HEALTH

Oral surgeons’ meet from Jan 13
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 10 — The City Beautiful will play host to the 25th annual national conference of the Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons of India (AOMSI) from January 13 to 16 at the CII Convention Centre, Sector 31-A. It will be inaugurated by Prof N.K. Ganguly, Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, and Acting Director of the PGI, on January 14.

A mega conference, it will have marathon multi-subject pre-conference courses, including a hands-on programme on January 13. Guest lectures by eminent oral and maxillo -facial surgeons of national and international standing will also be organised.

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a super speciality of dentistry which deals with diseases of the oral cavity and facial structures and their treatment by surgical means. Extraction of teeth, removal of wisdom molars, dento-alveolar surgeries, removal of cysts and tumors, reconstruction, facial aesthetic surgery (orthognathic surgery), injuries to the jaws and facial bones, temporomandibular joints surgery, implants, etc., fall into the realm of this surgery. The programme will also feature Ginwala oration by Dr Eric Carison on January 14, silver jubilee lecture by Dr J.N. Khanna on January 15 and Col Madan memorial lecture by Dr Ashish Ghosh on January 16.

According to Dr Vimal Kalia, Organising Secretary, the theme of the conference “25 years of excellence’’ reflects the emergence of this speciality as a separate entity, its progress over the years and the achievements of the speciality.

4,800 tested for blood sugar
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 10 — Nearly 4,800 persons have got their blood tests done for evaluation of blood sugar and total cholesterol status at a three-day camp organised by a local laboratory at its centres in Sectors 15 and 20 as part of raising healthcare consciousness in society.

The free camp, which concluded here today, drew a good response from various sections of society. Despite cold weather, the camp had witnessed a turnout of more than 1,400 people on the first day and the numbers swelled during the next two days. The blood tests were conducted with the help of a fully automated computerised biochemistry analyser.

According to the Managing Director of the laboratory, Mr R.R. Khanna, the camp was the first in a series of programmes directed at propagating the concept of health for all in the form of a ''millennium health package''.

SPORT

Rally point rule can be a hit
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Jan 10 — Badminton's coverage is neglected by the electronic media and the reasons for it are not far to seek. Prakash Padukone had suggested some changes in scoring like the introduction of the rally point system, similar to the one in table tennis, to make the game faster and a crowd-puller. The Chief Executive of the International Badminton Federation, Mr Neil Cameron, who was recently in India, had said some changes might be made in the scoring structure to make it more attractive for television.

Mr T.P.S. Puri, a former national badminton coach and an IBF member, said to sell the game to sponsors, the rally point system should be introduced. In this system, the player who wins the rally gets the point, instead of waiting to gain points only on his serve.

Mr D.K. Mukerjee, Chairman of the Chandigarh Badminton Association, said the game used to be a contest between stroke and deception, but now, it was between a fast player and a faster player. He also said with a lot of prize money at the international level, such changes could be beneficial for the game.

Mr Vinod Vatrana, a former international badminton player based at Patiala, said this was a novel thing if the IBF could implement it properly. He said the corporate sector wanted returns on its investment in the game and such an innovation would cater to its needs.

Mr Puri said a drawback of the new formula was that there was more psychological pressure on players. He said Europeans would benefit more from this structure than Asians.

"Often, badminton gets boring when the game gets stretched upto two hours," said Mr Vatrana.

Vikram Talwar, a former Punjab player, said such a arrangement was long pending. He said games like tennis had arrived later than badminton in India but had become more popular, rich and attractive. He said as badminton was one of the fastest games, it could be a more thrilling spectator sport.

Dharminder Batra, another Punjab player, said Indians would benefit more from the system than the Chinese who mainly played power game. He said the technique would also count much in the new point system.

Saroj Chauhan, a former Himachal Pradesh badminton champion, now working in the AG (Haryana) Office, said, "At last, the IBF has realised the need for making the game faster and attractive or TV."

Mr Mukerjee also said the present deuce system should not be disturbed at all, as it had the curiosity element and tested the temperament of the player.

Virinder Mehta, another former player of repute working in the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, said badminton was played by more than 125 countries and was an Olympic game, also. However, in terms of the prize money, it came after golf and tennis.

Vatrana, who represented India in doubles matches in 1976, said the doubles style also needed to be revised. He said at present, not much weightage was given to the doubles event, but if the format was changed a bit, it would also get more popular.

Mehta, who also represented the UT at various national meets, said the Indian style of play was different from the Chinese and other Asian countries. He said the deceptive game of Indians could be a success under the proposed format.

Past year, the IBF had changed the deuce system by discontinuing deuce at 13-13. It was now allowed at 14-14 only.

This restructuring will go a long way in inviting more sponsors and media coverage.

Dull draws in PU soccer
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Jan 10 — In the Panjab University Inter-College Inter-Zonal Football Tournament being played here today at the PU grounds, both matches could not yield any result.

In the first match, Government College for Girls, Sector 11, and Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, played a goaless tie.

In the second match, MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh, and GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, were locked at 1-1 at end of the normal time. Harpreet scored the goal for the MCM team in the 55th minute of the match which Gurpreet Kaur of the GGSC team equalised in the 70th minute.

ADMINISTRATION

‘Business as usual’ in houses
From Kulwinder Sangha

SAS NAGAR, Jan 10 — Misuse of residential premises for business purposes continues unchecked in the town with the PUDA authorities failing to check the offenders.

While the offenders make full use of the “favourable” conditions to make money, nearby residents and shopkeepers running their establishments legally look on helplessly and are compelled to put up the nuisance. The situation is turning worse every day.

Such illegal use of the residential premises can be seen right under the nose of the PUDA authorities in certain houses opposite the Phase I market. In these houses, near the PUDA main office, STD booths, offices of property dealers, clinics, chemist shops and even photo studios can be seen. The business are not done in a hush hush manner, for well-painted signboards can be seen all along the row of houses on the main road. The current rent for the part of these houses on the ground floor, facing the road, is reported to be between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 per month, depending on the size of the accommodation.

The opening of these shops is not only resented by most shopkeepers in the Phase I market across the road is their businesses are adversely affected but also by residents as customers park their vehicles on the road, adding to the traffic congestion. The entire stretch of road from Franco Hotel to the PUDA office has turned into a major traffic hazard.

In Phase VII, one comes across a number of business premises in houses opposite the main market near Ambwala chowk. The premises range from those of property dealers and Photostat-machine owners to watch-repair men, STD-booth owners and doctors.

In Phase XI matters are perhaps still worse. One can see a row of shops in the garages of certain HIG flats. One of the shopkeepers said the rent for garages on the main road was around Rs 3,000 per month and on B roads Rs 2,000.

This “garage market” has shopkeepers dealing in dairy products and hardware items, kiryana merchants and photographers.

Mr Amrik Singh, Municipal Councillor, said the misuse of houses for business had become a headache for nearby residents. He criticised the PUDA authorities for failing to stop this violation of the rules.

He said in two garages in Phase XI, halwais were doing business and the smoke and the noise of utensils were a great nuisance to those living on the first floors and nearby houses. He had complained to PUDA in this connection, but, no action was forthcoming.

Shops can also be seen on residential premises in Phase IIIBI, on the road leading from Phase VII towards Madanpur chowk, in the Phase V housing board quarters and in Phase IV opposite Madanpura village. There are also scores of isolated houses in almost all phases where shopkeepers are making a mockery of the rules.

Officials of PUDA said on condition of anonymity that the legal process was such that the outright eviction of those violating the rules was simply not possible. A large number of house owners had been served with resumption notices but some had approached courts.

The officials said even under the Municipal Act, the PUDA authorities had no powers even to remove a rehri owner who might decide to park himself right in front of the main office of PUDA here.

Shopkeepers operating in houses say that notices do come from PUDA, but, nobody takes these seriously. Every time a new senior officer is posted here, a fresh round of notices by PUDA is given, but, no major action is taken really. “So why bother much, go ahead and make hey while the Sun shines”, they said.

Admn to ensure minimum wages
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 10 — The local labour department is working towards ensuring that employers are paying the minimum prescribed wages to their workers.

In the past few months, the Labour Department of the Chandigarh Administration had challaned several employers who were not paying the minimum wages to their workforce. The new wages were notified from October 1, 1999, and would be valid till March 31, 2000. A source said the challans would be sizeable in number.

The new minimum monthly wages have been fixed as Rs 2116 for the unskilled worker. In the semi-skilled category, Rs 2,261 is payable, while skilled workers are to be paid a minimum of Rs 2,423. The department authorities say labour rates in Chandigarh are good but some people are not paying even the minimum.

One of the segments where the pattern of minimum wages is not followed is the unskilled workforce. A huge number of persons employed under this category.

Meanwhile, the minimum wages fixed for the skilled category might be low, pointed out a source. In most cases, skilled labour is not available for less than Rs 4,000 a month. Besides, new wages have been announced for employees on basis of their designation . These include supervisors, foremen, floor managers and managers of various establishments.

Protest by jhuggi-dwellers
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Jan 10 — Scores of jhuggi-dwellers, whose hutments were demolished by the enforcement staff of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) in the past few days, staged a protest dharna in front of the PUDA complex in Phase 1 here today.

The protesters under the banner of Colony Mazdoor Sangarsh Samiti were demanding alternative accommodation. A memorandum of demands was given to officials of PUDA. It may be pertinent to mention that during the past few days, 400 jhuggis had been demolished in different phases. At least 250 jhuggis adjacent to the Jhota Kut colony in Sector 71 were razed.

Following reports of jhuggi-dwellers again putting up their temporary hutments adjacent to the Jhota Kut colony, the enforcement staff today conducted a survey to ascertain the exact number of jhuggi-dwellers who did not have a stay order from the court.

Zoo phone lying dead since Dec
From our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, Jan 10 — The telephone at the Chhat Bir Zoo is lying dead since December last year. Hundreds of visitors are facing a lot of inconvenience as they cannot contact the zoo authorities regarding the holidays and other events going on there.

Visitors coming from far-off places, are facing great inconvenience about the zoo timings also. Moreover, in case of any emergency or any mishap within the park, the authorities cannot approach the officials concerned.

The zoo employees complain that in spite of repeated representations to the Junior Telecommunication Officer and DET, Panchkula, no action has been taken in this regard.

Number of complaint centres cut
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 10 — Virtually scrapping its original proposal to set up 10 complaint centres in the city, the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) now proposes to set up only three complaint centres.

According to sources, while one centralised 24-hour computerised centre is being planned in the building of the MCC in Sector 17, one complaint centre each will be set up in the northern and southern parts of the city. The exact locations of the complaint centres are being finalised.

The Finance and Contract Committee (FCC) had already approved the requisite staff for the three centres and the matter was likely to come up at a meeting of the House slated for January 17.

It may be recalled that earlier the MCC had proposed to set up 10 complaint centres for the 20 wards of the city. The House had then rejected the proposal for recruiting three persons for each complaint centre, saying that it would be a drain on MCC's limited resources. Following this, the new proposal had been worked out.

Even after the new arrangement was in place, many areas, including Mani Majra, would still be left uncovered. The MCC has four complaint centres in Sectors 15, 26, 32 and 37 and complaints mainly regarding water supply are entertained at these centres.