Chandigarh, October 30
For doctors treating cataract problem among children, information about the disease is now just a book away. Two city-based ophthalmologists — Professor Jagat Ram and Dr Gagandeep Singh Brar — have authored the first ever book on pediatric cataract surgery.

The medicos from the Department of Ophthalmology at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) have based the book on their practical experiences of almost 27 years. Prior to this publication, there was hardly any book authored by any Indian ophthalmologist for providing a comprehensive study material on pediatric cataract surgery for ophthalmologists as well as other medicos and general public.

The authors have endeavored to bring together comprehensive material on the finer nuances of pediatric cataract surgery that is richly augmented by a large collection of excellent photographs highlighting various aspects of surgical management and outcomes. The collection of surgical videos available with this book encompasses the current surgical recommendations and highlights the standard of care for pediatric cataract surgery.

Prof Jagat Ram, while talking to The Tribune, said there were approximately 15 lakh blind children in the world with almost 10 lakh being in Asia alone. There are almost 200,000 children who suffer from bilateral cataract worldwide and 20,000 to 40,000 children were being diagnosed with bilateral developmental cataract every year. Presently, over 50,000 children are suffering from bilateral cataract blindness in the country, he claimed.

Prof Ram opined that due to the multitude of technical difficulties associated with pediatric cataract surgery, many surgeons performing excellent adult surgical procedures prefer to stay away from performing surgery on children. “Initiating some of them as well as providing ready reference material for clinicians already handling pediatric cataract surgery, was the inspiration behind this book,” claimed Prof Ram.

The book was released by Dr G. Padmanabhan, former Director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Professor K .K. Talwar, Director of the PGIMER, Chandigarh, during the 20th North Zone Ophthalmological Society Conference held at the PGIMER, recently.

With the release of this book, the authors feel that a gap in the availability of quality reference material on the subject has been filled and will go a long way in helping ophthalmologists manage cataract in children in a much better way.

Chandigarh, October 30
The pugilists of GGD SD College, Sector 32, Chandigarh, won the overall team championship during the Panjab University Inter-College Boxing Championship which concluded here, today.

DAV College, Sector 10, secured the second place while the third and fourth places went to SGGS College, Sector 26, and Gobindgarh Public College, Khanna, respectively.

The results:

Light fly weight (48kg): 1 Ravi Kumar, 2 Sahil, 3 Nippul Mittal and Kuljit Singh; fly weight (48-51 kg): 1 Shiv Kumar, 2 Avtar Singh, 3 Ravi Kumar and Sharvan; bentam weight (51-54 kg): 1 Narinder Singh, 2 Prem Nath, 3 Gurbinder Singh and Jatinder Singh; feather weight (54-57 kg): 1 Manjit Jhamta, 2 Sant Ram, 3 Balwinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh; light weight (57-60 kg): 1 Baghal Singh, 2 Bhagwan Singh, 3 Raman Kumar and Mewal Singh; light welter weight (60-63.5 kg): 1 Sandeep Negi, 2 Amandeep Singh, 3 Tanvir Singh and Vikas Kumar; welter weight (63.5-67kg): 1 Suman Saurabh, 2 Gurpreet Singh, 3 Amit Mehta and Azad Singh; light heavy weight (75-81 kg): 1 Vikram Singh, 2 Ravinder, 3 Jatin and Sanam; heavy weight (81-91 kg): 1 Jarnail Singh, 2 Arihant , 3 Ripin and Harvinder; and super heavy weight (91 kg above): 1 Manpreet Singh, 2 Gurpreet Singh, 3 Pushwinder Singh and Yashwant Singh.

Chandigarh, October 30
With the announcement of his name in the Team India 16-member squad for five one-day matches in South Africa in November, the city-based Dinesh Mongia started preparing himself for a big challenge.

“Yes, facing Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel on the fast pitches of South Africa is a big challenge for every player. As I have played on the fast pitches during the last World Cup in 2003, I have an idea of those pitches and the prevailing conditions there. That experience will help me to prepare myself for the coming tour”, said Mongia, talking to this correspondent. The pitches were known for assisting pacers to produce bounce, pace and seam to test 
the skills of batsmen, added he.

Expressing happiness on his selection, the batsman was of the view that the big challenge would provide him big opportunities for the coming years. “I will start on my training as well as fitness programme from tomorrow. Besides batting, the focus will also be on the bowling skills”, said Mongia, who produced a good bowling spell with 9-0-36-1 during the Sunday’s match at PCA Stadium, Mohali. 

Chandigarh, October 30
St Stephen’s Club, Sector 45 will take on Sacred Heart, (Sector 26) girls’ football team in the finals of the Chandigarh Junior Girls’ Football Championship and Molly Carver Memorial Trophy. The meet is being held at St Stephen’s ground.

Stephen girls registered a win against Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46 (4-0). Stephen’s opened its account in the 21 st minute of the play through right striker Meenakshi who took advantage of the defence lapse.

GMSSS-46 girls tried hard to contain Stephen’s forwards but had to give up before their better coordination. The second goal was scored by right winger Jyotsna. At half time, the score was 2-0 in favour of Stephen’s.

Stephen girls added two more goals through Manmeet and Simran.

In the second league match, Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sector 26, beat Mount Carmel girls’ team by 3-0. With this win, Sacred Heart girls remained on top of Group B with 6 points. 

Chandigarh, October 30
Resentment prevails among boxers for the lack of government support and improper training schedule at grass-roots level.

The gold medals they won in the Panjab University inter-college boxing championship could not bring smile on their faces. Most of them are not willing to continue with the sport as they hardly see any future in it.

“There are no opportunities from the government side. No scholarship or job quota is there to secure our future, so why should we continue with the sport which is most neglected in our country. We feel as if we are cheating our own parents,” rued boxers.

“It is not that we lack the killer instinct or the will to win matches and medals for the country. The problem lies somewhere with the administrative system or policies for which we have to pay heavy price. It is either the dictatorship or lack of proper command which could be held responsible for the dismal results in boxing,” said Manpreet Singh, a superheavy weight gold medallist at the PU inter-university boxing meet.

“The administrative front of this game needs to be in safer hands and the Government of India should extend all help to the Boxing Federations in every respect. Boxing is not a rich man’s sport. It is pursued by middle-class athletes...So it is important for the government to support us. But I don’t think it is doing much. We don’t get any assistance in buying international-level gear and that affects our performance when we go for tournaments. I have been into boxing for the past five years, still I do not have proper ring shoes, believe me,” rued Sanjay Kumar, light weight gold medallist.

“Still, the facilities have to be improved and brought up to reasonable standards, because boxing is the only individual discipline where we can hope for a gold in the Olympics,” said Jarnail Singh, another gold medallist in the feather-weight category.

The boxers emphasised on conducting more and more competitions at the university, state and national levels and the lean season should be utilised in holding coaching camps.

“Only one tournament each at the college, university, state or national level is conducted in a year. We have nothing to do in the off-season period i.e. from April to September. To put us into rhythm, coaching camps should be conducted.”

The short-period conditioning camps prior to any inter-university or state level tournaments are also another factor for the dismal performance of the boxers.

“At least one month-long camps should be conducted so that a proper rapport between the sportspersons and officials could be maintained,” said Nippul Mittal, another boxer.

Chandigarh, October 30
Anish Kaul was adjudged best fighter in the sub-junior boys’ category while Neha got the tag in the girls’ junior category on the concluding day of the Chandigarh State Tae kwon Do Championship at the Kendriya Vihar Society, Sector 48, today. The Defence Club (Sector 47) was awarded the best team trophy.

Other results: boys’ sub-Juniors fly- 1 Anish Kau1, 2 Akash Kaul and 3 Arnav; feather- l Vishnu, 2 Ashish, and 3 Tejinder; middle- 1 Pushpak, 2 Pratinav and 3 Nishant; welter- 1 Vikas, 2 Harjinder and 3 Nikhil; heavy l Snatav, 2 Gurpreet Singh and 3 Nital Dhiman;

Girls’ sub-juniors — feather 1 Kirti Bhatt and 2 Jasmine Walia; welter 1 Jasleen and 2 Gunjan; fly 1 Soyana Verma and 2 Drishti; Fin 1 Shagun and 2Ishiqa Chawla; heavy 1 Manisha Singh; best fighter male senior - Gaurav Saini; best fighter girls seniors- Sonia and best fighter boys juniors Sumit R. Patel — TNS