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| Thursday, June 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Health awareness
camps held CHANDIGARH,
On the seventh day of the fortnight long campaign, State Aids Control Society, UT, conducted an awareness programme for labourers at the Sector 20 Labour Chowk. Talks and lectures were delivered by Dr Avinash Jolly, Mr Manojit Biswas and Dr Ajit Saroha. The labourers were told about various modes of transmission and precautions they could take to save themselves from HIV/AIDS. A street play on AIDS was also enacted. Correct usage of condom was demonstrated repeatedly and a thousand condoms were distributed to the labourers on demand. More than 100 cases were referred to various STD clinics for treatment. The second check-up camp was conducted in Butrela in collaboration with Family Planning Association of India, Mohali branch. The NGO has also undertaken the intervention project on HIV/AIDS prevention and control among the rickshaw pullers and their families. Nearly 40 patients were found to be suffering from STDs/RTIs and provided with necessary treatment. Nearly 300 persons, including rickshaw-pullers , their families and others, attended the camp. |
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50 donate
blood CHANDIGARH,
The blood collected during the camp was donated to the Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir, for the benefit of the soldiers fighting for the country. The camp was conducted by a team comprising Lt. Col S.S Purai, officer-in-charge, and other staff members of blood bank, Command Hospital. |
Jacob targets Sector 25 shooting range CHANDIGARH,
June 7 — The Patiali Rao Range in Sector 25 is the venue of the shooting events of the National Games which are to be held in November. Mr K.S. Sidhu, Secretary of the Punjab Rifle Shooting Association, today, told the Governor of Punjab and the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen (retd) J.F.R. Jacob, about the pathetic conditions prevailing at the range. Mr Sidhu said there was an urgent need to renovate the old ranges and create some new ones. International shooters like Abhinav Bindra and Sabeeha Dhillon used to practice at this range under the watchful eyes of Col Jagir Dhillon. Mr Sidhu told the Governor that half of the 10-metre range could be covered and equipped with the AC. Even a Hungarian coach, Lazelllo Agnes, on her visit to the range during the Northern India Shooting Meet, had expressed disappointment at the facilities available here. She praised shooters of the region who despite such poor facilities, were performing well. International shooters like Manavjit Singh, Zorawar Singh represent Punjab, but, due to a lack of trap and skeet range facilities here, practice at the Tughlakabad ranges in Delhi. Mr Sidhu even showed the Governor trap and skeet ranges here. He told the Governor that equipment for the National Games, purchased by the Punjab Sports Department, was kept at Patiala. It had been bought a few years ago when the National Games had been awarded to Punjab and later cancelled. General Jacob also tried his hand at the 50 m range with an air rifle and later also shot with a skeet gun (Browning make). He said, "I have missed the target at times because I am out of practice. Otherwise, when I was young, I used to practice shooting a lot." He told the PRSA officials that if big projects would take a lot of time to finish, immediate repairs could be completed. He invited Mr Sidhu for tomorrow's meeting with Mr S.S. Dhindsa, Union Sports Minister, to discuss the matters related to the shooting range. In the last National Games in Manipur, Punjab had got maximum medals in trap and skeet shooting events. This year's games will include the .22 standard, sport, free rifle, pistol, trap and skeet events. In a meeting of the National Games Organising Committee held in April, the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr P.S. Badal, had hoped that Punjab would get maximum medals in the meet. Mr Sidhu said shooting was one event where Punjab could easily get most medals. Punjab's players like Manavjit and Zorawar were already Commonwealth Games medallists. Abhinav Bindra, Jaspreet Dhaliwal and Jasmeen Brar can further add to the medals tally. There are two 25 m ranges here with 20 bases on each side of these. The Punjab Rifle Shooting Association urgently needs new ranges for trap and skeet events, besides a butt wall for the 25 m range. Behind the range, jhuggi dwellers live and in the absence of any boundary wall, freely intrude the range. One of the attendants of the range said even electricity wires were stolen from the range about three months ago and now, it was without electricity. For a proper range, an administrative block, a club house, good toilets and car-parking facilities are required. The land for this was abundant and only funds were a problem, said Mr Sidhu. They had estimated an expenditure of Rs 40 lakh on this expenditure. About Rs 40 crore was already earmarked as the total budget by the Organising Committee for the National Games-2000. Mr Ramsekhar, Director Sports of the UT, said once these facilities were made available, the PRSA should promise that these would be handed over to the UT Administration. Others officials who were present there were Mr J.P.S. Sidhu, Joint Director Sports of the UT. Some shooters of the city were also present.
Volleyball court functional CHANDIGARH,
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City soccer academy by month-end CHANDIGARH, The UT Administrator, visited the Patiali Rao Shooting Range in Sector 25 and later the Sector 42 Sports Complex today. He was accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner and Director Sports, Mr M. Ramsekhar. Later, General Jacob said he was "shocked" to see the state of affairs in the shooting range. "The place is in a bad shape," he said. During his visit to the Sector 42 Sports Complex, the Governor asked officials concerned about the canteen, food, dormitories and toilet facilities for players, besides the condition and preparation of the grounds. "It looks like the Calcutta doobh to me," he said, pointing towards the grass on the grounds. At the end this hour-long visit, General Jacob said he was satisfied with the arrangements. "Hostels are good and there are enough facilities. I hope the grounds will be ready by June 30." "My aim is to put Chandigarh on the football map of the world," he said. "I find it surprising that despite we being a country of one billion persons, we can't produce a decent team of 11 players. At present, we can't even compete at the regional, let alone the world level. Punjab and Haryana have such good strong boys. Ideally, we should have a wonderful team." Lieut-Gen Jacob asked the officials to explore the possibly of extending the dimensions of the football ground from 110 yard x 70 yard to 120 yard x 80 yard. "We don't have the infrastructure and the funds to keep changing the dimensions often afterwards. Ask the Chief Architect whether the parking area can be used or not," he told the Joint Director of Sports of the Chandigarh Administration, Dr J.P.S. Sidhu. The Administrator, however, said a smaller full-fledged 20 yard x 30 yard training ground should be made soon for the corner and goal kicks practice. "Besides, I also want a dressing room for players." Regarding the appointment of coaches, he said that he would prefer to have one from a football playing country like Germany or France. "It is also essential these days to have a full-time sport-medicine expert, besides a psychologist," he said. Initially, the football academy will have three coaches. Out of these, two will be of the Chandigarh Administration and one of the Sports Authority of India. Lieut-Gen Jacob said he had the monetary support of the Centre. "However, I also hope to have donations from individuals and business houses. I plan to go out with a begging bowl. It is important that children, along with excellent training facilities, are also given a good education." "Our aim is to make Chandigarh the best place for football training in the northern region. Hopefully, we will achieve it by July end," he said. Regarding the relaying of the synthetic turf in the Hockey Stadium at a cost of Rs 1.90 crore, he said the initial sanction for it had been given. "The Government of India will meet 50 per cent of the cost of this work and the rest will be funded by the UT Administration. My priority is to get people interested in the game. The electronic board and other paraphernalia for the stadium can be thought about later," he said. The UT Administrator also gathered a first-hand information regarding the projects in progress for the sport promotion and excellence. He asked the Regional Director of the Sports Authority of India, Mr P.C. Kashyap, about the opening of the Centre of Excellence in Hockey for Girls. The trials for this will be held on July 13 and 14. Mr Kashyap also told General Jacob about the establishment of the Sports Science Centre in the complex. Mr Kashyap said the center was scheduled to be inaugurated on August 15. The centre will be established in the basement of Hockey Stadium, adjoining the regional headquarters of the SAI Netaji Subhas Northern Centre. The Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh, Mr M. Ramsekhar said all infrastructure to establish the centre would be provided as early as possible. Mr Kashyap said plans were underway to take the services of Dr Sardeindu Sharma, an orthopaedic surgeon of the Sector 16 General Hospital, for the centre. "I have also contacted some other scientists of Delhi and Patiala for this centre," he said. Earlier in the day, the Administrator also went to the Patiali Rao Shooting Range in Sector 25. "It is a very neglected place," he said. He also said the Punjab Rifle Association was ready to give the body in Chandigarh its surplus equipment. "Tomorrow, when I meet Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, the Union Minister for Mines, Youth Affairs and Sports, I plan to apprise him of the situation. We need a lot of money to improve the shooting range." This range is the venue of the National Games. In order to have all facilities at the range in time for these games, the Administrator will call a meeting of the Organising Committee of the National Games 2000 tomorrow, in which Mr Dhindsa will also take
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Drive to improve
basic amenities SAS NAGAR, The Administrator of the council, Mr Jaipal Singh, who yesterday called a meeting of the field staff of the council, said the staff had been given three week's time to complete the drive. In the area of sanitation the town had been divided into three parts. Instructions to clean the roadberms and the road gullies had also been given to the staff. While admitting that at least 40 per cent of the street lights were not functional, the administrator said: "We are planning to depute two youths on daily wages to report to us the non-functional street light points. The Executive Engineer along with officials concerned of the council would also take round of the town." Action against persons who pasted posters and other material on signboards would also be taken, Mr Jaipal said, adding that efforts would be made to make the town as the best civic body in Punjab. |
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HUDA land being misused PANCHKULA,
The area attracts flies and mosquitoes, posing a health hazard. The passersby and inhabitants are also exposed to foul smell. The Panchkula Welfare Federation, in a letter to the Chief Administrator, HUDA, said requests made to the authorities for the past 2 years for getting the area cleared and maintained had no effect. They demanded prompt action in the matter. |
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No item on agenda taken up CHANDIGARH, As soon as the meeting started, Mr O.P. Goyal of the ruling BJP was on his feet, alleging that the election of the chairmen and deputy chairmen of the seven sub-committees of the corporation had not been held as per rules. Demanding the suspension of their functioning, Mr Goyal said that they should not function till legal opinion from the UT Legal Remembrancer was received. At this time, the three Congress members — Ms Kamlesh, Mr Raj Kumar Goyal and Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala — were on their feet, alleging they had been left out of the important sub-committees. Wanting to know the reason why their options were not sought when the committees were formed, they trooped to the well of the house, with the result that over one hour was lost in the fruitless discussion without any item of the agenda being taken up. Pleas by Mr Des Raj
Tandon (BJP) and a nominated councillor, Mr Maj-Gen Gurdial Singh (retd), to members to stick to agenda failed to have any impact. What surprised the members most was that the Mayor, Ms Shanta Abhilashi, did not even make any feeble attempt for the continuation of meeting and adjourned the meeting abruptly. Several members, including Mr O.P. Goyal and Mr R.L. Arora, resented the manner in which Air Marshal R.S. Bedi (retd), chairman of the committee constituted to probe the change of design of a causeway linking city with SAS Nagar, was made to vacate the committee room on May 17. Air Marshal Bedi had later resigned from the committee. The decision of the officers not to invite the members of the Finance and Contract Committee and the Environment and City Beautification Committee for the presentation on the beautification of Sector 17 also came in for severe criticism. The next meeting will be held on June 15. Encroachments removed: In the drive, which started around 9 a.m. and continued for over six hours, hedges, iron grills, barbed fences and cemented floors from V-5 and V-6 roads were removed. Faulty streetlights: |
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