BODY & MIND
There is life after menopause

About 50 experts in menopausal medicine from various parts of the country are meeting at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital to address various issues concerning menopausal health. The meet was inaugurated by Renuka Choudhary, Member of Parliament, on Saturday.

According to the Indian Menopause Society, their use is unfortunately limited in India due to multiple factors. These include inadequate understanding of menopause and its consequences, inadequate attention and emphasis by government agencies on menopausal health, cultural barriers, fears, concerns and myths about side effects of hormones, improper compliance by patients to advice on lifestyle changes and medication and non-availability of diagnostic facilities for screening and monitoring of menopausal women. The Society believes that menopausal health must get due attention. The age at which natural menopause occurs is between 45 and 55 years with a mean at around 51 years for women worldwide. In India, on anecdotal grounds, menopause occurs about three to five years earlier.

Blood donation camp

Over a hundred students and faculty members of the Indian Institute of Planning & Management came forward to donate blood at a blood donation camp at the IIPM city campus here on Wednesday.

The camp was organised by IIPM in association with The Great Indian Dream Foundation (GIDF) and the Rotary Blood Bank. The donors went back home with a souvenir. Inaugurating the camp, Prof Arindam Chaudhuri, Dean, Centre for Economic Research and Advanced Studies said, “Blood is the lifeline of one’s existence but there are so many instances where people have perished due to lack of sufficient amount of blood at the city blood banks. It gives me great pleasure to see my students and colleagues come up in scores and support such a noble cause.”

Eye care

Ozone Ayurvedics has launched ITIS, an ayurvedic eye care drops made from herbal extracts. The company is confident that regular use of ITIS will keep eyes cool, healthy, sparkling and bright. Speaking at the launch of ITIS, the Managing Directir of Ozone, S. C Sehgal said, “With our modern lifestyle making more demands on our eyes, eye problems are becoming pretty common. Allopathic cures to these infections are often short term and come with harmful side effects. We have therefore developed ITIS, an ayurvedic eye care solution, which has been specially formulated for complete eye care. ITIS is formulated in absolutely sterile environment totally untouched by human hands and has camphor and rose water that soothes tired eyes. Terminalia, Belericha, Honey and Tulsi Patra are analgesic and prevent eye infection while curcuma longa prevents inflammation. The eye drop is priced at Rs 22.”

Strikalp for women

Surya Herbal Ltd., an Ayurvedic company, has launched Strikalp - a special syrup, which promises women a hassle free month. The company claims that ingredients used in the non-hormonal formulation have regulating and rejuvenating properties. Ashok Chaal, Lodhra, Dhatki Satwar, Gurhal Pushpa, Kashish Bhasma and Tagar help in regulating the menstrual cycle and also alleviates problems of pre-menstrual syndrome as anxiety, depression, nervousness, cramps, backache and water retention. A 200 ml bottle of Strikalp is priced at Rs 68.

SPORTS

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Our Sports Reporter

R. Shamshad: Rapidfire ton

Squash getting the cold shoulder 
Tarun Gill

New Delhi June 22
Agreed, squash is a game restricted to the elite. But unlike any other sport, why is it that this royal game hasn’t been able to produce any of the world champions? Why is it that none of the squash players in India are unable to compete in the International circuit? Why is it that the Indian national champion is ranked 93rd in the world squash ladder even when there are more than 1lakh players in the country?

“India will never get a world champion. The Government of India doesn’t even know that a game called squash exists. There is no dearth of talented young squash players in India. No one is willing to sponsor them. Forget about players, we even have problems finding sponsors for squash tournaments. Even a national level player can’t earn his or her bread and butter through squash. There is no money in this game. Even other sports like athletics, when Jyoti Sikdar, won two medals for India, the prize money she received was three hundred US dollars from the Indian Government. The years of hard work for just rupees 1 lakh. But at the same time a girl from Philippines won just a gold medal in Asian Games and received handsome cash reward. Now that’s an incentive”, said Dr Bharat Inder Singh, the only Indian to reach the quarterfinals of the British Open in veteran category.

“India lacks professionalism. All the sports federation in India wants to mint money and ignore the talent. Squash will be a part of Olympics from 2008, but what is the government doing. Let it first get a place in the mainstream sports of our country. We will think about it. That’s their attitude towards the game’’, he added.

Pakistan has always dominated the international squash scene producing world champions such as legendary Jahangir Khan, Qamar Zaman, Jansher Khan and the list is endless.

“In Pakistan, young talented players are easily picked up by the Pakistan Squash Association (PSA), which promotes squash at not only national level but at the International level too. Indian Government should form an institution like PSA to promote this game’’, said Ranjit Singh, Secretary, Delhi Squash Association.

It has been proved that, squash is not even a viewer friendly game. A camera can’t depict the intensity of the game; on the contrary it makes it look easy. Unlike tennis, it can’t be watched by millions of people. For the simple reason, it looks boring on television.

“There have been attempts by many people to make it look very friendly but all in vein’’, said Mr Singh.

The only Indian hope at the international level is Ritwik Bhatacharya, who is ranked 93 in the world.

“Ritwik is talented and can bring India a medal in the Asian games as he is also ranked number fifth in Asian squash rankings’’, Ranjit Singh said.

In a bid to popularise this game at the local level, Delhi Squash Association has taken the initiative to train young street children with the help of an NGO called Youth Reach and Salam Balak Trust, by providing them free gears and accessories.

“To make the game popular at the lower level, we in collaboration with ‘Youth Reach’, an NGO, who works for the development of the street children, has set up training classes for all these street children, so that more and more people could participate in this very game. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is playing a very vital role in providing all its squash courts free of cost help these children pick up the game’’, said Dr Bharat Inder Singh.

Tariq hits century for NSCC

New Delhi, June 22
A dashing century by Bihar Ranji Trophy player Tariq-ur-Rehman (125, 3x6, 8x4) helped National Stadium Coaching Centre (NSCC) beat Food Corporation of India (FCI) by 31 runs to enter the semi-final of the DDCA Hot Weather Cricket Tournament at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in the Capital on Saturday.