Chandigarh, December 4
Expressing serious concern at the delay in setting up the region's first genetic centre at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, the Punjab Governor and Administrator of the Union Territory, Chandigarh, Gen. SF Rodrigues (retd.), did some plain speaking today which may not exactly sound music to the hospital authorities.

In this era of advancement, latest technologies are being used for providing better healthcare facilities to the general public worldwide, he said. However, futuristic healthcare services were still not on the priority list in this part of the region.

"I feel ashamed over setting up of a genetic center run by government institution in the region at GMCH with such a delay," said Gen. SF Rodrigues, while addressing a gathering after the inauguration of the state-of-the-art genetic center in Sarai building of the hospital.

He said that this kind of facility should have been created much earlier in this region and stressed that the services under this programme should be made accessible to the population by increasing its out-reach and cumulative effect, with the focus on healthcare of the poor and disadvantaged sections of society.

Interestingly, the Governor remained mum over a suggestion of Dr Gurjit Kaur, in charge consultant of the centre, for making "screening" of suspecting mothers mandatory to prevent mental retardation and other disabilities among the newborn.

Stressing the need for taking preventive measures for the occurrence of thalassemia, General Rodrigues asked the UT Home Secretary and the doctors for institutionalising a wide ranging research facility in this Genetic Centre, to save the children from its complications. The Genetic Centre must develop a coordinated system, with blood banks and other medical centers, for controlling and prevention of thalassemia and saving the affected families from its agony, he added.

The Governor also released a booklet on "Every Pregnant Woman Expects Healthy Baby" on the occasion.

Prof. B S Chauhan, head of the Psychiatry Department, said that the genetic lab would provide to screen out newborns for having any metabolic disorders within 48-72 hours of birth, which may later lead to severe mental retardation. With early diagnosis and proper management, the impact of such metabolic disorders can be minimized. In Chandigarh around 7000 newborns and 8000 pregnancies are registered, every year, he claimed.

Mr. Krishna Mohan, Home Secretary, UT, NGOs and heads of different various departments of the GMCH were also present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, December 4
Fatehdeep, Jatinder, Utkarsh and Rohin reached the semifinals in the under-10 in the Fort Ramgarh YMCA Total Tennis Championship being played at YMCA Total Tennis Academy, Sector 11, here today.

In the boys’ u-12 category, Ajay, Dhruv, Ajaysingh, Uday, Pankaj and Digvijay won their respective matches to reserve berth in the quarterfinal round.

The results:

Boys u-10 (quarterfinals): Fatehdeep b Dheeranush 8-3, Utkarsh b Parampun 8-2, Jatinder b Karandeep 8-0, Rohin b Abhijit 8-4; u-12 (pre-quarterfinals): Ajay b Mandeep 6-1, Dhruv b Raghav 6-1, Ajaysingh b Pragun 6-3, Uday b Vinayak 6-2, Pankaj b Rakender 6-2, Digvijay b Bhavtaran 6-1, Anshul b Parminder 6-4; U-14 (pre quarterfinals): Jivtesh b Shailender 6-1, Navin b Pankaj 6-1, Vaibhav b Rishidev 6-0, Raghav b Ajaysingh 6-2, Pankaj b Navin 6-1; U-16 (pre quarterfinals): Mandeep b Ankit 6-3, Jivtesh b Angad 6-2, Digvijay b Jaivardhan 6-0, Kanwardeep b Ishaan 6-3, Vaibhav b Ashwani 6-4, Sukhdanish b Devbir 6-4, Chandam beat Shailender 6-0, Mandeep b Aviral 6-4.

Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Mansimrat b Amitabh 6-0, Karan b Ashim 6-0, Digvijay b Ishaan 6-0, Vikas b Sadeev 6-1, Tushar b Sukhdanish 6-1, Girls u-12 (first round): Harkirat b Sachita 6-3, Bhavika b Arshpreet 6-0, Parminder b Sanjana 6-0.