Ludhiana, August 12
The Ludhiana branch of the National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA) organised the 36th free diabetes detection camp under its community service project at Mullanpur, about 15 km from here, on Saturday.

A team of NIMA doctors, led by Dr Jagdev S. Kehal, Dr Surendra Gupta, NIMA secretary, Dr Satinder Kakar, Dr Paramjit Singh, Dr B.K. Dutt, Dr G.S. Khangura, Dr Hari Singh Khatra, Dr Sarbjit Singh, Dr Vinod Kakkar and Dr Ashok Verma conducted medical check up for blood sugar level, blood pressure and other ailments. The patients were provided medicines free of cost along with follow up advice on diet and healthy life style.

Of the 130 persons screened for diabetes, 60 were found to be afflicted with the condition, while some others were old patients on follow-up for diabetes and hypertension.

Speaking at the camp, Dr Kehal said belying all estimates and myths diabetes was spreading very fast in rural areas. The situation was expected to become worse in view of the poor health care infrastructure in the urban periphery and rural areas. He said diabetes was like an alien disease for rural people as it was not easy for them to change their eating habits.

Dr Gupta, speaking on the occasion, said NIMA would be holding a free diabetes camps on a regular basis both in urban and rural areas of the district. “The association is of the firm view that bringing health care facilities directly on the doorsteps of the needy people of society is the only solution to the gigantic health problems in Indian society.”

In addition, NIMA would aim at updating the knowledge of professionals through seminars and CMEs on the latest development in the field of medicine with particular stress on the management of diabetes and other life style-related diseases.

Interacting with the patients, the doctors advised them to follow simple and natural life style. People were advised to avoid high calorie and fried food, keep away from packed food containing toxic, chemically derived stabilisers and preservatives.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 12
Terming good eye health to be a pre-requisite for education and development of a child, Dr Barjinder Singh Rana an ophthalmologist and phaco-surgeon, called upon office-bearers of various social and educational organisations of the area to impress upon the parents to get their wards examined for visual impairment regularly.

While talking to the Ludhiana Tribune, after examining students of certain schools in the area, Dr Rana said refractive error had surfaced as the most common causes of visual impairment in children. Claiming that visual impairment can have immense adverse effect on the education and development of the students, he urged office-bearers of various social and educational organisations to join hands in creating awareness about the subject among parents of the children.

Dr Rana claimed that teachers could play significant role in identifying students suffering from sight impairment. "As children spend maximum time in the presence of their teachers visual impairment should not go unnoticed by them," said Dr Rana adding that refractive impairment could be easily detected during school hours.

Difficulty in reading, writing and seeing distance objects, shrinking eyes, squinting, holding books close while reading, rubbing of eyes and headache in forehead region were cited as symptoms of visual impairment.

In case of children already suffering from visual impairment correction should be done by using quality spectacles. Dr Rana stressed that affected children should be persuaded to wear glasses in routine. "Though a child might feel shy in wearing glasses initially, it is the duty of the parents to convince them that corrective lenses should be used regularly," said Dr Rana.

Ludhiana, August 12
Before finalising the Ludhiana U-22 team to take part in the forthcoming Punjab State Inter District Cricket Tournament slated to begin from August 15, the Ludhiana District Cricket Association organised a practise match for the probables, between Tarun Passi XI and Gagandeep Dhand XI at Arya College ground here today. Tarun Passi XI came out triumphant by just two runs.

The selection panel of the district association - Chaman Lal Malhotra, Sham Lal, Pawan Pandey and Naresh Marwaha were present at the ground to watch the probables. Batting first, Tarun Passi XI scored 149 in 47.2 overs. Bharat Malhotra, came up as the top scorer with 28 runs, followed by Jagarpreet Singh who made 25 while Gurtej Gill remained unbeaten on 8. Gagandeep Dhand XI bowlers conceded as many as 48 extras.

Skipper, Gagandeep Dhand was the most successful bowler. He sent down 10 overs and capture four wickets for 20 runs. Sunny Kumar and Rahil Nanda grabbed two wickets each for 15 and 9 runs, respectively while Deepak Bansal claimed one wicket for 38 runs.

In reply, for Gagandeep Dhand XI Sunny Kumar and Chinton Sehgal excelled with the bat. Sunny scored 60 runs with the help of nine hits to the fence and one six while Chinton made 30 runs. Sakun Jindal contributed 20 runs.

After their departure, the remianing batsmen of Dhand XI failed to withstand the accurate bowling of Arun Sharma as their innings folded at 147 runs in 41.5 overs. Arun scalped four victims for 39 runs. Amarinder Singh and Gurtej Gill were also among the wickets. Amarinder took two wickets for 35 runs while Gurtej grabbed two for 26.