HEALTH

Soya helps prevent heart attack
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 29
"Soya with its rich vegetable proteins at affordable rates can go a long way in eradicating malnutrition in India. India is the fifth largest producer of soyabean. Soyabean was known to man some 4,000 years ago in China and from there it has travelled to the rest of the world. Its rich nutritional value with high protein, calcium and carbohydrate contents makes it ideal food to fight against cancer, osteoporosis and heart diseases by lowering cholesterol level," said Dr Kavita Reddy.

She was speaking on a soya health seminar organised by the American Soyabean Association here today at Maharaja Hotel. She said the association was a non-profit, single commodity organisation of US soyabean farmers and other related bodies with its headquarters in St. Louis, Missisouri, the USA. Through nine offices across the world the association was serving 90 countries for the developing markets for soyabean products. It had organised a seminar on the nutritional benefits of soya, she added.

The association conducts seminars, participates in exhibitions to promote utilisation of soy food among the technologists, dieticians and bakers, she said.

"Soyabean and its products like nuggets, granules, papads, milk, toffu paneer, can powerfully decrease the risk of cancer. Just one phytochemical component of soyabean seems to be ideal element of a new anti-cancer drug. Soya products lower blood cholestrol levels, which helps prevent heart attacks. It has anti-thromobatic qualities too. An estimate says that by 2030, India will have the largest number of diabetics and heart patients in the country. Soyabean could thus provide natural alternatives to many cholesterol -lowering drugs. They can also help prevent diseases of kidneys besides treating them," she said.

The women suffer from osteoporosis specially after menopause as the calcium absorption becomes less. This disease is more common in woman because they have a smaller peak bone mass than men. Incidences of osteoporosis increase dramatically following meno pause. The bones become brittle. Intake of soya products helps a lot. Most of the proteins found in dals are much inferior to the proteins in soya. Since proteins are required for tissue building, and calcium is needed for bones, soyfoods of 25 gram in the diet can help promote bone health in several ways. Soya provides bio -available calcium and high quality protein, with a minimum of urinary calcium loss, she added.

Dr Suresh Itapu said many people did not have lactose tolerance which meant milk did not suit to them. They could switch over to soya milk. Some babies couldn't take mother's milk due to some reasons. Although mother's milk was the best feed for infants, soya was also an excellent substitute for six months as it was complete food with minerals It had also been found after a study that it helped him in the treatment of anemia too, Dr Itapu added.

Dr Suresh said besides contributing to human well-being, soybeans enhanced taste in edibles. One could reinforce health even as one relishes such delights as frosty fruit shakes, creamy pasta made with flour mixed with soya and spicy curries by adding nuggets of soya. Mouth-watering range of soya products included tofu, textured vegetable protein, soya granules, soya flour, soybean oil, soya papads, and now it had been increasingly used in bakery products. Soya noodles were gaining a lot of popularity.

Another advantage of mixing 20 per cent soya with flour and besan was that if fried, this mixture would absorb less oil, he added.

Dr Sanjeev K Uppal of Dayanand Medical Hospital said in treatment of burns, the patients needed high supplements of proteins. The readymade protein supplements were very expensive but soya supplements were found to be palatable by patients. These reduced the treatment cost as the patient needed proteins for a long period. Mr Ricky Thapar, consultant, of the association, also spoke.

CMC performs free cleft surgeries
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 29
Dr Vijay Obed, Head of the Plastic Surgery Department at Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), delivered a talk on the “cleft smile train project”, which has been undertaken by the CMCH in collaboration with Smile Train Voluntary Organisation of the USA, in the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club here recently.

The cleft deficiencies i.e. cut lips at the time of the birth of children is a common phenomenon which occur to one child in 800-900 births. About 35,000 children are born with cleft deformation every year in the country. A child with such a stigma from birth has to live a miserable life. To help such cases the smile train project has been adopted by the Rotary club in collaboration with the CMCH. For complete repair of this deformity, three operations at a gap of 5 to 6 months are required. Each operation costs more than Rs 10,000.

“The CMC is performing these operations in collaboration with the Rotary Club free of cost. Ideal age for cleft lip surgery is three months but the surgery can be performed at any age. A person already operated upon can also be sent for improving the results”, said Dr Vijay Obed.

He requested the rotarians to create awareness among the masses especially in rural areas, to avail of this opportunity and send such cases to the CMC. He shared the information and demonstrated the difference in cleft deformity cases before and after the operation.

A large number of rotarians and guests were present. Prominent among them were Mr Suresh Chaudhary, Mr Romesh Rana, Mr S.S. Chopra, president, Rotary Club, Ludhiana, Mr Sarbjit Singh, secretary, Rotary Club.

SPORTS

Punjab, MP circles to clash in hockey final
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 29
It will be a repeat of last year’s final as the current champions, Madhya Pradesh Circle, will clash with the hosts and last year’s losing finalists, Punjab Circle, in the 17th All-India Postal Hockey Tournament being held here at the astro-turf ground of the Punjab Agricultural University. The final is slated for tomorrow at 11 am.

In the semi-finals played today, Madya Pradesh Circle defeated Karnataka Circle 4-2 while Punjab Circle registered victory over Tamil Nadu Circle in similar fashion 4-2.

Madhya Pradesh Circle went ahead in the eighth minute through S Faizal Ali. Karanataka Circle restored parity in the 19th minute when Tharnath found the target. Sadiq Noor of Madhya Pradesh Circle struck in the 26th minute to put his side ahead again.

After changing ends, Madhya Pradesh Circle consolidated the lead in the 41st minute through Sadiq Noor. Next minute, Siraj-ul-Haq of Madhya Pradesh Circle scored a fine field goal to. Karnataka Circle reduced the margin in the 65th minute through a goal scored by forward Parkash Chalke.

In the second semi-final, Punjab Circle went into an early lead when Balwinder Singh Jagga netted a goal in the sixth minute. The equaliser for Tamil Nadu Circle came in the 33rd minute through Michael Raj.

In the 39th minute, Nirmal Singh of Punjab Circle dribbled past Tamil Nadu Circles’ defenders to roll the ball into the net. Dharampal Singh of Punjab Circle cemented the lead in the 52nd minute. In the 64th minute, Hussain Rehman of Tamil Nadu Circle scored a goal. In the very next minute, Dharam Pal Singh of Punjab converted a penalty corner into a goal.

Punjab zone win gymnastics championship
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 29
The Punjab zone garnered 78.52 points to annex the gymnastics team championship on the second day of the All-India Mahatma Hans Raj Inter-Zonal Girls Tournament for DAV Schools being held at different venues here today. The Chandigarh zone with 59.61 points finished runners-up.

Neelamdeep of the Punjab zone secured 18.91 points to be adjudged the best gymnast followed by Rachita of the Chandigarh zone who accumulated 16.88 points. Ruby of the Punjab zone got 16.79 points to finish third.

Results: gymnastics- vaulting horse — Neelamdeep of Punjab 6.00 pts 1, Manisha of Punjab 5.60 pts 2, Puja of Punjab 5.10 pts 3; beam- Ishani Sharma of Chandigarh 5.23 pts 2, Neelamdeep of Punjab 5.10 pts 2, Rachita of Chandigarh 5.00 pts 3; uneven bars- Rachit of Chandigarh 4.35 pts 1, Ishani Sharma of Chandigarh 3.90 pts 2, Shivani Sharma of Chandigarh 3.60 pts 3; Floor exercise- Rachita of Chandigarh 5.20 pts 1, Neelamdeep of Punjab 5.15 pts 2, Ruby of Punjab 4.66 pts 3.

Handball — Punjab beat Delhi 6-4; Ranchi beat Panchkula 7-0; kho-kho- Punjab beat Ranchi 7-0; basketball — Punjab beat Uttaranchal 3-0; badminton- Delhi beat Panchkula; Volleyball- Delhi beat Chhattisgarh; Faridabad beat Ranchi, Punjab beat Uttaranchal 2-1;

Athletics- 800m- Amandeep of Punjab 1, Anu Yadav of Delhi 2, Rekha of Uttaranchal 3; 400m- Prabhjeet of Punjab 1, Kavita of Panchkula 2, Pallavi of Chhattisgarh 3; 100m- Veena Vandana of Chhattisgarh 1, Prerna Dharni of Panchkula 2, Abha of Ranchi 3; 4x100m relay- Chhattisgarh 1, Ranchi 2, Punjab 3.

Sahodaya school athletics results
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 29
Hosts GGN Public School, Rose Garden, Ludhiana secured 269 points to bag the overall champions trophy in the XII Ludhiana District Sahodaya School Athletics Meet that concluded here today.

Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, and Guru Nanak Public School, Mullanpur got 229 and 207 points to finish second and third, respectively.

Harmanpreet Singh of Guru Nanak International Public School, Ludhiana, and Tamanpreet Kaur of Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, were adjudged the best athletes in the boys and girls, respectively (U-19 years) while in the u-16 years category, Barinder Singh of Nanakana Sahib Public School, Gill Park and Manpreet Kaur of GGN Public School were declared the best athletes. In the under-14 age group, Sumit Kumar of Shamrock Christian School and Amanpreet Kaur of GGN Public School were named the best athletes.

In the division wise section, GGN Public School came out as champions in the boys u-19 age group. Guru Nanak Public School, Mullanpur, and GNP School, Sarabha Nagar, finished the runner-up and third, respectively, while in the girls section, GGN Public School emerged victorious followed by GNPS, Sarabha Nagar, and GNPS, Mullanpur.

In the under-16 years section (girls), GNPS, Mullanpur, and GGN Public School, Ludhiana, secured the first and the second spot respectively while the third place went to GNPS, Sarabha Nagar. In the boys section, GNPS, Sarabha Nagar got first position while the second and the third positions went to KVM School, Ludhiana and GGN Public School, respectively.

In the under-14 age group, GNPS, Sarabha Nagar won the first position in the boys’ section while SKSS Public School, Neelon finished runners-up. The third place was shared by Shamrock Christian School and GNPS, Mullanpur. In the girls section, GGN Public School bagged the first position while GNPS, Mullanpur, and Guru Nanak International Public School got the second and the third place respectively.

Mr G Balasubramanian, Director, Academics, CBSE, Delhi gave away the prizes to the winners. Over 500 students competed for 280 medals during the five-day meet in which athletes took part in nine track and six field events.