HEALTH

‘MRI detects TB changes early’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — “The X-ray depicts the changes of tuberculosis (TB) of the spine much later than the MRI, thus delaying the treatment of the disease”, said Dr Ramesh Saini of Indian Spinal Injuries Center (ISIC), New Delhi, while speaking on the third day of video conferencing on International Spine and Spinal Injuries Conference (ISSICON).

He stated this while speaking on the management of various aspects of TB of the spine. “The X-ray of the spine depicted changes of TB when approximately 20 per cent of the bone content, calcium, was removed or mobilised from the site of the disease. The MRI, on the other hand, picks up the changes early, thus making the diagnosis and management more effective”, he explained.

Dr H.N. Bajaj and Dr P.K. Mangala spoke on the surgical and medical treatment of the disease.

The prevalence of TB in the country stands at a staggering 2 to 3 per cent of the general population, out of which as many as 20 per cent cases are of spinal TB.

ISSICON was organised by Government Medical College and Hospital in collaboration with Indian Spinal Injuries Center. Approximately 100 delegates from India and abroad were linked via satellite to centers at Chandigarh, Bhopal and Lucknow.

The conference successfully managed to bring together doctors at different centers together to discuss various aspects concerning spinal injuries. Expressing his views on the controversies regarding the use of metallic implants to stabilise tubercular spine here today, Dr Raj Bahadur, Head, Department of Orthopaedics, GMCH, said that use of an implant was safe only if used cautiously. He observed that though the use of the implant did not permit the patients to undertake daily activities, it did allow the person to be safely mobilised and sitting without support in bed.

During the session, Dr Surjit Singh from the USA, dwelled on the recent trends in the management of a stroke while Dr Marchettini from Italy discussed the management of pain by using electrophysical methods and drugs.

Prof Paul Meyers from the USA demonstrated the implantation of pedicular screws in the lumbar spine, which is the most important device for fixing the spine. The Orthopaedics Department at GMCH is successfully using the technique for fixing up the thoracolumbar injuries since 1994.

The today's conference was followed up by a live demonstration by Dr V.S. Mehta from the AIIMS, Delhi, on removal of cervical cord tumour after performing laminoplasty. 

SPORT

Punjab bag overall trophy in athletics
From Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — Punjab bagged the overall trophy by gaining maximum 508 points in the North Zone Athletic Meet, which concluded at Panjab University’s grounds today. Athletes from Punjab secured maximum points in the boys, under-20, section, the under-18 section, the girls under-20 section, the under-18 section and the under-16 section. Haryana secured first place in the boys’ under-16 section.

The best athlete chosen in the under-20 boys’ section was Kuldeep of UP with 10 points; Mukesh Yadav of UP with 10 points in the under-18 section, Surinder of Haryana with 10 points in the under-16 section; and Ram Pal of Haryana in penthalon.

In the girls’ section, the best athlete in the under-20 section chosen was Navjot Kaur of Punjab; Tajwinder in the under-18 section; Monika in the under-16 section; and Anila in the under-14 section.

In the events, 11 new meet records were created. These were: discus throw in the under-16 section — Suresh (Haryana); 400 mt in the under-20 section — Bhupinder (Haryana); long jump in the under-18 section — Amritpal (Punjab); 800 mt in the under-18 section — Pritam (UP); 1500 mt in the under-18 section — Mukesh (UP); girls’ hammer throw in the under-18 section — Amandeep; hammer throw in the under-18 boys, section — Himanshu.

Today, confusion prevailed over the breaking of record in the under-16 boys’ section in hammer throw by Ashish Kumar Singh of UP, which was later found to be given weight of the girls’ category along with other participants.

The two-day meet was organised by the Amateur Athletic Association, Chandigarh.

Triathlon meet

Pooja Chauhan and Abhimanyu Tewari bagged first place in the girls’ and boys’ section, respectively, in the 7th Chandigarh Triathlon meet for the junior, senior and sub-junior section. The meet was held today at Panjab University’s swimming pool. Earlier, the meet was inaugurated by Mr VK Bansal, Dean, Students Welfare, PU. Prizes were given by Mr V.N. Ojha, Financial Commissioner, Punjab.

Aarjav Raj Singh (6) was given a special prize for being the youngest triathlete.

Results: sub-junior boys — Abhimanyu Tewari 1; Pankaj Chauhan 2; and Vaibhav 3; girls —Pooja Chauhan 1 and Kalyani 2. Junior boys — Harsimran Brar 1; Vivek Kapoor 2; and Mandhir 3. Senior boys — Vitul Kumar; A. Kalandevel 2; and Rohit Sharma 3.

Cricket tourney

In the 3rd Blessed Edmund Rice Inter-House Cricket Tournament organised by St John’s High School, Sector 26, Maher House beat Morissey House by four runs, Burke House defeated Rice House by three wickets in the under-14 section. In the under-16 section, Maher House outplayed Morissey House by 68 runs, while Burke House beat Rice House by 28 runs.

Chess championship

Preeti and Anmol Razdan clinched the under 18-girls’ and boys’ titles, respectively, in the Chandigarh Chess championship which concluded here today at St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School Sector 44. Mr Andrew Gosain, Principal of the school, gave away prizes.

Preeti with 4.5 points emerged winners, while Shweta came second. Anmol with four points remained winners and Mohit Malhotra placed second. The point position at the end of the last round were: 4.5 pts—Preeti Gupta; 4 pts- Anmol Razdan, Mohit Malhotra and Rohit Chodha; 3.5 pts—Shweta; 3pts-Chetan Vikas, Simranjeet Singh, Jatin Mahajan, Ranjit Singh Badwal, Anmol Bhagat and Nikhil Chopra. 2.5 pts — Jatin Kaushal; 2 pts — Anup Gupta, Kavita Bhandari, Jaskaranjeet Singh, Sanjay Thakur and Sahil Dwivedi. 1.5 pts — Shashank Wali; 1 pt — Shifa, Prince Deep, Dhananjay. 0 pt — Aarjav Raj.

Cycle race

Rajesh Dalal of the City Cyclist Club secured first place in the 24.4 km massed start race organised by the Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association at the Sukhna lake today. Mr JK Wadhera, treasurer, CACA, gave away prizes.

Results — 24.4-km massed start race for men: Rajesh Dalal (CCC) time-41 minutes 48.38 seconds; Paramvir Singh (GGDSDC-32) 2; and Harsimran Singh Brar (GMSSS-16) 3. 7.2 km massed start race for boys (under 16 yrs)-Ankur Kaul (DAVC-10) 1, Time-29 minutes, 57.76 seconds; Vivek Sharma (DAVC-10) 2; and Gurbir Singh Gill (GMSSS-35) 3.

In the 8.4 km massed start open race for girls: Monika Sharma (GMSSS-35) 1,Time-17 minutes, 12.08 seconds; Pooja (CCC) 2; and Kavita Sharma (GMSSS-27) 3. 4.2-km massed start open race on Indian cycle for boys: Ajit Singh (GMSSS-27) 1,Time-7 minutes 09.18 seconds; Arun Attri (CCC-27) 2; and Jetinder Verma (GMSSS-27) 3. Mr Rakesh Mohindra said the next road races would be held on November 12.

Ball badminton meet

SD Public School, Sector 32, and Dev Samaj College for Women , Sector 36, defended the boys’ and girls’ section, respectively, in the Chandigarh Junior Ball Badminton Championship, which concluded here today at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41.

In the boys’ final, SD Public School overpowered Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, at 29-26, 29-12. In the girls’ final DSCW-36 got the better of MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, at 29-23, 29-28.

Third place in the boys’ section went to the Unified Ball Badminton Club, which beat the Coaching Centre, Sector 41, at 29-25, 29-25.

In the girls’ section, third place was bagged by Government College for Girls, Sector 42, which defeated Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, at 29-16, 11-29, 29-15.

The best players in boys chosen were; Mukesh Sharma, Arun Kumar, Amit Chaudhary, Lakhbir Singh and Shiv Kumar. In the girls’ section, the best players chosen were Sonika, Anisha, Monika, Monika Panjla and Shweta Vyas.

ADMINISTRATION

MC panel’s meeting today
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — The issue of building proper booths for taxi stand owners in the city will be taken up by the Finance and Contract Committee (FCC) of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation tomorrow. The matter has to be decided in the meeting as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The committee will also fix rates for the car and scooter dealers, who deal with second-hand vehicles during the Sunday bazaars. The apni mandi committee, which met recently, had proposed that car dealers should pay Rs 500 per day transaction, while the scooter dealers should pay Rs 200.

The auction of parking area in the Sector 16 Shanti Kunj will also be considered in this meeting. The garden has been developed by the Municipal Corporation. The agenda also features an item pertaining to fixing of reserve price of the Sukhna parking. The contract had earlier been cancelled following a councillor’s complaint that the contractor was charging more than the fixed charges. The matter with regard to the auction of the car parking area in Dhillon cinema will also be discussed.