Ludhiana, August 31
With nearly 5 crore persons afflicted with cardiac diseases in the country and the number of patients expected to double in the next six years, these are emerging as the biggest killer in the country. As per WHO surveys, heart failure will be the only fatal disease in India by 2015.

These observations were made by Dr R.P. Singh, chief interventional cardiologist and head of the cardiology department, SPS Apollo Hospitals, here today. He said the alarming rise in the cardiac ailments was largely due to hereditary factors or bad eating habits. The fact that cardiac diseases were now affecting the younger people and even minors was of great concern which called for immediate remedial measures.

“As a result of sedentary lifestyle and imbalanced diet, 10 to 12 per cent population in the age group of 35 plus in the metropolitan areas and other cities suffers from heart disease whereas the prevalence in rural areas is around 5 to 6 per cent. If timely preventive measures are not taken, the incidence of cardiac diseases will increase by almost cent percent and 90 per cent among men and women, respectively. The heart-related problems will account for one-third of the total deaths in the country in the near future and even children will fall victims to these diseases.”

Ludhiana, August 31
The Punarjot Eye Bank of Punjab will observe an eye donation awareness fortnight here from September 3. An elaborate function will be organised to mark the commencement of the event which will be presided over by the Punjab Health Minister, Mr Ramesh Chander Dogra, while Ms Tanuja Joshi, president, Eye Bank Association of India, from Hyderabad will be the guest of honour.

According to Dr Dogra, medical director of the Punarjot Eye Bank of Punjab, eye donor families as well as NGOs, service organisations and individuals, working for eye donation awareness, will be honoured at the function.

A car and scooter rally will also be held on the occasion to spread the message of eye donation and winners of a poster-making competition on the theme of eye donation will be awarded prizes by the chief guest.

Ludhiana, August 31
To give more competition opportunities to the upcoming cagers of the state, the Punjab Basketball Association has decided to hold the annual league tournament in two legs this year.

Giving this information, Mr R.S. Gill, president of the association, said the first leg of this league would be held at Tarn Taran from September 7 to 10, while the second led would be organised from September 15 to 18 at Malout.

In the men’s section, six teams, PAP, BSF, RCF, Kapurthala, PSEB, Punjab Juniors and Rest of Punjab, will take part. In the women’s section, the first four teams of last year’s edition of the Hot Weather Tournament — Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur — along with the Rest of Punjab team will be seen in action.

The highlight of this year’s league will be that the players’ performance will be taken into consideration while selecting the Punjab men’s team for the coaching camps to be conducted in preparation for the Indo-Pak Punjab Games slated to be held in Lahore, Mr Gill said.

Meanwhile, trials to select the probables for the Rest of Punjab men’s team will be held at Guru Nanak Stadium here on September 3 and for the Rest of Punjab women’s team, trials will be held at the Government College for Women, Amritsar, on September 4, according to Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, secretary.