HEALTH

Workshop on endoscopic surgery begins
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6"
Delegates at the two-day workshop on endoscopic and leparoscopic surgery, which began at Western Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir, today, were given live demonstration on surgical procedures, beamed directly onto projection screens in the auditorium from two of the hospital’s operation theatres.

About 200 delegates from military as well as civil hospitals from all over the country are attending the workshop, the aim of which is to provide specialists a comprehensive insight into all fields of endoscopic and leparoscopic surgery such as gastrointestinal, urological, gynaecological, sinus and orthopaedic surgery.

The workshop has been divided into four technical sessions and over the two days, about 20 various procedures will be discussed and analysed by eminent experts. Dr N.P. Gupta, Dr Mahesh Desai, Dr R.P. Choubey, Brig T.P. Madhusudanan and Brig V.P. Pathania are among known endoscopic surgeons who will be demonstrating live surgeries.

In his inaugural address, the Chief of Staff, Western Command, Lt-Gen P.K. Grover said endoscopic surgery which started evolving a few decades ago, was now a well established super speciality with a rapidly expanding scope.

This surgical technique had resulted in significant changes in the treatment of various disabilities and had benefits like shortened hospital stay, lesser morbidity, fewer complications and minimal post-operative scarring, he added.

In his lecture on the modern hospital management, the hospital Commandant, Maj-Gen B. Sadananda, said hospitals were the most complex organisations providing service to a clientele which had become more aware. Stressing that quality services must be provided expeditiously at all times, he added that in order to set highest standards of the art of care and cure for the patients, attitudinal change amongst the hospital staff as well as imparting professional training on a regular basis was required.

SPORTS

Jadeja as enthusiastic, cheerful as before
Gopal Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6
He was at the peak of his powers when he found himself banished from cricket. He had captained the Indian side in a couple of one-day international matches and his elevation as the one-day captain of the Indian side on a regular basis looked round the corner. Commentators had started mentioning him in the same breath as Michael Bevan of Australia.

But a sudden quirk of fate and Ajay Jadeja found himself banished from cricket. And it was the game he loved above anything else. Jadeja along with former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar, wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia and Ajay Sharma was banned from cricket on match-fixing charges.

And it was Jadeja and perhaps Mongia who suffered from the ban the most. Any other individual, if confronted with a similar situation, would have found himself buried under the unprecedented loss and left listless, but not Jadeja.

“Obviously, cricket is my first love. I still enjoy it the most. That is why I am here,” was his terse reply when he talked about the subject when he was striking the ball in the ground at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium at Mohali. Jadeja showed no signs of rustiness, which could have easily crept in after such a long lay-off from the game, but looked supremely enthusiastic. “Movies just came my way. And since I was not playing cricket, I started acting,” he replied about his stint in movies.

Even after being forced to miss two seasons of cricket, Jadeja has lost none of his appetite for the game. This was very much in evidence during the Punjab-Delhi match. While stopping a full-blooded stroke at point, Jadeja probably hurt his finger, as he visibly looked in a bit of discomfort.

Any other cricketer of stature could have preferred the comforts of the dressing room, but not the effervescent Jadeja. Gulping down a glass of water and some massage on the finger and Jadeja was soon there in the middle. In the field, he was as cheerful as before, having the same and ready smile, irrespective of the situation.

“Earlier also, there were so many innings when I failed to score. I think it is just a matter of time before I strike form,” he stated when reminded that he had failed to score worthwhile knocks in the couple of innings he played in this season’s Ranji Trophy matches so far.

“There was a time when Sourav Ganguly was dismissed as a batsman by the media.

Now he is leading the Indian side,” he replied when asked how he felt to start afresh after having achieved so much at such a young age.

Jadeja gained instant celebrity status when he clobbered fast bowler Waqar Younis of Pakistan in the slog overs in the crucial 1996 World Cup match in Bangalore. Jadeja’s contribution with the bat proved decisive as India pipped their archrivals. Jadeja got a new fan following that day.

“I just want to concentrate on the game at the moment,” the batsman, known for his uncanny ability to win matches for India while batting in the middle order, said remaining non-committal when asked whether he had set any targets or timeframe to be back in the squad. “I will continue to play the game as long as I enjoy it,” he commented before joining his team mates at practice.

Gobind Singh college win
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, December 6
It was a close final for hosts Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, but they outplayed fancied DAV College, Sector 10, in the Panjab University Inter-College Ball Badminton Championship here today. SGGSC lost the first game 28-29, but in the second game, SGGSC came back to outwit their rivals 29-16. In the third game, SGGSC got the better of DAVC-10 29-28. For third place, Government College for Women, Sector 46, defeated DM College, Moga, 29-14, 20-29, 29-19.

Sports festival

Tiny tots of Shemrock group of schools took part in their week-long sports festival. At least 400 children participated. The events organised included basketball, handball, kho-kho, taekwondo, tug-of-war and carrom, along with various races. While giving away the prizes here today at Shemrock Senior Secondary School, Sector 69, Mohali, the chairman, Mr A.S. Bajwa, asked the children to lay stress on sports which also helped in remaining mentally and physically active.

Air Commodore S.K. Sharma (retd), Principal of the school, said in Shemrock schools, they had made it a point that the whole of the school took part in sports. He said every schoolchild was required to come in track suits during normal school days, where longer hour timings were adhered to.

The various winners of the sports festival are: basketball: Vansh Kumar Arora, Hitesh Aggarwal, Harit, Harsimrat, Gurjog Singh, Anmol, Ramneek and Ankita; handball: Simardeep Singh, Abhishek, Prateek Taleja, Manul, Digpaul, Aman and Tanveer; kho-kho: Antriksh, Harsmran Singh, Jashandeep Kaur, Ruchir Munjal, Rahul, Agneese Saini, Lovepreet Singh, Randeep Singh, Navjot Singh, Mansimran Singh, Divpreet Singh and Vishal Batra; carrom: Maninder; tug-of-war: Tushar Sharma, Inderjot Singh, Gurashish Singh, Avreet Singh, Ankush, Anreet Singh Bhamra, Himanshu Jain, Gurbir, Satinder Pal, Ajiteshwar Singh and Bhavleen.

Athletics meet

The annual athletics meet of St John’s High School, Sector 26, was held on the school premises. Various races and events were organised, in which a large number of schoolchildren took part. Cricketer Dinesh Mongia was the chief guest and he had an interaction with the schoolchildren.

Cricket tourney

Chandigarh City Employees Club defeated UT Education Department XI by eight runs in the Inter-Institutional Cup Cricket Tournament at Panchkula. In another tie, Inde- Dutch Systems XI beat High Court XI by 14 runs.

PU rowers win championship
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, December 6
Hosts Panjab University reigned supreme in rowing when their men’s and women’s team won the overall championship at the end of the All-India Inter-University Rowing Championship at Sukhna Lake here today.

Gurpreet Kaur of PU bagged the gold medal in the single scull event for women while Sishen Pal got the gold medal in the single scull event in men’s section. In coxless fours, the team of Kirandeep,Gurpeeet, Amanpreet and Pooja emerged victorious.

Results: women: overall champions: PU, Chd 1, Pune University 2, GND University, Asr 3,Calcuta University 4; men: PU, Chd 1, Calcutta University 2, Anna University 3, Pune University 4; single scull: Gurpeet Kaur (PU, Chd) 1, Khandve Nivedita (Pune) 2, Sharmishtha Basu (Calcutta) 3; coxless fours: Kirandeep Kaur, Gurpreet, Ramanpreet and Pooja 1, Khandve, Patil Rohini, Wagh Lalita and Khatod Narshali 2, Rupinder Kaur, Surinder Kaur, Kiran and Vishal 3; men: single scull: Sishen Pal (PU, Chd) 1,B.Harsha (Anna) 2, Syed Aftab (Osmania) 3; double scull:Shami and Vikinder (PU,Chd) 1,Shashi and Shiv Shankar (Calcutta), 2, B.Harsha and Adithya Jaya (Anna) 3; coxless pairs; Karaj and Gurpal (PU,Chd) 1, CE Palaniappan and Aditya Jaya (Anna 2), Surjeet and Sanjay Kumar (Punjabi) 3; coxless fours: Karaj,Gurpal,Vipan and Sukhpal (PU,Chd) 1, Ranjit, Syamal, Shiv Shankar and Shashi (calcutta) 2, Khule Sandip, Jadhav, Kakad and Fadol Kanitnath (Pune) 3.