The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Knee-joint tumour removed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21
For those affected with bone tumour, the PGI Orthopaedics Department, one of the leading centres for joint replacement surgery in the country, has now offered better quality of life with a new treatment procedure.

On September 18, PGI Orthopaedics Head, Prof O.N. Nagi, and his team successfully removed a four-by-seven inch tumour mass and the affected bone and in its place implanted a specially made “modular resection prosthesis”.

The successful implantation of the new generation tumour prosthesis will mean a new lease of life for the patient for whom the options earlier were limited. According to Prof Nagi, the incidence of patients suffering from bone tumours is very common and the PGI Orthopaedics Department gets at least five to six new cases every month.

Usually the patients, he says, ignore the earliest signs of a cancerous tumour, a swelling close to the knee-joint, and present themselves very late. The option left includes amputation to save other parts of the body followed by chemotherapy, he said.

In this case, a middle-aged man was diagnosed with a giant cell tumour which had invaded his knee joint. “Fortunately, tumour had not yet invaded the nerves and vessels. And the replacement surgery, carried out on him, will not only give longevity to his knee-joint but he will also be able to walk almost normally within a few weeks, “ he said.

The PGI Orthopaedics Department has carried out some of the pioneering work for incorporating latest inventions in the surgeries. The department has become one of the exclusive centres for Association of Osteosyntheis (Swiss) new hip replacement using PEEK material with Prof Nagi as the test surgeon, the only one from India to be included in this international research.

Besides, the department has also carried many tumour surgeries, the management of which was previously being done using bone allografting. For this a bone bank has also been developed in the department.

The new treatment for curing bone tumour with the latest prosthesis is an expensive proposition and can cost upto Rs 2.5 lakh. But vis-a-vis the quality of life after treatment for those who can afford it, it is a new lease of life, says Prof Nagi.

Tennis on wheelchairs
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, September 21
The Total Tennis Academy will organise an exhibition match between wheelchair-borne players at the YMCA, Sector 11, on September 23.

India’s only international wheelchair tennis players, Jagdish Meena and Pradeep Lal, continue to inspire others by playing tennis while sitting on wheelchairs. Their spirits and agility are a treat to watch.

In 1998, they represented India at the Thai Open wheelchair tournament played at Pattaya near Bangkok. Wheelchair tennis was introduced in India by Ellan Delang of the Netherlands in 1994.

Basketball meet

As many as 12 teams in boys section and eight teams in girls section will vie for top honours in the Chandigarh Youth Basketball Championship which will begin here tomorrow at the Sector 7 sports complex.

The teams are: (boys) SPS-41, GNPS-36, St Soldier’s-28, DAVMS-15, GMHS-33, Vivek High School-38, GHPS-38, GMHS-26, GN Khalsa-30, St stephen’s-45, NPS-18 and St Xavier’s-44. Girls: Bhavan Vidyalya-27, DAVM-15, GMHS-26, Sacred Heart-26, Vivek High-38, St Xavier’s-44, IS Dev Samaj-21 and GMSS-18.

The inaugural tie will be held tomorrow at 2.15 pm.

Carrom tourney

The Chandigarh Carrom Association will hold the XIth Chandigarh State Carrom Tournament from October 6 to 11 at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45. The events to be conducted included, men and women singles and doubles, veteran men singles, junior boys and girls singles and doubles and sub-junior boys and girls singles and doubles. This was stated by Mr Mahesh Sekhri, secretary of the association. He said the players should have born on or after January 1, 1988 being eligible for under-14 section while those born on or after January 1, 1984 would be eligible to participate in below-18 events. In veterans section, a player must have attained the age of 45 years on October 3, 2001. Entries close on October 1 with Mr K.S. Patwal at Phone 665949. Sekhri said the association had also decided to hold a clinic on the ‘laws of carrom’ at 4 pm on September 22.

Players fall victim to poor upkeep
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, September 21
Mala Gaba entered into two singles finals on the penultimate day of the 13th Chandigarh State Badminton Championships played here today at Sector 42 indoor badminton hall. Mala will face H. Sharda Devi in women singles final, while in junior girls section, she will cross swords with Parnita Verma. Samridhi Mahajan was the first victim of the damaged courts after she slipped on the court number three but fought till the end by playing valiantly in five games against Seema.

Earlier in men’s singles final, Rudra Kaushik won by default due to injury suffered by his opponent Vivek Sharma in the third game again on the temporary patches put in by the Engineering department. Oscar Bansal will face Munish in the under-13 final while Aman Sethi is to vie with Sunil in under-10 boys’ final.

Earlier, the uneven surface at Sector 42, saw two top players Vivek Sharma and Samridhi Mahajan becoming the main casualities when they got injuredwhile playing , thanks to the poor maintenance by the UT Engineering department.

Girls’ football

IS Dev Samaj girls school, Sector 21, defeated Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary school, Sector 22 by 3-0 on the opening day of the Chandigarh Sub-Junior Girls Football Championship for Guru Teg Bahadur Trophy played here today at the football stadium, Sector17. Pooja, Shweta and Sapna scored one goal each. In another match, Jawahar Navodya Vidyalya, Sector 25 beat St Soldier’s International school, Sector 28 by 2-0. In yet another match, GMSSS-22 defeated MRAMSS-27. In the last match of the day, GTBP School, Sector 15, got walkover from SD Public School, Sector 32, who failed to turn up.

Basketball meet

Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, and Government Model High School, Sector 26, surged ahead by scoring victories over their opponents, St Soldier’s International School, Sector 28, and Guru Harkishan Public School, Sector 38, respectively on the opening day of the Chandigarh Youth basketball championships played here today at Sector 7 sports complex.

Hansa Open

Sanchit Thareja of St John’s High school, Sector 26, Chandigarh prevailed upon Prashant Ahuja of Hansraj Public school, Sector 6, Panchkula, in the opening match of the under-10 section of the First Hansa Open tennis tournament which began here today at CL DAV Public school, Sector 11, Panchkula. Earlier, the meet was inaugurated by Mr Manoj Yadav, IPS, SP, Panchkula.

TT tourney

Sadhika Kaushal of GMSSS-35 won the cadet girls’ title in the 2nd Chandigarh state ranking table tennis tournament organised by Rotary Chandigarh Central and New Public school, Sector 18, at sector 23 T.T. hall. Manik of DAV Public school, Sector 8, and Mahima, also of same school, bagged the cadet boys singles title and sub-junior boys’ singles title, respectively.

Surprise check on diagnostic centre
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21
The UT Director Health Service (DHS), Dr Rameshwar Chander, accompanied by the District RCH Officer, Dr Satbir Singh, conducted a surprise check on Mercury Imaging, a diagnostic centre in Sector 8, here today. According to Dr Chander, the proprietor of the centre had not registered himself under the PNDT Act, 1994, which requires all those conducting sonograophy tests to register themselves with the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare.

Meanwhile, to keep a check on female foeticide in the city, the UT Health Department is starting a major drive against all diagnostic centres registered with it from next week onwards. The owners will be required to send a detailed report of all ultrasound tests carried out. Besides, gynaecologists will also be required to submit a detailed report of all medical termination of pregnancies carried out during the month.

Ultimatum to encroachers
Our Correspondent

SAS Nagar, September 21
The local authorities have given an ultimatum to all violators in the town to remove their encroachments by Monday morning, failing which the administration will have to swing into action.

Mr Har Bhagwan Garg, Executive *Officer of the local Municipal Council, said an anti-encroachment subcommittee was formed by the SDM, Mr Jai Pal Singh, at a meeting here today. This had been done to tackle to growing menace of encroachments.

Mr Garg said the subcommittee comprised a Naib Tehsildar, some PUDA and council representatives and police personnel. He added that a number of encroachments had come up along the footpaths, in the market verandahs and behind the showrooms.

H.S. Kanwar may replace Gen Mann
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21
Major-Gen H.S. Kanwar is expected to take over as Chief of Staff, Western Command, Chandimandir, when the present incumbent, Lt-Gen H.R.S. Mann, retires this month, it is learnt.

General Kanwar is at present Chief of Staff, 16 Corps, at Nagrota. He will move to Chandimandir on promotion to the rank of Lieutenant-General. Prior to his current assignment at Nagrota, he was General Officer Commanding, Red Horns Division.

A top Western Command officer said that while General Kanwar was likely to move here, the formal posting orders were yet to be issued.