Chandigarh, March 29
“Haemophilia is a hereditary disease characterised by deficient activity of blood clotting factors of VIII and IX and there is a need to provide necessary backup support to the affected parents to enable them to cope with the tremendous psychological stress.”

This was stated by Dr J.G. Jolly, emeritus professor, transfusion medicine, formally professor of transfusion medicine, PGIMER, and chairman of the Haemophilic Welfare Society here today.

Dr Jolly was speaking at a day-long open clinic for patients with haemophilia (PWHs) organised by the society.

Terming the disease a purely genetic disorder that had nothing to do with the luck of an individual, Dr Jolly said it was the duty of parents to prepare the affected children psychologically.

He said NGOs and other social and voluntary organisations could play a vital role in overcoming the stress encountered by hapless parents.

Similarly, PWHs should also be encouraged and motivated to lead a normal life by giving them timely care and treatment. Concerted efforts should be made by parents, teachers and medical fraternity to boost the morale of the child suffering from the disease, added Dr Jolly.

He advised the PWHs to undergo regular examination to maintain the baseline of factor VIII or IX.

Suggesting that the governments of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory should chalk out a strategy to address the problems of PWHs, Dr Jolly said the patients should also be provided adequate financial support.

As many as 250 patients were clinically examined and infused free factor VII. Twenty persons were vaccination for hepatitis B, while 40 patients got booster dose.

Chandigarh, March 29
The PGI Medical Technologists Association organised a farewell for its three members who are retiring from services here today. Prof Vinay Sakhuja, dean, PGI, lauding the sincere and unblemished services of the retiring members, namely Sudha Relhan, Sant Lal Sharma and Neelam Chopra, presented mementos to them on behalf of the association.

As per its tradition, the association invited the families of the retiring members and also of the ex-members living in and around the city. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 29
A blitzkrieg by Jayant Choudhary (51 runs off 36) enabled St John's Cricket Academy to defeat Lahore Schools X1 by a huge margin of 91 runs in the second match of the friendship series being played at St. John's High School, Sector 26, here, today. With this win, the hosts won the Friendship Cup by 2-0.

Batting first, the St John's team made 151 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Jayant was the highest scorer with his 51-run knock while Sidhant Vashisht contributed 37 runs. In reply, Lahore team was bundled out for a meagre 60 runs in just 11.5 overs.

Brief scores:

St. John's: 151 for 4 in 20 overs (Jayant 51, Sidhant 37, Ahson 2 for 33). 
Lahore X1: 60 all out in 11.5 overs (Sharukh 18, Ahson18, Vishnu 2 for 6, Aditya 1 for 18).

Chandigarh, March 29
Two local rowers, Manjeet Singh and Kanav Dosajh, have done the city proud by getting selected in the national senior and national junior camp, respectively.

The camp is being organised by the Rowing Federation of India in Hyderabad. Manjeet is among the probables for the World Cup to be held at Lucerne in mid-July and for the World Rowing Championships to be held in Munich on August 29, this year. Kanav has to secure a berth in the team to represent the country in the Junior Asian Rowing Championship to be held at China in August this year.

Manjeet Singh of Chandigarh Rowing Association has been honing his skills for Lightweight Coxless Fours (LM4-), Lightweight Coxed Eights (LM8+) and Lightweight Coxless Pairs (LM2-).

Manjeet won two silver medals in Coxless Fours (M4-) and Coxless Pairs (M2-) in the 12 th Junior Asian Rowing Championship held at Singapore on July 15 and one gold medal in the 10th South Asian Games held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, in August last year.

On the other hand, Kanav, a student of XII at DAV Model School, Sector 15, put up an excellent performance in the 27th Junior National Rowing Championships at Jagatpur, Cuttack (Orrisa) in October last year where he won the gold medal. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 29
Harjot of Daffodils house was declared the best athlete at the 4th Annual Sports Meet of the Chitkara College of Education for Women, here, today. Besides athletics, several fun events, including tug-of-war between the teachers and the students, sack race, spoon and lemon race and three-legged race, were also held.

The results:

100 m: Neeru 1, Ramandeep 2, Randeep 3;

200 m: Harjot 1, Gurvinder 2, Prabhjot 3;

Shot put: Pushpinder 1, Sunita 2, Harvinder 3;

Long jump: Harjot 1, Randeep 2, Rajni 3;

Discus throw: Akwinder 1, Nitika 2, Sunita 3;

Javelin throw: Kavita 1, Rajni 2, Sunita 3;

High jump: Anupriya 1, Akwinder 2, Rajni 3;

Relay race: Diltaj, Gurwinder, Harvinder , Rachna (Tulip) 1, Ramandeep, Rajni, Neeru, Anamika (Lotus) 2, Anu, Alka, Sarika, Harjot (Daffodils) 3.

Chandigarh, March 29
Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, held its annual sports prize distribution function at the college premises, here today.

Pargat Singh, director sports, Punjab, was the chief guest on the occasion. In 2006-2007, the college participated in as many as 29 Panjab University inter-college championships. “It is for the first time that our players won 14 inter-college meets in different disciplines,” said principal Kuldeep Singh.