Warne shuts out Proteas’ challenge
By Sushil Kapoor

Chandigarh, June 18 —Australia rode on the spinning web of Shane Warne, who got back his golden touch at the most opportune time, which saw his team, Australia, edge out the tournament favourites, South Africa, in a cliff-hanger in the semi-final of the World Cup on Thursday. The match ended in a tie but Australia got past South Africa on the basis of their victory in the Super Six.

Till that golden moment Shane Warne had been treated with disdain, especially by the Indian batsmen, and his success rate was average. But what a transformation there was on Thursday. It sent the South African taunted batting line-up on the backfoot and in the process he claimed the prized scalps of Gary Kirsten, Gibbs, Hansie Cronje and Jacque Kallies conceding only 29 runs. The result of this match brought back nostalgic memories of a similar contest in the last World Cup semi-final clash between Australia and the West Indies at S.A.S.Nagar where Australia were able to defend a small total of 207 runs and edge out the West Indies, who at one stage were sitting pretty at 170 for three. Shane Warne on that occasion also came up with a magical spell which mesmerised the West Indies batsman and they finally crumbled to a three-run defeat.

The clash between South Africa and Australia was no less than a clash of the Titans and it was difficult for the weakhearted to sustain the suspense. There was nothing much to choose between the two teams on this day. Hansie Cronje showed great confidence in his fast bowlers by electing to field and they also responded splendidly by restricting the Australians to a manageable score of 213 runs. Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald shared the spoils with a haul of five and four wickets , respectively, and kept a tight lease on the Australian batting line-up which was propped by a 90-run partnership between the cool as a cucumber Steve-Waugh and the reliable Michael Bevan.

After mopping up the Australian tail, the South Africans made a sedate but confident start, reaching 48 before Shane Warne struck like lightening and reduced them to 61 for four.

They regrouped through Kallis and Jonty Rhodes who posted a spirited stand of 84 runs and then the sea-saw struggle for supremacy ensured the match was going the Australian way when Lance Klusener tore into the Australian attack and brought the South Africans at par with their rival's score with three deliveries to go. It was then that the whole scene changed with Lance Klusener running for a sharp single and was let down by Allan Donald who at the non-striker's end kept looking at the ball while his partner had charged and reached the danger end. Allan Donald forgot the basics which teach a non-striker to back up and run as the call for a run on a ball placed to the straight field is always the striker's call. Thus ended the South African challenge. They have been the most complete team in the last two World Cups but failed to make it to the finals on both occasion.

Pakistan on the other hand must be quite relieved to see the Australians as their opponents in the final because they have had a fair measure of Shane Warne successfully in the past encounters.

Eradication of malaria
Involvement of people essential
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 18 — Active involvement of the people and their education is essential for the success of the anti-malaria programme in the country, said Dr Amar Pal Singh, Secretary of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC), while inaugurating a panel discussion on sensitive issues for the prevention and control of malaria here yesterday.

Stressing the need to evolve a common strategy to launch a war against the disease, he said we should introduce computer technology to combat it.

The Director of Health Services, Dr Joginder Singh, emphasised the need for revising the strategy since malaria continued to be one of the most serious diseases as was borne out by the death of over 100 persons in Nalabari district of Assam recently.

Welcoming experts from Punjab, Haryana, the Government of India, the Army, the Indian Air Force, the CRPF, the ITBP and Chandigarh, the Assistant Director, Malaria, Dr G.C. Bansal, informed that the panel discussion had been organised by the malaria wing of the MCC so that experts from various agencies could interact for better implementation of the anti-malaria campaign as per the guideline of the Central Government.

Saying that there had been an appreciable decline in the cases of malaria in the city in the past three years, Dr Bansal claimed that the incidence of the disease had come down by 70 per cent in during the last year.

Later, a discussion on disease surveillance in the management of outbreak situation/epidemic conditions, early diagnosis, prompt treatment, impact of eco-system on the transmission of malaria, expansion of slums and labour colonies, a challenge for the control of vector-borne diseases and the role of the community in the prevention and control of malaria was held.

The delegates from Haryana, while sharing their experiences in the Mewat region, felt the need for strengthening the disease surveillance supported by selective vector-control measures. The delegates stressed the need for early detection and treatment of the disease.

The panellists wanted a complete ban on the expansion of slums with strict enforcement of bylaws so that the slums, which lacked adequate water disposal system, did not become epidemic-prone areas.

The Anti-Malaria Officer, Mr H.C. Gera, who coordinated the discussion, expressed concern at the unplanned growth which had disturbed the the demographic pattern of Chandigarh. Dr Bansal informed that even in a planned city like Chandigarh 30 per cent to 35 per cent of the population lived in the slum areas which made the job of the health authorities all the more difficult.

The members appealed to the community to join hands with the government departments for understanding their role in the prevention and control of diseases, including malaria.

The panellists resolved that for effective control of malaria and other vector-borne diseases, the concept of "early diagnosis-prompt treatment" should be rigidly followed. They suggested that religious leaders, teachers and children should be involved in educating the people in the prevention and control of malaria.

Prominent among others, who spoke, were the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Kanhya Lal Sharma, Dr M.K. Garg, Director, Malaria, Haryana, Dr (Mrs) Kothari, Regional Director, Government of India, Grp Capt S.B. Rao and Col Nanda.

Residents go without power
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR, June 18 — Residents of Kharar and its surrounding villages had a sleepless night as power supply remained cut off from 5 p.m.yesterday to 5 this morning. The supply was restored from 5 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. today and it was out off again until 6 p.m. with no sign of its being restored.

The residents faced a lot of problems. The water supply was also affected.

Mr P.S. Kahlon, SDE, PSEB, when contacted, said that this situation had arisen as there was a fault in a transformer in the I32-KV substation at Bhago Majra (Kharar). He said that supply from SAS Nagar was restored for four hours this morning to enable the residents to have water supply.

He said the supply was restored to the Civil Hospital at around 11 last night.

Meanwhile, the residents have criticised the government for its claim that there was no shortage of power in the state while, on the other hand, the people were living without power.