The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

‘Gene therapy needs more research’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 — Researchers are making all possible efforts to decode the molecular secrets of human life to reverse the natural course of the disease. Their aim is not only to treat the symptoms of the disease but to reverse the imperfections in DNA which makes a person susceptible to disease. This was stated by the former Director Principal of GMCH-32, Dr V.K. Kak, while delivering the inaugural lecture on "Implications of human genome project for humanity and role of genes in diseases and therapy in future".

Dr Kak pointed out that the ability to manipulate genes could ultimately change everything; what we eat, what we wear, how we live and how we die. It will in fact change our approach in relation to our fate. This may also help us to know what diseases we are going to suffer from later in life by a simple test and thereby give us a warning about the things to come.

He further disclosed that during the past 12 months, scientists have located genes responsible for major life threatening disorders, prominent among them are the genes responsible for the cancer of colon and breast.

According to him, once the broken or defective gene is found you have to repair it or replace it. ''We are still far from the Brave New World vision of engineering. Much more research is needed before gene therapy becomes a common place and many diseases will take decades to conquer, if they can be conquered at all.

Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, was the chief guest at the function.

‘Urinary incontinence needs early care’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 — Urinary incontinence in children can be a manifestation of serious anatomic or functional problem of the urinary tract, which often necessitates complex surgical procedures and can be very challenging.

This was pointed out by Dr H. Snyder from Philadelphia Children's Hospital in his guest lecture on “Surgical treatment of urinary incontinence in children" on the third day of the millennium meet of the Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons at the PGI's Bhargava Auditorium.

Dr Snyder emphasised that children who have difficulty in holding urine should be brought to the hospitals for treatment early, much before they start going to school. This will save the child from the consequences of the social stigma attached to the problem. Wide range of surgical procedures are available to deal with the problem, which include the installation of artificial urethral sphincter, continent diversion.

The talk was followed by a large number of questions from the audience. Later in the evening, he talked about the “The emerging field of paediatric andrology.”

Various papers were presented highlighting ano-rectal malformations in children, a very common congenital anomaly. It is a disorder, where the anus opening is closed and the new born presents with intestinal obstruction to the bowel. In many cases, the new born is unable to pass the first stool. The investigation and treatment of the same was discussed at length.

A few advances like the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in ano-rectal malformations (ARM) was also highlighted.

In other sessions, common bladder, kidney and penile problems in children like hypospadias and hydronephrosis of the kidney were discussed.

SPORT

Health club inaugurated
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 — A health club was inaugurated at the Chandigarh Golf Club last evening. The club, built at a cost of about Rs 10 lakh, was formally inaugurated by the club president, Mr G.S. Sandhu.

The health club should come as a boon for the members of the club. Golfers like Jeev Milkha Singh, Amritinder Singh, Harmeet Khalon, Irina Brar and Parneeta Grewal are products of the Chandigarh Golf Club, praised by many as one of the best golf clubs of the country. The Chandigarh Golf Club can be called a nursery for golfers in India.

Speaking to members after the inauguration of the health club, Mr Sandhu said all members should make full use of the facilities of the health club. Bowing to the demands of the members of the club, the Golf Club president announced that the fees for the use of the health club had been reduced from Rs 300 per month to Rs 180 per month.

Mr Sandhu also announced that the Chandigarh Golf Club would soon have a floodlit driving range. This facility would give a further fillip to golfing facilities at the club.

According to Dr Ravinder Chadha, chairman, Golf Promotion Committee, the health club would help the golfers to build up their stamina. By working out at the health club, golfers would be less prone to injuries, he added.

St Stephen’s eves retain football title
From Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 — St Stephen’s School justified its supremacy in football when its under-19 girls’ team retained the UT inter-school title here today by defeating Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, by two goals to nil in the tie-breaker.

Earlier, in the semi-final, St Stephen’s beat Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 11, 2-0. In the quarter-final, St Stephen’s blanked Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, 4-0.

Football meet

Sanjay Public School, Sector 44, went down fighting to SD Public School, Sector 32, 3-4 in the tie-breaker in the final of the PML SD Trophy Chandigarh Junior Football Championship, which concluded at Football Stadium, Sector 17.

Sports day

Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management and Nutrition, Sector 42, celebrated its first sports day, with 100 students, besides staff members, taking part in athletics and field events.

Bridge tourney

Three Delhi teams and one Mumbai team entered the last four stage of the Team of Duplicate event in the GIC-sponsored inaugural All-India Chandigarh Open Bridge Championship.

Ashwini Mehta’s team continued its winning spree when he remained unbeaten in the four team cluster and ended with 62 victory points.

Their lowest margin of victory (17-13) was in their first match, which was against Ordinance, Kanpur. In their other two matches, Delhi’s Pal’s were given a 24-6 crushing and Chandigarh Tigers succumbed 9-21. Pal’s beat Chandigarh Tigers and lost to Mehta’s. In their last outing, they scored the maximum 25 points against Ordinance.

In the other group of four teams, matches were keenly contested. Central Secretariat Club, Delhi, managed two 18-12 wins over Patiala and H. Sidhu’s team. Aral, Mumbai, defeated them 18-12. CSC finished with 48 victory points. Aral lost their first match to Sidhu’s team 17-13.

Earlier, the last three rounds of the qualifying Swiss league saw overnight leaders, Ashwini Mehta, share the top position with Central Secretariat Club with 113 victory points each, followed by Aral, Mumbai, with 109 points, and Chandigarh Tigers with 105 VP's. Pal’s, Delhi, placed fifth, had the best last round score of 25 victory points. H. Sidhu’s team was sixth while Ordinance, Kanpur, and Patiala were tied for the seventh spot with 97 victory points.

Swimmers shine

Gurnoor Kang and Noble Kang, students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 47, excelled in swimming competitions in their respective age group sections at the recently concluded KVS Sports Meet held in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and Bilaspur (Madhya Pradesh), respectively. Gurnoor broke the record in backstroke and breaststroke. She bagged gold medals in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. Noble won two silver medals.

Both have been selected for the National School Games to be held in Guwahati in November. Appreciating them, Mr M.P. Mahajan, Principal of the school, said he hoped that more students of the school would excel in sports.

ADMINISTRATION

Anandgarh a liability for PUDA?
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Nov 4 — The Anandgarh project appears to have become a liability for the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). Whenever there is demand of expenditure to be incurred on the Anandgarh project, the PUDA is invariably made to shell out the amount.

The latest case in point is a six-nation foreign tour of the Minister of Urban Development and Planning, Punjab, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, and Principal Secretary, Housing, Mr A.K. Dubey, to study urban development projects abroad. Sources in the government said the expenditure to be incurred on the tour of the two to Australia, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore would be incurred by PUDA.

Though the two are entitled to a specified amount of daily allowance, an expenditure of around Rs 20 lakh will have to borne by PUDA. An official said as the minister was also chairperson of the Anandgarh Development Authority (ADA) and the bureaucrat was involved with the Anandgarh project, the tour would go a long way in incorporating latest techniques in the project.

The sources said after the tour programme was approved by the Chief Minister, the Department of Coordination, in a communication to the departments concerned, said the expenditure of the tour would have to be shared by the PUDA and the ADA. Later it was decided that the expenditure incurred would returned by ADA to PUDA.

An official said when the PUDA had no stake in the Anandgarh project, the expenditure being put on it was questionable. It was not the first time that PUDA came to the rescue of the Anandgarh project. To fund the day-to-day expenses, PUDA had advanced a loan of Rs 50 lakh to ADA. It was in addition to Rs 40 lakh released by PUDA to ADA.

The decision to forward the loan was taken at a recent meeting of the Finance and Accounts Committee of PUDA. Under Section 51 of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995, the authority was empowered to advance money for constructing buildings for residential, industrial or commercial purposes on certain terms and conditions.