The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

New pay scale for MCD teachers
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 15
The Chairman of Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Mr Ram Babu Sharma, today announced the revised pay scales for teachers working in the corporation’s schools.

Speaking at a Children’s Day programme organised by the MCD schoolteachers, Mr Sharma said that the pay scale of Rs 5, 500-Rs 8,000 had been revised to Rs 5,500-Rs 9,000. The scale for senior teachers will be Rs 6,500-Rs 10,500.

The new scale will be implemented with retrospective effect from April this year and the arrears will also be released soon. The teachers will start drawing the enhanced salary from next month.

HEALTH

Diabetics’ count in India: 30 million and rising
Parmindar Singh

Noida, November 15
The Noida chapter of the Indian Medical Association organised programmes as part of the World Diabetes Day yesterday at the government hospital in Sector 30, in cooperation with the Noida manch and other organisations.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ashok Sharma, renowned endocrinologist and diabetologist, Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi, said that diabetes was closely linked with heart, blood pressure, kidneys and eyes.

We should not neglect our health. A periodic check-up, balanced diet, exercise, proper medication etc were important factors in controlling and treating diabetes.

About 30 to 40 per cent of the diabetes patients have heart problems. By proper precautions and care we can control 40 per cent of the problem. In advance cases, it could lead to blindness. There were 30 million diabetes patients in India at present, we therefore needed to mount awareness campaigns for the public.

Another unfortunate development was the increased incidence of diabetes among children. Parents and teachers both needed to exercise a lot of care and precaution in this respect. Early detection could go a long way in controlling the disease with proper medication. Dr Sharma said child diet, behaviour and its general management needed to be closely monitored.

Prevalence of diabetes in adults was around 4 per cent world-wide. The rising prevalence of diabetes in developing countries was closely associated with industrialisation and socio-economic developments. The major determinants for the increase in the number of diabetes were population growth, age structure and urbanisation. With the rise in the urban/rural population ratio in all regions and growing prevalence of obesity amongst urban dwellers, diabetes would increasingly be on the rise in the coming years. In developing countries, a majority of the diabetic patients acquired the condition in the most productive period of their lives, ie 45-64 years.

Diabetic patients, if undiagnosed or inadequately treated, developed multiple chronic complications leading to irreversible disability. Coronary heart diseases and strokes were more common in diabetics than in the general population.

Experts advise the following steps:

* Awareness regarding risk factor, preventive measures comprising maintenance of normal body weight, healthy nutritional habits and physical exercise, avoidance of alcohol. l Diabetes, once detected, should be adequately treated by weight maintenance, diet control, drugs, routine checking of blood sugar.

* Self care and home blood glucose monitoring shall greatly aid in the treatment.

* Organising diabetic clinics that can provide diagnostic and management skills are required.

Medical cost of poor to be monitored
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 15
Though there is a provision for the treatment of the poor in the private nursing homes and hospitals, the facility remains elusive to the needy. Taking note of this the Delhi High Court today directed the Centre and City Government to set up a joint panel to monitor the free-treatment facilities for poor in the Capital’s 400 private hospitals and nursing homes, which have been allotted land free of cost and at concessional rates on this condition.

Stating that the private hospitals were allotted land worth crores of rupees at prime locations on the conditions that they would provide treatment free of cost to 25 per cent of poor indoor patients and 40 per cent of outdoor patients, a Bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice R. C. Jain said the Centre and Delhi Government have failed to set up a monitoring body in this regard.

The Court directed the hospitals to furnish complete details on how many poor patients have been treated since they started functioning as was made mandatory in the land-lease deed. Its breach would amount to not full contract and also earning huge profit by the hospitals on this account, the Court said.

It was also pointed out that if the hospitals had made profit out of charging the poor patients the government should recover the money from them.

Directing the Centre and Delhi Government to comply with the directions issued by the court within the time frame of three months, the court also directed them to file a report by March next year.

The next hearing of the Public Interest litigation, alleging that hospitals are flouting the rule to provide free treatment to the poor has been scheduled for March 3, 2002.

Phase II of Pulse Polio on Sunday
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 15
The second phase of Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme will be conducted on Sunday. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit formally launched the programme today by administering the polio drops to children at her official residence.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister said that she had written to her Uttar Pradesh counterpart and the Union Minister of Health for launching an intensive vaccination programme in that state, as the increasing number of polio cases in the NCT of Delhi could be attributed to the population migrating from Uttar Pradesh.

Over seven thousand polio Kendras would be set up in all dispensaries and hospitals of the Government of NCT of Delhi, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Cantonment Board, Government of India, ESI and the Railways.

The Kendras would also be set up in schools and community centres apart from private clinics and nursing homes. All these centres will function from 9 am to 4 pm. Mobile teams will also be deputed to reach slums, etc. Fifty teams would also be deployed to administer the drops at railway stations, inter-state bus terminuses, airports and State entry points.

SPORTS

Salwan School storm into final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 15
Defending champions Salwan Public School beat Sarvodaya Vidyalaya No 1 by 37 runs to storm into the final of the sixth Sardar Harbans Singh Sistani Memorial Inter-School Cricket Tournament at the S S Khalsa School ground in Lajpat Nagar. A fine knock of 78 by Delhi Under-19 player Sandeep Yadav and deadly bowling of 4 for 22 by Vinay Sheel Baniwal were the highlights of Salwan’s victory.

In another match, DAV School, Nizamuddin beat Chetan Sharma Academy by three wickets to enter the semi-final.

Scores: Salwan Boys: 172 for 8 in 20 overs (Sandeep Yadav 78, Gaurav Chabra 47, Raju Kumar 3 for 39, Kuldeep Chauhan 3 for 38). Sarvodaya Vidyalaya No 1: 135 all out in 17.4 overs (Kuldeep Chouhan 34, Amit Mishra 32, Vinay Sheel Baniwal 4 for 22, Arun Choudhary 3 for 40).

Chetan Sharma Academy: 118 for 8 in 15 overs (Ansul Sethi 34, Jasmeet Singh 28, Vipul Kumar 3 for 28, Muzaffar Khan 3 for 34).

DAV: 120 for 7 in 14.5 overs (Sunny Kumar 36, Rohit Kumar 32, Nishant Kumar 3 for 35, Jasmeet Singh 3 for 38).

Canon India win in Eventus Cup

Canon India beat Seagram by 18 runs in a league match of the second Eventus Cup Cricket Tournament at the Palam ground.

Scores: Canon India: 160 all out in 24.1 overs (Rajesh Dogra 37, Surya Kamath 32, Roy Joseph 22, Raja Banerjee 3 for 22, Abhishek Kumar 3 for 31).

Seagram: 142 all out in 24.5 overs (Prathmesh Mishra 39, Abhishek Mishra 34, Roy Joseph 4 for 26, Ramaje Kachrro 2 for 16, Rajesh Dogra 2 for 33).

Anuj Jain stars for J N Golden

A stroke-filled unbeaten knock of 40, which contained eight boundaries, by Delhi Under-15 player Anuj Jain helped J N Golden Club beat Mayapuri Club by ten wickets in an A-2

Division match of the DDCA League at the Ramjas Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Mayapuri Club: 69 all out in 31.3 overs (Vivek Mishra 19, Harish Kumar 3 for 17, Siddhartha Minhas 3 for 8).

J N Golden: 70 for no loss in 11 overs (Anuj Jain 40 no, Hemant Singh 20, 2x4).

Air Sahara launches ‘Crickcitement’
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 15
Air Sahara launched the ‘Crickcitement’ programme in which Air Sahara fliers won innumerable exciting prizes. Four mega television shows on Sahara TV called, “India Cricket Series”, are held where every invitee participating in an interesting game show could win the bumper prize of a timber chalet worth Rs 2.5 crore in Sahara Lake City, Amby Valley, near Lonavala, Mumbai, or an E-class Mercedes, among other exciting gifts.

Hundred out of the 400 invitations have already been won by fliers and they have been invited to participate in the first mega show for which the first prize is a Mercedes Benz. The mega show is being organised on November 16 at Filmistan Studio in Mumbai. Shekhar Suman will be the game show host.