The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

BODY & MIND
Terry Fox run to raise funds for cancer research
Tripti Nath

The weekend begins on a rather racy note at the Canadian High Commission where flying Sikh Milkha Singh is scheduled to flag off the annual Terry Fox run. It will be held on Monday. The non-competitive event and largest single-day fund-raiser for cancer research in the world is held every year in memory of Terry Fox, a courageous young man who died of cancer in 1981.

Deeply moved by the pain and despair of other cancer patients, Terry decided to run across Canada, a distance of more than 8,000 km, to raise funds for the cancer research. He invited every Canadian to be a part of his ‘Marathon of Hope’ in 1980 and ran an average of 26 miles a day for 143 days. When he died close to the half-way point, his dream of raising a dollar from every Canadian had come true - his marathon raised 24.17 million Canadian dollars. The population of Canada was then 24 million.

Ever since, the people of Canada symbolically complete his run every year. The participants at the run here can walk, run, jog, roller blade, ride on bikes or use any non-motorised transport to cover the route. The five-kilometre run through Chanakyapuri is scheduled to start at 10 am. The registration for the event will begin at 9 am.

The former Indian squash champion, Bhuvneshwari Kumari, has agreed to support the worthy cause by participating in the run. What is noteworthy is that the funds raised during the event will be donated to the Cancer Foundation Institute, Rotary Cancer Hospital and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for its research programme. The High Commission claims to have donated Rs 1,225,000 to the AIIMS last year.

Disposable lenses

The Johnson & Johnson Vision Care has announced a special month-long offer for contact lens users in Delhi. The offer valid this month is called ‘Try Karke Dekho’ and will enable lens users to try a pair of Surevue lenses free of cost. The consumers can also consult their local Johnson & Johnson eye-care practitioners during the offer period by paying a nominal fee.

According to the franchisee manager of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, “Disposable lenses provide the best solution in solving problems related to wearing contact lens, as eye-care practitioners and consumers have experienced that when it comes to contact lens wear, shorter is better.”

According to sources in Johnson & Johnson, Surevue is a daily wear contact lens designed for monthly replacement. It is a hydrogel (Etafilcon-A) soft moulded lens with a water content of 58 per cent which ensures the highest oxygen transmissibility benefiting ocular health. It is also designed to protect the eyes from harmful UV radiation (up to 70 per cent of UV-A and 95 per cent of UV-B). The lenses are produced by the most advanced soft lens technology, Soft Stabilised Moulding (SSM), which allows the lens to be moulded in a continuous wet condition. This does not make the lens vulnerable to variations in lens specifications.

Modern medcentre

Max Healthcare, a division of Max India Limited, has opened Max Medcentre, a 30-bed nursing home and diagnostic centre at Pitampura in North-West Delhi. This is the fourth clinic opened by Max Health Care in the Capital in less than a year. The medcentre was inaugurated by S. Reghunathan, Principal Secretary, Delhi Government.

The Mumbai-based gynaecologist and obstetrician, Padmashree R. P. Soonawala, and the chairman of Ganga Ram Hospital, Dr S. K. Sama, were also present at the function. The new medcentre has some good news for young and would-be mothers. It will focus on maternity care programme. Besides an extensive range of outpatient diagnostic services, the centre will provide inpatient services with two operation theatres, a minor operation theatre, 24-hour emergency care with pharmacy and ambulance services.

The medcentre also has 15 consultation services including Internal Medicine, Cardiology (non-invasive), Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Orthopaedics, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Nephrology, Ophthalmology, ENT, Dermatology, Urology, Dental, Psychiatry and Dietetics. The facility will offer surgery and other procedures like endoscopy, general surgery, plastic surgery, urology, laparoscopic surgery, lithotripsy, ophthalmology and ENT.

TB programme

Faced with the harsh reality that Tuberculosis claims one life every minute, the government has approved further expansion of the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) to cover 700 million people by March 2004. This will facilitate extension of the programme to previously uncovered or less covered areas in the North East, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and three new States of Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh.

In addition, the programme being undertaken in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa with assistance from DFID (Department for International Development, UK) and DANIDA, is expected to cover a population of 10 million by 2004. The Ministry of Health started the RNTCP in 1997 incorporating the WHO recommended strategy of DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short-course) with World Bank assistance. The aim of the project was to cover 271 million people in 102 districts of the country. By the end of 1998, the coverage had been about 20 million whereas it is around 450 million now. The entire country will be covered through DOTS by 2005. Health Ministry officials claim that the expansion of the DOTS strategy is the fastest expansion ever in the history of TB control.

It has been applauded by the WHO and World Bank for achieving very good results. Over eight lakh patients are under medication through this programme and over 1.5 lakh deaths have been prevented. All the state governments have now been asked to strengthen the state TB societies and take action to implement the programme. The cost of the total project is Rs 709 crore.

Stress-busters

Being a part of the rat race can have an adverse affect on a person’s health. To help people cope with the day-to-day work pressure, Goodcare Pharma Pvt. Ltd, an Ayurvedic company, has introduced Stress Guard. The capsules regulate and balance the body’s organs and systems to combat stress, increase alertness and physical fitness, arrest ageing, restore energy and keep the body tissues healthy and strong.

The Ayurvedic company claims that the capsules are absolutely safe and have a 100 per cent herbal, chemical-free formula. The formulation includes age-old restorative and rejuvenating herbs like Ashwagandha, Brahmi and Jatamansi. Stress Guard is available in 10 blister capsule strips and bottles of 60 capsules priced at Rs 19 and Rs 95, respectively.

Abhinav shoots gold, silver for Anjali
Our Sports Reporter

Abhinav Bindra

New Delhi, February 2
Abhinav Bindra shot a gold and Anjali Vedpathak clinched a silver in the second leg of the European Tour, in which the Indian shooters did remarkably well, claiming four gold, two silver and 2 bronze medals in the Baltic Cup 2002 at Inarhos, Denmark.

In the men’s air rifle event, Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal, securing 694.4 points. The second place was won by Idar Vedul of Norway with a score of 695.2. Ashok Kumar Shahi of India won the bronze with a score of 693.4. Abhinav Bindra and Ashok Kumar Shahi shot 596 and 591 respectively in the semi-final.

In the team event, the Indian trio of Abhinav Bindra, Charan Singh and Ashok Kumar Shahi won the gold medal with a total score of 1774/1800. The second and third places were annexed by Japan and Sweden with scores of 1768 and 1755 respectively.

In the women’s Air Rifle event, Anjali Vedpathak won the silver medal with a total score of 497.4. In the semi-final, she shot 395/400. Anni Bisso of Denmark lifted the gold while the bronze was claimed by Sasaki Ako of Japan, with scores of 499 and 496.2 respectively. In the team event, the Indian shooters won the bronze medal with a total score of 1167/1200. Japan won the gold while Denmark finished second.

In the Junior Air Rifle event, Meena Kumari and Raj Kumari of India stood fifth and sixth respectively with scores of 392/400 and 390/400. Sweden, Japan and Sweden claimed the gold, silver and bronze respectively.

In the men’s Air Pistol event, Samresh Jung won the silver with a total score of 673.4. Ved Prakash of India finished fourth with a score of 672. Rene Vogn of Denmark shot 673.7 to annex the gold and the bronze was won by Dick Lindgren of Sweden, who shot 672.9. In the team event, India consisting of Samresh Jung (571), Ved Prakash (573) and Ronak Pandit (567) won the gold with a total score of 1711/1800.The Swedish teams bagged the silver and bronze medals when they shot 1709 and 1701 respectively.

In the Junior Air Pistol event, Ronak Pandit won the gold medal with a total score of 567/600. The second and third places went to shooters from Sweden - Nicklas Persson (564) and Jens Ekwall (560). In the women’s Air Pistol event, Shilpi Singh of India finished fourth with a total score of 470.7. She had shot 376/400 in the semi-final.

Ghei upsets Mundy to corner golf title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 2
Gaurav Ghei made a superb back nine charge to wrap up his season’s first win at the Rs 10 lakh Telegraph Open Golf Championship. Ghei’s final round score of three-under 69 handed him a tournament tally of three-under 285 and the winner’s cheque of Rs 1,62,000.

Ghei’s effort makes him the 11th winner on the Hero Honda Golf Tour’s 2001-02 season. The Telegraph Open marked the end of the 18th leg of the Tour. Tied for the lead overnight, Uttam Singh Mundy and Digvijay Singh had to settle for the second and third positions respectively, with aggregates of one-under 287.

Mundy tied for the lead with Ghei till the 16th, but was done in by a double bogey on his penultimate hole. Delhi youngster Shamim Khan gave further evidence of his enormous talent with a fourth place finish at 294.

The trio of Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar and Kolkata’s Feroz Ali and Indrajit Bhalotia finished tied fifth at 295. Delhi’s Ali Sher, Kanpur’s Shiv Prakash, Kolkata’s Rafiq Ali and Mhow’s Mukesh Kumar finished tied eighth at 296.

Gaurav Ghei’s remarkable win was strikingly similar to Indrajit Bhalotia’s effort on the Hero Honda Golf Tour in December 2001. Bhalotia pulled the rug from under the feet of Mukesh Kumar and Feroz Ali to wrap up his first title of the season.

Ghei got off to a good start with a par followed by a birdie on the second. If a bogey on the following hole, where he missed a five-feet return putt, pushed him on the back foot, he more than made up with a superb birdie from the tank on the eighth. A birdie on the 15th later, Ghei found himself in the left hazard on the 16th. An excellent 5-iron shot helped him par the hole and Uttam’s 17th hole folly sealed the match in his favour.

Uttam Mundy was a dejected man. “One hole, one mistake and it was all over”, he remarked. Mundy’s tee shot on the 17th placed his ball amid a sea of dry leaves left of the fairway, with three trees blocking his way to the green. A brilliant four-iron through a ten-feet gap, to 10 yards from the green, seemed to have figuratively got him out of the woods.

However, Mundy’s chip carried him over the green finally resulting in a double bogey. Mundy was, however, richer by Rs 1,12,000. He played two-over 74 with birdies on the fourth, 15th and bogeys on the sixth and 14th other than his double bogey on the 17th. Aditya Khaitan returned a final round score of five-over 77 to post a resounding 21-stroke win in the amateur category. Khaitan’s tournament aggregate stood at 314. Karan Sidhu and Anshuman Fogla finished tied second at 335 apiece.