Ludhiana, March 17
SPS Apollo Hospital here has launched a dedicated "breast care clinic" to mark the International Women Day (March 8) which will provide much-needed service of breast cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for the affected women.

Dr Navneet Kumar Chaudhary, senior consultant and head, Department of Surgery and Minimal Access Surgery, stressed that it was very important to diagnose breast cancer at an early stage.

Screening mammography played a very vital role in early diagnosis and the treatment of breast cancer.

In India, he informed, breast cancer was the second common malignancy after cervical cancer, and the condition was detected in 20 for every 1,00,000 women.

In contrast, in the Western countries, breast cancer was detected in 130 to 140 women per 1,00,000. "The incidence is increasing in most countries at the rate of 1 to 2 per cent annually and soon nearly one million women will develop this disease every year throughout the world. Screening mammography, remains the best means for diagnosing breast cancer in asymptomatic women."

According to Dr P.S Bhatia, medical superintendent and oncologist, financial hardship hindered the availability of mammography for many women. While breast self-examination (BSE) would appear to be the most cost-effective method for early detection, many South Asian women did not practice BSE. A very low proportion of women ever examined their breasts in their lifetime, let alone having a mammogram.

He stated that while breast cancer risk factors among Indian and American women remained essentially the same, the survival rates were found to be much lower in Indian women; the distinguishing factor appeared to be the late stage of presentation at the time of diagnosis.

Dr Bhatia informed that a questionnaire about awareness of various breast cancer prevention and early detection techniques like BSE, mammography and regular check-ups will be given to the women, visiting the breast care clinic during this month to assess the awareness level and to derive conclusions for necessary follow-up action.

The clinic will be focusing specially on early detection of the disease and follow-up of the patients already undergoing treatment. The clinic will be run from surgery OPD every day from 10 to 2 pm.

Ludhiana, March 17
Jaspal Singh of the ETT and Sonika of B.Ed were adjudged best athletes at the annual sports meet held at Partap College of Education, Hambran road here today. Prof J P Singh, chairman, Partap Charitable Trust inaugurated the meet.

Results: Boys: long jump- Jaspal Singh 1, Kuljit Singh 2 and Parveen 3; sack race — Ashwini 1, Anil 2 and Bharat Dua 3; 400 m race — Jaspal Singh 1st, Ashwani 2nd and Sandeep 3rd; 800 m race- Daljit Singh 1, Gurvinder Singh 2 and Pardeep 3; badminton — Arvind 1, Parveen 2; kho kho — ETT team 1; shot put- Kuljit Singh 1, Shamsheer Singh 2 and Nagidner Singh 3; javelin throw — Pardeep 1, Bharat Bhushan 2 and Parminder Singh 3; discus throw — Shamsher Singh 1, Naginder Singh 2 and Balbir Singh 3.

Girls: long jump — Upma 1, Kanchan 2 and Satvir 3; sack race — Kanchan 1, Geetika 2 and Surinder Kaur 3; 100 m race- Sonika 1, Kanchan 2 and Divya 3; 200 m race — Mamta 1, Divya 2 and Ranjan 3; 400 m race- Sonika 1, Rupinder 2 and Shilpa 3; 800 m — Sonika 1, Geetika 3; badminton — Sakshi 1 and Vinny 2; shot put — Surinder 1, Shilpa 2 and Sonika 3; javelin throw — Geetika 1, Surinder 2 and Meenu 3; discus throw — Pooja 1, Deepti 2 and Shilpa 3.

Ludhiana, March 17
Jalandhar district office and Chandigarh regional office bagged titles in the men and women's sections, respectively at the 7th FCI Inter-District Badminton Tournament held at Punjab Agricultural University campus on Friday.

In the men's final, Jalandhar prevailed over Sangrur with a score of 3-2 while in the women's section, Chandigarh regional office defeated Chandigarh district office 2-1 to emerge winners.

Surinder Goel of Sangrur and Git Aggarwal of Chandigarh regional office were declared best shutllers of the tournament. Jagdish Mittal of Chandigarh regional office bagged the special prize. Sandeep Gosain, district manager, FCI, Ludhiana distributed prizes.

Ludhiana, March 17
The three-day annual sports meet at Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College and Hospital, Chandigarh road, concluded here today. Principal of the college Dr Rana V.K gave away prizes to the position holders. Vice-principal and sports secretary of the college Dr Ajay Chhabra extended the vote of thanks.

Results: Boys (cricket) — interns beat first year students by 57 runs; football — first year students beat third year students 3-1; carom — interns Ajay Pal and Ajay Sharma beat Dr Ajay Chhabra and Dr Parminder;

Table tennis — Final year students beat first year students; obstacle race — Harpreet Singh 1, Muni Madhav 2.

Girls: carom — interns Anjali and Divya beat Dr Jyoti B. Dass and Dr Prerna Juneja; throw ball — Final year students beat interns; table tennis — first year students beat third year students; rangoli — interns Ishneet, Shruti Chopra, Sanut Singla and Rajiv Bansal 1, third year students Neetika, Neha and Rashmi 2, second year students Isha, Vibha, Sipra, Sakshi and Swati 3.