Crusading for the rights of unborn girl child
Tripti Nath

AT least a thousand students and teachers of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia, led by Vijay Lakshmi Nanda, a Political Science lecturer at Miranda House and Coordinator of Campaign Against Female Foeticide (CAFF), will march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament on Wednesday to press for the passage of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Amendment Bill in the winter session of Parliament.

The five-month-old movement is backed by Centre for Women Development Studies. The campaign has been sparked of by the rampant female foeticide in the country. CAFF points out that the child sex ratio (0 to 6 years) is declining at a rapid pace in the National Capital.

In Delhi, the child sex ratio is 865 girls per 1000 boys. CAFF fears that imbalances in sex ratio could lead to further violence against women. PNDT Act forbids the sex determination of the foetus. The amendment to PNDT Act, approved by the Cabinet, will strengthen the implementation of the Act and cover discrimination against women at all stages of the reproductive cycle.

Earlier, this year, CAFF volunteers marched to Parliament on July 31 to press for the passage of the PNDT amendment bill during the monsoon session.

Workshop on liver diseases

As many as 200 doctors from all over the country are expected to participate in a workshop on `Liver diseases in children', at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital on Sunday.

The workshop is being organised by Dr Anupam Sibal, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Gastroenterology and Liver transplant specialist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. It will focus on better management of disease and highlight the importance of early detection of liver diseases.

According to Dr Sibal, “Timely detection is the most important element in managing liver diseases in children. If a child is operated before 60 days of life, results are significantly better than operation after two months of age. Sadly, in India, most babies reach medical centres after crossing the age of three months. This leaves few options as liver transplant for managing the disease.”

Dr Sibal warns that persistent jaundice extending beyond 14 days in newborn babies should not be ignored. One of the major causes of pathological jaundice is Biliary Artresia, which if ignored may need expensive and complicated treatment and liver transplant. “Due to high rate of liver related diseases, more than 2000 children are added to the list of those requiring liver transplant every year.''

Organ donation drive

The staff, patients and attendants of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital took interest in educating themselves about organ and tissue donation during a six-day campaign, organised by the Human Organ Procurement Education (HOPE) Trust.

The awareness campaign concluded on Saturday. This is the first time that the two-year-old Trust founded by lawyer and liver recipient, Rani Jethlmalani, has organised a campaign in a hospital. Volunteers of the Trust were assisted by AIIMS doctors. Garima Middha, Programme Co-ordinator of HOPE Trust said that the volunteers distributed leaflets on organ donation. Convinced by the presentations in favour of organ donation, about eighty staff, patients, attendants and visitors pledged to donate organs and were given donor cards by the Trust. A majority of these wanted to donate cornea in preference to liver, heart or kidney. Garima said that this is perhaps due to more awareness on eye donation.

The heart of the matter

Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre is holding a symposium `Heart 2002' in the Capital on November 24.

The symposium will focus on review of new treatment strategies to update practising physicians who treat patients with heart diseases. The meeting is also aimed at discussing the advances in various disciplines of cardiology and cardiac surgery.

Hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart failure are two of the most common problems encountered in clinical practice. The impact of new technologies including the benefits of drug coated (medicated) stents will also be discussed at the symposium.

Cardiology update

Director General Armed Forces Medical Services and cardiologist, Lt Gen B. N. Shahi inaugurated a cardiology update on Saturday. The four-day conference has been organised by the Army Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi Cantt. The meeting will discuss advances in all spheres of cardiology including the use of drug eluting stents and new arrhythmia mapping systems as the CARTO systems, which have been recently acquired by the hospital.

Apollo Clinic opens in Gurgaon

Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Apollo Hospitals Group, today opened the Apollo clinic in Sector 14, Gurgaon. Finance Secretary, Dr S. Narayan inaugurated the clinic. Apart from consultation services with specialists from cardiology, general surgery, gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedics, pulmonogy, nephrology, urology, diet counselling and physiotherapy, customers can avail of comprehensive diagnostic facilities and a range of health checks. The clinic is also likely to offer tele-medicine service.

Speaking at the inauguration, the CEO of Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited, Ratan Jalan said that the opening of the fourth Apollo clinic in India is another step towards making quality healthcare services accessible to everybody.

Breast care accessories

Breast care and breast feeding accessories of Pigeon Corporation, Japan, are now available in India. These include pigeon breast pump and feeding set, breast pad, nipple shield and breast pump. The products have been designed and developed after extensive research of the needs of the mother and the baby.

AIIMS’s new plan

All India Institute of Medical Sciences has announced the re-development plan-2025, which aims to re-engineer the existing facilities to cater to the growing number of patients, visitors and staff. The total project cost is estimated to be Rs 1,300 crore. The phasing and commencement of projects will depend on the availability of funds. A new traffic and transportation plan has also been suggested.

The plan also proposes augmentation of public utility services to meet the demand for water and electricity besides taking care of the increasing quantities of sewage, drainage and solid waste.

SPORTS

S S Khalsa in Sistani final
Our Sports Reporter

Scores: S S Khalsa School: 179 for 9 in 20 overs (Anuj Bhardwaj 60, Desh Raj 38, Nitin Kumar 30 n o, Mukarran Khan 3 for 39, Sunny 2 for 40). Quita DAV: 126 all out in 18.2 overs (Sanjeev Kumar 41 no, Raman Sharma 3 for 25, Amandeep Obrai 2 for 25).

Reebok win

Reebok India beat Hudco by 34 runs in a league match of the second Eventus Cup Cricket Tournament played at the Airport Authority ground.

Scores: Reebok: 152 for 4 wickets in 25 overs (Sonu Mahna 82, 4x10; Ritesh Saxena 44, V K Shukla 2 for 19).

Hudco: 118 all out in 23.2 overs (Mukesh Kumar 30, Vishnu Bhagat 3 for 21, Pankaj Malik 2 for 21, Ravi Yadav 2 for 23).

Sonu Mahna was adjudged the Man of the Match.

61 Cavalry B lift Prithi Singh Cup
Our Sports Reporter

Major Tarun Sirohi and Simran Shergill scored three goals each, Lt Ravi Rathore two goals ad Captain Navneet Singh one goal for Cavalry. Dhrupal Godara (three goals) and Major S. S. Kashyap were the marksmen of RVC. The final of the Indian Open Polo Championship between McDowell's Signature and Haryana Polo Club will be played at the Jaipur Polo ground on Sunday at 3 pm.

DDA hockey tournament

The fifth Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Invitational Prize Money Hockey Championship will be held from December 5 to 10 on a knockout basis at Shivaji Stadium. Around 24 teams are expected to participate in the tournament.

Finance and Personnel win

Finance and Personnel beat Commercial by eight wickets in the Vivek Aggarwal Memorial Cricket Tournament, being organised by the Indian Airlines Regional Sports Club at the IA colony ground, Vasant Vihar.

Scores: Commercial: 162 all out in 18.3 overs (S Suri 40, Kundan Kanojia 3 for 17, Kumud 2 for 15). Finance and Personnel: 164 for 2 in 18.5 overs (Pradeep Bhardwaj 65 n o, 4x4, 5x6; Sanjay Singh 59 n o, 6x4).

In another match, Engineering beat Stores and Operation by seven wickets.

Scores: Stores: 111 for 9 in 20 overs (Satish Rawat 19, S K Sagar 3 for 15, A S Bisht 2 for 12). Engineering: 113 for 3 in 10.3 overs (S K Sagar 39, 5x4; J P Saini 25, B P Gandhi 2x6, 2 for 25).

Subroto Cup from Nov 20
Our Sports Reporter

The title winners of the sub-junior event will pocket Rs 30,000 while the runners-up will get Rs 20,000. The title winners of the junior event will collect Rs 50,000 and the runners-up Rs 30,000.

Mukesh cruises to fifth title victory
Our Correspondent

New Delhi, November 16
Mukesh Kumar returned his fourth straight score in the sixties to defend his title at the Servo Masters 2002, played at the Digboi Club Golf Links.

Mukesh's final round five-under 67 handed him a tournament tally of 20-under 268 and his fifth win in his last six outings. Mukesh received a cash prize of Rs 1,37,700. Mysore's Rahul Ganapathy shot a final round score, identical to the winner's, thereby failing to erase the overnight four-stroke difference. Ganapathy, with a tally of 16-under 272, finished second and took home Rs 95,000. Delhi's Shamim Khan ended up at the third position. Sanjay Kumar shot the best round of the day, returning a card of six under 66, which catapulted him to joint fourth position along with Ashok Kumar at 279.

G E beat Morpen
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 16
G E Capital continued their winning streak when they beat Dr Morpen by five wickets in the Delhi leg of the William Grants Corporate Six-a-Side Cricket Tournament at the Teri Oval.

Scores: Dr Morpen: 60 for 3 (Siddhant Chandra 34). G E Capital: 61 for no loss (Mitesh Sharma 30 off nine balls).

In other matches, HCL beat Cannon by four wickets, Reckitt Benckiser beat Hindustan Times by 12 runs, Apollo Tyres beat Coke by five wickets and Gillette beat Turner International by 59 runs. HCL: 70 for 1 (Sameer 23). Cannon: 67 for 2 (31 off 14 balls). Reckitt: 85 for 2 (Sameeran Sengupta 31 off 14 balls). HT: 73 (Rajeev Singh 17). Apollo Tyres: 75 (Anil 35 off 12 balls). Coka Cola: 74 for 2 (Rajneesh Vasudheva 35). Gillette: 129 for 1 (Sushil 33). Turner International: 70 (Rahul Sood 36).

Rahul sets a record

New Delhi, November 16
RAHUL Ganapathy stole the limelight from Mukesh Kumar with a scintillating performance that saw him card a record-breaking 12-under 60 on day three of the Rs 8.5 lakh Servo Masters being played at the Digboi Club Golf Links on Friday.

Rahul's score, to be recorded in a single round on the Golf Tour, was however not good enough to upstage Mukesh Kumar from the lead. He sits at the top with a tally of 15-under. Rahul was placed second at 11-under 205, while Delhi's Shamim Khan occupied the third position at ten-under 206.%. OSR

Sonepat MC persists with its filthy ways
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, November 16
The Sonepat Municipal Council has intensified its campaign for the recovery of house tax from the defaulters who have failed to deposit arrears amounting to lakhs of rupees in spite of repeated reminders sent to them. It has adopted strange methods, including throwing of garbage and filth in front of the houses and shops of the defaulters, in a bid to force them to pay the arrears pending for the last few years.

The campaign is aimed at increasing the income of the council, which had been facing a financial crisis since the abolition of octroi by the state government. The council is unable to pay the salary to its employees by the seventh of each month. The municipal council authorities have prepared the list of 45 defaulters against whom action has to be taken for the recovery of house tax.

One of them is Mr Rattan Singh, a resident of Kakroi road. He did not deposit the amount of arrears in spite of repeated reminders. The safai workers threw a tractor-trailer laden with filth and garbage in front of his house yesterday in a bid to force him to pay the arrears.

In the past also, the council authorities had adopted this novel way, said to be the third degree method, against two mobile companies. Officials of these companies had to deposit the amount pending against them. When the officials of these companies deposited the house tax, the safai workers cleared the places of the garbage and filth which was thrown in front of the offices of both the mobile companies.

The municipal council, it may be recalled, had already notified the names of the defaulters and put their names on boards and hoardings installed in different places of the city.

Land being acquired for 3rd Metro line

New Delhi: The Union Government has agreed to the construction of the third metro rail line and land was being acquired for the purpose, the LG said .