The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

Transparency in ART clinics stressed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8
In order to keep a check on unethical practices by mushrooming infertility centres in India, the issue is likely to come up for discussion in the next session of Parliament so that laws can be enacted for issues like surrogation.

“The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has forwarded the ethical guidelines in this regard to the Health Ministry, which is seeking opinion of legal experts so that a law can be enacted,” said Prof N.K. Ganguly, Director General, ICMR. He was speaking at the second Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) Update and Infertility Management meeting held at the PGI today.

Speaking at the meeting organised by the Gynae and Fertility Research and IVF Centre, Dr Ganguly said with over 3,000 ART clinics in India, there was a need for transparency and documentation of the procedures. “The ART clinics must maintain complete record, so that there is no tampering, which otherwise could lead to complications at a later stage,” he stressed. He said at present there were only guidelines in this regard.

Dr Ganguly said with the latest technology in the field of surrogation invading the country, it was important to know the ethical issues so that the rights of all those concerned can be protected”. “It would be desirable if a surrogate mother is not a relation, as this can lead to problem in relationships within the family,” opined Dr Ganguly. He added that at present there were no laws but only guidelines for surrogation in India.

Expressing his concern over the declining sex ratio, especially in parts of Punjab and Haryana, Dr Ganguly said there was a need for adherence to ethics so that the sex ratio did not go down further. He also expressed his concern over certain advertisements in newspapers.

Expressing concern over the increasing prevalence of infertility amongst both men and women in India, Dr Ganguly said environmental degradation was one of the major reason for this. “In some of the areas like parts of North Kerala, where there had been extensive use of pesticides, animal life was found to be missing from the water bodies, thereby confirming the fact that it was one of the factors leading to infertility,” said Dr Ganguly.

He further informed that there were guidelines for sperm banks, where confidentiality, HIV tests and profile of infections had to be maintained.

Speaking on the occasion, the former PGI Director, Prof I.C. Pathak, expressed concern over the unethical practices and need for research to eliminate complications like multiple pregnancies arising out of ART procedures.

Homoeopaths discuss wonder treatment
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8
The Dunham Homoeo Forum organised a workshop on hypothyroidism and its homoeopathic treatment in Sector 22 here today. About 70 homoeopaths of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh participated in this workshop, where Dr Anukant Goyal talked about the symptoms and homoeopathic treatment of hypothyroidism and presented some case studies.

He said the homoeopathic treatment of the disease was short and free of any side-effect. It included the use of non-hormonal medicines, whereas, in other systems of medicine, hormonal medicines are prescribed for treating this disease.

The doctors at the workshop praised Dr Anukant for his achievement in successfully treating hypothyroidism this way.

SPORTS

Inter-school cricket tourney
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, December 8
The super league stage of the PCA- PARLE under-17 Inter-School Cricket Tournament will begin here tomorrow. The tournament is being played on the Deodhar Trophy rules. The teams that have qualified for the super league stage are: DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Chandigarh; Atma Ram Kumar Sabha School, Patiala; Sargodha National Public School, Ludhiana; DAV Senior Secondary School, Amritsar; Labhu Ram Doaba School, Jalandhar; and MDSD Higher Secondary School, Kapurthala. Tomorrow, in Pool A, Chandigarh will play Patiala in Chandigarh; while in Pool B, Kapurthala will face Jalandhar in SAS Nagar.

UT team reach semifinal

The under-19 volleyball team of UT schools today made it to the semi-finals of the National School Games being played at Rewa (Madhya Pradesh). The UT players beat Tamil Nadu 3-0. Tomorrow, the UT will play its next tie with Punjab.

Carrom tourney

Vijay and Monu Sharma surged ahead in the Tribune Carrom Tournament that entered its third day here today. They beat Lal Bahadur and Kartar 25-0, Rajinder and Chand Parkash defeated Tilak and Ravinder 18-10 in another game. Anil and Bhupinder outplayed Rajan and Lovkesh 26-0 to enter the doubles semi-final.

In singles, Vijay beat Kartar 27-1, Jaspal defeated Harbinder 22-15, V.P. Gupta beat Vinay 24-14, Tilak Raj defeated Jaswal 25-3.

Weightlifting meet

Weightlifting Coaching Centre, Sector 30, bagged the junior men and senior men team championship in the Chandigarh 14th Senior Men and fourth Junior Men State Weightlifting Championship that concluded last evening at Panjab University Hall. Public Sports Club, Phase IX, finished runners-up. The various winners of the junior section are: Baljinder Kumar, Gaganpreet Singh, Kamaldeep Singh, Jagmohan Singh and Parvinder Singh. In senior section, the winners were: Gurjeet Singh, Harjeet Singh, Subhkaranjit Singh and Kamaljit Singh.

Snooker meet

Ankur Nanda defeated Lalit to enter the semifinal of the senior snooker section of the XVIIth Haryana State Senior and Junior Billiards and Snooker Championship played in Panchkula today. In another quarterfinal tie, Sameer Bhalla got the better of Mohit Bajaj, while Aman Bhasin defeated Gagandeep.

Leaders club victorious

Leaders Cricket Club scored a nine-wicket victory over LG-XI in the LG League-cum-Knockout Cricket Tournament played here today. The meet is being organised by the Chandigarh Cricket Association.

Brief scores; LG-XI: 177 runs for nine in 30 overs (RP Singh 41, Vineet Jain 31, Munish Chadha 28, Rakesh Jolly 21, Harminder Singh 17, Rajesh Patha 4 for 22, Gurinder Saini 2 for17, Rajesh Vaid 2 for 25, Inderjeet 2 for 18).

LCC-XI:179 runs for one in 24.5 overs (Gurinder Saini 61, Rajesh Patha 84 n.o., Prabhjot Singh 24 n.o.

Elected

Sumedh Singh Saini, IG, Punjab, was unanimously re-elected president of the Chandigarh UT Wrestling Association at its meeting held here today. Mr M.S. Chopra was elected senior vice-president. The other office-bearers are: vice-presidents — Mr A.C. Vaid, Mr D.S. Bedi, Mr P.L. Paul and Mr Arjun Singh; general secretary — Mr Darshan Lal Sharma; joint secretary — Dr Safri Lal; and Treasurer — Mr J.S. Nagi.

Medical College humble MC
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8
Chandigarh Medical College defeated Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, by nine wickets in the fourth City Beautiful Invitation Cricket Tournament at the Sector 16 cricket stadium here today.

Sudhir, Sanjeev Jr and Jagdish claimed two wickets each as Municipal Corporation team, batting first, scored 132 before being bowled out in 23 overs. Amarjit Singh (23) and Varinder (20) were the main scorers. Sanjeev Jr carried on his good work notching up 65 runs as Medical College overhauled the target for the loss of just one wicket in 19 overs. Sudhir made 46.

Vikas Puri made valuable 51 runs, while Rajinder Sharma scored 35 as Chandigarh Housing Board reached the target of 137 runs set by the Education Department. The Education Department put 136 on the board as Rajesh and Raj Pal contributed 45 and 22, respectively. Arun Gargea took three wickets, while Vijay Puri and Rajiv Kashyap scalped two wickets apiece.

A half century (51) by Vijay Bhasin enabled the ESTESA to beat Government Press by 17 runs yesterday. Batting first, the ESTESA piled up impressive 158 for the loss of two wickets in 25 overs. Chasing the target Government Press fell short by 17 runs, managing to reach 141 for the loss of nine wickets in the stipulated quota of 25 overs. Sanjeev Bhalla scored 38 runs.

Sports Department defeated Municipal Corporation by 28 runs in the second match of the day. Batting first, Sports Department managed 122 for the loss of nine wickets. Harish Sharma rescued the team with 36 runs. Goverdhan took three wickets, while Raj Kumar and Varinder claimed two wickets each. Chasing this total, Municipal Department were dismissed at 94. Naresh Kumar was the most successful bowler with a haul of four wickets, while Amarjit Singh and Suresh Kumar scalped three and two wickets, respectively.

Mr R.S. Gujral, Home Secretary, Chandigarh, inaugurated the tournament.

Pradeep is ‘Champion of Champions’
Tribune News Service

Sas Nagar, December 8
Pradeep Kumar of Kurali was adjourned Champion of Champions in Mr Ropar contest organised by the Ropar Amateur Body Building Association here today. More than 30 young body builders from the district participated in the contest.

Following are the results under various weight categories in order of merit: Below 55 - Rakesh, Ravinder, Subodh; below 60 - Joginder Singh, Gurpratap Singh, Sunny; below 65 - Balwinder Singh, Akolandivel, Sunil Kumar; below 70 - Mohinder, Raghbir Singh, Suresh; below 75 - Pradeep Kumar, Suraj Bhan, Vikram Malik; below 80 - Anurag, Gagan, Vishal; below 85 - Rajpreet, Prem, Kailash; above 85 - Anshul, Vikramjit, Joginder Singh.