People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate for the post of Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) Grace Kharpuri filed a case in the High Court of Meghalaya alleging that the election to the CEM post in the KHADC was not conducted as per the rules of the council.Grace Mary Kharpuri said that many of the members did not even receive the notice at the appropriate time. Alleging that there was violation of rules, Kharpuri said that the Election for the Chairman should have been considered as the first priority as to follow the formal procedure of the District Council for any proceeding of the house.
Kharpuri did not show up for the election which easily paved way for Nongkrem MDC H.S Shylla to be elected for the second time as the CEM of the KHADC. Meanwhile the High Court had given one time week to the State Government to response against the petition filed by Grace Kharpuri.
North East Regional Conference on Women and Development
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma inaugurate the 3 days North East Regional Conference on Women and Development (NER-CWD) organized by the Union Christian College (UCC) Umiam in collaboration with the P.A. Sangma Foundation.
The Chief Minister stresses the need of participation from women to ensure a more holistic approach to development of the State and country as a whole Speaking during the programme Conrad Sangma said that there is a large section of women that are yet to get the opportunity to contribute. Concern over rise of gender discrimination and crimes against women the Chief Minister said that there is a need to educate and sensitize all sections of the society to counter these issues. He also urged women to come forward and participate in the governance process of the State. The Chief Minister also inaugurated the new Library Building of the UCC which was constructed with funding from Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).
As part of the Belt and Road Initiative, China is opening corridors for trade with the neighbouring countries. A series of programmes were launched in June, 2018 to enhanced people to people contact and for better understanding and cooperation amongst China, South Asia and South East Asian countries especially in tourism, trade, agriculture and cultural relations.
The first China- South Asia Cooperation Forum, the 12th K2K Forum and the 25th China Kunming Import-Export Fair were held from June 12 to 20 where delegates from 87 countries attended.
The K2K (Kolkata to Kunming) Forum was organized by the Development Research Center of Yunnan Provincial People’s Government, the Center for Studies in International Relations and Development of India, Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Kolkata and the Consulate-General of the Republic of India in Guangzhou. The event is coorganized by Yunnan Province Business Research Institute and Yunnan International Trade Association.
The new State of the art Trauma Centre of Nazareth Hospital, Shillong was inaugurated on the 12th July 2018, by Honorable Minister Shri. A. L. Hek I/C Health and Family Welfare Government of Meghalaya.
Though there are many hospitals in the state of Meghalaya, sadly however despite this there has never been a dedicated center for Trauma Victims till date and Nazareth Hospital being one of the oldest and the one who is always at the forefront of providing the people of Meghalaya with the best and the latest in medical care saw the need of the hour is a dedicated Trauma Center in the region.
What is important to understand however is the difference between an Emergency Unit and a Trauma Unit. While an Emergency Unit is by law required in all hospitals it however will take care of a wide variety of emergencies ranging from Medical, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Surgery and other forms of medical emergencies. A dedicated Trauma Center however, will cater only and only to “trauma patients” and this requires the presence of a team of dedicated specialists assigned solely for this purpose and in the process providing the patients with the best and most comprehensive treatment available.
But the scarcity of human resources has always held us back even though the dream of having one never died. Fortunately, though this year with the presence of the required specialists, in the field of Neurosurgery, Orthopedics and Surgery, who are available 24hrs on call have made it possible to realize this dream.
Trauma in the state have increased every year and with the number of vehicles plying in the street and the presence of high-speed highways have only added to the increase in the number of trauma victims and the trend is going to increase with each passing year.
Taking all these factors into consideration Nazareth Hospital has therefore started a dedicated Level 2 Trauma Unit to specially cater to this growing group of patients and the presence of these dedicated specialists, nursing staff, equipments along with a state of the art ICU will help these victims get the best care at the earliest and making sure that lives are saved, and patients returned to their families in the best of health and functional state as possible.
We do hope that our endeavor will be a boon for the people of Meghalaya especially the areas in and around Shillong and that more precious lives are saved in the process.
The Aqua Culture mission in the state has not achieved its target of the demand of 22,000 metric tons of Fish for Meghalaya. Now the worst has come, that fish import from other states may be banned, after detection of formalin in fishes in other areas of the North eastern region, including those imported from Odisha. However, some fish merchants from Shillong would undertake a tour to Andhra Pradesh to finding out the reality of the situation, as some of the fish merchants have invested in fish ponds in Andhra Pradesh. At present 21,000 metric tons of fish are brought into the state from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and West Bengal. However taking no chances, even local fish would be tested for formalin. There is however already an existing laboratory at Pasture Institute, which however needs to be upgraded.
