Mohali, September 16
There is good news for those suffering from diabetes. Insulin will now be available in spray form and is expected to replace insulin injections.

The spray ‘Exubera’ would be available in India within a few months. Announcing this, Dr K.P. Singh, endocrinologist with the Fortis Hospital here added that the use of the spray has just begun in US and it is expected to be released in the Indian markets by Pfizer USA soon.

He said he administrated the spray insulin to a few patients he was treating and it was found that the spray can easily replace injectible insulin.

“However smokers will have to be careful in using this spray as their lungs being damaged, the puff can lead to an overdose of insulin leading to hypoglycemia,” he said.

Dr K.P Singh recently completed the requirements for the Global Advanced Therapeutics and Technologies in Diabetes Care Program and was honoured at the International Diabetes Centre of the World Health Organization (WHO).

He is the only one from North India to get acclaimed with this recognition.

Dr K.P Singh added that prolonged use of injectible insulin led to weight gain resulting in obesity and in order to prevent it another injection “Exanitide” with the name of “Byetta” is being launched within a week in India.

Dr K.P. Singh explained that Byetta was not insulin but something with acts like insulin to decrease blood sugar, controls obesity and even reduces weight.

He said it was a derivative from the saliva of European Gila monster - a type of lizard like reptile found in deserts of Europe.

Dr K.P. Singh who is also a member of the governing body of the recently formed NGO on obesity - The Indian Association for the Study of Obesity, while talking about recent advances in diabetology said like the holder monitor for the heart, continuous tissue glucose monitoring is also now available which entails carrying a small devise attached to the persons abdomen for 
the period of around 24 hours. 

Chandigarh, September 16
Even as the Administration has decided to provide effective health care to women and promote institutional deliveries in the UT, city hospitals are working with inadequate infrastructure at gynaecology departments.

Despite the fact that Chandigarh has three big hospitals, including the PGI, Government Medical College and Hospital, (GMCH) and Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, (GMSH), along with more than 30 dispensaries, just 30 per cent of women reach hospitals for the delivery.

Though the promotion of institutional deliveries would help in bringing the mortality rate of live births down but where is the infrastructure to handle the increase in number of visitors at the hospitals, said a doctor on anonymity.

At GMCH, Sector 32, there are just six beds for women in labour and three delivery tables against the requirement of double as the hospital handles more than 4,000 cases of deliveries every year. This is not enough. Against the requirement of 50 beds in the post-natal ward of the hospital, it is working with just 30 beds. The situation at the paediatric nursery is even more grim as just four beds were available against 16 leading to the risk of infection to the babies.

Under these circumstances, four persons, including two mothers with their babies, can be seen lying on one bed in the hospital, putting all of them vulnerable to infection.

Even the staff posted at the hospital is not sufficient to handle the current number of visitors as 27 doctors and three consultants are required.

The situation is not better in other hospitals as well. The GMSH, Sector 16, has not more than 14 doctors to run the gynaecology services at its hospitals which includes poly clinic, Sector 22, and dispensaries where more than 9,000 deliveries were carried out last year only.

The PGI where complicated cases are considered only for the deliveries received 4,292 cases of deliveries has 42 beds in maternity ward.

The authorities in the Chandigarh Health Department, while admitting that the situation is grim, said the heads of all health institutions had been already asked to submit the details of their requirements.

Patiala, September 16
The pair of A.N. Banerjee of Eastern Railway and S. Mukherjee of Metro Railway, Kolkata, accumulated 207 points to emerge champions in the 30th All-India Inter-railway Bridge Championships, which concluded on the Diesel Loco Modernisation Works (DMW) premises here today.

The pair of S. Dutta and P. Roy, both of South Eastern Railway, emerged the first runners-up while Jayanta Ghosh and Virender Kumar, both of DMW, Patiala, were the second runners-up.

Ambala, September 16
Sunil Rathi of the Haryana team has been selected for the world karate championship to be held in Turkey.

Haryana chief instructor Hemant Sharma said five karatekas were selected for the national team and the selections were held in Chennai recently. Sunil Rathi has been selected in the 70-kg category. — TNS

Chandigarh, September 16
Terrific bowling spells by Chandigarh’s Supriya and Harpreet restrained Patiala eves to pack up at just 59 runs in 44 overs during the semifinals of the Senior Women Inter-district Cricket Tournament. The tournament is underway at Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, here.

Chandigarh won the toss and elected to field. The Patiala squad could not withstand Chandigarh bowlers Supriya and Harpreet. While Supriya claimed six wickets at the cost of just 21 runs, Harpreet took four wickets, conceding 15 runs. The whole team had to go back to pavilion with just 59 runs. Only Gurpreet Kaur could put some resistence with 32 runs. At the end of the day’s match, Chandigarh was playing at 32 runs with the loss of two wickets. — TNS

Chandigarh, September 16
Playing on the Royal Springs golf course in Srinagar, Chandigarh golfers led by Ravinder Sandhu scored a one-point win over the Kashmir team led by Farooq Abdullah to clinch the Kashmir Uzma running trophy. The tournament saw golfers from Chandigarh, Delhi and Kashmir taking part.

Chandigarh golfers had taken a six-point lead over Kashmir with 27 points in the four-ball best ball matchplay played on the Ryder Cup format on day one. Delhi were far behind with just two points after the first round.

Kashmir golfers gave a better performance on the second day and came very near to upsetting the Chandigarh lead. In the end, Chandigarh golfers clinched the trophy scoring 45 points, with Kashmir finishing just one point behind. Delhi finished far behind with six points. Chandigarh golfers were all praise for Royal Springs, which is virtually in the middle of picturesque hills and Dal Lake on either side.

Kashmir tourism minister Muhammad Dilawar Mir, who teed off the tournament, said tourists staying at Gulmarg or Pahalgam did not need to come to Srinagar for playing golf as the government had decided to upgrade the golf courses at these tourist places.

Chandigarh team captain Ravinder Sandhu said, "We enjoyed every moment here and were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the Kashmiris."

The team comprised Lt Col A.P.S. Dhillon and D. Lamba, Sukhi Lahal and Ravi Sandhu (captain), Kulbir Brar and Jyoti Mathroo, Gurinderjit Singh Sandhu and S.P.S. Mahal, Anil Gakhar and D.P. Bajaj, Sukhpal Sangha and J.S. Bakshi, A.P.S. Ghai and Rohit Dagar, B.R. Bajaj and Pauline Singh, I.P.S. Mann and Vicky Dingsa, J.S. Kessar and B. Gill, Randeep Singh and Y.S. Bains, Nippy Ghai and S. Talwar, Capt J.M. Singh and H. Sethi, Daljit Malhotra and T.L. Verma, Harry Sarao and Col I.P. Singh, H.S. Malhotra and M.S. Malhotra and Baboo Sidhu and M.S. Dhaliwal.

Chandigarh, September 16
An all-round performance by Neeraj Rana helped Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy to beat Twenty20 Cricket Association of Jammu & Kashmir by 101 runs in the opening match of the Vivek Twenty20 Cricket Cup 2007 today.

The meet is being organised by the Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy at Vivek High School, Sector 38-B.

Batting first, the Vivek academy piled up 194 runs for eight wickets in allotted 20 overs. Neeraj Rana and Sanjay Tomar scored a splendid knock of 51 runs each. From the J&K side, Jhagir Ahmed and Anish Khan took two wickets each, conceding 33, 27 runs, respectively.

In reply, the J&K team was bundled out at 93 runs in just 10.3 overs. Firoj Ali Khan was the highest scorer with 29 runs. Vivek academy’s Neeraj Rana grabbed five wickets for 11 runs while Athar Khan and Sanjeev Sharma took two wickets each.

Brief scores

Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy: 194 for 8 in 20 overs (Neeraj Rana 51, Sanjay Tomar 51, Sutixen Mehta 38, Jhagir Ahmed 2 for 33, Anish Khan 2 for 27).

Twenty20 Cricket Association of Jammu & Kashmir: 93 all out 10.3 overs (Firoj Ali Khan 29, Neeraj Rana 5 for 11, Athar Khan 2 for 19, Sanjeev Sharma 2 for 15).

Man of the match: Neeraj Rana.

Mohali, September 16
Magnificent run rate slapped by Karan Goel (217 runs off 281 balls) enabled Ludhiana to notch up a comfortable score against Amritsar on the inaugural day of the finals of the Punjab State Inter-district Senior Tournament for the Katoch Shield. The tournament is underway at the PCA pitch, here.

Amritsar won the toss and decided to field. At the end of the day’s match, Ludhiana squad scored 361 runs at the loss of eight wickets in 95 overs. Besides Karan, Ankur Kakar scored 48 runs in 93 balls. On the other hand, Amritsar’s Charanjeet Singh claimed two wickets for 103 runs.