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May 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Tackle autism with acceptance, awareness
Chandigarh, May 23 “If you can’t reach out to the child and make him smile, at least leave him alone in his own world,” said a weeping mother of a teenaged child, at an interactive session organised by the Department of Psychiatry at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). As if having to cope with an autistic child is not enough, the indifference of society towards an autistic child adds to the trauma faced by the parents. Sharing their experiences, parents of such children said instead of being considerate and understanding some of the close relatives too start avoiding a family with an autistic child. “The worst is when my own daughter-in-law prevents her children from mixing up with my son who is suffering from autism, which is not a disease or a disorder but simply a child with low understanding,” said wife of an army officer from Panchkula. “Going to the market, restaurant, a party or travelling in a public transport becomes almost impossible as people give strange looks and at times object to the presence of an autistic child in public
places, "said a hurt Ms Sangeeta Jain. “One major problem is that there is very little awareness about autism, not just amongst the general public but even doctors and teachers hardly know about the
problem, "lamented Dr B.S Chavan, Head of Psychiatry Department at GMCH. He said in order to create more awareness about the problem, the Regional Institute would have a separate section to deal with children with autistic problem. Institutes like the Rehabilitation Council of India have a one-year diploma course on autism. “The shortage of trained professionals to identify autistic children was one of the main reasons why we could not complete a study being launched to see the prevalence rate of the disorder in the city,” remarked Dr Chavan. Prof Pratibha Singhi, from the Paediatrics Department at PGI said all autistic children referred to them from the region were diagnosed to be suffering either from mental retardation or delayed speech. “The disease could be having a genetic component as at times more than one child or both the twins could be suffering from
autism, "she explained. She said it is on the basis of Autism Childhood Rating Skill that a child is graded as having mild, moderate or severe autism at the PGI. |
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MLAs panel visits Civil Hospital SAS Nagar, May 23 The MLAs refused to comment on the outcome of the visit stating that they will submit their report to the Vidhan Sabha and cannot make any comment before the report is tabled in the House. Sources informed that the visit was undertaken by the team as part of the process of review of working of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation, a public sector undertaking which regulates the working of civil hospitals in the state. The team had earlier in the day, visited the Kharar Civil Hospital for a similar inspection. The team was accompanied by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Mr Vikas Garg, the Civil Surgeon, Ropar, Ms Rana Harinder, and the SDM, SAS Nagar, Mr M.L. Sharma. Talking to mediapersons after the visit the SMO in charge of the hospital Dr M.S. Bains stated that they had been informed about the visit and a complete profile of the hospital along with comparative figures of the hospital for the past two years had been provided to the members. |
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Quick fire 97 by Akashdeep Chandigarh, May 23 At the draw of stumps, Akashdeep was only three runs short of a century. Keeping his company was Ankur Kassal, who was not out on 19. Earlier, Chandigarh won the toss and elected to bat first. The match started at 2.30 pm due as the ground was wet due to overnight rain. Uday Kaul contributed 63 runs. He eventually fell to Gurinder , who trapped him in front of the wickets. he faced 93 balls and hit seven fours. Akashdeep hit 18 fours in his unbeaten knock of 97 runs, while Ankur Kassal hit three boundaries for his 19 runs. Rahul Kumar and Rahul Gandhi claimed one wicket each. Brief scores: Chandigarh (Ist innings):
218 for 3 (Akashdeep 97 n.o., Uday Kaul 63, Vijay Kumar 26, Ankur Kassal 19 n.o.).
Carrom tourney The 6th Raj Kumar Babuta Memorial Prize Money Carrom Ranking Tournament begins tomorrow at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh. The three-day tournament is being organised by the Chandigarh Carrom Association. Eighty-five players (58 men and 27 women) are taking part in singles events. The top three position holders in both men and women categories will be given cash prizes. The winner in the men’s singles will get Rs 2,500, while the runner-up will get Rs 1,500. The player placed third will be awarded Rs 1,100. In the women’s section, the winner will get Rs 1,500, the runner-up will get Rs 1,100, while the third placed player will get Rs 750. Any player who scores slam (break to finish) will also be awarded Rs 150 per slam. The matches will begin at 9.30 am everyday. The following players have been given seeding in the draw: Men’s singles:
Gangandeep, K.S. Patwal, Sanjay Negi, Sudhir Sidhu, Paramdeep, Rahul Nanda, Tejinder harry and Mukesh Piplani. Women’s singles:
Saroj Chandel, Shikha Nanda, Sushila Prasad and Inder Kanta.
Shooting championship SAS NAGAR: The Ropar District Rifle Shooting Championship-2003 will be held at Mohali Shooting Ranges in air-rifle and air-pistol events on Sunday, according to Mr Hardeep Singh, general secretary of the Ropar Rifle Shooting Association. Interested shooters may report on the shooting range before 10 am on the same day. |
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Rana Sodhi is part of IOA delegation Chandigarh, May 23 According to sport functionaries, it is a matter of pride for the city that its newly elected President of the Olympic Association has been selected to be a part of the India’s topmost sports body. Mr Rana Sodhi is himself an international shooter and has got a vast experience in sports administration. The delegation is being led by Mr Suresh Kalmadi, President, Indian Olympic Association. Other members of the delegation include Raja Randhir Singh, Secretary-General of the IOA, and Mr Aslam Khan, President of the UP Olympic Association. The meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation that will decide on the host of the 2010 games will be held on June 30 in London. Mr Rana Sodhi was of the view that India had got all the required sports infrastructure and lodging facilities of world class standards and in case it got the Commonwealth Games for 2010, it would not only further improve the existing facilities, but also improve the standard of sports in India. |
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Halwara
spikers win championship Chandigarh, May 23 The third position went to Ambala. In the first match, Halwara succeeded in defeating Chandigarh, 25-12. In the second match, Chandigarh area, however, got the better of Halwara area, 24-26. Halwara recovered to win the third match (25-19) and the final (25-17). For the third position, Ambala defeated Adampur, 25-15, 25-12 and 25-19. The prizes were handed over to the winning team by AOC-in-C of 12 Wing Air Cmdr Arun Gopinath. |
Structures demolished, land
given to Railways Chandigarh, May 23 As soon as the encroached part of the acquired land was freed, it was given to the Railways. The village “kheda” (abode of the village deity), which the priest of the kheda told had been there since British rule, was also razed to the ground. Villagers said a driver of a bulldozer refused to demolish the kheda but another one came and brought down the entire temple. The temple fell close to the proposed railway line. While the kheda was completely demolished, a Shiv temple and a tomb of a pir (a saint) was partially demolished. Another temple was demolished was near Sector 47. A woman, Gurdev Kaur, who had been associated with the kheda for the past 40 years, also said she was afraid that some misfortune would fall on the villagers after their kheda was demolished. Led by Enforcement Magistrate Ishwar Singh, the demolition drive had been completed within couple of hours. The encroached part of 17 houses was also demolished. The priest of the kheda Khushi Ram, with tears rolling down his tears and dejected, said the temple should have been spared for the welfare of the people as villagers considered it was the protecting force of the village. Two bulldozers, seven trucks, a large number of labourers and a police force were employed in the operation. Though a large posse of police had been deployed, there was no resistance from the people against the
demolition. Villagers said it was a shamlat land of several villages and they did not get compensation for it. They, however, did not confirm whether the panchayat had been paid compensation or not for the land acquired. |
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Rewat Singh demolishes gurdwara Chandigarh, May 23 Mr Rewat Singh, who was running the gurdwara told the Chandigarh Tribune, ‘‘I told the demolition squad that their demand of removing the illegal construction would be carried out on my own’’. The religious structure was on the road dividing Sectors 36 and 42. And true to his word Rewat Singh was seen bringing it down today on his own and his family was standing by his decision. He said, “I was told by the Enforcement Wing that a certain portion of the building was outside the lal dora (village limit) thus I volunteered to remove it”. The Administration has been wanting the land to widen the road. The demolition squad was at his door with bulldozers yesterday. Officials of the Enforcement Wing were surprised as Mr Rewat Singh was probably the first person who had volunteered to remove an illegal religious structure. A senior official told the Chandigarh Tribune that deeds and ideas of such people could motivate people to not to encroach upon government land. Meanwhile, in a separate development the Chandigarh Parents Association, condemned the demolition on a pick and choose basis. Members also condemned the action of issuing notices to the residents in southern sectors. Members alleged that the demolition squads always targeted ordinary residents, specially in southern sectors, while letting the VIPs residing in the northern sectors go scot free. No demolition of unauthorised constructions or illegal encroachments has ever been carried out in northern sectors at places like the residences of chief ministers and ministers, officers of the administration, political leaders, government officers, including IAS, IPS and judicial officers, several of these VIPs have carried out numerous violations in their residences — private and government allotted houses — by constructing extra rooms and also by altering the basic and approved designs. They said, “Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana are the biggest violators of the building bylaws as they have constructed many rooms in their official kothis but the Estate Officer cannot dare to touch these”. The Administration should frame a uniform policy and start demolition of unauthorised constructions and remove all illegal encroachments and violations starting from the VIP Sector 2 onwards and no one should be spared, demanded the association members. |
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SAS Nagar Admn to plug escape routes SAS Nagar, May 23 The meeting was chaired by the SP, Mr Harcharan Singh Bhullar, and also attended by the SHOs of the township. It was decided that the SHOs would identify the various escape routes in their areas and hand over the list to the MC which would then make arrangements to plug these points. In order to streamline the parking of vehicles at public places, it was decided that the parking spots next to markets would be painted with deep yellow lines. The vehicles would have to park within these limits. “The MC will undertake the painting work after which the vehicles found parked outside these lines will be challaned,” Mr Bhullar said. In another joint meeting between the SP and the UT police, it was decided that the two police forces would continue to undertake joint operations. The meeting was attended by the DSP, Mr S.S. Randhawa of the UT police. The modus operandi of some of the latest crimes that had taken place in the township and Chandigarh was discussed at the meeting. |
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Chalk out plan for tertiary water pipeline: Verma Chandigarh, May 23 Tertiary water is the waste water that is treated for using it to water lawns in the city. Presently tertiary water was being supplied to only eight sectors in the city and rest was getting wasted. Justice Verma asked the MC to bring up a proposal for completion of the network throughout the city so that drinking water was not utilised for irrigation purpose. The Commissioner informed the Administrator that a proposal for networking of tertiary water pipeline was approved two years ago but could not be implemented due to shortage of funds. The Administrator asked him to resubmit the proposal covering the main V2 and V3 roads of the city. The Administrator asked the Deputy Conservator Forest and Chief Engineer to go around the city and identify stretches of land that could be developed. He asked them to explore the possibility of handing over stretches of berms to different private parties, who could take charge of maintaining the berms and in turn place small advertisements. He asked the officials concerned to ensure that all roundabouts and berms had fresh plantation as well as proper landscaping in the coming monsoon. The Administrator directed the Chief Architect to immediately clear the pending proposals of landscapes of roundabouts and berms. The Chief Architect was also asked to inform the Municipal Corporation and Chief Engineer about the size, location and frequency of advertisements on the berms so that different companies could go ahead with the project. Among those present at the meeting included the MC Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh, Chief Engineer, Mr Puranjeet Singh, Deputy Conservator Forest, Mr Ishwar Singh and Chief Architect, Ms Renu Sehgal. |
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