HEALTH

Paramedical staff stage dharna
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Dec 5 — The Paramedical and Health Employees Union has opposed the transfer of five employees of the anti-malaria squad of Ludhiana to Jagraon.

About 150 members of the union staged a dharna in front of the Civil Surgeons' office here on Monday. Mr Amarjit Singh, convener of the anti-malaria squad, said if the transfers were not revoked a gate rally would be held everyday from 8.30 am to 9.30 am in front of the Civil Surgeons' office.

SPORT

Basketball teams announced
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Dec 5 — Basketball teams have been announced for the coaching camp for participation in the Youth National Basketball Championship to be held from December 12 to January 1 in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. According to a press note issued here today by Mr Teja Singh, secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, the members of the teams are:

In the boys’ section: Fateh Singh, Amit Prashar, Ramesh, Sukhwinder (all from Ludhiana); Lakhwinder, Sweetpal Vinod, Prabhjot (all from Bathinda); Paramjit Singh, Gurpal Singh, Jagmeet Singh (all from Muktsar); Gurpreet, Sukhbir (both from Kapurthala); Sahiljit, Madeep Singh, Prabhjot (all from Gurdaspur); Amritpal, Mandeep Khera, (both from Jalandhar); and Sukhchainpal Singh, Suchpal (both from Patiala).

In the girls’ section: Paramjit, Kanchan, Gurjeet (all from Faridkot); Kiranpreet, Sarabjeet, Gaganpreet (all from Muktsar); Maninderjit, Ravneet, Jasbir (all from Gurdaspur); Inderjit, Baljit, Kiran Bala (all from Patiala); Sandeep Kaur, Mandeep Kaur (both from Hoshiarpur); Margret, Lovleen (both from Amritsar); Maninder, Guneet, Sonia (all from Jalandhar); Reena, Mala, Satwinderjit (all from Kapurthala); and Rajni, Taranjit (both from Ludhiana).

The names of the players of the Punjab team have also been announced for the camp of the Senior National Basketball Championship to be held from January 5 to 12 at Jalandhar. The players in the women’s and men’s sections are as follows:

In the women’s section: Kiranjeet Dhillon, Mandeep Brar, Rajni, Savitri Gularia, Kamaljitn Kaur (all from Ludhiana); Reena Rani, Vandana, Mandeeo Khera, Neena, Sushma (all from Jalandhar); Loveraj, Poonam, Geethu (all from the Railways); and Kulwinder, Sarabjeet, Narinder (all from Amritsar).

In the men’s section: Parminder Singh (senior), Parminder (junior), Gagnesh Kumar, Gursharanjit, Tejinder Singh, Prithipal Singh, Mandeep Singh, Pretinder Singh (all from the Punjab Police); Vipan Kumar, Satya Narayan, Varinder Kumar, Devinder, Ashok Kumar (all from the BSF); R.L.Ashish Gill, Gulala Singh, Maninder Singh, Jaspreet Sekhon (all from the PSEB); and Jasjeet Singh, Lakhwinder Singh (both from Ludhiana).

Judo championship
The Ludhiana District Judo Championship for boys and girls will be held at Guru Nanak Stadium here from December 9 to 10.

Mr B.R. Kaler, ADC, will preside over the prize distribution function on December 10. All entries will be closed on December 7.

The different weights categories in the championship are as follows :

In boys’ section (in kg) junior: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and above 50; sub-junior: 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 66, 75 and above 73; senior: 56, 60, 66, 73, 81, 90, 100 and above 100.

In girls’ section (in kg) junior: 23, 27, 32, 36, 40, 44 and above 44; sub-junior: 36, 40, 44, 48, 62, 57, 63 and above 63; senior: 44, 48, 52, 57, 63, 70, 78 and above 78.

Athletics meet
Avineet Kaur and Gaurav Dhand were crowned as best athletes in the girls’ and boys’ section, respectively, in the Primary Classes Athletics Meet of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, here on Tuesday. Avineet and Gaurav bagged two gold each.

The other results are as follows: long jump: In the boys’ section: Class V; Manik 1, Gaurav Dhanda 2 and Saurab Dhanda 3; Class IV; Vijaynder 1, Nikhil 2 and Sagar 3; Class III; Akshay 1, Gursanupan 2 and Himanshu 3; in the girls] section: Class V; Jaspreet 1, Guneet 2 and Aanchal 3; Class IV; Sandea 1, Stela 2 and Suman Singh 3.

100m: In the boys’ section: Class V; Gaurav Dhanda 1, Vaibhav 2 and Saurabh Dhand 3; in the girls’ section: Class V; Avineet 1, Aanchal 2 and Jaspreet 3.

80m: In the boys’ section: Class V; Gaurav Dhanda 1, Vaibhav 2 and Harkirat Singh 3; Class IV; Baljinder 1, Chetan 2 and Raghav 3; CLass III; Sparsh 1, Rewant 2 and Abhinav 3; in the girls’ section: Class V; Avneet 1, Mannat 2 and Gurneet 3; and Class IV; Ritika 1, Neha 2 and Tanima 3.

Basketball veteran Teja Singh speaks out
Identify, reward sports talent
By Kamal Kishore Shankar

LUDHIANA, Dec 5 — Sports is more than a religion for him and the basketball court is his gurdwara. Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, a sports promoter, spends about six hours in the basketball courts of Guru Nanak Stadium everyday to motivate upcoming players. Having represented the state in handball and basketball several times, he regrets not having become a national player.

Mr Dhaliwal is the general secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association and vice-president of the Basketball Federation of India. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, he resented the lack of political will to promote sports in the country. He lamented that there was no substantial sports policy. He opined that the government should identify talent at the grassroots level and give incentives. The reward for players excelling at the district, state and national levels should be fixed, he suggested.

The government should give a free life insurance to sportspersons and those injured while playing should be compensated, he said, demanding pension for every player. He opined that town planners should earmark enough space for sports grounds while developing new residential colonies. He suggested that some part of common land in villages should be allocated for sports.