BODY & MIND
Heal thyself at Arogya Mela
Tripti Nath

The Swadeshi Arogya Mela at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, CGO Complex, provides visitors a chance to explore numerous options in alternative medicine, including oil therapy, aroma therapy, speech and audio therapy and music therapy (healing through music).

Organised by the Centre for Bhartiya Marketing Development and the National Medicos Association, the six-day mela is supported by the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Science and Technology and Youth Affairs and Sports.

The mela features various systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, allopathy, homoeopathy, naturopathy, Reiki, acupressure, acupuncture and Amchi. Almost all the states are participating in the mela. The much sought-after Kottakal Arya Vaidyashala from Kerala will be represented at the mela. Visitors will also get an opportunity to know more about Amchi (Tibetan system of medicine) from Himachal Pradesh.

Besides Jaipur Foot manufacturers and Surgical Apparel manufacturers, a large number of pharmaceutical companies have put up their stalls at the mela.

Indraprastha Apollo Hospital and Batra and Gangaram Hospitals will display hospital services along with the Hospital Consultancy Corporation of the Ministry of Health.

While inaugurating the mela on Thursday, Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, called upon the practitioners of Indian systems of medicine to improve and develop it so that it could be integrated into the western system of medicine.

He emphasised that organised health care system was first developed in India. Ayurveda took care of the body as well as the mind. He said that Panchakarma was being used for improving the condition of the mentally challenged in Russia. The ancient Indian systems had advocated breast-feeding, better food habits which the western system started advocating now, he added.

In his presidential address, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. C. P. Thakur, said that it is necessary to provide scientific foundation to Indian systems of medicines in order to make them universally acceptable. He also emphasised the need for more research, standardisation and quality control of medicines. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate, the demand for alternative systems of medicine is projected at US$ 5 trillion by the year 2020. He said that India can easily achieve the target of Rs 10,000 crore in the world market.

Foot care clinic

The Max Healthcare Medcentre in Panchshila in South Delhi has taken the lead in setting up a podiatry (footcare) clinic. Opened last November, the special clinic provides comprehensive care for all foot-related ailments. Podiatry is a branch of medicine which specialises in the evaluation and treatment of diseases of the foot. It deals with all the surgical and non-surgical problems related to the foot and ankle. Popular in the USA, the UK, Australia and France, this branch of medicine is not well known in our country.

Podiatry is useful, particularly for diabetics patients who are prone to skin and foot diseases due to the development of neuropathy - (loss of sensation of nerves) and decrease in blood supply to the feet. It is noteworthy that every year, one lakh cases of foot amputations, resulting from diabetic foot ulcers are reported. Fifty per cent of these cases are due to improper treatment.

The prime objective of the clinic is to treat diabetic ulcer and prevent amputations of the lower limbs. Diabetes affects the feet in a number of ways. It affects the blood circulation to the feet which delays healing. It also affects the nerve supply, resulting in loss of sensation in the feet and making them more prone to injuries, infections and ulcer formation.

Proper foot-care reduces the risk of these complications. This is the only foot care clinic in Delhi developed to enable diabetics and non diabetics manage their foot-related ailments.

Foot care specialists at Max Healthcare manage diabetic foot ulcers with the latest technique and advances in the science of wound healing such as

proper debridement of the foot ulcer, regular dressing, offloading of pressure from the ulcer, application of growth factors and live skin grafts called Apligraf.

The podiatry clinic offers various services, including complete examination of the foot, evaluation and prevention of “at risk foot” (checking for pressure points in order to treat cuts or skin ulcers) for diabetics, general foot care tips, complete nail care, care of dry and cracked feet, corns and calluses and diabetic and non-diabetic foot ulcers.

It also provides treatment for painful heel, planter warts, planter fasciitis heel pain on walking, fungal infections (wearing shoes on wet feet often causes fungal infection), removal of ingrown toenail, advice on appropriate footwear, application of proper orthotics-special insoles for the shoes. Visitors to the clinic benefit from the experience of Dr Amar Pal Singh Suri, Max Health Care Family Physician. Dr Suri has received training in podiatry from the Harvard Medical International and is certified by the American Heart Association in advance cardiac life support, advance cardiac critical care and basic trauma and life support. He has served at the Indraprsatha Apollo Hospital, Delhi as resident doctor in medical I.C.U and RML Hospital as resident doctor in the Cardiac Care Unit..

Hearing impairment

The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr C.P. Thakur, has stressed the need for an early diagnosis of hearing impairment. Inaugurating the three-day National Convention of Indian Speech and Hearing Association here recently, Dr Thakur emphasised the need for reaching the rural children for detecting the disability, particularly since the rural parent understands the disability of the child at a very late stage. He said that voluntary organizations have an important role in detecting hearing impairment and helping the rural children with good diagnostic, therapeutic and educational aids.

Dr Thakur said that apart from genetic and congenital factors, infections, trauma, noise pollution and aging result in hearing loss. Exposure to noise is a significant cause of hearing loss in developing countries. Until better hygienic conditions, greater awareness of ototoxicity among physicians and more public education in genetics and noise control are achieved, the number of hearing impaired people will continue to increase in developing countries, he said. According to WHO estimates, out of the world’s 120 million people having hearing difficulties, more than 80 per cent live in the developing countries. About 4.5 million people in India have some kind of hearing or speech impairment.

Injection technology

Hindustan syringes and Medical Devices(HMD), the manufacturers of glass syringes, disposable single use syringes and the makers of Dispovan-have collaborated with Star Syringe of UK to take the lead in manufacturing auto-disable syringes in India. The syringes will be available throughout the country by the brand name Kojak Sellinge. International experience indicates that the new preventive technology of Auto-Disable syringe, better known as AD syringe, has substantially minimised infections arising out of reusable syringes. The adoption of safe injection technology is much needed in India.

According to an estimate, about 7.8 million persons suffer infections every year in India due to unsafe injection practices.

Kojak Selinge will be initially available in sizes of 0.5 ml (for immunisation), 2 ml and 5 ml. The 2 ml Kojak syringe is priced at MRP Rs 5.25 per piece.

HMD also plans to launch the new AD syringe in the export market. HMD is confident that the adoption of Kojak Selinge will eliminate the curative cost caused by syringe-led infections. The launch of Kojak Selinge also complies with the WHO-UNICEF-UNFPA joint statement urging nationals all over the world to shift to auto-disable syringes by 2003. Mr Rajiv Nath, joint managing director, HMD is of the view that the alarming increase in infections, caused by unsafe injection practices in the country, necessitates advanced and foolproof injection technologies.

Disaster management

Looking back at last January’s devastating earthquake in Gujarat which claimed 20,000 lives, the Indian Red Cross is building a national disaster preparedness network to enhance its response to large-scale tragedies in future. A National Disaster Management Centre will be set up at the Indian Red Cross headquarters in Delhi in the coming month. A National Disaster Response Plan is being drawn up with support from the International Federation of Red Cross, Red Crescent Societies and Red Cross branches in India.

Apart from this, a National Emergency Health Response Unit is being set up and additional emergency stocks of relief material and equipment have been kept at eight regional warehouses in the country for any calamities or disasters in future.

Bob McKerrow, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in South Asia says, “The earthquake highlights how important it is to work to build up our own disaster response capacity as well as the capacity of local communities. When disasters strike, most lives are saved by the affected people themselves before outside help arrives. It is also critical that a wide range of actors including leading industries, play a part in disaster preparedness. Disregard for building codes can turn high-rise buildings into death traps in the event of an earthquake.”

Policy-makers, builders and town planners cannot afford to ignore Mr McKerrow’s warning as India is the second most disaster prone country in the world. The Red Cross operation in Gujarat is linked to a countrywide initiative aimed at reducing vulnerability. The Red Cross is playing a crucial role in reconstruction of Gujarat. The Secretary General of the Indian Red Cross, Dr Vimala Ramalingam, however, says, “Our long-term focus is not only on the physical reconstruction of Gujarat. We are working to empower vulnerable communities so that they can cope better if such a disaster strikes again.”

Khalsa College earn full points in Nehru Hockey
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 9
Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College, Delhi beat American College, Madurai 2-0 in a Pool B match of the ninth Nehru-ONGC Champion Colleges Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in the Capital on Saturday. In a Pool D match, Maharaja Mansingh Mahavidyalaya, Gwalior trounced TUK Arts College, Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu)15-2.

Khalsa College encountered stiff opposition from the Madurai College, as despite their best efforts, the Delhi boys could open their account only in the 51st minute when Amrik Singh scored a field goal. The second goal came 18 minutes later when Lalit Kumar converted a penalty corner in the 69th minute.

In the first match, four goals by Nafiz Raza and five goals by Pradeep Malik were the highlights of Gwalior’s thumping victory. Sanjay Pandey opened the scoring when he converted a penalty corner in the 10th minute. The second goal also came off a penalty corner, which was converted by Nafis Raza, in the 14th minute. Nafis also accounted for the ninth, 13th and 14th goals while Pradeep Malik scored the third, fourth, seventh, tenth and 15th goals. Manish Lal scored a brace when he made no mistake with two penalty strokes while the other two goals were scored by Nimit Lal and Manish Lal.

Houest Raja and M. J. Leo scored the two goals of Thanjavur, the first off a penalty stroke and the second off a penalty corner, one each in either half. Sunday’s fixtures: Lyallpur Khalsa, Jalandhar vs Faculty of Social Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University (10 am); St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore vs Faculty of Social Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi (11.45 pm); SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi vs NAS College, Meerut (1.45 pm); SGGS College, Chandigarh vs Rourkela Municipal College, Rourkela (3.30 pm).

Karun starts F 3 career at Pembrey
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 9
Karun Chandhok started his Formula-3 car racing career at Pembrey in Wales when he completed 70 laps on the 1.5 mile circuit with his new team for 2002, “T-Sport The Junior Carlin Team”, according to information reaching here.

In unfamiliar cold and windy weather, Karun took a bit of time getting used to the conditions which were very different to the 35 degrees he was used to in Asia.

Karun, the reigning Asian Formula 2000 champion, ended the day with a time of 52.4 secs on old tyres. His team-mate, Clivio Piccione from Monaco, set a laptime of 52.0 secs on old tyres before switching to new ones later in the day. Karun did not get a chance to do a run on new tyres due to a braking problem, which limited his progress towards the end of the day.

Earlier, he had spun off damaging the floor of the car, a mistake that was largely due to the fact that this was his test in a new car – the Dallara F300 – in unusual and difficult cold conditions, which caused problems in getting the tyres up to the optimum working temperature.

Karun’s next test is on February 13 at the ultra fast Thruxton circuit in the south-west of England where cornering speeds exceed 235 kmp. This will be Karun’s first visit to the circuit and the test will mainly help him learn the track before the official Formula 3 testing starts next month.

Karun is being supported in his quest to be India’s first international Formula 3 champion by JK Tyres, Parx and Castrol etc.

Anjum Chopra, Poornima Rau to feature in ESPN
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 9
Indian women’s cricket captain Anjum Chopra and leading player Poornima Rau will come face-to-face on Harsha Online, the interactive one-hour programme on ESPN Star Sports on February 11. The show will be aired at 8 pm on Star Sports.

Women’s cricket is in the news now, especially after the recent drubbing of the English eves by India in the Test and one-day series at home. Anjum Chopra and Poornima Rau will share the details of the Indian team’s success with Harsha Bhogle. Whether it is the problems faced by women’s cricket in India or a discussion on the solutions, Anjum and Poornima have a lot to share, and will be happy to answer all queries of cricket fans on phone 9628-400-400. Anjum Chopra hails from a family of cricketers. Her brother Nirvana has played for the Delhi Under-19 team. Coached by former India player Sudha Shah, Anjum is as left-hand bat. Her international century came off 127 balls against Northampton in 1999 to earn her the ‘Woman of the Series’ award during the England tour.

She has played 28 ODIs (One-Day Internationals) and scored 734 runs at an average of 40.77 with one century and six half centuries. She has also played five Tests and scored 178 runs at an average of 22.25 with the highest score being 45.Poornima Rau made her debut in 1993 during the triangular series among India, New Zealand and Australia, and was declared the ‘Player of the Series’, thanks to her all-round performance. She took two catches, three wickets and scored 49 runs to help India beat New Zealand in the title clash. Poornima has played 33 ODIs and scored 516 runs, at an average of 21.50 with two half centuries. She has also taken 50 ODI wickets, and played in five Tests, scoring 123 runs at an average of 15.37, and taking 15 wickets.

Briefly.....
Amity School win 8 medals in karate

New Delhi, February 9
Children from Amity International School, Noida won eight of the 12 medals won by Delhi in the JKAI National Karate Championships held in Kolkata recently.

The 24-member Delhi team comprised 13 children from Amity International School (Noida). Over 600 children, representing 18 State teams, participated in the National Championship. The children from Amity School were: Rishabh Sharma, Aniket Sharma, Sarthak Vaish, Sachit Prakash, Utkarsh Verma, Aditya Dadu, Kshitij Lauria, Prabhjot, Sarvagya Vaish, Shrey Prakash, Soumya Prakash, Varun Butalia and R. Sreevatsan. Neeraj Dhawan was the instructor of the team while Saket Prakash was the manager. Milan Sharma of Amity was the ‘teacher on duty’. The medal winners of Amity were: Aniket Sharma and Sarthak Vaish(silver) in under-9 boys team kata, Sarthak Vaish (bronze) in individual kumite (under-9), Aditya Dadu and Sarvagya Vaish (bronze) in under-11 team kata, Shrey Prakash and Soumya Prakash (silver) in under-13 team kata and Soumya Prakash (silver) in under-13 individual kumite.

NTPC bags second prize in sports quiz

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) secured the second position in the Delhi edition of the Dockers Sports Buzz—a sports quiz contest for corporate houses. The NTPC team were represented by Sujit Varkey and K.M. Prashanth. The quiz was conducted by renowned sports commentator Harsha Bhogle. Over 50 teams participated in the quiz, and the top four teams were selected after the written round. In the final, ESPN won the first prize, Tree of Knowledge along with NTPC secured the second prize and Eicher Good Earth bagged the third prize. The NTPC quiz team had won the first prize in the Lead India Quiz, in which around 35 teams had participated, and second prize in the National AIMA quiz, in which over 80 teams had participated. OC

Commonwealth Cricket in Delhi from Feb 23

New Delhi, February 9
The Commonwealth Cricket Tournament for the Raymond Trophy 2002, to be organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust (JNST) in association with the British High Commission, will be held in Delhi from February 23 to March 24.

Govt vehicles’ misuse, the order of the day 
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, February 9
The Haryana Government has been suffering huge financial losses on account of misuse of the government vehicles by the officials of various departments in the city and elsewhere in the district.

According to sources, although the government has imposed a ban on the use of government vehicles for private purpose, the order is more breached than followed. From the early morning hours, the government vehicles can be seen on the road, transporting the wards of the officers to the educational institutes scattered all over the city.

Similarly, in the afternoon, the vehicles are put on duty to bring the students back. Informed sources also revealed that these officers always record journey in the log books. The helpless drivers cannot raise their voice against the bosses. In the evening, the vehicles are again used by the members of their families for shopping and calling on their friends and relatives.

Although the duty of the drivers ends at 5 pm, they are forced to put in extra hours. In return, the officials allow the drivers furlough and sometimes even tip them. On Saturdays and Sundays, the officers themselves ply the vehicles against the order of the government and the log books are just filled by the drivers.

It is alleged that a vehicle of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has been converted into a mini bus for transporting the wards of the officers from Fazilpur grid sub-station to this city and back daily.

Again, the government jeeps of the Rai Water Service Division are used by the drivers who take them outside the district almost daily. Only a high-level inquiry can take the lid off the racket. Many farmers alleged that they had not seen the officers of this division at the site of irrigation works and the tail-end of the villages.