With nearly 30 percent of Indians suffering from obesity, people may be blaming their food habits. But doctors in the capital on Thursday said the real cause of this ailment lies in “the brain”.

“We are not giving a clean chit to food and lifestyle habits for this disease but metabolic activities in the brain is a major cause of this ailment,” said Surendra Kumar, head, department of endocrinology and metabolism at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

“Certain activities in the brain affect our genes and food intake. Due to this development, over 70 percent of intake calories get deposited in our body leading to problems like obesity and diabetes," Kumar told IANS.

He said when a person becomes obese, it continues for at least the three next generations.

Health experts from south Asian countries are converging in Delhi from Saturday to debate the issue, Kumar said, adding that the two-day SAARC Obesity and Diabetes Conference will help exchange ideas, scientific knowledge and personal experiences about the disease.

“New medical procedures like surgery, stem cell therapy, gene therapy, insulin inhaler and other upcoming cheap but efficient drugs to tackle obesity and diabetes problems will be discussed at the conference,” S.P. Bayotra, a senior doctor of the hospital that is organising the international conference, told reporters.

Health experts said currently nearly 30 per cent of Indians are overweight and at least 50 per cent of the country's population will suffer from this problem in next one decade.

He said while 57 per cent of obese people suffer from Type-2 diabetes, 30 per cent face gallbladder diseases, 14 per cent osteoarthritis, 17 per cent face hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Some also face problems like uterine and breast cancer.

Both Bayotra and Kumar will be heading the discussion at the SAARC diabetes conference. — IANS

Chandigarh, November 2
Even as India has made a remarkable progress in medical research and healthcare in the recent past, its advantages remain confined to merely 10 per cent of its population living in big cities, said Dr R.P. Sengupta, a neurosurgeon from the UK, here today.

The country is nowhere close in comparison to developed countries where the distribution of healthcare is fairly even in all areas, he added.

Dr Sengupta is here to participate in the international continuing medical education programme and annual conference of the Indian Society for Paediatric Neurosurgery at the PGI.

Health facilities in English cities and towns, hundreds of kilometres away from one another, were the same, he said. However, in India speciality or superspeciality medical facilities were not available beyond big cities, he observed.

There are no big hospitals between Chandigarh and New Delhi where a patient can undergo neurosurgery. “The situation is similar if one moves out of New Delhi towards Jaipur,” said Dr Sengupta.

Equal distribution of specialists in the country wherein one neurosurgeon was available for one million people could help prop up the healthcare system here, he opined.

Currently, there were 1,100 neurosurgeons in India with a population of over one billion, while 5,000 neurosurgeons were available in the UK with a population of 200 million, added Dr Sengupta.

Earlier, Prof K.K. Talwar, director, PGI, in his inaugural address stressed the need for more neurosurgeons within the country. The need for developing paediatric neurosurgery as a sub-speciality was also stressed. Dr Talwar indicated that a section of paediatric neurosurgery would soon be started at the advance paediatric centre at the PGI, Chandigarh.

Those who participated were Dr Anil Gholkar, Dr Alistair Jenkins, Dr Rahul Bajekal, Dr William Harkness from the UK and Dr Rick Abbott from the USA.— TNS

Chandigarh, November 2
An all-round splendid performance by Shivam Puri (42 n o, 2 for 10) enabled St Anne’s School 32 team to beat Ryan Public School- 49, Chandigarh, by 3 wickets during the II Sister Alberta Memorial Cricket Tournament. The tournament held at St Anne’s ground here, today.

Ryan won the toss and elected to bat first. Ryan Public School made 95 for 9 in 20 overs. Apart from Shivam, Shaurya too proved to be wrecker-in-chief.

He claimed four wickets for 18 runs only. The Ryan wickets fell on cheaply Randeep and Gitinder scored 18 and 16, runs respectively.

In reply, St Anne's B team chased the target in last over by 2 balls to spare. Shivam Puri batted well and scored 42 runs not out. Pranav also contributed valuable 20 runs. Ryan’s Ishit claimed three wickets for 16 runs while Shubham claimed two wickets for 14 runs.

Brief score: Ryan Public School, 95 for 9 in 20 overs. Randeep 18, Gitender 16, Shaurya 4 for 18, Shivam 2 for 10. St. Anne's team B, 96 for 7 in 19.4 overs. Shivam Puri 42 n o, Pranav 20, Ishit 3 for 16, Shubham 2 for 14.

In another match of the day Manav Mangal School Sector 21-B b St Joseph's Senior Secondary School, Sector-44, Chandigarh, by 5 wickets. St Joseph's won the toss and elected to bat first. Fine bowling by Manav Mangal boys bowled out by St Joseph's team at 59 runs in 19 overs. In reply Manav Mangal chased the target in 10 overs by losing 5 wickets.

St Joseph's: 59 all out in 19 overs. Akshay 8 for 2, Vishu 2 for 10. Manav Mangal School: 60 for 5 in 10 overs.

Ashish 30, Manmeet 20, Parmeet 3 for 10, Ishan 2 for 6.

Chandigarh, November 2
The Association for Twenty20 Cricket (India) announced Rs 1 crore prize money for six-team ATC Twenty20 league for ATC (India) registered players. Besides, the prize money to the winners, the ATC (India) will also give match fee to all players who figure in the ATC (India) league. 

This decision was taken in the meeting attended by representatives of 21 states affiliated to the association for Twenty20 (India) here.

Giving details of the prestigious project, ATC (India) president I.D. Kamboj said, "a total of 18, including 15 league matches will be played in different cities of the country. All matches will be shown live. Negotiations are underway in this direction."

Asked where the ATC league will stand between the Indian Cricket league of Essel Group and Board of Control for Cricket in India league, Kamboj said, "We are an independent and democratic body. Our functioning is transparent. This league is meant only for domestic cricketers. We are promoting the Twenty20 version and providing a platform to the young cricketers. However, we will not put any restriction on our registered players from participating in the BCCI league or the ICL league."

Regarding mode of selection for the ATC (India) league, Kamboj said, "a panel of experts would select 120 players for coaching camp and out them 90 would be finally selected and divided into six teams. The selection will be made during the Senior National Twenty20 Cricket Championship which has been allotted to Andhra Pradesh for May next year."

The Senior Nationals will be played either at Vijayawada or Vishakhapatnam. Asked whether, the ATC had a stadium at its disposal for the league, Kamboj said Kerala had assured the ATC (India) to provide grounds and other related facilities for conducting activities of the ATC (India). Other state associations have also assured to make available the best playing facilities for the ATC league and other tournaments. Regarding funding for the league, Kamboj said, "we are negotiating with a number of corporate and business houses for sponsorships. Some of them have already shown interest in our entertaining product."

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Twenty20 Cricket Association has been allotted Under-17 Nationals Championship to be held in December while the Andhra Pradesh Twenty20 Cricket Association will host the Under-19 National Twenty20 Championship in February next year.

Chandigarh, November 2
GGDSD College, Sector 32, lifted the trophy beating SGGS College, Sector 26 by 21 runs in the final of the Panjab University Inter-College Cricket (men) Tournament 
played at PU grounds, here today.

GGDSD College piled up a modest total of 163 runs in 45.2 overs. Abhijit played a fine knock of 51 runs. Rahul Arora (49) and Ishan Dogra (34) were the other notable contributors.

In reply, SGGS College was bundled out for 142 runs in 46.2 overs. Surinder (33) and Asim (31) were the only main scorers. Gaurav made 20 runs.

Harmeet and Sandeep took 3 wickets respectively for GGD SD College.

In the match for third place, DAV College outplayed SCD Government College, by 58 runs.

Batting first DAV piled up 134 runs in 27.5 overs. Sumit played a fine knock of 41 runs. He was well supported by Gaurav who made 34 runs.

In reply SCD Govt College, Ludhiana, was bundled out for 76 runs in 27 overs. Lalit was the only batsman who made unbeaten 18 runs.

Panchkula, November 2
Umesh Gupta emerged champion drubbing Chirag Arora 238-198 in junior billiards category of the Haryana state sub-junior, junior, senior billiards and Snooker Championships-2007, concluded here today. Abhishek Verma got the second place as he defeated Chirag and Karan Dhir but lost to Umesh Gupta.

In junior snooker category, Naman Nagpal will meet Umesh Gupta in the final. In semifinal, Naman defeated Abhishek Verma 2-0.

In the first frame Naman, showing his cue ball control, hit a break of 41, which Abhishek could not cover and lost the frame (71-29). In the second frame though Abhishek started well but could not match the clean potting of Naman and lost the frame as well as the match on the black ball. 

Chandigarh, November 2
The New Delhi Equestrian Promoters is organising a zonal horse show in Panjab University, which is scheduled from November 5 to 11 here. Giving details, Inderjit Singh, the organiser said in the show, the first of its kind in the city, a total of 43 events would be held during the seven-day affair in which more than 400 riders would participate.

The highlight of the show would be Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda, who has confirmed his participation in the tournament, added Inderjit Singh.

Chandigarh, November 2
A petition seeking direction to the state of Punjab and the DGP to recover an amount of Rs 1 crore from the Punjab Cricket Association it owes to the state on account of providing security during the international matches in the Mohali stadium was yesterday dismissed as withdrawn.

The petition had sought directions to the government and DGP to ask the PCA, which earns huge sums, to compensate the government in the failure of which it should be restrained from holding matches.

Mohali, November 2
The 1000-odd policemen who would be on duty at the PCA Stadium here for the Indo- Pak ODI on November 8 are not likely to get their share of passes for the match.

During the last match, the PCA had provided the policemen on duty with two passes each for their families.

While Mohali SSP R.S. Khatra said the demand for passes would be put forth to the PCA authorities, sources said no passes for the policemen on duty has been kept aside by the authorities.

While the general and VIP block tickets were sold out, fans could be seen milling over one another to reach the counters. The PCA had to put up ‘house full’ boards at the counters.

Love of the game attracted handicapped persons also who braved the long queues to buy tickets.

A scuffle of media persons with PCA security men was also witnessed when they refused the entry of a photographer into the stadium.

Chandigarh, November 2
In a shift from standard practice, the Chandigarh administration has decided to outsource the work of constructing underpasses in the city to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB).

At least eight underpasses are to be constructed at the traffic islands and junctions on the Madhya Marg.

The cost of the eight underpasses is estimated at Rs 150 crore. Limitation of the Chandigarh administration in executing projects beyond Rs 10 crore without approval of the union government is being cited as the reason behind the decision. It has been seen that projects are often delayed when sanction is sought from the centre.

Sources said instead of getting funds from the administration, the CHB would arrange for the funds. Various proposals are being considered for the funding of the project. These were public-private partnership, giving the developer some chunk of land in lieu of the project cost or imposing some sort of road tax.

A proposal of levying toll on the proposed dedicated corridor on the Madhya Marg may not find favour with residents. “Nothing has been finalised on arranging funds for the project. Some sort of arrangement would be worked out so that residents are ensured early completion of the projects,” said a senior official.

Initially, the underpasses were planned at the Press Chowk (junction 20) and then create a similar facility at Kisan Bhawan Chowk (Jn.38), Picaddily Chowk (Jn. 34), Transport Chowk (Jn. 43), Tribune Chowk and Matka Chowk.

The new decision was arrived at the last weekly officers’ meeting chaired by adviser Pradip Mehra. The finance secretary, chief engineer and the chief architect had gone to Belgium to study the multi-model concept of integrated road transport. The concept has been adopted by the Flemish Region Government, Belgium, to ease traffic congestion on the city roads.

Mohali, November 2
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), which is making all efforts to make Mohali green and clean has decided to take action against the residents who dump debris and other materials in parks.

The erring residents will be asked to pay fines. GMADA officials are of the view that even when efforts were being made to develop and clean parks, residents were not providing the required cooperation. It was noticed that house owners were throwing building material, debris and other waste material in the parks. 

The GMADA is issuing letters to various resident welfare associations of all the sectors to direct house owners to keep the parks in their areas clean and remove the debris thrown in parks.

The GMADA is developing 558 parks in various sectors of the town for which estimates to the tune of Rs 5 crore have been prepared. Tenders have been floated and the work is likely to be completed within three months after the allotment is done. At present, the GMADA was getting the parks cleaned of wild growth and shrubs. Pruning of trees is also going on apart from cleaning footpaths. 

Development work, maintenance of entry points from Chandigarh to Mohali and green belts in commercial areas have been allotted to agencies, which will be completed in two months.