Ludhiana, September 2
High blood pressure, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, stress and high cholesterol are the most prominent but preventable risk factors, which can cause heart attack. It depends how we carry ourselves in day to day life for avoiding heart breakdown. This was stated by Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, director and chairman of cardiac sciences at Ludhiana Mediciti Hospital, while delivering a lecture organised by the Ludhiana Management Association (LMA) here last evening.

Secretary of the association K.N.S. Kang said the main purpose of the lecture was to create awareness about the measures that could be taken to avoid heart trouble. There were around 50 million heart patients in India and by 2010 the number was likely to reach a staggering 100 million.

Dr Bedi said: “The exact cause of a heart disease is difficult to find. There are, however, some known modifiable and non-modifiable factors. The modifiable risk factors are high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, stress and high cholesterol. All these risk factors are preventable, treatable or modifiable.

“The one risk factor which is still not modifiable is our genetic structure, for some reason Indians have what is known as a thrifty gene or a starvation gene.” A vacation helped in rejuvenating us and recharging our energy level. A hobby could work wonders.

Dr Bedi emphasised more on regular exercise. Physical activity helped relaxing the body and the mind, made the heart stronger, improved oxygenation, regulated blood pressure, reduced weight, increased fat metabolism, produced sound sleep and increased stamina.

Dr Bedi put forward 12 simple ways to keep heart healthy. These are, organise yourself, control your environment, love yourself, reward yourself, exercise regularly, meditate, take adequate rest, be aware of yourself, avoid excessive tiredness, avoid getting angry at trivial matters, eat a balanced diet, avoid smoking, excessive tea, coffee intake, alcohol and be happy.

Earlier, senior vice-president of the association V.K. Goyal introduced the guest speaker and president Anil Kumar delivered presidential remarks.

Ludhiana, September 2
The inaugural match of the Punjab state inter-district Cricket tournament for the Katoch Shield ended in draw due to rain. The match was being played here at the Satish Chander Dhawan Government College for Boys ground. Both the teams shared one point each.

Chasing a total of 330 for 9, scored by Amritsar in their first innings, hosts Ludhiana were cruising well at 250 for the loss of 7 wickets after 83 overs when rain forced the umpires to call it a day.

Brief scores: Amirtsar (Ist innings): 330 for 9 in 95 overs (Munish Bhatia 85, Sumit Sharma 74, Ravneet Ricky 39, Rahul Mattu 27 and Chandan Madaan 68 not out; Ankur Kakkar 3 for 106, Gaurav Marwaha 4 for 66 and Arun Sharama 1 for 36).

Ludhiana (Ist innings): 250 for 7 in 83 overs (Ankur Kakkar 91 not out, Geetansh Khera 77, Gaurav Marwaha 17 and Karan Goel 14; Charanjit Singh 3 for 83, Sandeep Sanwal 1 for 35 and Sumit Sharma 1 for 53).

Ludhiana will play their second match in Jalandhar on September 4 and 5 against Jalandhar.

Ludhiana, September 2
Raj Kumar, who won mixed doubles title (pairing with Prajkata Sawant of Maharashtra) in the Asian Youth Badminton under-16 Championship held recently in Hanoi, Vietnam, was honoured by the municipal corporation, Ludhiana, and the Ludhiana Badminton Academy (LBA) here yesterday. The function was organised in the lawns, in front of the Shastri Hall near Guru Nanak Stadium where Harish Rai Dhanda, chief parlimentary secretary, Punjab, and Vikas Partap, commisioner, municipal corporation, were the chief guests.

The corporation gave him a cheque of Rs 21,000. The LBA, where he gets training, handed over a chque of Rs 10,000 to him.

Pranav Chopra who paired with Kumar in the doubles event in the championship was also given a cheque of Rs 7,000. He returned the cheque to the organisers for some needy players.

Mangat Rai Sharma, an NIS trained coach, Lakhvinder Singh Pannu, assistant coach at the LBA, and some other upcoming players of the academy were also honoured on this occasion.

A scholarship of Rs 10,000, which started in the memory of Kamal Kwatra, treasurer of the academy, was given to Karanveer Singh from Doraha. Other young promising shuttlers who were honoured were -Surya Goel, Sachin, Jasjeet and Nishant.

Mohinder Kumar Chopra, president of the LBA, announced that prizes worth Rs 90,000 would be given to the talented upcoming badminton players every year. A large number of persons attended the function.