HEALTH

Charitable hospital for a cause
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, June 22 — Vijayanand Diagnostic Centre here is one of the few charitable hospitals with modern facilities. Due to massive rise in medical expenses, some affluent members of the Jain community decided to constitute a charitable trust for building a hospital.

A spacious piece of land donated by Rajinder Kumar in a prime locality in the Civil Lines area came in handy for the trust. Rajinder Kumar donated this land in memory of his father Basant Lal and brother Narinder Kumar.

The centre is a Rs 5-crore project set up in memory of Vijayanand Valbh Sureshwar Maharaj. So far the trust has spent Rs 2 crore on the hospital. The project was started three years ago on the occasion of the 100th death anniversary of Sureshwar Maharaj. In the first phase, the trust completed a temple. Subsequently work was started on the hospital which started functioning partially from April 14.

The hospital has a number of speciality wards. These include medicine, paediatrics, surgery, ENT, skin, gynaecology and dental care, pathology and radiology

Mango: excellent source of vitamins
Dr R. Vatsyayan 

The mango was known in India from very early times. Visitors to Ajanta and Ellora would have noticed many paintings and sculptures in which mango leaves, fruits and trees are depicted in all their beauty and grandeur. Ever since the Vedic period, mango has been extensively extolled in the Sanskrit literature.

The artistic shape of the cluster of the mango leaves, the unique fragrance of the mango blossom and the unrivalled sweet taste of its fruit have been immortalised in ancient Indian books right from the great epic of Valmiki Ramayana to the voluminous works of Kalidasa. The very words Amra and Rasala which are used to describe mango in Sanskrit have special charm on account of their constant association with the rainy season.

Much later in the medieval era also, Indian princes used to pride themselves on the possession of exclusive and large mango gardens. Akbar, the great Mughal king, planted an orchard of one lakh trees at Darbhanga in Bihar. During this period many of the choice mango seedling trees were designated as distinct varieties and attempts were made to propagate them as a crop. When the Portuguese actively opened the sea routes towards this side of the globe at the beginning of 16th century the mango became known in the west and its worldwide distribution started. In India mango tree is distributed throughout the length and breadth of the country except in very high hilly regions. Its very large, thick and evergreen tree stands erect with the majestic grace and when laden with fruit it is a splendid scenic beauty.

Mangoes are an excellent source of Vitamin A and C. Besides being rich in potassium and high in fibre they are low in calories. Mangoes also contain beta carotene which is very helpful in fighting daily wear and tear of the body. The fruit in all its stages serves mankind in different ways. Tannis and other astringent products are exracted from the very raw fruit. A fortnight later, the katcha fruit obtains culinary importance as delightful chutneys and curries, various drinks and dishes to cool the system and also hot and spicy pickles are made with it. A little later, the ripe fruit adorns in table in various garbs as the final item of an unsurpassed desert. Juicy varieties are sucked and enjoyed and the fleshy ones are cut and consumed. The surplus during the season is preserved in different shapes such as jams, jellies, squashes, syrups and murabbas.

The ancient Indian science of health, Ayurveda has desired in great detail the medicinal properties of the whole mango tree. Its leaves, flower and tree bark is used in a number of diseases. Ayurveda has differentiated between the properties and uses of ripe and unripe mango, the former is said to be energiser, digestive and laxative whereas the later is described as carminative and cool in effect.

For example the ancient Indian botanist and physician Bhavaprakasha has prescribed the Amra phala prapanaka made with mango juice, sugar and condimenta like cardamom, ginger and pepper as a prophylactic measure to beat the heat stroke. Even the pulp of mango seed is extensively used to cure many health problems. It has cool and astringent action on the system and helps in regulating the increased frequency of urine besides being beneficial to the female patients with uterine problems.

Mango is a versatile tree. There is no festival or ceremony in a Hindu household without the mango leaf playing an important part. Festoons of these leaves adorn and decorate the premises on all auspicious occasions. Bark and the dry twig of the tree have Vedic sanction for use in the villages of wood of mango is a real Kalpa Vriksha of yore. Today also we seem to re-affirm this when we say ‘aam ke aam aur guthliyon ke daam.’

How to select and store mangoes

* Selecting of ripeness of mangoes can be determined by either smelling or squeezing. A ripe mango will have a full, fruity aroma emitting from the stem end. Mangoes can be considered ready to eat when they are soft to touch and yield to gentle pressure. The best flavoured fruit have a yellow tinge when ripe, however, colour may be red, yellow, green, orange or any other combination.

* Mangoes should not be refrigerated until ripened at room temperature. When stored properly a mango should have a shelf life of one to two weeks. While the mango will not ripe in the refrigerator, it can be kept chilled there once ripe, but only for a few days.

ADMINISTRATION

Postal Department to encourage stamp collection
From Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, June 22 — Facing stiff competition from private courier services, the increasing modes of communication and the pressure to maintain the revenue generation, the Department of Postal Services, Punjab Region, has began tapping the otherwise ‘ignored’ sources of revenue.

After opening up a number of speed posts centres in semi-urban areas of Khanna and Jagraon in this district to generate more revenue, the department is now concentrating on jacking up the earnings in the ‘forgotten’ area of the stamp collection hobby. The Director of Postal Services of the region, Mr Vivek Kaul, has shot off letters to all divisional post offices to concentrate on the ‘untapped’ financial potential of the Philatelic Deposit Account (POA) scheme. The letter also announces a number of decisions to augment the revenue generation.

The new policy has special significance for the Ludhianvis. The city has the unique distinction of having the highest number of philatelists in the region. While according to the divisional post office figures, there are more than 400 POA accounts, the number of private stamp collectors is estimated at about 5000 in the city. This distinction of the city has been duly recorded in some postal, and philatelic journals as well. The media also hailed it in the early years of the 90s.

According to reports, thousands of children who start this hobby in schools in the city are not able to follow it regularly due to lack of proper encouragement from the Postal Department which is the prime supplier of the stamps.

Due to neglect the POA scheme was ignored for the last decade. While only few new accounts opened at the post office here the existing ones too did not develop much. The things had come to such a pass that only about 50 of the accounts were current while others were not active any more.

Infact the department in its reports on the philatelic activity has also identified problems due to which less stamp collectors were contacting the post offices while they engaged in active transactions in private philatelic clubs. The porblems mainly include lack of information about location of philatelic bureaux, counters to the customers. It was also found that there was no proper publicity of the forthcoming issues of special or commemorative stamps.

The reports had suggested that location of philatelic counters be sufficiently publicised at all postal outlets and that services of philatelic counters may kindly be reviewed to ensure that sufficient information regarding current stamps on sale be made available.

According to letter written by Mr Vivek Kaul, Director Postal Services Punjab, the department on the recommendation has decided to open new outlets of Philatelic accounts with immediate effect at the 852 head offices in the country. In the first phase work will begin at the 205 philatelic counters. Of these Ludhiana figures in the top list.

The Philatelic Bureaux of the country has also fixed annual target of opening the accounts. Ludhiana and Chandigarh have been grouped together and the target of 1200 accounts is among the top in the country.

A gift scheme of such accounts has also been announced. It has been packaged as a separate scheme and targeted at parents or adults who can gift it to children or youngsters. The letter also directed that monthly reports about the progress of the scheme should be sent to the Chief Post Master General, Punjab.

Mr M.K. Khan Senior Superintendent of Post-Office, here said they have started implementing the direction and soon exhibitions of stamps would be organised in various cities. The department will also organise seminars about the art of stamp collection and would specially concentrate on economic benefits also.

According to Mr Y.P. Bangia, Secretary Philatelic Club, Ludhiana, the stamp collection is a profitable business as the collector normally collect stamps on one theme. In order to have complete collection they keep on exchanging stamps and even buying them from other philatelists. He said it is not in common knowledge that stamps worth Rs one or two may be even sold at hundred or thousands of rupees.