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Doaba is the sick zone
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French Sikh leaders flay French Govt’s ‘discrimination’
Stick-wielding teachers terrify kids
Burlton Park in dire straits; District Cricket Association negligence alleged
From the Schools
Market Buzz
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Doaba is the sick zone
Doaba may have the enviable distinction of being the prosperous belt of the northern region but once this prosperity starts showing on the midriff of the people here, it's a danger signal. And, city doctors have already sounded the alarm bells. Expanding midriff
of highly stressed, exercise-starved people who hog on junk food -
it's the poor heart that has to bear the brunt. But it's not only
heart that threatens to quit functioning, kidneys, too, virtually
give up under the onslaught of alcohol and drugs to which a sizeable
proportion of people here is addicted. Addiction to drugs and abuse
of alcohol also spells doom for virile men, who are left with no
option but to frequent the mushrooming infertility clinics here. The lifestyle of Doabites is the culprit, say experts. "People here are averse to exercise. They don't mind gorging on fast food in the typical Western style, but unlike the Europeans, they are not ready to burn out the calories," says Dr Ashwani Suri, Chief Cardiologist, Tagore Hospital, here. What's even more alarming, according to medical experts, is that diseases that struck people at a late age have now taken a leap forward by at least 10 or 15 years. Life expectancy, on the whole, may have increased. However, disease-proneness, too, has registered an increase. "One-third of the stroke patients coming to me are below 40. Lifestyle change is to be blamed for this," avers Dr Anurag Arora, Neurologist, Aastha Neuro Research and Rehabilitation Centre. According to Dr Charanjit Singh Pruthi, MD, BBC Heart Care Centre, coronary heart disease is affecting city folks in the age group of 30-45 years. "Two decades ago, this disease affected those in the older age group, sometimes 65 years onwards," he adds. Experts say that there are peculiar trends of the heart disease these days. "It's coming at an early age. Also, earlier, the disease used to be mild. The mortality rate has increased from 15-20 per cent a few decades back to 25 per cent now. This is despite the improved medical facilities and the availability of doorstep heart care," says Dr Raman Chawla, Oxford Hospital. He adds that among
Asians, the insulin resistance syndrome plays its negative part.
"Of course, the gene was present earlier also. But it has
started manifesting itself now because of environmental factors. The
method of food preparation has changed for worse, people no longer
do physical labour and they eat a lot of junk food. Affluence of the
Doaba region has become its undoing, at least from the health point
of view," he explains.
Even children here are being affected. "Children are leading distinctly unhealthy lifestyles. Their dietary habits are poor. They hardly take any exercise. Their evenings are spent in watching television or playing computer games. These couch potatoes end up becoming obese adults," explains Dr Suri, adding that the genesis of coronary heart disease starts at the age of 12-14 years. How many parents, including the well-educated ones, realise this is anyone's guess. In fact, as evening scene at eating joints here shows, it's a status symbol to "eat out" once daily and this eating-out is mostly restricted to taking fat-saturated foods laced with generous amounts of salt and sugar. "Exercise and healthful food are not high on the list of Doabites. They want to eat 'good' (read rich) food. The administration, too, is not bothered about providing any place where the people can do exercise," adds Dr Suri. Parental ignorance that gives youngsters a green-signal to eat whatever tingles their taste buds compounds the problem. "Fish is good for heart. But very few people here go in for it," says an expert. "We are in for serious trouble. Just look at the activity level of most of the Doaba. It seems children would not mind asking their moms to e-mail their food to them, if that were possible," says Dr Pruthi. Stress gives the final blow to the already tottering fitness levels. "It's high time that Doabites opt for stress-busting techniques. Meditation and cognitive reinterpretation of stressful situations are helpful," explains a medical expert, adding that women should not harbour the misconception that they are immune to the effect of stress. Though no official statistics are available about drug addiction and alcohol abuse in Doaba region, yet it's an open secret that these are rampant here. Reports about kidney transplant rackets having their links in this region bear this out. "About 30 patients visit our centre every month. Mostly, they are in the age group of 30-40 years," says Dr Sarabjit Singh, ANR Centre for Opiate De-addiction. According to infertility experts, often alcohol and drugs wreck havoc on the lives of young couples. Men, whose intake of drugs and alcohol is markedly high, have low sperm count, say these experts. "We often investigate the history of the couple thoroughly before prescribing any line of treatment. The idea is to get at the root of the problem," says Dr Ravjeet Kaur, a city-based gynaecologist. Well, it seems the affluent Doaba region is heading for the status of "sick zone", unless people here take a stock of sickness syndrome that's spreading through the region.
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French Sikh leaders flay French Govt’s ‘discrimination’
“Turban” — a symbol of` Sikh — has generated a lot of heat in India and abroad in the recent past, following the decision of the French Government to ban wearing of turban by school students there.
Mr Pal Singh, who happens to be one of the first “turbaned” Sikhs to get a permanent residency in France way back in 1984, in an interview with Jalandhar Plus, says, “In France, there is a law that anyone who is to be photographed for the issuance of national identity (ID) card and passport, should be ‘Tete Nue’ — with bare head. Since most of the Muslims and Jews do not usually wear any headgear, the Sikhs have to remove their turbans before getting themselves photographed. I fought against this unfair treatment for about 13 months. My efforts bore fruit. I was photographed with my turban on in 1984.” Mr Pal Singh, who is in city these days, first emigrated to Germany in 1978 from Dhande village of Shahkot in Jalandhar. Elaborating on problems being faced by the Sikhs in France, he claims that the government spared no effort to foil their plan to construct a gurdwara in Paris. “We proposed to purchase land for constructing gurdwaras in three main areas of Paris — Montreal, Bagnlot and Bobigny - during 1986 to 1989. But every time, the then-Mayor of Paris, using the power vested in him, refused to grant permission on one pretext or the other. Finally, we bought a house and converted it to a gurdwara. According to Mr Singh, in the latest salvo against the Sikhs, the Ministry of Inteir (Internal Ministry), had issued a secret circular to the government departments on March 17, 2004, clearly mentioning that immigrants should be photographed “sans turban” — without turban. “This is the first time that the word ‘turban’has been used instead of ‘bare head’.”
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Stick-wielding teachers terrify kids
Spare the rod and spoil the child goes the adage. Experts, however, say this adage does not have much truth to it. But many school authorities do not seem to understand it. This is evident from the complaints received from a number of parents whose children study in schools of Kapurthala district. As per the reports, the students are beaten so badly at the schools that most of them get injuries. Others get affected psychologically and they refuse to go to school again.
In an incident that occurred last Friday at a private school in Bhulath, a class VIII boy was thrashed so badly that both his hands were swollen. The boy apparently was creating mischief in the class and a teacher decided to take him to task. With a wooden scale, she beat the child on both his hands. But the child did not cry. The teacher kept on beating the child and she said that she would continue doing that till he screamed. She allegedly beat the child at least 50 times and he still did not cry. After the school was over, he went back home and showed his swollen hands to his parents. The wailing child’s parents were shocked to see this. The parents could not contact the school authorities for two days as the school remained closed on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, the parents went to the school and the principal said that she was not aware of the incident. She assured them that the child would be safe from then onwards. But the child refused to go to school till this Wednesday, apprehending even more severe punishment at the hands of the teacher. In yet another incident last fortnight, a student of class V of a government school, was slapped on his face. As the teacher tried to slap the student, the latter stepped back and the hand of the teacher fell on the student’s ears, causing a minor injury. Interestingly, when the parents of the child approached the school authorities, they were told to keep their child at home if they wanted to raise him with love and affection. In another strange episode last month, as many as 40 students of a newly-opened private school in Bhulath were punished and humiliated in front of many other school students. The reason : The parents of these students could not attend a parents’ meet organised in the school a day before. With their hands held up straight, these “errant” students were told to take 10 rounds of the school campus. The students also included some students of classes I, II and III. The director of the school, when contacted over phone, admitted that the teachers had punished the students. But he said that he was not aware of it. He added that he had personally apologised to the parents of the students on the issue.
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Burlton Park in dire straits; District Cricket Association negligence alleged
It produced international cricket icons — Mohinder Amarnath, Harbhajan Singh “Bhajji” and Vikram Rathore. Besides, Samrat Sharma, Amit Sharma and Manav Mehra — all Ranji players — had also learnt the basics of the cricket at this ground.
But today the Burlton Park cricket stadium is a ghost of its former glory. Once known as international stadium, it is now in shambles. This is largely due to the negligence on the part of the Jalandhar District Cricket Association (JDCA), which is responsible for its maintenance. The stadium has been a host to international test matches between India and Pakistan, and India and West Indies in the past. Matches of the Ranji Trophy, main domestic cricket tournament, remained a regular feature here till last year before the authorities concerned finally decided to shift the Ranji Trophy match between Punjab and Baroda to the Mohali Cricket Stadium on technical grounds. The stadium has practice pitches for players. The stadium now gives a look of a haunted place with its outer walls and the stands littered with garbage and overgrown with wild vegetation. Both scoreboards there that have not been painted for the last many years are damaged. The fencing of the stadium is also in deplorable condition. One can find it broken at several points. This gives an easy entry to stray animals. There is no proper arrangement for drinking water, as the only water cooler, which has been installed in one of the corners of the ground, has been non-functional for past some time. Even the plastic chairs are in bad shape. The main playing turf has reportedly been converted into fast-track to suit medium pacers. The stadium was partly leased out to the JDCA in 1996 by the then-MC authorities. The corporation leased out the playfield along with two dressing rooms to the JDCA and kept the maintenance of the outer area and the stands with itself. Every time, the JDCA authorities had to write to the municipal corporation authorities for carrying out maintenance work. “It’s sad to witness the gradual decay of the stadium. I have been practising here for the past more than five years. The JDCA should take concrete steps to improve the condition of the stadium,” a budding cricket player said. Mr Surjit Rai, Secretary, JDCA, revealed that the stadium was still partly leased out. “If the entire stadium complex is given to us on lease, we can explore the commercial potential to generate revenue. This money can be used for the maintenance of the stadium. In fact, in the recent past, most of the international one-day cricket matches were allotted to the Mohali Cricket Stadium. We are meeting daily expenses of the stadium only through collections made from the budding players, who use the facilities at the ground. We have to pay salaries of six coaches and five other employees. Besides, electricity bills are paid by us. To cap it all, we have no major source of income,” Mr Rai added. Mr Surinder Mahey, Mayor, revealed that last year the entire stadium complex had been leased out to the JDCA for a period of 37 years. “The JDCA is only responsible for its upkeep. There is a clause in the lease agreement that in case of failure of the JDCA to properly maintain the stadium, we are at liberty to cancel the lease agreement. We will look into the matter,” Mr Mahey said.
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From the Schools
The kho-kho teams of Police DAV Public School have brought laurels as both boys’ and girls’ teams have won gold medals in the national-level tournament held for CBSE-affiliated schools at Indore last week.
The school sports teams have also won medals in various other sports events. In the All-India Mahatma Hans Raj Inter-Zone Tournament for Boys that concluded at Ghaziabad last week, the teams bagged various positions. In shot put, Harmandeep won a gold medal and Harmehar won a silver medal. In discus throw, Harmehar won a gold medal. In track events, Amritpal won two silver medals, both in 200 m and 400 m events. Kabaddi team won second position and relay team won a bronze medal in 4x400 m relay event. In All India Mahatma Hans Raj Inter-Zone Tournament for girls that concluded at Panchkula on December 5, the team of the school won the gold medal, while girls’ gymnastics team won the gold medal. Gagandeep Kaur won the silver medal in discus throw. In 4x400 relay, Police DAV Public School won the gold meal. The school sports team also won the second position at Punjab State Roller Skating Championship held at Ludhiana from November 26 to November 29. Dr Rashmi Vij, Principal, lauded the efforts of the players and the coaches.
Annual fete
The management of United Christian Institutes, Suranussi, celebrated the annual fete on Friday. Various stalls of eatables, drinks and games were arranged on the occasion. Merry-go-rounds, jeeps and mini-trains were also there for the entertainment of students. Two shows of movies Veer Zaara and Spider Man-II were also arranged for the students. Parents and siblings of the students were invited for the shows. Lucky draws were taken out and winners received prizes, including refrigerators, washing machines and televisions.
Annual Day
The pre-primary wing of Apeejay School celebrated its annual prize distribution function and held a solo-dance competition on Friday. Mr Om Gori Dutt Sharma, Deputy Director, Doordarshan, and Ms Benu Bhullar, wife of the SSP, presided on the occasion. Students were presented first, second and third prizes in different co-curricular activities. In solo-dance contest, Sirat stood first among the girls, while Kabir stood first among the boys. Ms Bhawana Jain and Ms Sabina Bhasin were the judges on the occasion. Ms Ranjana Sud, Principal, gave prizes to the winners.
Awareness rally
The students and the staff of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Gakhul Dhaliwal, took out an AIDS awareness rally in various villages of the district on Friday. Holding placards and raising slogans, the students went from village to village, spreading the message against the deadly disease. The rally was flagged off by Chaudhary Surinder Singh, Chairman of Zila Parishad. Mr Harwant Singh, Principal, and Mr Hardev Singh, Vice-President of the Parent-Teachers’ Association also joined the rally. Dr Kuldip Singh, physician, delivered a talk on AIDS.
Book reading
Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar, participated in “Read for 2005- One World Reading Together” programme held on Friday. All students of the school, along with their Principal, Dr Rashmi Vij, and the teachers, read books of their choice for half an hour. The programme was organised to send out a global message — “Let us create a world of adults and children who love to read books.”
Class V students of Apeejay School, Model Town, participated in Harmony-2004, a cultural show on Saturday. Mr Harkuldeep Bhatia, lawyer, and Ms Monica Dutt, Executive Producer, All India Radio, were the guests on the occasion. The first item of the show was an English play “Bright eyed falcon” that ended with the message — “Determination is the key to success”. Dhruv played a melody on guitar to entertain the guests. Tanya and Ishaan played tabla and harmonium in perfect symphony. This was followed by a group song “None can take away our freedom” and a play in Hindi, “Hamari mangein puri karo”. Foot-tapping bhangra rocked the whole auditorium. Ms Usha Malhotra, Headmistress, presented a vote of thanks.
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Market Buzz
Duke Fashion (India) Ltd., an ISO 9001-2000 certified T-shirt manufacturing company, has launched its first-ever woollen collection under the banner of “Duke Woollens”.
With the launch of its wide range of pullovers and cardigans, Duke has ventured into the ever-growing woollen market. Its young and trendy collection of knitwear has been specially conceptualised, aesthetically designed and developed keeping in mind the Indian climatic conditions. The company believes that “elegant designs and colour combinations” would create a huge demand within a short period, says the company’s spokesperson. The price range of Duke Woollens varies from Rs 385 to Rs 1135. “Duke Woollens showcase various knitting designs with trendy looks to satisfy the growing demands of the consumers,” says spokesperson. Gujranwala Jewellers opens watches arcade
Gujranwala Jewellers opened their watches arcade on the first floor of its multi-storey showroom at the GT Road, Plaza Chowk, here. Branded Swiss watches of Rado, Longines, Omega & Tissot have been showcased in the new arcade. Says Mr Manik Jain, owner of the shop, “With the opening of our watches arcade, we have everything with us to make customers dress up for a formal occasion. Today, watches have a special value for everyone. If they are an ornament for women, they are also a symbol of identity for men. Watches have become an important dress code and we are committed to make our clients have the best of them”. Shop fest at Kapsons
The Kapsons Group held Kapsons Shopping Fest at their city store in Model Town recently. The grand finale of evening was packed with fun activities and mega lucky draw.
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It produced international cricket icons
The kho-kho teams of Police DAV Public School have brought laurels as both boys’ and girls’ teams have won gold medals in the national-level tournament held for CBSE-affiliated schools at Indore last week.
The school sports teams have also won medals in various other sports
events. 
