The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

Two Ugandans being treated with Rotary help
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Rotary Club of Chandigarh has decided to extend the benefit of its Rs 40 lakh gift of life project beyond the borders of the country, as it will provide free cardiac surgery to five children from Uganda, two of which will be arriving in the city tomorrow. This was disclosed here by Mr Ranjit Bhatia, District Governor of Rotary International District 3080, while addressing a press conference at Sector 22 Aroma hotel today.

Mr Bhatia is on an official visit to the club so as to review its activities and achievements. Dr Bhatia, a charter member of Rotary Club Panipat Midtown which he joined in 1988 and the very next year he was elected to be the president of the club.

The two Ugandan children, a 12-year-old girl and a 25-year-old boy will be admitted in the PGI on January 17, while they will be operated upon on January 19 and 25 respectively.

The children will not only be hosted by the club but the cost of the entire treatment alongwith follow-up will be borne by them. Mr Bhatia informed that the club has already provided free cardiac surgery to 26 children of this region, the recent being a 10-year-old Randhir Singh from Hoshiarpur who is now recovering at PGI.

The project which was started in May 1998 had earlier decided to provide the facility to 50 odd children but now with more funds pouring in, it has been decided to extend the same to 75 children or till the funds last. Mr R.K Saboo, past president of the Rotary International, added that extending help to countries like Uganda may only help generate more funds.

The club has also been allowed a special initiative grant by the Rotary foundation of Rotary International for an exchange programme for teachers with Rotary District in Texas, USA.

A teacher from Sector 27 Bhavan Vidyalaya, which runs an Interact Club will be shortlisted for this three months programme in USA beginning February. Subsequently, a teacher from there will come for the programme here, said Mr Bhatia.

Earlier, Mr Bhatia visited various projects undertaken by the club and also launched two new Intercat Clubs in Government Senior Secondary School for boys and for the girls in Sector 23.

He also visited the Rotary family Welfare centre at Bapu Dham, government Middle school in Bapu Dham colony as well as the Rotary vocational training centre in Sector 18 where the creation of tailoring and embroidery students were on display.

Mr Saboo told the mediapersons that the Rotary Club will spend nearly Rs 2 crore on setting up the blood resource bank in the city in collaboration with the Blood Bank Society. Rs 3.5 crore project is slated to come up in Sector 37, the land for which has been allotted and will have ultra modern facilities on the pattern of such centres abroad.

He also expressed concern at the detection of a positive polio case in the city even though polio eradication is one of the major thrust areas of the Rotary International.

They will continue with their efforts. Even administering hepatitis-B vaccine, another major killer disease is close to their heart. As many as 30,000 children in 53 schools and colleges in the city have been administered the vaccine at subsidised cot of Rs 60 per dose, in collaboration with the UT Education Department, he disclosed.

To furthergood health facilities, eye check-up of all the children in Bapu Dham colony was conducted free of cost by Rotarian Dr Grewal and the follow-up treatment is also being taken care of. Rotary Committee Core (RCC) programmes are being started in the family welfare centres to empower women and to encourage self-help. In this direction, workshops were organised for candle making, soft toy making and papad making. This will later help them generate their own income as skilled people.

SPORT

HAU to have sports training centre
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Jan 15 — An agreement for setting up a sports training centre at Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar was signed by the Regonal Director of Sports Authority of India, Dr PC Kashyap, Mr BK Sinha, Sports Director, and Mr MS Kuhad, Registrar of the university, here today.

Signed on the occasion of a conference on rural sports, it provides that the sports centre would train 200 sportspersons against the normal sanction of 75 persons at such centres. Training would be given in athletics, boxing, wrestling, judo and table tennis.

Speaking at the conference, the president of the Haryana Olympic Association, Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, said that he would impress upon the Chief Minister the setting up of a Regional Centre of Sports Authority of India.

He added that the centre would take trainees between the age group of 14 to 21 years and training would be according to norms laid down by the SAI. If they failed to perform upto the mark and qualify the level set by the performance evaluation committee, they would be weeded out.

He appealed to teachers not to confine learning to books but encourage participation in sports as well and exhorted presidents of sports associations to forward names of promising players to ensure they get proper training.

Lamenting the focus on cricket at the cost of other sports, Mr Chautala said that prominent players of other sports had failed to get adequate coverage in the press while cricket players continued to hog the limelight.

Mr Chautala released a sports calendar of HOA and informed the gathering of sports events to be organised later in the year, including state coaching camps, talent search competitions and state sports festival in Kurukshetra scheduled for October.

The Secretary-General of the HOA, Mr MS Malik, highlighted the facilities being provided to sportspersons and said that a plan to rehabilitate sportspersons was being prepared.

He said that despite lack of adequate resources, the HOA was doing a lot for the promotion of rural sports though all this could be undertaken by the sports department of the state which was better placed as far as finances were concerned.

The award for the best speaker on the topic of promotion of rural sports went to Ms Sumitra Devi, chairperson of Zila Parishad, Jind, and Mr Sumer Chand of the Panchayat Samiti of Indri.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr PC Kashyap, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, vice-president of the Football Federation of India, Mr GC Gahlot, president of Haryana Volleyball Association, and Commissioner and Secretary, Sports, Mr Narsh Gulati.

Earlier, a bhoomi pujan was performed at the site earmarked for the Olympic Bhawan in Sector 3, to be constructed in three acres at a cost of Rs seven crore. It would have facilities for swimming, sports club, fitness centre, media centre and cyber cafe.

ADMINISTRATION

Admn claims upset Sector 17 traders
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — “The amendments in building byelaws for commercial buildings are not adequate and do not meet our aspirations”, the Traders Association Sector 17-D stated today in a press note Expressing shock at claims of senior officials of the Chandigarh Administration regarding amendments of byelaws carried out in the past few months, the problem which prompted the Administration to set up an advisory committee on building byelaws remains, the press note further stated.

The basic problem is that the premises are occupied by the tenants. Out of one unit, consisting either “two bay shops” or “three bay shops”, smaller portions were created by the landlords, which were not allowed as per the building byelaws.

The tenants, who are in these smaller portions, neither knew nor were responsible for this discrepancy, for 25 to 35 years. Their ignorance was converted into legalised reality by the Administration itself. They have been given separate electricity connections, sales tax numbers were granted to them, their ships were registered under the Shops and Establishment Act, Health Licences were granted by the Chandigarh Administration.

This may have been allowed by the Administration over the years because the bigger portions were not practical as well as financially feasible.

What the Administration is doing for these actual sufferers, who are neither authorised to remove encroachment nor pay up the penalty. The interest of the landlord is clashing with that of the tenant. The landlord knows that if he will not remove encroachments, the building will be got vacated from the law-abiding tenants, resumed and sealed by the Administration.

We are shocked from the impression being created that the trading community has been greatly benefited from the amendments in building bye Laws.

The Administration has allowed four shops in “Two Bay shops” and six shops in “Three Bay Shops”.