People taking hight protein diets, alcohol at risk
Punjabis are fond of eating high-calorie food and many of them also love to have alcohol along with it. The protein rich diet, which they take affects their health. This is the reason that indiscipline dietary habits of Punjabis are giving Punjab the tag of "Uric Acid Belt".

A city-based ayurvedacharya, Dr Ravinder Vatsayan, ''It is a challenge since ayurveda times and in old texts of ayurveda it has been mentioned as adhiyavad's disease which means richman's disease. When one gets indiscipline in eating habits, one suffers from diseases. When a person takes high protein food, the rate of metabolism gets disturbed and one falls an easy prey to uric acid."

A long judicial stay on the sand mining has caused an increase in the cases of illegal sand mining and has also increased the rates of sand in the market. The police had registered many cases of illegal sand mining and seized loaded trucks and trolleys.

To check the illegal sand mining, the state government and later the High Court had imposed a ban on sand mining over an year ago. However, sometime ago, the High Court had removed the ban, but due to the lack of environmental clearance from the concerned departments, most of the mining sites were lying without auction. During this period, illegal sand mining was encouraged in the Ghaggar river and some other small rivers in this area. On the other hand, customers are bound to purchase sand at higher rates for construction works.

In a significant development, the UT Administration today agreed to reduce the stretch of the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary to less than 2.5 km.

The UT has to declare and submit the report on the ESZ to the Ministry of Environment and Forests before May 15. Today, in the meeting chaired by UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil, the UT officials discussed as to in how much area around the sanctuary developmental activities should be prohibited. Initially, the officials were of the view that the developmental activities in the 3-km area around the sanctuary should be regulated, but today the officials agreed to declare less than 2.5-km area as the eco-sensitive zone.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has sanctioned Rs 1 crore for providing facilities of drinking water and roads in two gram panchayats of the Bilaspur Sadar constituency during this month. This was stated by Bilaspur Sadar MLA Bambar Thakur while talking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here today.

He said in Morsinghi gram panchayat, Rs 9 lakh was provided for drinking water to the Kasol Harijan basti, Rs 17 lakh for drinking water of the Balha-Kajin village areas, Rs 3 lakh for the Kasol-Maatyal link road and Rs 15 lakh for tarring of the Morsinghi-Kasol road.

The implementation of the Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project has increased the average income of families under the project area by a significant nine per cent.

Stating this while interacting with a delegation of the World Bank Mission, led by Norman Piccioni, here yesterday, Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri said there had been a considerable improvement in the lifestyle of 25 per cent people belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. The delegation was here to take stock of developmental activities under the project in the state.

The sewage disposal system maintained by the local municipal council seems to be on the verge of a breakdown as only one of the five motors installed is working.

Noted geologist and senior professor at the University of Jammu GM Bhat has described the recurring tremors in the state as a “routine activity” but said it could be an indication of a major earthquake in the coming days.

“There is nothing unusual about it (earthquake) and it is a routine activity, as we are in the Seismic Zone-V. The state is prone to tremors measuring 5 and above on the Richter scale. The Bhaderwah and Thathri areas of Doda district witnessed maximum impact of tremors today because these areas were close to the epicentre of the earthquake,” said Bhat over the phone from New Delhi.

25 children among 58 hurt in Doda, Bhaderwah, Epicentre on J&K-HP border

An elderly shepherd was killed today and at least 58 persons, including 25 children, were injured after a moderate-intensity earthquake — with epicentre on the Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh border — jolted the region. The quake, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, struck J-K and other parts of north India, including the national capital and its satellite towns, at 12:27 pm

Form strategy to reduce water use, Montek Singh Ahluwalia tells Chief Minister

The Annual Plan for 2013-14 for Punjab has been finalised at Rs 16,125 crore, a jump of 15 per cent over last year. The Plan size was finalised at a meeting between the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today.

Says govt will urge Centre to release Rs 227 cr

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the state government would urge the Centre to release Rs 277 crore to the state. The amount had erroneously been deposited in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority of India (CAMPA) by the Ministry of Defence as the cost of trees under its projects.