HEALTH

154 health centres to be opened
From Our Correspondent

SAHNEWAL, Oct 7 — Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, Health Minister, visited Tibba village situated near Sahnewal to educate villagers about the health care programmes initiated by the government.

Addressing a rally of BJP activists, Mr Chawla said, "We are heading towards self-dependence. As many as 155 health centres are to be opened shortly in Punjab. Two mobile vans carrying two senior doctors will operate in almost all villages of Punjab. These will provide every health facilities and medicines so far not available in the remote areas. Mr Chawla further said that the government would arrange a fixed deposit of Rs 4500 for every newly born girl-child and it would amount to nearly 1.25 lakh at the time of her marriage.

The rally was addressed by Mr Balbir Chand Kapila, Mr Sukhwinder Singh Grewal, Mr Vipin Chanderpal, Mr Jai Kumar, Mr Pawan Kumar, Mr Suresh Arora.

SPORT

Ramnik, Mandeep win titles
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Oct 7 — Ramnik Sharma defeated Punjab Masih 15-9, 15-3 in the finals of the boys' under-16 category in the Ludhiana district mini and veteran badminton championship here today. In the girls' under-16 section, Mandeep Manget won the title by beating Sukhpreet 6-11, 11-7, 11-7.

In boys' doubles, Ramnik Sharma and Punjab Masih got walkover. Former state player Jai Prakash won the singles title in veteran's section by defeating Kailash Prabhakar 15-5, 15-4. In doubles, Jai Prakash and Bharat Jain defeated M.P.S. Grewal and Sushil Dhand 15-6, 15-1. Mr Harminder Singh Pahwa, Director, Avon Cycles, gave away the prizes.

Results: boys (singles) under-10 — Pranav Chopra b Rajan 15-0, 15-0; girls (singles) under-10 — Manisha Sharma b Navdeep 11-6, 11-2; girls (singles) under-13 — Sandeep Kaur b Pallavi 11-4, 11-0; girls (doubles) under-16 — Prabhsimram and Pallavi b Penny and Ramandeep 15-9, 15-11; girls (singles) under-16 — Mandeep Mangat b Sukhpreet 6-11, 11-7, 11-7; boys (singles) under-13 — Raj Kumar b Gurbax Singh 15-11, 15-8; boys (doubles) under-13 — Raj Kumar and Gurbax Singh b Nikhil Dhand and Pranav Chopra 15-0, 15-1; boys (singles) under-16 — Ramnik Sharma b Punjab Masih 15-9, 15-3; boys (doubles) under-16 — Ramnik Sharma and Punjab Masih get walkover from Anuj Dhand and Vishesh Nayyar; veteran's doubles — Bharat Jain and M.P.S. Grewal b Jai Parkash and Sushil Dhand 15-6, 15-1; veteran's singles— Jai Parjash b Kailash Prabhakar 15-5, 15-4.

Selection trials
Trials to select the swimming, waterpolo and diving teams of men and women for the training camp for the 55th National Aquatic Championship, scheduled to be held from November 5 to 10 in Calcutta, will be held at the swimming pool of the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, from October 10. Mr Balraj Sharma, general secretary of the Punjab Swimming Association, said in a press note that the team selected would participate in the 4th Sardar Arvinder Singh Brar memorial all-India swimming meet, scheduled to be held from October 14 to 15.

Basketball tourney
The second All-India Raja Poros basketball tournament will be held at Giddarbaha in Muktsar district from October 9 to 13. Mr Teja Singh, general secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association, said in a press note that Punjab, Border Security Force, Indian Overseas Bank (Chennai), Indian Bank (Chennai), Punjab State Electricity Board, Punjab Police, Andhra Pradesh and Western Railways would participate in the men's section, while Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur would participate in the women's section.

Sports festival
The 15th Mata Sahib Kaur gold hockey tournament and rural sports festival is scheduled to be held from October 16 to 18 at Jarkhar village, Ghawaddi, Ludhiana. Mr Narinder Singh, chairman of the Mata Sahib Kaur Sports And Youth Welfare Club, said in a press note that Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha would inaugurate the tournament, while Mr Prakash Singh Badal would give away prizes.

The Surjeet Singh Olympian Award would be given to hockey star Dhanraj Pillay. In the senior hockey tournament, Border Security Force, Punjab Police and Punjab State Electricity Board would participate, among others. A three-day cultural programme would also be organised

Hoping for gold in next Olympics
From Our Correspondent

MACHHIWARA, Oct 7 — A winner of 17 international boxing contests, Gurcharan Singh(23), a subedar with the Indian Army, was expected to win a medal in the Sydney Olympics.

Though he was defeated in the quarter-finals, he made millions of his countrymen feel proud of him. Gurcharan landed in Delhi on October 3. He burst into tears when he was received by his father, Mr Jagir Singh, and Shammi Kumar Pehalwan.

Born in Rorewal village near Machhiwara, Gurcharan was visibly disappointed when this correspondent met him on his arrival in the village. The villagers gave him a warm welcome, but Gurcharan was still cursing himself for not bagging a medal.

In an interview with Ludhiana Tribune, he said he had gone to Sydney with a positive frame of mind and strong determination. He said he did best and was sure of the referee's decision going in his favour. He blamed bad luck for the decision. He stated that a good sportsman should never show indiscipline and that was why he had honoured the decision. Only a gold medal in the next Olympics could heal his sorrow, he claimed.