahals,said that NIOH had scanned as many as 1,669 people from the area,but not a single person was detected. Elsewhere,Jagdish Patel,the director of Peoples’ Training and Research Centre,which has a clinic in Khambhat for detecting silicosis patients,said: “in a letter to NHRC,we have stated that the number of agate workers suffering have gone up to 121,and the deaths from 42 in 2008 to 57 till date.”

Crocodile census in Vadodara after a decade
VADODARA: The Forest Department will conduct a crocodile census on January 23 and 25 here after a gap of almost a decade. The last official survey was done in 2001. The census assumes significance as Vadodara is one of the few cities in the country to boast of a crocodile population. Sources said the census will not be considered official as it will be done at a local level. The officials said the census will be done both in the daytime and at night on the two days.

NGO to take out tableau on R-Day
SURAT: Now the people of Surat can have an opportunity to get glimpses of the different cultures and lifestyles of the people in in other states of India,courtesy a tableau presentation during the Republic Day celebrations. A city-based NGO,Bharat Bharti,has planned to take out a procession including a tableau of different cultures on January 26. The procession will move on the major roads of the city and culminate at the Surat Municipal Corporation party plot. The presentation will be inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU),Babu Prajapati,and Surat Commissioner of Police Shivanad Jha.
The chief of Bharat Bharti,Subhash Dhawan said,“Such types of celebrations are held by the Government of India only in New Delhi.”