HEALTH

He needs money for kidney transplant
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — 19-year-old Ashok whose both kidneys have failed, is not sure of what life has in store for him. The only hope for him is a kidney transplant which will increase his life span by a few years, but, for that also, he has no money.

Being the eldest in the family, it is his responsibility to look after his and his uncle's families. However, according to the doctors attending to Ashok in the PGI, his days are numbered as both his kidneys are not functioning properly. However, if kidney-transplant is done in time, he can live a few years more. For the transplant operation, he needs Rs 2 lakh more. His father, Shyam Lal, and his uncle say that they cannot collect such huge amount of money in such a short time. "Life is so uncertain. I do not know whether I can fight the disease and change my destiny or not,'' says Ashok who does not want to give up.

Shyam Lal is a daily-wage earner who finds it hard to take care of Ashok and his three younger brother and sisters with his meagre earnings. For three years, Ashok, a student of Class XII, was being treated at Hardwar for persistent cough and fever, but, as there was no improvement in his health, his family decided to bring him to the PGI. It was on April 1 that the doctors diagnosed that both his kidneys had failed. This was no Fool's-Day joke, but, a harsh reality.

Ashok was taken back to Hardwar, but, returned to the PGI as his condition deteriorated in the past one month.

His family members are ready to donate the kidney, but, for the operation money, they depend on some good samaritan who can save the life of their sole bread-earner.

Any organisation or person who wishes to contribute for his treatment can contact Postman Hari Singh in the Sector 47 post office or on telephone number 603719.

Programme on oral implantology
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — The second phase of the programme on oral implantology began at the Department of Oral Health Sciences, PGI, here today. The programme is being conducted by Dr H.S. Coonar, Professor Emeritus, Eastman Dental Hospital, London, and Dr Richard Welfare, Consultant in Restorative Surgery in the same hospital.

The team of doctors had earlier visited the department in January to give hands down training to the faculty and staff of the Oral Health Sciences Department about the technique of inserting implants into the bone, on whose support the teeth are built or dentures are fitted. They are now here to fit ball attachments on the screws, which are precise attachments meant for fitting the dentures. They are like tich buttons and help keep the denture stable in its place.

Dr R. Welfare explained that for root implants, titanium screws are surgically inserted into the jaw bones after a small surgical procedure under local anaesthesia. These fixtures over a period of 5 to 6 months fuse with the bone, the same are then opened and abutment posts attached to it. Dentures which are fabricated for such implants are different from the conventionally made dentures. Dr Welfare said these require the attachment of the female component of the attachment to be incorporated into them, which is a precise job and needs a fair amount of understanding.

Dr Welfare gave hands down training to the faculty on Zorawar Singh, a patient who had earlier got the screws surgically inserted. The team is here till the end of this week. Following the completion of this programme, PGI will be all set to start oral implant technology and use brainwork system of implants, which is being currently used in most advanced countries.

SPORT

Panchkula to have Olympic Bhavan
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, June 19 — Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister of Haryana, will lay the foundation stone Olympics Bhavan in Sector 15, Panchkula, on June 23.

This was disclosed by Mr Ram Niwas, Deputy Commissioner, Ambala-cum-District president, Haryana Olympics Association. He said that the Haryana Olympics Association was going to organise state-level Olympic Day on June 23 at Panchkula.

On the occasion, national and international sports competitions would be held. These included marathon race (10km) for men and women, volleyball (women) match between the Indian Railways and the North Zone, kabaddi (men) match between India and Pakistan, tug-of-war between MLAs and Punjab Speaker XI vs Haryana Speaker-XI.

Besides, traditional and folk dances of India will be held on the occasion in which artistes from Punjab, Haryana and other states would participate.

He said that there would be a Mushaira at the Pinjore garden on June 22, in the honour of the sports persons from foreign country.

Paddlers slug out in summer
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — Since June 5, 20 table tennis players players, including nine girls, are attending an annual summer coaching camp organised by the UT Sports Department in the Sector 23 hall which will conclude on June 22.

Rajiv Kaushal, a coach at the centre, said the camp was aimed at physical conditioning of these trainees though morning sprints, besides service and stroke practice. He said from tomorrow till the end of the camp, league matches between these players would be conducted.

The department has planned such camps for almost all disciplines at various coaching centres.

The players attending the camp are as follows: Boys — Ramit Singla, Varun Kassal, Sajal Kaushal, Aditya Puri, Amit, Divey Saini, Saurav, Manik, Preetinder, Manikant and Jeetinder.

Girls — Nadia Saini, Megha Kassal, Ruchi Gautam, Anuradha Bansal, Gagandeep Kaur, Harshdeep Kaur, Komal, Sadhika and Geetinder Kaur.

Olympic Day: "As many as 20,000 spectators are expected to witness the Olympic Day celebrations on June 23 at Panchkula," said Mr Surinder Kumar Monga, Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula and President of the District Olympic Association, here today. He was attending a meeting in preparation for this day.

There are plans to hold an India-Pakistan kabaddi match, a volleyball match and many other events on the occasion. The visiting Pakistan team will reach Attari railway station on June 20, from where it will be brought to Pinjore.

A mushaira in the honour of these guests will be organised on June 22 before the match on June 23. On June 25, India and Pakistan will play at Gurgaon, on June 26 at Dadri, on June 27 at Jind and on June 29 at Chautala. Mr Monga said all arrangements had been made for the smooth conduct of the celebrations.

Chess tourney: Pradeep Sundriyal and Harish Handa led with 2 points each after the final round of the first Tribune Chess Tournament here. Vinay Prakash Gupta, Narinder and Manish Mehta were at the second place.

Results: Pradeep Sundriyal b V.P. Gupta and Manish Mehta; Harish Handa b Narinder Gossain and Madan Singh; Narinder b Manish Mehta; Manish Mehta b Madan Singh; V.P. Gupta b Madan Singh.

Physiotherapy centre for PU
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — Panjab University campus will soon have a physiotherapy centre, which will be operational by July.

The proposed basic physiotherapy unit, to be set up in the first phase at the initial cost of Rs 2 lakh, will be located adjacent to gymnasium hall. The committee which is executing the plan for setting up of the centre has Dr Ajmer Singh, Director Sports, PU, as Chairman and Mr Surinder Mahajan, a senior badminton coach, as Convener, with Dr Ashok Ahuja, Senior Scientific Officer (Sports Medicine) at NIS, Patiala, as Technical Adviser.

The machines for which the orders will be placed as given approval by Dr Ahuja were short wave diathermy, ultrasonic diathermy, moist hydrotherapy unit, shoulder wheel, ankle exerciser, rotary wrist machine (wall monitor), heel exerciser and vibratory belt massage, to begin with. The centre will have steam bath and ice cube machine for hot and cold fomentation to athletes.

According to university sources, initially the centre will have part-time services of a physiotherapist and later full-fledged centre can be able to afford a regular physiotherapist. The small centre of this kind will benefit the various sport centres running on the university campus. The experts say with the commissioning of this basic centre, the first-aid type of facilities will be provided to the players. This will prevent the injury becoming chronic in future.

Cricket tourney: A knock of 55 runs by Prabhjot Singh and fine bowling by Paras Chaudhary, who claimed five wickets for 37 runs, were instrumental in Chandigarh team defeating Minor Districts team by 138 runs in the Punjab Summer Cricket Tournament. Chandigarh reached semi-final and will now play Jalandhar at Patiala from June 20.

Brief scores: Chandigarh — 246 all out in 85.3 overs (Prabhjot Singh 55, Gaurav Gupta 37, Vipul Sharma 30, Manav 30, Dinesh Mongia 25, Kailash 5 for 70, Harikishan Kali 2 for 47); Minor Districts — 108 all out in 41.1 overs (Kuldeep 27, Vikram 26, Paras Chaudhary 5 for 37, Dinesh Mongia 3 for 40, Vipul Sharma 2 for 0.

Skating carnival: The skaters of KB DAV Centenary School, Sector 7, won nine gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal in the skating carnival organised by Rollerbones, which concluded at Skating Rink, Sector 10, on Sunday. The gold medal winners were Manjeet Singh (3), Mehak Paul (3), Shivam Thakur (2) and Vipin Mohan(1). Sachin Mohan won the silver medal, while Vipin Mohan bagged a bronze medal also. Ms Madhu Bahl, Principal, applauded the efforts of the skaters.

Handball trials: The Handball Association will hold trials to select the UT senior handball team on June 21 at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, according to Mr Rahul Talwar, Secretary of the association. The selected players will take part in the Federation Cup Handball Tournament, to be held at Noida in Uttar Pradesh from June 27 to 30.

Coaches’ transfers cancelled
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — The transfer orders of two women coaches working with Sports Authority of India, Amra Chauhan in volleyball and Gurinder Kaur in hockey, both of whom were earlier transferred to new proposed Sports Training Centre at Badal (Muktsar) in Punjab, stand cancelled.

Both of them are now posted at STC, Sector 18, Chandigarh, where they joined on Monday. They were earlier working with UT Sports Department. On April 27, these coaches were transferred, but both had expressed their inability to join due to domestic reasons.

As per the order issued by Mr Ajit Singh, Assistant Director (Admn) SAI, Manjit Kaur, who was till now posted at STC, Sector 18, was asked to report at Northern Centre, Sector 42, though her new place of posting would be centre of excellence in hockey, whose selection trials have been fixed on July 13 and 14. As per Mr J.P.S. Sidhu, Joint Director, Sports (UT), Subhadra Chauhan will replace Amra Chauhan at Sector 46 centre while O.P. Ahlawat at Sector 18 hockey stadium will be new hockey coach, to be assisted by Kusum.

ADMINISTRATION

Probe ordered into school functioning
By Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Parag Jain, has ordered an inquiry into the functioning of the Sector 9 Central Mission School which offers the nursery teachers training (NTT) course. He has issued these orders after a written complaint against the institute by its students. Students have filed the complaint in view of the show-cause notices served to the institute by the Director Public Instructions, (schools), Mr D.S. Saroya, saying that the school and the courses offered by it were not recognised by the competent authority.

The SSP has deputed the Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), Mr Baldev Singh, to look after the matter. "We will take action if whatever emerges is within the cognizance of the police. The inquiry will be done in liaison with the DPI," said the SSP.

The DPI said, "We are waiting for a reply to the show-cause notice by the Principal of the institute. After receiving it, we will coordinate with the SSP to initiate further action."

Students, in the written complaint to the SSP, have alleged that they are being "cheated by the Principal, Director, management and the other staff members of the institute''. They have further alleged that these persons have played with the careers of hundreds of innocent girls.

Students also alleged that the management had published advertisements in various newspapers which said the institute was awarding the NTT diplomas which were fully recognised by the competent authority. Also, the prospectus and a board outside the main gate of the school mentioned that it was recognised by the UT Administration and the other state governments. This gave a false impression that the institute was fully recognised.

They said after the DPI had issued the show-cause notice, they had approached the Principal to enquire about the authenticity of the institute. She allegedly gave false assurances that the school was recognised and the diplomas awarded by it were valid.

The complaint also says that students have already spent a precious year and more than Rs 1 lakh each on the course which is not recognised. The diplomas and detail-marks cards issued by the school to earlier students had printed on these that the institute was recognised.

Students have requested the SSP to strictly punish the Principal, staff members and the management for allegedly committing a fraud through false and misleading information.

IT training of officers begins
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June19 — The Department of Information Technology in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC) today began a 5-day training course for PCS and HCS officers posted with the Chandigarh Administration.

The course was inaugurated by Mr Rakesh Singh, Finance Secretary and Secretary I.T. at the NIC office in the UT Secretariat. He urged the officers to participate in the computerisation plans.

The course content is based on training the officers about computer applications which will be used by them in exercise of their duty. The course is being organised in pursuance of the I.T. policy of U.T. Chandigarh, which stresses on the implementation of e-governance in all departments.

The officers who attended the course include Mr Chander Shekhar, Mr Ashwani Kumar, Mr Ashok Vasistha, Mr S.P. Arora, Mr Gurmel Singh, Mr Pirthi Chand, Dr Amarpal Singh, Mr P.S. Gill, Mr H.K. Nagpal, Mr R.K. Kaushik and Mr D.S. Saroya.

Wildlife Advisory Board
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — The Chandigarh Administration has reconstituted the 15-member Wildlife Advisory Board under the chairmanship of the Adviser to the Administrator.

The other members of the board include 12 official and three non-official members.

The official members are Secretary, Forest and Environment; Chief Wildlife Warden; Representative of Wildlife Institute of India; Senior Superintendent of Police; Director of Wildlife Preservation of Government of India; Deputy Conservator of Forests (Central); Scientists 'SE' of Department of Environment; Chief Wildlife Warden of Haryana or his nominee; Chief Wildlife Warden of Punjab or his nominee; and Sub Divisional Soil Conservation Officers- 1 and 2.

Housing societies get more time
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 19 — The Chandigarh Administration has allowed extension till December 31, 2000, to those cooperative house building societies, which were allotted land in 1994 and 1995 by the Administration to complete construction work without payment of extension fee. This decision has been taken following requests made by various societies. Construction work in many cases is on the verge of completion.

The construction over land allotted to societies in Sector 48 and 49, a time limit of 5 years was allowed by the Administrator, as per the provisions under the Chandigarh lease Hold of Sites and Building Rules 1973.

After the expiry of stipulated period the extension fee will be charged at the rates prescribed under Rule 16 of the Chandigarh Lease Hold of sites and Building Rules 1973.