Cruel season for heart patients
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, January 18
Winter is a bad time for the patients suffering from blood pressure, heart problems, asthma and arthritis. Slight exposure to cold winds can cause serious health problems.

In fact, more patients have started reporting to the hospitals ever since the mercury dipped. The effect has been particularly severe in case of heart and asthma patients.

Haryana’s eminent cardiologist Dr Ramesh Batra of the cardiac catheterisation laboratory Batra Cath Lab told the mediapersons here today that there had been a sudden influx of heart patients in the past two weeks. “Chances of a heart attack are 20 per cent higher in winter than in summer,” he said.

Blood vessels shrink when a person is exposed to cold. As a result, the passage for blood flow becomes narrower.

This increases pressure. Hence, a patient of hypertension may require a larger dose of medication during this time, Dr Batra added.

He said that the patients should avoid exposure, but continue exercises at home. “It is important to keep the ears and nose covered. Intake of hot beverages also helps,” he added.

Likewise, the number of asthma and bronchitis cases goes up in winter. “There is an increase in respiratory illnesses, including cold and cough, pneumonia and chronic problems due to smoking,” said chest specialist and cardiologist Dr H K Chhabra. There is roughly a 25 per cent increase in asthmatic cases.

“Patients above the age of 50 are more susceptible. In extreme cases, one may have to admit them to a hospital and give antibiotics,” he said.

“People with a bone or soft tissue injury should be extra cautious as even a slip can lead to a fracture,” said orthopaedist Dr K K Dua, of the Dua Hospital, Sonepat.

“Patients who suffer from arthritis may have more neck and knee pain. They should properly cover themselves even while sleeping,” added Dr Dua.

BODY & MIND
Time to sip zero bacteria UHT milk 
Tripti Nath

Amrit Foods, a division of Amrit Banaspati Company Limited, is all set to promote zero bacteria Gagan UHT (ultra-heat treated) milk by planning a Rs 1 crore ad campaign this year. The milk is said to have a shelf-life of two months. A pouch of one-litre Gagan UHT milk is priced at Rs 18.

Amrit Foods plans to hard sell the convenience and price advantage of poly packaging over tetra pack packaging.

The company claims to have taken the lead in setting up an ultra-modern UHT plant in 1989 with an investment of over Rs 30 crore.

It acknowledges the presence of Dynamix Dairy in Baramati near Mumbai with similar high-cost facilities. They, however, assert that their plant is the only one in the country which can boast of having the advanced technology of heating milk through direct steam infusion. Due to shorter heating time, the milk heated by this process does not lose out on nutrients and taste.

Experts in Amrit Foods point out that due to the absence of an effective cold chain infrastructure, bacterial count in pasteurised milk is already in the range of 50,000 to one lac cfu/ml when it reaches the consumer. This is well above the acceptable norm of 5000 to 10,000 cfu/ml in developed countries.

The company is confident that the increase in the number of health conscious persons would contribute to the segment of consumers who are aware of concepts of milk quality and hygiene and would be willing to pay a small premium for it.

They quote market analysts’ reference to the mineral water segment of consumers to illustrate the point.

Joint Managing Director of Amrit Foods, Ashwini Bajaj sees a big opportunity in long-life liquid milk and milk products.

“The idea of UHT milk was much ahead of time. Besides, the market was very price sensitive. But the market has changed. According to McKinsey report, the processed milk market will grow to an estimated Rs 36,000 crore by the year 2005,” he says.

The company is making efforts to increase the shelf-life of poly packaging from two to three months.

It plans to improve its distribution network from 82 to 182 and its retail presence from 4000 to 10,000 outlets within a year.

A new lease of life

The Human Organ Procurement Education (HOPE) Trust, a two-year-old voluntary organisation, founded by senior lawyer and liver recipient, Rani Jethmalani, has devised a unique way of helping patients in need of organs.

The second issue of its quarterly journal, ‘VITAL Spark’ has highlighted the case of a young woman in need of a kidney and a 53-year-old government servant in need of a liver.

The initiative is welcome, more so, in India where the concept of organ donation has not picked up the desired pace. The two cases have been presented under the catchy sub-head ‘Race Against Time’. It reads, “Sarika Srivastava should have been like any other young woman in her late twenties busy balancing family and professional life, full of energy and enthusiasm for the future. She isn’t. A graduate and an NIIT pass out, she suffered her first episode of blurring of vision way back in 1998.

On examination, she was found to have high blood pressure, which led to a series of investigations and a diagnosis of kidney disease. She needed a transplant. Her mother came forward and donated her kidney in 1999. Everything went fine and she was recuperating till April this year when she went into organ failure again.

Dialysis was resumed but the problems and sufferings increased. She is now counting on a cadaver donation without which her future looks bleak. Her blood group is A positive.’’

The journal also cites the case of K. Sasikanthan, a central government Class I officer, Under Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, who has been diagnosed as suffering from liver cirrhosis caused by Hepatitis B apparently caused by using sterilised syringe instead of disposable syringe for subcutaneous injections to relieve worsening of bronchial asthma. “His younger son volunteered to donate a part of his liver but due to excess fat, it was not possible. Since January 2002, he is waiting for government sanction of funds to import medicines before he registers for cadaver transplant in Delhi.

Meanwhile, his symptoms have worsened and his liver function is critical. Don’t you think he deserves a chance?’’ the journal asks.

Commenting on the initiative, Dr M.R. Rajasekhar, Liver and Kidney Transplant Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital said that ``It is very difficult to convince people to donate organs.

In the last five years, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital has done 22 liver transplants from cadaver and 19 from live donors. In case of kidney, Apollo Hospital has done 18 transplants from cadaver and more than 350 from live donors.

About one-lakh persons are diagnosed with renal failure every year in India and need dialysis. A majority of these would benefit from kidney transplant. Of these, only 5,000 get kidney transplant on an average.’’

Dr Rajashekhar said that Apollo Hospital has started evolving the strategy of live donors because cadaver organ donations are not available. ``At least 15,000 patients (suffering from Hepatitis B) would be needing liver transplants in a year, according to conservative estimates.

If you put together all liver diseases, about 50,000 persons would need liver transplant. Even if ten per cent of these persons (500) can afford transplant, cadaver liver availability is less than four. It is very difficult to convince people that it is safe to donate half a liver.’’ Dr Rajashekhar is of the view that people should take up organ donation as a social responsibility.

Understanding tobacco menace

Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) is organising a two-day national orientation workshop for executive directors of state voluntary health associations on `Understanding the Tobacco Menace.’ The workshop, scheduled to begin on Monday, is being supported by the World Health Organisation and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The objective of the workshop is to orient the state directors on all issues related to tobacco. Eminent health professionals, anti-tobacco advocates, representatives from WHO, Ministry of Health, consumer activists and lawyers are expected to take part in the workshop. VHAI Director, Special Programmes, Taposh Roy is of the view that it is time strategies are drawn out to combat the menace of tobacco across the country as the Supreme Court has banned smoking in public places all over the country and some States have banned the production and distribution of gutka.

Conference on chest diseases

A three-day international conference on chest diseases and allied sciences concluded here recently.

A large number of health professionals in the area of chest diseases and allied sciences participated in the conference held to mark the 50th year of inauguration of the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute (VPCI).

Prof P. N. Srivasatava, chairman of the governing body of the institute and former member Planning Commission presided over the conference.

The institute was established on the recommendations of the Bhore Committee report, which had stressed the need for a national teaching and research institute in chest diseases.

VPCI’s main activities include research and postgraduate teaching in chest diseases and allied sciences. The institute also provides diagnostic service and clinical consultation to outpatients referred by various hospitals and chest clinics in the country. It also provides in patient services.

In the last fifty years, the institute has made significant contribution in the field of biomedical sciences, notable among them being the discovery of lung deflation receptors by Prof A.S. Paintal, who succeeded the first director of the institute.

SPORTS

Ahmedabad enter SBI cricket semis
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 18
A fine knock of 69 by Amish Saheba and an all-round performance by Hitesh Parsana (2 for 32 and 38 n o) helped Ahmedabad beat Hyderabad by five wickets and entered the semi-final of the All-India State Bank of India (SBI) Inter-Circle Cricket Tournament at the Khalsa College ground.

Scores: Hyderabad: 65 for 9 in 30 overs (V Vinaykumar 61, Mohd Iftekaruddin 35, Rajiv Desai 2 for 17, Hitesh Parsana 2 for 32, Tejas Varsani 2 for 8).

Ahmedabad: 166 for 5 in 28.5 overs (Amish Saheba 69, S. Pathak 38, H. Parsana 38 no, V Vinaykumar 2 for 17, Y. S. Rangnam 2 for 26).

Chennai defeated Bhopal by six wickets at the Delhi University ground.

Scores: Bhopal: 196 for 5 in 30 overs (Pushpender Singh 72, J P Tyagi 36 n o, Ganesh Kumar 2 for 34). Chennai: 197 for 4 in 29 overs (Ganesh Kumar 88, V. Sarthi 43 n o, C. K. Venkatraman 30).

Bengal defeated Bangalore by eight wickets at the Delhi University ground.

Scores: Bangalore: 125 for 8 in 25 overs (Manoj Kumar 41, Syed Kirmani 21, A Banerjee 2 for 25, M S Gupta 2 for 26).

Bangalore: 126 for 2 in 22.3 overs (Arindam Sarkar 49 n o, Sourab Dutta 47 n o).

Tarun hits ton

Tarun Sharma hit a strokeful century and Vishu Tomar produced a devastating bowling spell of 6 for 11 to help DL DAV School, Shalimar Bagh beat St Michael’s School by 112 runs in a league match of the sixth Rohtak Road Gymkhana R P Jain Inter-School Under-15 Cricket Tournament at the Bharat Nagar ground. Electing to bat, DLDAV made 209 for 3 in 35 overs.

Scores: DLDAV School: 209 for 3 in 35 overs (Tarun Sharma 109 n o, Rajat Jain 61, Regan Das 2 for 51).

St Michael’s School: 97 all out in 18.3 overs (Akshit Logani 35, Vishu Tomar 6 for 11, Mohit Batra 3 for 16).

Syndicate Bank shortchange PNB in DDCA League
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 18
Syndicate Bank defeated Punjab National Bank (PNB) by nine wickets in a B Division match of the DDCA League at the Kotla II ground.

Scores: PNB: 166 all out in 39 overs (Rajesh Kumar 45, Sukhvinder Singh 27, Arun Kanojia 4 for 28, Bhupender Singh 3 for 14).

Syndicate Bank: 167 for 1 in 8.1 overs (Ajit Singh 64, Robin Raj Sharma 57 n o, Gautam Sharma 29 n o).

Maulana Azad defeated Delhi Telecom by 12 runs in a B Division match at Kotla No II ground.

Scores: Maulana Azad: 258 all out in 22.5 overs (Mohd Saqib 121, Mohd Asim 46, Abdul Sattar 38, Sushil Sharma 3 for 30, Anil Kumar 3 for 34).

Delhi Telecom: 246 all out in 17.3 overs (Anil Kumar 75, Sushil Sharma 52, Rajinder Ahir 36, Mohd Asim 6 for 32).

Telefunken defeated Pelicans by three wickets in an A-I Division match at the Yamuna Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Pelicans: 187 for 7 in 30 overs (Deepak Anand 57, Nitin Sehgal 54, Gulzar 2 for 22).

Telefunken: 193 for 7 in 29.3 overs (Sushil Kumar 40, Gulzar Kaushal 36, Ashwani Tyagi 2 for 22, Deepak Anand 2 for 29).

Delhi Club defeated Times of India by three wickets in an A-II Division League match at the Shanti Sports Complex ground.

Scores: TOI: 182 for 8 in 35 overs (Kundan Mehra 53 n o, Rakesh Kumar 3 for 27, Ashok Kumar 2 for 42).

Delhi Club: 186 for 7 in 34.2 overs (Varun Tyagi 71, Sandeep Angurala 4 for 28).

Indian Airlines defeated S B Youth by five wickets in a Super A Division match at the Yamuna Complex II ground.

Scores: S B Youth: 138 for 8 in 30 overs (Harender Rawat 42, Subodh Badola 32, Shankar Saini 3 for 8, Sonu Sharma 2 for 26).

Indian Airlines: 139 for 5 in 28.3 overs (Pradeep Chawla 46, Sanjay Dobal 44, Nitin Punia 2 for 17).

Essex Farms defeated Universal Club by eight wickets in an A-II Division match at the Shanti ground.

Scores: Universal Club: 82 all out in 29 overs (Azhar Khan 33, Sandeep Kalra 3 for 15, Vijay Sood 2 for 30).

Essex Farms: 84 for 2 in 20 overs (Mukesh Marwah 35 n o, Jitender Singh 27).

St Michael annex title

New Delhi: An all-round performance by Danish Faroogi (22 and 419) and deadly bowling by Sameer Khan (3 for 16) helped St Michael’s School, Bhopal beat Salwan Boys, Rajinder Nagar by eight runs and won the title in the HT-Pace Cricket Tournament final at the Modern School ground, on Saturday.

Hindustan drub City
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 18
Hindustan Club recorded their second victory when they drubbed City Club 2-0 in a Pool A match of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA)-SAIL Super League at the Ambedkar Stadium on Saturday.

The goals came once in each half. Sameer Jung shot home the first goal while Falex added the second goal.

Hindustan forged ahead in the 30th minute when a long, stiff shot by Subhash Negi struck the cross bar, and Sameer Jung headed in, off the rebound. City could have pulled off the equaliser before the interval, but Michael failed to beat Salim Ansari under the Hindustan bar. Hindustan scored their second goal five minutes into the second half when Falex put the ball in, following a flag kick.

Sunday’s fixture: Moonlight vs Goans (1.30 pm); Delhi Police vs Indian National (3 pm) — Ambedkar Stadium.

ADMINISTRATION

Marble traders evade Rs 1-cr tax
Our Correspondent

Noida, January 18
The special wing of the trade tax department, Noida, raided the shops of 24 marble traders in Baraula village and unearthed a tax evasion amounting to more than Rs 1 crore. The marble dealers, in various sectors of Noida, are getting panicky after the raids.

The Joint Commissioner of Special Investigative Wing of Trade Tax Department, Noida, Mr R N Chaturvedi, said that the department was getting reports of trade tax evasion by marble traders on a large scale.

On the basis of collection and analysis of this information, it was decided to raid the marble dealers in Baraula.

These raids were conducted simultaneously in which 11 Asstt Commissioners of Trade Tax and their teams had taken part.

Mr Chaturvedi said that the raids were started on the premises of 24 traders at 12 noon and continued till late at night on Tuesday.

In another case, a trader running his business in Noida, was showing it to be run in the name of one Kela Devi, a Faridabad firm. His firm was not registered in any office of trade tax department in Noida. The raiding parties have seized paper concerning Rs 20 lakh transactions.

All the traders had their files opened with trade tax officers whose limit was up to Rs 3.5 lakh only. Traders with Rs 3 to 25 lakh limits are registered with Asstt Commissioners while those above Rs 25 lakh have to register themselves with Deputy Commissioners, a source said.

Encroachments to be removed by March 31
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, January 18
All encroachments on the land of civic bodies, Wakf Boards and the government departments in both urban and rural areas would be removed by March 31 this year. This was stated by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala while presiding over the monthly meeting of the district grievances redressal committee at the MCF auditorium here today.

Mr Chautala directed the officials to work for the achievement of the target. It may be recalled that the MCF (Municipal Corporation Faridabad) is the biggest civic body in Haryana, and the problem of encroachments on its land had been a cause of concern. There had also been complaints of discrimination by the MCF authorities in the matter of removing encroachments. In fact land worth several crores of rupees is under encroachment in various prime locations. The encroachers include traders, showroom owners, some hotels and some other influential persons.

The CM formally took up about 13 complaints in the meeting. It is learnt that district officials had already prepared their reply or had tabled the action taken report. District officials and local INLD workers were present.