HEALTH

Helpline for psychiatric woes at PGIMS
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, September 25
The people who are contemplating to end their lives or require crisis intervention could avail psychiatric services on the telephone helpline set up by the PGIMS here at the number 01262-51001.

Dr A. K. Vohra, Professor and Head of the Psychiatry Department of the PGIMS, today said that the helpline would provide information about the services available in the department. Besides, he said it had multifaceted uses, ranging from offering psychiatric advice for minor ailments, including anxiety, lack of confidence, anger management, adjustment problems, drug abuse etc to major mental illnesses, including major depressive disorders, schizophrenia etc.

Dr Vohra said it would also be helpful to attract those people who otherwise feel shy and inhibited to come and seek psychiatric services because of the stigma attached to mental illness.

He said for people residing in far off places and those who find it difficult to have an access to the psychiatric help due to financial reasons, difficult hospital procedures or odd hours of the need to seek help, this helpline might be a great boon.

He said the psychiatric services through the helpline had been started on a trial basis with effect from September 21 and the department had received 230 phone calls in the last four days.

He said a majority of these calls (65 per cent) were out of station calls and 60 per cent of the callers were men. Most of the callers belonged to 20-30 age group and they were seeking psychiatric consultation for the first time. 

Heart Mahasangram gets under way
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25
A week-long Heart Mahasangram was launched here today to tackle the rising incidence of heart ailments, which seem to be spreading fast among the younger generation and women.

The Mahasangram will feature a daylong conference on cardiology that will be organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Heart Care Foundation and IJPC Group of Publications on September 29 to mark World Heart Day.

The cardiology conference would be attended by over 400 doctors who are likely to deliberate upon the lifestyle management, cardioprotective drugs, newer mechanical interventions and bypass graft. A special panel discussion for general public would be held in which doctors would talk about the growing incidence of CAD (coronary artery disease), especially among women.

Speaking to the media here today, the President of the IMA, Dr K. K. Aggarwal, pointed out that the prevalence of CAD had increased from 3.1 per cent to 10 per cent in the past one decade.

It was also pointed out that trials conducted recently had proved that disease modifying or cardioprotective drugs like Simvostatin, Ramiprila and Asprin taken in combination could reduce the cardiovascular morbidity and the future occurrence of cardiovascular events.

The conference delegates would also deliberate on this major breakthrough and formulate a guideline for the prescription of these drugs. The experts said that it was now possible to screen the CAD risk individuals with borderline elevation of multiple risk factor and added that the aim should be early detection of metabolic disorder, aggressive lowering of risk factors, selecting the right drug in the right dose for a proper period of five years and regular follow up.

Dr Aggarwal said that the most common cause of the CAD was atherosclerosis due to deposition of cholesterol on arteries and its modifiable risk factors were smoking, uncontrolled blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol. Besides, Indians have specific causes like potbelly obesity, high triglyceride and low HDL levels.

Eminent cardiologist, Dr G. K. Mani of Apollo Hospital, who has performed over 11,000 cardiac bypass surgeries, will be presented with the IMANDB Lifetime Cardiology Achievement Award on this occasion.

Cardiac check-up camp held at Ghaziabad
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25
As part of their outreach program, Dharma Vira Heart Centre held a free cardiac check-up camp at Neel Padam Kunj Apartments in Ghaziabad on September 22. Following highly successful camps held in North and West Delhi, Dharma Vira Heart Centre has initiated this first camp in East Delhi. More than 100 people got themselves examined.

The camp entailed free cardiac consultation from expert cardiologists apart from tests like ECG, ECHO and blood tests which were done free of cost. The cardiac team of Dharma Vira Heart Centre, comprising some of the best doctors, was present at the camp to provide free consultation to the patients and attend to the needs of the patients.

Dr Vinod Sharma, Senior Consultant, Cardiologist, Dharma Vira Heart Centre, Ganga Ram Hospital, said, "The good response which we saw at the camp translates to the fact that there is an augmented need for many such camps to be held which can cater to the medical needs of the masses. We want to spread awareness about cardiac diseases and the benefits of early diagnosis and educate the high-risk categories to follow preventive measures which has been one of our key focus through the camp".

According to Dr Rajeev Passey, "Ganga Ram Hospital has always promoted the cause of healthy living and the growing cases of heart diseases are a cause for growing concern. It is imperative that we reach out to the community and educate them about the risks of heart disease. Also, by organising such camps Dharma Vira Heart Centre has succeeded in fulfilling the needs of the people to a large extent and these efforts will continue in the future also".

Dharma Vira Heart Centre, established in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in 1999, is a cardiac care centre par excellence which was built at a cost of Rs 15 crore. It boasts of state-of-the-art cardiac operation theatres and a cardiac catheterisation laboratory capable of handling all kinds of complex diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. 

SPORTS

East Point School crush Ramjas
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, September 25
Devastating bowling performances by Akhand Rathore (4 for 21) and Aditya N Mahajan (4 for 32) helped East Point School, Vasundara Enclave beat Ramjas School, R.K.Puram by eight wickets in the sixth Bon Ton Inter-School Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the Gyan Bharti School ground, Saket.

The tournament was inaugurated by Delhi and District Cricket Association sports secretary Sunil Dev. Sunil Dev was impressed with the two-day format of the tournament which will give sufficient opportunity to the batsmen and bowlers to exhibit their skills.

Scores: Ramjas (first innings): 102 all out in 32 overs (Mohit Kumar 42, Akhand Rathore 4 for 21, Aditya N Mahajan 4 for 32). Second innings: 158 all out in 40 overs (Mohit Kumar 52, Aditya Aima 2 for 19, Suraj Chopra 2 for 36, Antrikash Singh 2 for 24).

East Point School (first innings): 200 for 8 in 60 overs (Aditya Aima 40, Saurabh Srivastava 37, Suraj Chopra 26,

Antriksh Singh 26). Second innings: 61 for 2 in 20.2 overs (Antriksh Singh 20 n.o, Akhand Rathore 15 n.o, Subir Pal 2 for 19).

Rishi Bhardwaj bowls BVB to victory
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, September 25
A fierce bowling performance of 5 for 19 by Rishi Bhardwaj helped Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan beat Shankaracharya School by five wickets in the third Parle Cup Inter-School Cricket Tournament for Under-17 at the Rohini Sports Complex. Scores: Shankaracharya School: 80 all out in 24.1 overs (Hitesh Chaudhary 15, Rishi Bhardwaj 5 for 19, Robin Bishth 2 for 20). Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan: 83 for 5 in 12.1 overs (Rishi Bhardwaj 21, Sahil Mehra 15, Karan Kumar 2 for 19).

Hansraj Samariti beat Sardar Patel Vidyalaya by 27 runs at the Vikas Puri ground.

Scores: Hansraj Samariti: 123 all out in 20 overs (Rahul Bhardwaj 28, Shiv Kumar 28, Gaurav Singh 3 for 25). Sardar Patel Vidyalaya: 96 all out in 19.5 overs (Manish Kumar 30, Sanket Gupta 3 for 15, Shiv Kumar 3 for 14). St. Columba’s School beat Meera Model School by eight wickets at the Salwan School ground.

Scores: Meera Model School: 76 all out in 17.2 overs (Shridhar Singh 15, Teby Thomas 3 for 10, Manan Abral 2 for 2, Charles Hembram 2 for 22).

St. Columba’s: 77 for 2 in 10.3 overs (Shivam Gupta 48, Wilkins Victor 15 n.o, Rajat Bhatai 2 for 20).

Ramjas Basketball

Nehru Public School, Ghaziabad beat Springdales School, Pusa Road 48-35 in the Ramjas Inter-School Basketball Tournament. Raman Malik (14) and Yogendra (12) were the leading scorers.

Apex School trounced Salwan Public School 46-16. Neeraj and Humayun basketed 15 and 10 points respectively for the winners while Umesh (six) and Mahan (8) top-scored for the losers. Deep Memorial School defeated Sachdeva Public School 40-38. Ashish (20) and Karan (6) were the top scorers for Deep School while Nitin (24) and Gaurav (6) scored for Sachdeva. Bal Bharti Public School, Ganga Ram.

Mukesh Kumar jumps to top spot
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, September 25
Mukesh Kumar, the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ for the past three seasons, positioned himself at the top of the Professional Golf Association of India (PGAI) money list following his three title wins in a row in the recently-concluded Southern Swing of the 2002-03 season of the Indian Golf Tour.

Mukesh Kumar won the Rs 7 lakh Hindu Open, the Rs 6 lakh Hundai Open and the Rs 8.5 lakh Cotton City Open to tally a whopping Rs 3,48,300 from three events in three weeks. He also had a tied second finish at the TNGF Open and the ColorPlus Open in the previous weeks to aggregate Rs 5,29,912 from seven tournaments this season.

His amazing consistency helped Mukesh overtake Digvijay Singh, who dropped down to second place with earnings of Rs 4,56,612. Digvijay Singh had dropped down to second place with earnings of Rs 4,56,612. He won the season-opening Rs 15 lakh Royal Springs Open at Srinagar and the Rs 6 lakh ColorPlus Open in Chennai. Feroz Ali of Kolkata, with three runner-up finishes in seven starts, is at third place with earnings of Rs 3,99,088 while Vijay Singh, winner of the Hero Honda Open in Bangalore and the TNGF Open in Chennai, is fourth with a collection of Rs 3,46,200. Vijay did not participate in the last three events of Southern Swings after opting to play the Asian PGA Tour events in China and Taiwan. Ashok Kumar of Delhi, who turned pro at the start of this season, is in sixth place with Rs 1,98,700, behind Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia of Kolkata, who has made Rs 2,24,612 this season.

With the winner earning in excess of Rs 4.05 lakh at the Honda-Siel PGA Championship, scheduled to start at the DLF Golf and Country Club from October 3, Mukesh has his task cut out. He will have to finish in the top three and hope that Digvijay and Feroz don’t win the title to retain his position on top.

JDM lift Dhyan Chand Trophy
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, September 25
Janaki Devi Mahavidyalaya (JDM)defeated National Stadium 3-2 to lift the Dhyan Chand Six-a-Side Hockey Tournament at the National Stadium. In a well-contested match, Anju, Sonika and Sangeeta scored the goals for JDM while Sushila and Babita struck the goals for National Stadium.

Sangeeta, Sonika, Savita, Poonam and Neelam put up a fine performance for Janaki Devi Mahavidyala.

Mercurial Indian hockey forward Dhanraj Pillay gave away the prizes.

The late hockey wizard Dhyan Chand’s son, former Olympian Ashok Kumar, was also present to witness the final match.

NCA post for Surender Khanna

New Delhi, September 25
Former India player and Delhi wicket-keeper-cum-batsman Surender Khanna has been appointed as the “Talent Recourses Development Officer (TRDO)” of North Zone for the cricketing season 2002-2003 by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 

NCA vice-chairman C.K.Khanna said Mr Surender Khanna “will be detailed to carry out the assignment within North Zone for witnessing practice and various tournament matches of the BCCI on the instruction of TRDO chairman Dilip Vengsarkar”. Surender Khanna will recommend talented cricketers from North Zone to the TRDO. OSR

Ajai Raj Sharma felicitates BSF team
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, September 25
Border Security Force (BSF) Director-General Ajay Raj Sharma felicitated the BSF Mountaineering Expedition, which returned to New Delhi after successfully scaling Mount Kamet (height 25,447 feet) and Mount Abhigamin (height 24,130 feet) peaks in the Garhwal Himalayas on August 29. Mr S.K.Vohra, and Mr S.K.Dutta, both Inspector-Generals (Training) and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.

Mr Ajay Raj Sharma congratulated the BSF team for successfully climbing the peaks despite adverse weather conditions. Mr Sharma observed that the experience gained by the BSF mountaineers will help them scale greater heights, including an attempt on Mount Everest in the year

2003.Mr S.K.Vohra said such adventure activities will inculcate the capacity to bear hardship and take up unknown challenges. He said these qualities were required to enable the border cops to discharge their duties in sensitive border areas.