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‘Intermittent chemotherapy more effective in TB’ Chandigarh, May 8 Over 80 medical experts from the PGI and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) today attended a CME on the RNTCP here today. “There are enough experimental and clinical evidences which prove that intermittent chemotherapy is a better option over daily chemotherapy, as not only is it cheaper but also has much less drug toxicity,” said Prof A.K. Janmeja, Head of the TB and Respiratory Diseases Department at the GMCH. Other medical experts too agreed that intermittent chemotherapy is very effective with high success rate as it is less toxic while reducing the chances of relapse. India today accounts for nearly one-third of the global tuberculosis burden despite the fact that it is totally curable. Each year nearly two million people in India develop TB and over 4.5 lakh die from it annually. The directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) strategy for controlling TB is being implemented as the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). Dr Rajendra Yadav, WHO RNTCP Consultant from the Central TB Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, spoke on the key facts and conceptualisation of the RNTCP. “The modules for the programme were devised way back in 1997 and eversince a lot of new information had come in, because of which revision of the modules was being undertaken,” he informed the experts. The Head of Pulmonary Medicine at the PGI, Dr S.K. Jindal, while discussing the causes for the failure of the old National TB Control Programme, highlighted the need for the revised programme. He said under the RNTCP, the coverage had increased 30 times while the cure rate had further gone up to 85 per cent. The participants discussed the involvement of medical colleges in the RNTCP as a large number of patients are given treatment at medical colleges. They felt that the medical colleges play an important role in introducing the principles of DOTS as part of the medical curriculum. |
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Red Cross Day Chandigarh, May 8 Speaking after inaugurating a blood donation camp organised by the Punjab Red Cross, Chandigarh, on the occasion of Red Cross Day, she said it was unfortunate that in our country only a small percentage of the total blood requirement was being met through voluntary donation. “Since there is no substitute for blood, it is imperative that we strengthen the voluntary blood donation movement by taking it to even the remotest of places all over the country,” she said. She informed that as compared to countries like Switzerland and Brazil, where percentage of voluntary donation was 16 and seven respectively, in India the figure stood at 0.3. Appreciating the relentless work done by the Punjab State Red Cross, Chandigarh, in making the blood donation movement a great success, she said donation of blood was donation of life. “In order to check the spread of deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS, it is essential that people come forward to donate blood so that there is no dependence on professional donors,” she stressed. Welcoming Mrs Verma, Dr D.P.S. Sandhu, Director, Health Services, Punjab, and Vice-Chairman of the State Red Cross, said many new projects had been started in the state for the welfare of the needy, especially drug addicts. Capt R.S. Jaiya, Secretary, Punjab State Red Cross, informed that a Regional Training Centre had been set up in the city to provide training in first aid and HIV/AIDS awareness. |
DAV Coaching Centre bag team title in gymnastics Chandigarh, May 8 Mr S. Marriya, Principal, DAV College, gave away the prizes. The second place went to Stepping Stones School, Sector 38, who got 25 points. Third place was won by AKSIP School, Sector 41, who got 20 points. More than 100 gymnasts took part in aerobic, rhythmic and artistic disciplines. Dhan Bahadur of DAV coaching centre was declared best gymnast in artistic gymanstics, while among girls, Vidya of DAV Model School, Sector 15, was adjudged best gymnast. Deepika of DAV Coaching Centre, Sector 10, won best gymnast title in floor exercises.
St Stephen’s to clash with St Soldier’s St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, will meet St Soldier’s International Senior Secondary School, Sector 28, in the first semifinal of the ongoing Shivalik Trophy for Atoms (under12 boys) Football Championship being played here at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41. In the second semifinal, St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, will take on Saupin’s School, Sector 32. In the matches played today, St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, defeated Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, by four goals to two in the tiebreaker as no team could score a goal in the stipulated period. In the second tie, St Soldier’s International School, Sector 28, beat Central Model School, Sector 20, by three goals to two, again in the tiebreaker. In the third quarter-final tie, St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, got the better of Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, by 2-1. St Xavier’s played a well co-ordinated game and managed to score first goal in the seventh minute when their right striker Van William scored with solo effort. The half-time score was 1-0 in favour of St Xavier’s boys. After lemon break, Guru Nanak boys put pressure and scored the equaliser in the 31st minute through right striker Satinder. St Xavier’s boys made a comeback and in 36th minute when they scored the winning goal through Van William to earn a berth in the semifinal. Tomorrow, the first semifinal will be played between St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, and St Soldier’s Inetrnational school, Sector 26, at 8 am.
Gurmohit excels in
tennis talent series Gurmohit Singh, a trainee of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA), won the AITA Talent Series Under-14 Boys singles and doubles titles at Jivaji Stadium, Gwalior, this evening. In the singles final today, he beat Parul Verma (Chandigarh) 6-3, 6-3. In the semifinals, he beat Arjun Sehgal (Punjab) 6-2, 6-2, while in quarter-finals he beat Dinkar Gupta (Gujarat) 6-0, 6-1. In doubles finals, the pair of Gurmohit and Anmol Singh Ladhar (Chandigarh) beat Mandeep Gill (Chandigarh) and Parana Goyal (Delhi) 6-3, 6-1. Last week, Gurmohit had won singles and doubles titles in Gwalior. Gurmohit’s a class IX student of St Stephen’s School, Chandigarh, while Anmol Singh is a student of Guru Nanak Public School, Chandigarh. |
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CISF, Rock Rovers suffer shock defeats Chandigarh, May 8 Strong contenders Indo-Tibetan Border Security Force eked out a clearcut 2-0 victory over CISF while Air Force prevailed over Rock Rovers by an aggregate 5-4 margin in the tie-breaker after the teams shared two goals in the stipulated period. Air Force displayed good coordination and enjoyed an upper hand throughout the match. They drew the first blood in the sixth minute when Sukhmeet found the object with a calculated shot. Stunned by the reverses, Rock Rovers, having four internationals in their ranks, went all out but their forwards failed to pierce the tight IAF defence. Despite the presence of internationals Devinder Kumar, Rajpal Singh, SS Gill and Gaurav, Rock Rovers had to wait for 44 minutes to neutralize the lead when Navdeep Singh banged home the equalizer through a field goal. The regulation 70-minute period ended in a one-all draw. With fading lights, the second half proceedings continued. Both teams were even prepared to decide the issue in the tie-breaker session. In the tie-breaker, IAF converted four strokes while Rock Rovers muffed two strokes out of five which led to their exit from the tournament. Manmohan and Saurabh failed in their attempt to convert their strokes. Saurabh’s push hit the crosspiece. Rajpal, Gaurav and Manmohan Senior converted their strokes for Rock Rovers. For Air Force, Pradeep, Balbir Singh, Baldev Singh and Satvir converted their strokes. Only NK Sahu failed to convert his stroke. Earlier, ITBP scored one goal in each half as they ended the challenge of CISF by 2-0. ITBP enjoyed territorial supremacy as they forced nine penalty corners. However, they could convert only one in the 48th minute through Anthony Nag. Mahipal had given them the lead in the 27th minute by scoring a field goal.. CISF wasted two penalty corners. The final will be played tomorrow at 5 p.m. |
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Halls for indoor sports still a dream Chandigarh, May 8 Earlier, most of the sporting disciplines were played outdoors, except for few indoor sports like badminton, table tennis. But with the changing times, glamorous and thrilling sports like basketball, gymnastics, judo, karate, handball and volleyball are being played indoors world over. But in India, there exist few indoor halls, commonly called multipurpose halls, where few combined sporting disciplines can be played. In city also, the UT Administration has not given much emphasis on the need for bringing sports indoors. In majority of schools, there exist vast playgrounds and sportspersons wanting to play indoors are at disadvantage due to absence of infrastructure for indoor sports. An expert remarked that whenever city sportspersons went for competing in national or other major competitions, local sportspersons found it difficult to adjust in changed conditions. Interestingly, the schools which opt for constructing indoor halls at their own cost, do not get the required approval from the local administration. The local Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, has for the past two years been trying to convince the UT Administration for approving the construction of a hall on the school premises. On May 5, the Principal of the school, Mr D.S. Bedi, sent a letter to the Chief Architect, UT Administration, stating that the school had been allotted a plot measuring 5.5 acres in 1985. The school building and the school had been operational since 1989. The open space was being used for open-air sporting activities. But several sporting disciplines like table tennis, badminton, judo, karate, gymnastics, volleyball and basketball now required to be played indoors. Mr Bedi said three disciplines— athletics, swimming and gymnastics — needed to be played indoors. He said the Gymnastics Federation of India had certified the school with Centre of Excellence certificate and for the time being the centre was being planned to be run from its Mohali school due to the absence of a hall in the Sector 41. He said other disciplines would also be played in the multipurpose hall equipped with latest equipment. He said they could not deny students the fundamental right to play indoor games. He has requested the administration to allow them to construct the hall measuring 100x180 sq ft. He said apart from practice by trainees, national camps, seminars and other sport-related events would be organised in the proposed hall. |
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