The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

A shot at checking drug abuse
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 1
The district drug inspector, in collaboration with the District Chemists’ Association, has planned a series of raids on chemists who make over-the-counter sales of Schedule H drugs in the district without prescriptions.

All chemists have been asked to produce purchase records of the drugs that they stock. The move is aimed at checking the sale of spurious drugs that are made in the nearby states and ensuring that drugs are bought from bonafide dealers only.

Regarding plans to check drug-abuse, the district drug inspector, Mr Deepak Puri, said raids to check irregularities in drug sales had already begun and licences of five chemists had been suspended in this regard.

He admitted that some chemists of the district were selling Schedule H drugs without prescriptions of registered medical practitioners. He said, if caught, these offenders could even lose their licences.

The head of the District Chemists’ Association, Mr B.B. Singal, said, “Members of the body will help the drug inspector in conducting the raids. The body has asked each of its members to ask every customer for a prescription before making a sale and issue a cash memo for every transaction.”

He said the body would promptly inform the office of the drug inspector if it found that any chemist of the district was involved in any kind of malpractice. Residents of the district will be made aware of the ill-effects of drug abuse and urged to press for a cash memo for every purchase of medicines. This would help the authorities check the sale of spurious drugs.

Licences of five chemists of the district have been suspended for stocking expired drugs, absence of registered pharmacists at the time of the sales and not issuing a cash memo for every transaction.

Life Line to extend service in GMCH
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 1
Life Line, a social organisation of 13 volunteers, has helped 2,173 patients in the first year of its existence. Life Line, which celebrated its first anniversary today, was started in July 2000 with the aim to help unknown and unattended patients in the PGI emergency. It now plans to extend this facility in the GMCH, Sector 32.

According to Mr Ravinder Gupta, general secretary of Life Line, the idea gained ground after one of the members saw pathetic condition of unknown patients in emergency wards of various hospitals. The PGI emergency, on an average, gets about 100 new patients per day, and out of these four to five are unknown, says Mr Gupta.

“With no one to look after them, the condition of these patients is pathetic. It was with this idea that members of Life Line took up the cause with the PGI Director and the Medical Superintendent, who appreciated our idea and entrusted the job to us,” adds Mr Gupta.

Members of Life Line mobilised funds and deputed three attendants to look after unknown patients round the clock. The attendants take care of these patients, take them to various departments for tests and also arrange medicines for them , says Mr Gupta.

Life Line is also managing a transit ward in the Hari Sari in the PGI Sarai complex. “The dream of our executive members is to have a cancer diagnostic centre in the vicinity of the city on the pattern of Tata Memorial Centre,” he adds.

SPORTS

Sisters bring laurels to city
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, July 1
Sisters Neha Singh and Simer, brought laurels to the city when they clinched the girls under-16 and under-14 titles respectively in the AITA North Zone Ranking Tennis Tournament concluded last evening at Delhi.

Neha, a Class XI student of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sector 26, had also remained runner-up in the under-16 section in the AITA North Zone Tennis Meet held at NSCI, Delhi, held last week. Simer is in Class VIII in the same school. Both are daughters of tennis coach Baldev Singh posted with the UT Sports Department.

The results of yesterday’s meet are: girls (under-16): finals: Neha Singh b Anjani Kant( del) 6-3,6-1; under-14 : Simer b Neha Rana (Del) 6-0, 6-1.

Coaching camp

Four boys, Uday K. Punia, Shiva Sangwan, Arjun Sehgal and Mandeep Yadav have been shortlisted for the forthcoming north zone future kids coaching camp (under-12 ) going to be held at Delhi in September next. These boys were selected after a three-day tournament concluded here today at Tennis Stadium, Sector 10. All the above players belong to CLTA except Mandeep who is from the Lake Club coaching centre.

The following are the results of the league matches played here today:

Mandeep Yadav b Amit Chauhan 5-3; Uday K. Punia b Mandeep Yadav 5-2; Gauravinder b Akshat Joshi 5-2; Arjun Sehgal b Gurmohit Singh 5-0; Uday Punia b Sidhharth Singh 5-1; Mandeep Yadav b Gauravinder 5-2; Shiva Sangwan b Akshat Joshi 5-2; Gauravinder b Gurmohit Singh 5-3; Uday Punia b Gauravinder 5-0; Arjun Sehgal b Amit Chauhan 5-1; Shiva Sangwan b Sidharth Singh 5-1; Mandeep Yadav b Akshat Joshi 5-3; Shiva Sangwan b Amit Chauhan 5-1; Gurmohit Singh b Anant Vidur 5-4 (7-2); Sidharth Singh b Gauravinder 5-2; Uday Punia b Akshat Joshi 5-0; Arjun Sehgal b Mandeep Yadav 5-2; Arjun Sehgal b Anant Vidur 5-2; Sidharth Singh b Amit 5-0; Gauravinder b Amit 5-0; Shiva Sangwan b Mandeep Yadav 5-2; Anant Vidur b Akshat Joshi 5-3.

Office-bearers

Mr K.S. Sahota and Mr Subhash Tekchandani were re-elected as President and Secretary of the Chandigarh Amateur Yoga Association at its meeting held here this morning.

The other office-bearers are: chairman — Mr S.D. Sharma; senior vice-presidents — Mr D.R. Sharma, Mr C.K. Jerath and Mr D.K. Vashisht; vice-presidents- Mr J.P. Sharma, Mr B.M. Pubial, Mr Rakesh Giri and Mr M.K. Virmani; organising secy — Mr G.S. Thakur; publicity secretary — Mr R.P. Aeri; and treasurer — Mr R.M. Bansal.

Cricket tourney

The Garhwal Cricket Club and Coaching Centre, Sector 16, made it to the semi-finals of the Uttaranchal trophy in cricket being played here at the PGI grounds.

Brief scores: Sun CC: 89 all out in 21 overs (Amanjeet 18, Deepak 16, Deepak Gaur 2 for 12, Jagjeet Saini 2 for 20) Garhwal CC: 90 for five wickets in 16.5 overs (Sukhvinder Tinku 33, Ram 17); Coaching Centre-16: 239 for six in 25 overs (Madan Lal 73, Dharamveer 67, Anoop 3 for 36), Mohinder CC: 89 all out (Manjeet 17, Mandeep 5 for 12).