HEALTH

200 donate blood for thalassaemics
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 30
Rain failed to dampen the spirits of voluntary donors as they turned in large numbers at the 5th blood donation camp, organised by the Thalassaemic Children Welfare Association in Lecture Theatre-I, PGI today. More than 200 donors donated blood much to the surprise of the team of blood transfusion department of PGI.

Inaugurating the camp, Mr T.S. Bhattacharya, Chief General Manager, State Bank of India, lauded the efforts of the Association in saving the lives of serious patients especially during summer months, when there is acute shortage of blood. The Association, which organises a series of blood donation camps annually, is organising six such camps this year also.

The president of the Association, Mr S.P. Ajmani, said at present, there are about 350 children registered with the association, a charitable society formed in 1987 to look after the thalassaemics. The body has been doing creditable work by providing them a better quality of life, besides raising funds for their expensive treatment.

Later, the chief guest also visited the thalassaemic ward and blessed the children there. He was happy to note the involvement of the doctors and parents in the treatment of these children.

Meanwhile, the association has appealed to the voluntary donors from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to come forward in a major way to donate blood in the last camp, to be held on July 14 at PGI. Infact, voluntary organisations should donate blood regularly as more than 6000 units of blood are required per year for these children in PGI.

Move on TB hospital opposed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 30
Residents of Sectors 24, 23, 25, 14, 15 and nearby areas have expressed resentment over the government proposal to set up a TB hospital in the premises of the Sector 24 ayurvedic dispensary.

A memorandum signed by the residents has been sent to the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Leiut- Gen JFR Jacob (retd). A TB hospital in the sector, in place of the ayurvedic dispensary they contend will pose a health hazard.

They stated they were opposed to the proposal because the site was surrounded by residences, temples, churches, nursery schools, making them vulnerable.

They have appealed to the Administrator to open the TB hospital at some other place and maintain the ayurvedic dispensary in Sector 24-B.

SPORTS

SPORTS ROUND UP
Wrangle mars badminton camp
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, June 30
In the past week, the Indian schools badminton team was chosen and a children’s awareness programme in gymnastics was initiated at the DAV College coaching centre. A skating festival was also held at the Skating Rink in Sector 10 followed by an innovative tennis programme for children at the Tennis Stadium in Sector 10.

The DAV College Coaching Centre, Sector 10, played host to the gymnastics awareness- cum-physical fitness test programme on June 24 where the participants ranged from a beginner to a national-level gymnast.

Different kinds of tests such as shuttle run, hop and jump and vertical test were conducted by experts. The programme was the brainchild of the Sports Authority of India coach Rajender Sharma and included a new event, Pommel Horse.

Young gymnasts drawn from 16 schools of the city participated in the programme which was also intended to identify talent in this sport.

According to the coach, the centre has been providing free facilities to the gymnasts. Principal R.C. Jeevan has offered the equipment free of cost. The centre has produced outstanding gymnasts, like Jagwinder who won the All-India Best Gymnasts title. Deepak Uniyal, another trainee of this centre, won the gold medal in the All-India-Inter University meet.

The National Schools Badminton Camp became controversial when two top-ranking national players from Assam were first asked to attend the camp and then turned back. Their hope was revived after the visit of the Regional Director of the SAI whose intervention could not allow the players to participate in the trials. Finally, the team was announced hurriedly on June 26, a day before the annual meeting of the SGFI at Delhi. Earlier it was announced that the team would have five members each in the boys’ and girls’ sections but to the surprise of everyone, six players were chosen for each team.

More youngsters of the city are now getting interested in roller skating. Skating has gained momentum; the carnival organised by Rollerbones on June 24 and 25 has been made an annual feature. Skating facilities are now available at the Skating Rink, Sector 10, KB DAV Centenary School, Sector 7, Guru Harkishan Public School, Sector 38 and Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27 in Chandigarh.

In Panchkula, these facilities are available at Hansraj Skating Rink, Sector 6, Blue Bird Skating Rink, Sector 15 , Satluj Public School, Sector 4 and Manav Mangal School, Sector 11.

A new kind of awareness programme for tennis enthusiasts, under the aegis of the All-India Tennis Association was held from June 26 to June 28 with the under-12 age group. The plan envisaged by AITA was aimed at providing exposure to the age group as so far students only above the age of 12 were given tournament exposure in India and abroad. The chief coach, Wing Commander Beyant Singh, is happy with the new programme and hopes to produce more under 12 players of quality.

 Tennis meet results

Chandigarh
Mandeep Yadav had a tough fight in beating Sidharth Singh at 5-4 (7-3) on the second day of the under-12 tennis tournament as part of the Future Kids programme here at the Tennis Stadium, Sector 10. Mandeep in another tie outplayed Gurmohit 5-1.

Girls: Shradha Singh b Shaleen 5-0; Ankita b Pallak 5-2; Inayat Khosla b Shradha Singh 5-0.

ADMINISTRATION

Hold draw for left-out mechanics: federation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 30
The Chandigarh Auto Mechanics Federation today hailed the Chandigarh Administration for holding the draw of lots for the allotment of booths to mechanics, on June 15 although the procedure adopted by the UT Estate Office was faulty.

The federation contested a news item carried by a section of the press saying that the Chairman and General Secretary had been removed from the main body of the federation. It maintained that the news item was issued by some non-official members of the federation.

The press note added that the ongoing agitation launched by Mr Hazari Lal and Mr Mohinder Singh Chowdhary, the self-styled President of the Sector 21 Market, had no support from the federation. Mr Hazari Lal is not an office-bearer of the federation. He is running a workshop at Mohali.

The federation claimed that it was not a political body and Mr Hazari Lal and Mr Mohinder Singh Choudhary are block-level office-bearers of the Congress. They had illegally used the name of the federation for their personal and political ends.

The federation maintained that it adopted a unanimous resolution, demanding that a draw of lots should be held for left-out mechanics . They should he allotted booths at the existing rates.

The Auto Mechanics Federation held a meeting in the Sector 21 scooter market in order to intensify their agitation against the Administration. The federation decided that at least five auto mechanics would sit on fast everyday along with other members who were on indefinite fast for the past four days.

UT urged to review decision
Our Correspondent

Kharar, June 30
Petroleum dealers of Ropar district today urged the Chandigarh Administration to review its decision to decrease the price of petroleum products in Chandigarh.

A press note issued here today by Mr Sushil Kaushal, president, Ropar District Petroleum Dealers Association, said “as Chandigarh is the capital of Punjab and the Punjab General Sales Tax Act is prevalent in Chandigarh, sales tax at both places should be uniform.”

He feared that the revenue of Punjab would decrease due to a steep fall in the prices of petroleum goods in Chandigarh as sales in the adjoining areas of Chandigarh would be badly affected. They appealed to the Governor of Punjab, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob, to look into the matter.