HEALTH

50,000 children immunised
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Dec 15 — The Social and Preventive Medicine Department of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital immunised more than 50,000 children during the first two rounds of Pulse Polio Programme.

According to an official press release, the teams of DMCH identified the low coverage areas in the city and carried out mass immunisations to strengthen the efforts made by the district health authorities.

Dr V. Mohan, head of the SPM Department of the DMCH, said during the second round of pulse polio, 17 static posts were set up in which ten were in rural areas and seven were in urban slum areas. Besides this, six mobile teams were organised with the participation of MBBS students, interns and the faculty members of the SPM Department. Thirty pulse polio posts were established under the pulse polio unit in coordination with the department. About 120 nursing students participated in the mission.

About 26,227 children were immunised in the second round and 24,326 children were immunised in the first round. The students showed great enthusiasm and participated in the event, aimed at eventual eradication of the disease.

SPORT

Yashpal disapproves of Ganguly’s suspension
From Kamal Kishore Shankar

LUDHIANA, Dec 15 — Former test cricketer Yashpal Sharma is sore over the harsh treatment meted out to the captain of the Indian cricket team, Saurav Ganguly, for protesting against some of the umpiring decisions. Yashpal, in an exclusive interview to The Tribune, said, "the punishment to Ganguly is a bit too harsh".

He said though umpire is the final judge of the game and his decisions should always be respected, but at the same time various other aspects should also be taken into consideration. He pointed out that Ganguly might have had some solid reasons for protest, which should not have been ignored.

Referring to the match fixing controversy, the former test cricketer regretted that the game had got a bad name. He felt that it was the worst that could happen to any game more so to the cricket. Cricketers were considered as demigods by the people, but it seems to be a thing of the past. Now every player is looked upon with suspicion.

He was of the opinion that too much money has flown into the game. "When I started playing the game, I would get Rs 12,500 for a single tour and when I retired we used to get Rs 75,000 for a full tour", he said. But now, the amount has gone in lakhs.

Refusing any comments on the match fixing controversy, he said the matter was under investigation and he was not in a position to make any observations. But his only concern was that the game needed to redeem its glory and public esteem as earlier.

Although Yashpal did not like to comment on the plight of those players who had brought great honours to the country by winning the World Cup and other international tournaments, yet he was not happy either with the treatment meted out to them. "Public memory appears to be too short, even for the great heroes", he regretted, while pointing out to the fact that most of the players who defeated the mighty and the challenging West Indians in 1983 to win the World Cup have been forgotten.

Yashpal Sharma, who represented the country in 112 test and one-day international matches, including two world cups, was born and brought up in Ludhiana. He has scored two centuries in the test cricket, besides 10 half centuries. His highest score in the one-day internationals is 89 against the West Indies. In the 1983 World Cup, which India won, he was the second highest scorer with 254 runs after Kapil, who had scored 315.

Currently, Yashpal Sharma is the coach of the Uttar Pradesh cricket team, besides being an accredited umpire with the BCCI. He is also an outstanding cricket commentator. He has left his job with the State Bank of India and is running a cricket academy in New Delhi.

PAU announces rolls of honour
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Dec 15 — Punjab Agricultural University has announced its "rolls of honour" for the session 2000-2001. The honoured players are Bimi Singh (athletics), Harpal Singh and Sukhdeepak (hockey).

The title is given to three students every year for excellent performance in the sports and cultural activities. Bimi Singh is a record holder in discus throw and javelin throw of the All India Inter-Agricultural University Meet. The record set by her at Hisar last year, still stands. She has represented the university three times.

Harpal Singh has represented the university six times. He was the member of the combined university team for the Nehru Cup held at Delhi, last year. Sukhdeepak represented the university five times. He was also a member of the combined university team for the Nehru Cup.

Five university colours have been awarded to sports person and one to an artist. The colour winners are table tennis players, Harpreet Sodhi and Surinder Kaur; hockey players, Jagroop Singh, Shivraj Singh and Sukhjeetpal Singh, and artist, Gurpreet Singh.

The PAU has increased the DA for a player from Rs 80 to 100.

Revised schedule

Punjab Agriculture University has announced a revised schedule for inter-college games. Earlier, some events were postponed due to the clash of dates with the Inter-College Youth Festival and mid-term examinations.

The revised schedule is as follows:

Men section: hockey from January 16 to 18; badminton from January 17 to 19; lawn tennis from January 21 to 23; handball from January 22 to 24; volleyball from February 2 to 7; and basketball from February 12 to 14.

Women section: badminton from January 17 to 23.

The PAU Annual Athletics Meet will be held from February 21 to 22.