TeaTimeTreats: Direct Amritsar-Abu Dhabi Flight from October 29

 Direct Amritsar-Abu Dhabi Flight from October 29

Amritsar, September 14: In welcome relief for passengers travelling between Punjab and the United Arab Emirates, Air India Express will start a direct flight between Amritsar and Abu Dhabi from October 29, 2026, as part of the upcoming winter schedule.

Sharing the update in a joint statement, Sameep Singh Gumtala, Global Convener of the FlyAmritsar Initiative, and Yogesh Kamra, Convener India of FlyAmritsar Initiative and General Secretary of Amritsar Vikas Manch, said that as per booking availability on the Air India Express website and travel portals, the new service will operate three times a week.

The flight will depart from Amritsar on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 8:40 pm, reaching Abu Dhabi the same day at 11:50 pm, with a total travel time of 4 hours and 40 minutes. The return flight will depart Abu Dhabi on Friday, Sunday and Monday at 12:55 am, arriving in Amritsar the same day at 6:15 am, with a travel time of 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Gumtala said the new flight is welcome news for passengers from Punjab, especially workers, families and business travellers who regularly travel to Abu Dhabi. “For a long time, many passengers travelling to Abu Dhabi had to either fly from Delhi or travel from Amritsar to Dubai or Sharjah and then continue by road. A direct Amritsar-Abu Dhabi flight will save time, reduce travel costs, reduce inconvenience, and provide another important UAE option from Punjab’s own international airport,” he said.

Kamra added that the route further strengthens Amritsar’s role as Punjab’s primary international gateway. With this addition, Amritsar-UAE connectivity is expected to reach 31 weekly flights each way to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, subject to airline schedule changes.

He also hoped Air India Express and other Indian carriers would consider more direct services from Amritsar to destinations such as Muscat, Kuwait, and other Middle East cities where many Punjabis live and work.

The Initiative also reiterated its appeal to the Government of India to designate Amritsar as a point of call for UAE-based airlines such as Emirates, flydubai and Etihad to increase competition, lower fares and expand global transit options for the diaspora.

TeaTimeTreats: Presentations that dished entire nation's diversity

3RD RAMA SAHARIA MEMORIAL AWARDS: PRESENTATIONS THAT DISHED ENTIRE NATION'S DIVERSITY

AVINASH SINGH

They represented the entire nation! Cutting across all barriers of caste, colour and creed they truly depicted the adage: Unity in diversity!

Eight top performing women in various fields from higher education, to excellence in media, social work, para sport, yoga, innovation, defiance and a lifetime dedicated to mentally and physically challenged were honoured at a simple yet elegant function at NEA Auditorium in Noida. They had hit the pinnacle against all odds, going up the ladder hard way.

The occasion was the 3rd Dr Rama Saharia Memorial Awards organised by MBKM Foundation.

Adorning the stage were such doyens, old hands and veterans as Mr Subodh Kant Sahay, Mr Anil Shastri (both former Union Ministers of State), Mr Harkesh Bahadur (prominent Parliamentarians of yesteryears) and Dr Queeny Pradhan (an authority on legal n women's history).

The three-hour stupendous session was chaired by none other than Dr Yogendra Narain, IAS (Retd), former Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, Secretary Defence and Surface Transport. Foundation patron R S Atroley joined them on the dais conducted with aplomb by Dr Ashok Srivastava. Prof Avinash Singh had the honour to introduce the eight proud winners with technical and logistics support coming from Jagdish Gautam. Mainstay, goes without saying, came from Prof Pradeep Kumar Mathur.

The winners were: Prof Manjinder Kaur (education - Patiala), Ms NaiNa Gautam (podcasting on sustainability, London/New Delhi), Ms Urmal Munjwani (ashtanga yoga, Mysore/ Raipur), Ms Garima Joshi (para sports, Ranikhet/training at SAI for Para Asiad), Ms Sukhdeep Kaur (Lifetime Achievement Award, Jamshedpur), Ms Atlanta Mahanta (innovation, Gandhinagar), Ms Aayushi Karanwal (defiance against adversities, Guwahati) and Ms Tabassum Khan (women empowerment, Ghaziabad).

Recipients were lustily cheered with biggestet aplause being reserved reserved for Ms Garima Joshi and Sukhdeep Kaur.

The presenters to the awardees included Prof Mohd Rihan (authority on solar technology), Mr Prabhloch Singh (human rights activist), Mr Rajiv Tikoo (celebrated journalist, green energies and sustainibity campaigner), Mr Avtar Singh (Cyclist and Spl Olympics trainer), Mohd Salim Engineer (E&C expert), Dr Salim Khan (authority on neutron chemistry), Dr Parul Mehra (media guru), Adv Sudhanshu Choudhari and Adv Atiqul Rehman (both Senior lawyers, SC) Param Grewal, S N S.N. Sinha , and Nitin Goyal (celebrated photography trio),

Mr Vinesh Malik and Mr Arvind Sukhija (corporate trainers and mentors), Mr Amitabh Srivastava Mr Swaran Swaran Singh Danewalia, and Mr Sachin Arora (journalists and anchors), Adv Roohi Mukherjee and digital journalist Khurram Habib.

The occasion was used to release 'The Endeavour', a 24-page newsletter of the Foundation. The program started with a soothing and divine-like rendition on flute by Dr Vikas Rajput.

Vote of Thanks was presented by Adv. C K. Srivastava, Vice-Chairman of the Foundation.

Dr Neena Singla, Ms Shaheen Parshad and Sakshi Chauhan were missed because the Foundation has no policy of giving awards in absentia. Shotlisted in various categories they expressed their inability to make it.

Prof Pradeep Mathur and Mr Rajeev Mathur, the Chairman and Secretary General, talked about the journey of the Foundation thus far and plans to organise a national-level journalist conclave, as suggested by Mr Subodh Kant Sahay, besides the Manmohan Swaroop Memorial Lecture shortly.

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TeaTimeTreats: Leave Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to his game

 Leave Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to his game

 By Sandeep Sinha

It is with great interest that one has read about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the young cricketer who made headlines with his big hitting in the IPL while playing for Rajasthan Royals, getting embroiled in an unseemly controversy involving Sri Lankan players during a match of the India-A team in that island country. Opinions have been voiced about the compatibility of talent and temperament and how it is necessary to succeed in the game at the highest level. Earlier, during the IPL, doubts were raised when the batsman got out early, underlining the huge expectations from a 15-year-old boy selected to open the innings for his explosive batting potential in the IPL.

 There was also a video doing the rounds in which the ‘Samastipur Ka Lara’ ticked off Harsha Bhogle for a question with personal overtones: “Sir, aapko Nahin lagta ki aapko cricket ke bare mein jyada poochna chahiye, mere pyar ke bare mein kam.”

 First, about the run-in of Sooryavanshi with the Sri Lankan players. While stand-offs on the field are to be avoided and discipline and sportsman spirit should prevail, the Indian team itself is no stranger to such controversies. Recently, I watched a clip of Sunil Gavaskar telling viewers how the Pakistan bowler Sarfaraz Nawaz would hurl expletives at him after a delivery. He said,“It was the Punjabi version of Ben Stokes.” Gavaskar was known to be quite vocal in his playing days. He famously tried to lead a walk-out against Australia in a Test match after being given out to Dennis Lillee who reportedly told him to “get lost.” The “Monkeygate” incident involving Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds is also fresh in the memory of cricket lovers.

 Again, it was Bishan Singh Bedi who was instrumental in the Vaseline incident involving England fast bowler John Lever. In the days of yore, batsmen would walk when they were out, not waiting for the umpire to lift the dreaded finger. It was regarded as the ultimate gesture in the gentlemen’s game. But in today’s time of a third umpire, every decision is contested, and the reliance on technology is becoming more preferred than leaving the gap open for human error.

So fierce is the competition and so high have the stakes become. In the Golden Jubilee Test match between India and England at Bombay in 1980, the Indian captain Gundappa Vishwanath chose to recall Bob Taylor, who was given out caught behind, because he thought there was no snick of the bat. India ultimately lost the Test match. Besides Vishwanath, the Indian team has had some great gentlemen players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Anil Kumble, but the sport has come a long way since. Who could have imagined a Test match taking place in India in the month of June, between the host country and Afghanistan? Earlier, cricket season was reserved for the more salubrious months of the year.

 The point is, don’t condone Vaibhav Sooryavanshi if he is wrong. Correct him, counsel him, penalize him. But don’t make a monster out of him. Don’t keep blowing up every act of his out of proportion. He is just a fifteen-year-old boy out to try his talent and luck. He may succeed or may not succeed. As of now, he is as good or as bad as the other players in the IPL, some of whom were also immensely talented. Leave the boy alone to play his game, learn the ropes, and grow up. 

TeaTimeTreats: Dr Kler, BLK-Max Score a First With Pulse Field Ablation Procedure

 Dr Kler, BLK-Max Score a First With Pulse Field Ablation Procedure 

Landmark Achievement Ushers New Era in Advanced Cardiac Electrophysiology 

#AvinashSingh 

Milestone is significant! Indian healthcare and cardiac electrophysiology got a boost when BLK-Max Heart & Vascular Institute at New Delhi, successfully performed the first Pulse Field Ablation (PFA) procedure in India yesterday (June 4) for the treatment of Atrial Fibrillation. AF is one of the most common and potentially serious heart rhythm disorders worldwide.

The groundbreaking procedure was performed by Dr. T. S. Kler, chairman & head of the Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology at BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital, under the supervision of Prof. Jasbir Singh Sra. Dr Sra is an internationally renowned cardiac electrophysiologist from Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin (USA). 

AF occurs when the upper chambers of the heart develop a chaotic electrical storm to the tune of over 500 impulses, and the heart rate becomes fast and irregular, leading to symptoms such aspalpitations, breathlessness, fatigue, dizziness, and an increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and other cardiovascular complications.

For the last many years, ablation of Atrial Fibrillation has been performed using radio frequency (thermal energy) or cryoablation by freezing cardiac tissue. Both techniques have certain limitations and complications, such as phrenic nerve palsy causing paralysis of the left half of the diaphragm muscle, and another very rare, but potentially serious condition, involving the formation of a communication between the cavity of the left atrium and the food pipe (esophagus).

Unlike conventional thermal ablation techniques, Pulse Field Ablation utilizes a process known as irreversible electroporation, enabling highly precise tissue targeting while minimizing the risk of damage to surrounding structures such as the esophagus, phrenic nerve, and pulmonary veins.

Enhanced safety, reduced risk of collateral damage, shorter and quicker procedure time, faster 

recovery, improved  

procedural efficiency and long-term outcomes are some of the advantages of atrial fibrillation management.

India’s first PFA procedure, to quote Dr T S Kler, a Padma Bhushan recipient, marks the beginning of a transformative chapter in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and will significantly benefit patients seeking advanced rhythm management within India. 

It is being termed as a major technological leap in the field of cardiac electrophysiology given Dr. Kler’s pioneering contributions in the field in last three decades.  

Dr. Kler was one of the first physicians to establish a Radiofrequency Ablation program in India and the first to create a dedicated Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology in the country in 1993.

He also pioneered several landmark cardiac device implantations in India like Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD), Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Pacemakers (CRT-P) and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillators (CRT-D). His contributions extend beyond India, having introduced Radiofrequency Ablation programs in neighbouring countries, including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

Dr. Kler was also instrumental in establishing the Indian Heart Rhythm Society (IHRS), serving as its Founding President. 

Dr. Jasbir S. Sra congratulated the team at BLK-Max Heart & Vascular Institute for successfully bringing this cutting-edge technology to India and emphasized that Pulse Field Ablation is rapidly emerging as a global standard for atrial fibrillation ablation due to its unique safety and efficacy profile.

Dr Kler expressed his gratitude to Dr. Jasbir Sra (Milwaukee) for his guidance and support "in helping us initiate our PFA program. My sincere thanks also go to the Boston Scientific team in the USA, especially Zak, as well as the Boston Scientific India team for their valuable support," he added. 

Dr Kler thanked also his team comprising Dr. Sardana, Dr. Avinash, and Dr. Sumit Kumar, "for their dedication and efforts in taking our Electrophysiology program to the next level".