National Thalassaemia Day
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 11
A special function was organised by the Punjab Thalassaemics Welfare Society (PTWS) at Sutlej Club yesterday, in which thalassaemic children from all over the region, their parents and various organisations working for the welfare of these children, observed the National Thalassaemia Day.

Dr Praveen Sobti, organiser of the programme and the brain behind PTWS, spoke about the contributions by the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital for helping these children by providing special facilities and appreciated the support provided by Dr Sandeep Puri, Medical Superintendent, DMCH, in this direction.

The function was presided over by Mr Anurag Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner. In his speech, Mr Aggarwal appreciated the efforts made by the society to help the suffering humanity and promised that the district administration would make every effort to help these children. Mr Aggarwal also gave awards to those who had made significant contributions for the welfare of thalassaemic children.

Dr Sandeep Puri, Dr Amarjit Kaur, in charge, Department of Transfusion Medicine, DMCH, were also honoured for their contribution. Hero Cycles Group and SD Government College for Boys was given trophies for maximum blood donations.

Ms Shobha Tuli, the first vice-president of Thalassaemia International Federation and who is the mother of a thalassaemic child, was the chief guest on the occasion. In her speech, she said though the government was ready to spend funds on diseases like AIDS but no attention was paid to the plight of thalassaemic children. She stressed that the Indian government should provide some kind of help to these children and their families.

Ms Tuli said that in the past few years due to advancement in technology, things had significantly improved in India. She also added that the ongoing research on gene therapy would definitely bring some good results. She told the parents to inspire their children to develop a positive attitude towards life. “Teach them that they are born to live, not just to exist”, added Ms Tuli. The programme ended up with a dance item presented by a team from Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

IMA organises camp on bio-medical waste
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 11
The district unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) organised a camp on bio medical waste handling for doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, laboratories and IDA members from Khanna, Samrala, Jagraon, Raikot, Macchiwara, Raikot, Moga, Malerkotla, at IMA house here today.

According to a press release, the camp was organised in collaboration with Medicare Incin, Ludhiana, a private company selected by the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, for setting up of centralised bio-medical waste handling and disposal facility for whole of Punjab. The IMA district president said this was the first facility of whole of North India which was in operation since first week of September, 2002.

Some of the representatives of the company said they were charging Rs 2.70 per bed per day for lifting, handling and disposal of segregated waste from the door steps of the hospitals. For hospitals located outside the MC limits or beyond 25 km from the site, transportation cost of 50 paisa per bed per day will be charged extra upto 100 km from the site.

Athletics meet begins today
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 11
The stage is set for the 48th edition of the Punjab State Inter-District Schools Athletics Meet for boys and girls (u-14, u-17 and u-19) which begins at Guru Nanak Stadium here tomorrow. Around 2,000 participants, including officials, will take part in this five-day meet. Accommodation arrangements for the players and officials have been made at different places, according to Mr Bachhittar Singh, District Education Officer (secondary).

The first day’s schedule includes competition in 800-metre race for boys and girls (u-17 and u-19); 600-metre race for boys and girls (u-17); 100-metre heats for boys and girls in all three age groups; hammer throw (girls u-19 and u17) and discus throw for boys (u-17 and u-19).

Mr Tej Parkash Singh, Transport Minister, Punjab, will inaugurate the meet on while Mr Malkit Singh Birmi, local MLA, will preside over the prize distribution function on November 16.

BVM school bags 20 medals

LUDHIANA: The team of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, here bagged 20 medals, including 10 gold, in the 15th North Zone Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Sansthan Athletic and Judo Meet organised by Vidya Bharti at Nehru Stadium, Delhi, from November 7 to 10, according to Mr Baljeet Singh Gill, incharge, (sports) of the school. Fifteen students (13 in athletics and 2 in judo) of the school represented Punjab in the meet.

The names of the medal winners are: athletics — girls (u-17) — Priya Bawa, gold in 800 mts, 1,500 mts and 300 mts. She was declared the ‘best athlete’ among girls (u-17).

Boys (u-17): Maneet Sharma — gold in 400 mts and bronze in 100 mts and 200 mts; Deepak Kumar — gold in 1,500 mts and silver in 800 mts.

The quartet of Deepak, Maneet Sharma, Rahul Gupta and Tarun won a bronze in 4x100 mts relay; girls (u-19): Kalika Gupta — gold in 3,000 mts and Navleen — gold in 3 km cross country race.

Boys (u-19): Kanav, Gaurav, Sahil and Vikrant won gold in 4x100 mts relay race; Vikrant — silver in 110 mts hurdles; Gagandeep — silver in shot put; bronze in 4x400 mts relay Sahil — bronze in 1500 mts and Aashim — bronze in 5,000 mts.

Judo: Nidhi Arora (33 kg) and Manjeet Kaur (38 kg) won gold for their school.

Meanwhile, Mr Ashok Setia, Director of the school, has congratulated the medal winners for their stupendous performance and Mr Daljeet Singh who accompanied the team for his able guidance.