The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Low-cost cure for stone diseases
Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

Panipat, March 10
The stone disease treatment is all set to reach the common man with the local Rotary Club and the R.P. Stone Clinic Limited planning the first of its kind “Stone disease mela” here on March 16.

Aimed at creating public awareness about the disease, whose incidence is around 3 per cent in North India, the main object of the three-month campaign – “save kidney drive” – is to provide an opportunity to the common man for the treatment of kidney stones by lithotripsy at the subsidied rate at the clinic. Besides, it would help save kidneys from damage by ureteric stones and try to prevent the reformation of the stones, the local Rotary Club, Dr Sudhir Sood, told the NCR Tribune. Since the new stone treatment techniques were costlier, the Rotary and the clinic have tried to provide subsidised treatment to the less-privileged patients, he added.

Giving details, Dr Sood said that free consultations, free plain X-rays and ultrasound, besides medicines worth Rs 50,000 would be utilised for operations of the patients. For operations and consultation, the Rotary has roped in an eminent urologist, Dr Pawan Gupta, Director of the R.P. Clinic Limited and a pioneer in the treatment of stone diseases, who would be assisted by a team of urologists from the prestigious PGI at Chandigarh.

An open question-answer and advisory session at the mela, which will be inaugurated by a former president of the Rotary International, Mr Rajendra K. Saboo, on March 16, will be another highlight of the mela. The cost of extra-corporeal lithotripy in any premier government institutions if over Rs 7,000 and the club has arranged for such treatment at much cheaper rates, claimed Dr Sood. In fact, Dr Gupta was contemplating to make the subsidized treatment a permanent feature. Stressing the need for such a campaign, Dr Gupta said the incidence was quite high in North India as there was a high mineral contents of water. The high-protein diet and hot climate in summer were another reasons for the high incidences of stone disease.

Saying that the prevention was always better than cure, Dr Gupta advised drinking of plenty of liquids so that the body produced over three litres of urine every day. Be vegetarian, and if that was not possible, the consumption of meat should be restricted to about 100 gm a day, he said while advocating the eating of natural fibre cereals.

SPORTS

Top challengers ready for Indian Open golf
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
Indian golfers, led by Harmeet Kahlon and Arjun Singh, will be looking, once again, to assert India’s dominance in the country’s flagship golf event, the US$ 300,000 Royal Challenge Indian Open, to be held at the Delhi Golf Course from March 14.

The hosts have been performing exceptionally well in the Asian PGA tour events on home soil for the last four years, notching up a staggering seven victories in eight tournaments.

Indians have won three out of the last four Indian Opens, dating back to 1998, when Feroz Ali gave a splendid display at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course.

This has been a tremendous season for Kahlon and Arjun. With less than a week to go for the US $ 300,000 Royal Challenge Indian Open, both have raised the bar and set new goals. Kahlon, who had never won a title since he turned professional at the start of 1999, made his major breakthrough with a nerve-tingling win at the Hero Honda Masters tournament last month.

And Arjun Singh is seeking his turn to make a similar breakthrough, with some big titles, like the Indian PGA earlier this season in October 2001, having already come his way.

Kahlon will try to repeat what Jyoti Randhawa did in 1999-2000 by simultaneously holding both the Asian PGA Tour titles in India. And Arjun Singh will attempt to repeat Randhawa’s feat of holding the Indian PGA and the Indian Open titles simultaneously.

Randhawa won the Indian PGA and the Indian Open in 2000, and Arjun has already won the Indian PGA in October and now awaits the Indian Open.

But things were not always as rosy for this duo.

Arjun Singh, from New Delhi, went through a private hell for more than a year as he grappled with a crushing back problem. Doctors from around the world worked overtime to make him golf-worthy.

And he amply repaid them, finishing 22nd on the Asian PGA 2001 Order of Merit and also achieving some terrific results on the Indian domestic tour.

Now, Arjun Singh returns to the Delhi Golf Club, where he virtually outplayed the rest of the field in the Indian PGA, the richest event with a purse Rs 30 lakhs (US $ 65,000) on the domestic Tour, in October.

“The Delhi Golf Club has always been a favourite of mine, for this is where I have played a lot of my golf,” says the quiet and publicity-shy Arjun.

Last year, when he was on his comeback trail and on a medical exemption on the Asian PGA tour, he finished a creditable joint ninth at the 2001 Indian Open.

Exactly a year later, Arjun is playing some excellent golf and is just coming off a fine tied 11th place on the European Tour event, the million-dollar Malaysian Open.

And what of Kahlon?

When the Asian PGA Tour shut shop for 2001 at the end of the Hong Kong Open last year, it was most heart breaking for one of India’s most hard-working golfers, Harmeet Kahlon.

He was just about $ 500 short of getting into the top 60 of the Order of Merit, which would have allowed him his Asian PGA card for the season 2002.

However, Kahlon, who turned professional in 1999, did not lose heart. He corresponded through e-mail with a psychologist in the United States and worked on the mental aspect of the game to gain more confidence in crunch situations. Instead of taking a country spot, which may have given him five or six starts on the Tour, he opted for the nerve-wracking Qualifying School.

“I had to do it, because I wanted to be there in the thick of all the action (playing the full Tour),”recalled Kahlon, who now leads the Indian challenge at the Royal Challenge Indian Open beginning at the Delhi Golf Club next Thursday. “It would be nice to add the National Open title, too,” added Kahlon, who has taken a week off after playing three in a row.

Kahlon played excellently at the Q-School and finished 15th, which gave him full playing rights on the Asian PGA tour.

He struck it big, when in a low-scoring Hero Honda Masters, he kept his nerve and won with an aggregate of seven-under 277. With over US$ 62,000 already in his bag, he currently stands in fourth place on the Asian PGA Order of Merit for 2002.

Vivek Bhandari, another former PGA champion (1997), had a superb 2001 season, when he, like Arjun Singh, played on medical exemption. He finished ninth on the Order of Merit in Asia and twice came close to winning, for the first time on the Asian PGA tour.

But this son of former India cricketer, Prakash Bhandari, who is now the principal figure in the Indian Golf Union, loves the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course, where in one practice round last October, he shot a score of 10-under.

Then there are the likes of Amandeep Johl, Indrajit Bhalotia and Amritinder Singh, all waiting to make their mark on the Asian PGA tracks. Former Indian Open champions Ali Sher and Firoze Ali cannot be overlooked either.

Ali Sher sparked off a revolution in Indian golf by winning the Indian Open in 1991, and then repeating the effort in 1993, both the wins coming on the DGC course, and remains the only Indian to have won the title twice.

Feroz Ali won the Indian Open when it was played on his home course, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, in 1998.

AITA selects four juniors for ITF championship
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
The All-India Tennis Association (AITA) has selected two boys and two girls for the ITF East Asian 14 and Under Championships, sponsored by the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund in Jakarta, Indonesia, in April 2002.The team will be financed by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and the Grand Slam Development Fund.

The players are Sumit Gupta and Jeevan Nedunchezian in the boys’ section, and Sandhya Nagraj and Madura Ranganathan in the girls’ section. The ITF Grand Slam Development Fund was established in 1985. Contributions from the French, US and Australian Open together with the continued support from Wimbledon has since created the Grand Slam Development Fund, administered by the ITF. The inaugural Compaq Grand Slam Cup (now known as the Tennis Masters’ Cup), which was held in Munich, Germany at the end of 1990, has provided the Development Fund with US $ 2 million per year through to 1998 and $ 1.5 million from 1999.

This tournament has already had a significant impact on the development of international competitive tennis. Since the inception of this fund, the ITF has been able to increase substantially the number of nations whose players are competing in the mainstream of international tennis. Special emphasis has been placed on junior tennis where regional tournament circuits have been developed and teams of young players emerged throughout the world.

Development efforts by the ITF also include an extensive programme of coaches’ educational projects and services geared towards the grass roots level. Courses for coaches are held both at national and regional basis, while tennis equipment and educational materials are distributed where needed through national associations to assist the promotion of the game. Consultations are also held with associations to improve levels of organisation, planning and programming and to create funding opportunities for a more efficient sports administration.

Prize Money Wrestling held in Sonepat
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
Adarsh Yuva Sangathan of Village Kheri in Sonepat District of Haryana organised a Prize Money Wrestling Tournament. Those who emerged successful in the tournament were Sonu of Capt. Chand Rup Akhara and Bhagat of Guru Hanuman Akhara, who shared the Rs 31,000 bout.

Others who won prizes in the lower weight categories were Ramesh Bhura of Naresh Akhara, Delhi and Tasbeer of Chattrasal Stadium, who shared the first prize in the Rs 21,000 bout. Parveen of CRPF and Sripal of Sanjay Akhara, Delhi, Ashok of Sanjay Akhara, Dharmender Babal of Central Industrial Security Force, Kulbeer of Guru Hanuman Akhara, Narendra of Matan Village, Shokinder Tomar of Subhash Akhara and Jaiparkash of Ladpur.

The Bal Kesari award was bestowed on Master Akash Sharma, grandson of Lt. Guru Somdatt of Delhi.

Among those who were present at the function were “Bheem” of “Mahabharat” Parveen Kumar and Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s wife Louis Khurshid.

16 teams for ESPN Star Sports cricket
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
Sixteen leading corporate teams are participating in the ESPN Star Sports Corporate Challenger Cup, in which Gillette, Microsoft, Seagram’s and Hero Honda are among those vying for top honours. The tournament will have 31 matches, with the final scheduled to be played on March 31. The tournament is being played on a round-robin basis for the first 24 matches and will be followed by knockouts in the later stages.

The cup winning team will win an holiday package and the runners-up will get a gift voucher worth Rs 20,000 and the semi-finalists will be awarded cricket kits. The ‘man of the match’ in every match wins a MSN watch, along with an ESPN sports kit. The tournament, sponsored by Hero Honda, will give a brand new CBZ for the ‘Hero Honda Player”.

Sachin to bat for TVS company
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar has been signed up as the Brand Ambassador of TVS Motor Company. Beginning with TVS Victor, Sachin will endorse all two-wheeler brands of TVS Motor Company and attend key corporate and brand events of the company for the next three years.

The TVS Company, after netting Sachin, is charting an aggressive growth plan for the coming years. In the year 2002-2003, the company plans to spur growth in its entire business.

The company plans to sell its products, including Fiero, Max and Samurai under the TS Brand from May 1, 2002. Sachin will, therefore, be spearheading TVS’s efforts in achieving superior position in the burgeoning motorcycle market.

Civic bodies to mop roads at night
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10
Both the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have agreed to undertake the sweeping of roads during night. They submitted this in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Delhi High Court by an advocate, Ravinder Raj. He had claimed in his PIL that the sweeping of roads in the morning caused considerable problems to the schoolchildren and others. The clean-up job often causes breathing problems due to polluted atmosphere.

Appearing in the High Court on behalf of the NDMC, Ms Hima Kohli said that night sweeping was not a problem so far as NDMC area was concerned and this had already been implemented for which she would file an update affidavit before the next date. Mr Anil Grover appearing for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said that so far as night sweeping of the colonies was concerned, it had already been started in 46 colonies in different areas in the Capital on experimental basis. However, the Corporation is facing some difficulties, which he would like to explain by filing detailed affidavit.

However, he said that sweeping of main roads, repairs as well as marking on roads would be taken up during nights. So far as parking on the roads is concerned, the implementation plan would be submitted after consulting the traffic police.