The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HEALTH

Men shy away from family planning
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, May 27
It seems the women will have to bear the burden of family planning and controlling the population, which is an important policy matter of the government. At least the statistics in the district indicate clearly that men are shying away from this responsibility despite the public awareness campaigns.

In the past one year in the Faridabad subdivision, which topped among all the subdivisions in the district in family planning (birth control) operations, only 40 men came forward to avail the facility, while 3,392 women underwent tubectomy.

In this period (2001-2002), the Hathin subdivision came last with only 767 operations, which included 763 on women and only four on men. About 1,672 persons underwent surgery in the Palwal subdivision, but here also the number of men coming forward to undergo vasectomy was only nine in comparison to 1,663 women opting for tubectomy.

Similarly, 1,182 women and a meagre seven men opted for family planning operations in the Ballabgarh subdivision during the period. The total figure in the district in this regard had been only 8,516 operations, while the population has touched 22 lakh, as per the last Census.

However, the total operations done during 1998-99 were about 7,650 and there seems to be only a marginal increase in the past three years. The success rate of family planning in the Mewat region, which is one of the most backward parts of the state, has been much below expectations.

Another disturbing factor that has been noticed by health experts is that very few men are coming forward. Despite the rise in awareness levels and publicity campaigns, men are not taking the desired interest. As per experts and doctors, men in rural parts still hold the view that women are mainly responsible for child birth and it is `better’ if they undergo surgery. ‘

It is also noticed that men are very reluctant to go to a doctor or approach the family planning centre for an operation due to the overbearing social and family pressures. The myth that family planning operation would render them weak is another factor dotting the psychology of majority of persons, adds a retired government employee.

SPORTS

Indian Airlines rout ONGC, retain Goswami cricket title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, May 27
Indian Airlines played a ruthlessly one-sided match to crush Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) by 75 runs and retain the 29th Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial Cricket Shield at the Khalsa College ground in the Capital.

Indian Airlines have now lifted the Goswami Cricket title 11 times, and the second time in succession. They first won the title in 1981, and then repeated the feat in the next four years. And after a break in 1986, they regained the title in 1987, and were champions on another four occasions before asserting their superiority once again this year.

The match was delayed due to overnight rains and after three inspections by umpires K Hariharan and Vijay Chopra, the final eventually started at 11.30 am with the innings being reduced to 37 overs a side.

ONGC skipper Rizwan Shamshad won the toss and asked Indian Airlines to bat. The ONGC skipper had apparently hoped to exploit the damp condition of the wicket first. Or rather, protect the ONGC batsmen from the fury of the Indian Airlines bowlers. But either way, his gamble misfired, as Indian Airlines found dependable bats in Ravneet Ricky, R R Parida and Rajat Sharma to hoist a decent total of 247 for 6 in the stipulated overs.

J Arun Kumar and Ravneet Ricky gave a blistering start to the Airlines innings, putting on 45 runs in 7.1 overs, when Arun Kumar was caught at third man by Amit sharma off Grand Bell. Grand Bell also scalped Shanker Saini cheaply. Indian Airlines lost four wickets rather cheaply, for the addition of just 64 runs, to totter at 5 for 109. But R R Parida and Rajat Sharma played gutsy knocks to enable Indian Airlines recover, and then race to a handsome total.

ONGC, in reply, failed to tackle the pace-spin attack of Indian Airlines, and were bundled out for 162 in 32.5 overs.

Only opener Gagan Khoda and Mithun Minhas displayed some sort of aggression as the ONGC wickets crashed like nine pins. Veteran Shankar Saini bowled well to claim two wickets while newcomer, left-arm spinner Babloo, was the wrecker-in-chief of ONGC, claiming five wickets for 29 runs off seven overs.

Babloo was adjudged the Pepsi Man of the Match while Rajan Gupta of Lal Bahadur Shastri Club was named the Man of the Tournament. R R Parida got the Best Batsman award while the Best Bowler award went to Gagandeep Singh of Indian Airlines.

Rizwan Shamshad of ONGC was named the Best All-Rounder. The prizes were sponsored by David Lindsay BLM (Meerut), Reebok, Sethia Electricals, Ace Shoes and Kingers Enterprises.

Delhi Minister for Industries Deep Chand Bandhu gave away the prizes. Prominent among those who witnessed the final match were local MLA Kanwar Karan Singh, Hari Kishan, Kimati Lal, S P Bansal, Anil Jain and Ganga Gupta. Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial Society president K C Vij and general secretary Virender Katyal welcomed the guests.

Scoreboard
Indian Airlines: 247 for 6 in 37 overs A Arun Kumar c Amit Sharma b Grand Bell 17 (2x4, 22b) Ravneet Ricky lbw Pardeep Jain 44 (4x4, 1x6, 41b) Shanker Saini b Grand Bell 8 (1x4, 8b) Vijay Dahiya c and b Ravi Sehgal 21 (3x4, 21b) R R Parida not out 67 (2x6, 66b) Chandan Madan runt out 1 Rajat Sharma c Rizwan Shamshad b Amit Sharma 65 (4x4, 2x6, 51b) Nikhil Chopra n o 14 (1x6, 9b)

Extras: 10 Fall of wickets: 1-45 (1), 2-57 (3), 3-91 (2), 4-107 (4), 5-109 (6), 6-227 (7).

Bowling: Fazal Mohd 4-0-31-0, Grand Bell 6-0-41-2, Amit Sharma 7-0-48-1, Ravi Sehgal 8-0-49-1, Pardeep Jain 8-0-39-1, Rizwan Shamshad 4-0-36-0.

Oil and Natural Gas Commission: 162 all out in 32.5 overs Gagan Khoda lbw Shanker Saini 38 (7x4, 28b) Sandeep Sharma c J Arun Kumar b Gagan Deep Singh 0 Manoj Mudgil c R R Parida b Shanker Saini 12 (1x4, 16b) Muthun Minhas st. Chandan Madan b Babloo 37 (3x4, 43b) Rizwan Shamshad c Vijay Dhaiya b Subhash Chaudhary 12 (1x4, 21b) Amit Sharma c Vijay Dhaiya b Babloo 11 (21b) Mohd Saif st. Chandan Madan b Babloo 9 Ravi Sehgal b Babloo 13 Pardeep Jain c Rajat Bhatia b Babloo 8 Razal Mohd c Parida b Vijay Dhaiya 13 (2x4, 12b) Grand Bell n o 1 Extras: 8 Fall of wickets: 1-6 (2), 2-52 (1), 3-55 (3), 4-98 (5), 5-112 (4), 6-117 (6), 7-117 (7), 8-142 (8), 9-155 (9).

Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 4-0-28-1, Rajat Bhatia 5-0-28-0, Shanker Saini 3-0-18-2, Subhash Chaudhary 5-0-3-1, Nikhil Chopra 8-1-19-0, Babloo 7-0-29-5, Vijay Dhaiya 0.5-0-5-1.

Harbhajan walks away with SS weekly crown
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, May 27
It was a good week for Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. The 21-year-old off-spinner from Jalandhar reached a landmark 100 wickets in Test cricket, picked up his eighth five-wicket haul in 25 Tests to leave his stamp as a bowler of quality on a grassy track in Kingston in the final Test against the West Indies to emerge the ESPN Star Sports Super Selector Player of the Week with 226 points.

The icing on Harbhajan’s cake would have been a victory for India but that was not to be. The points for this week’s competition were computed on the basis of the Kingston Test, which the West Indies won by a whopping 155 runs to claim the series 2-1, and the drawn Test at Lord’s between England and Sri Lanka.

Batsman of the Week: Sri Lanka’s reliable opener Marvan Atapattu may have rued missing out a sixth double century in Test cricket when he was dismissed for 185 in the first innings of the Lord’s Test against England but claimed the Batsman of the Week honours with a total of 192 points. The 31-year-old from Kalutara showcased his vast powers of concentration as he made merry against a tootheless English attack and ran up his 10th Test century. His failure in the inconsequential second innings after England had averted defeat did not matter

much as his nearest challenger, the home team’s Michael Vaughan, finished with 184 points, riding on his second Test century when England followed on.

Away from the fight for the week’s honours, the West Indies’ consistent left-handed batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul ran up a third century and a half-century against India in the final Test at Kington to leapfrog to the top of the month’s charts with 369 points, past Pakistani Inzamam-ul-haq’s 329 which he picked up from the Lahore Test against New Zealand in the first week.

Bowler of the Week: On a grassy track in Kingston, it was a spinner who picked up the most wickets. Harbhajan Singh’s eight wickets gave him the most of the 226 points that placed him atop all others as the Bowler of the Week.

Mervyn Dillon, who picked up six wickets in the same Test, finished with 159 in the week while left-arm seamers Zaheer Khan (India) and Pedro Collins (West Indies) had 148 and 141 points respectively.

Of the bowlers figuring in the drawn Test between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s, the visiting left-arm seamer Ruchira Perera was the most successful with 125 points. West Indies paceman Mervyn Dillon stayed on top of the heap in the Bowler of the Month charts, his 159 points from Kingston taking his tally for May to 493 points, a lead of 166 points over Harbhajan Singh who himself will go into the one-day series with a 20-point advantage over Zaheer Khan.

Wicket-keeper of the Week: Ridley Jacobs topped the charts for the second week running but in less spectacular fashion than in the previous week. With a rollicking half-century at a critical time of the West Indies first inning in the Kingston Test, he secured 85 points to stay ahead of Sri Lanka’s Kumara sangakkara (51), England’s Alec Stewart (48) and India’s 20-year-old discovery Ajay Ratra (38). The 35-year-old West Indies also leads the Wicket keeper of the Month race from Ratra with 243 points to the Indian’s 181.

Allrounder of the Week: England’s Andrew Flintoff was the only all rounder on view last week and even a below par 67 points from two wickets, 12 runs and a catch allowed him to walk away with the allrounder of the week honours. That was not enough for him to vault past Black Caps’ Chris Harris and Pakistan’s Abdur Razzaq who both clocked 75 points in the only Test that was played by New Zealand in Pakistan this month.

Madras Club record facile win in Raghubir cricket
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, May 27
Madras Club trounced Delhi Blues by six wickets to enter the quarter-final of the 26th Lala Raghubir Singh Hot Weather Cricket Tournament at the Modern School ground in the Capital.

Madras Club won the toss and opted to field. Delhi Blues were given a good start by Nitin Goel who scored an unbeaten 89 with eight fours and three sixes off 68 balls.

Amjad Vohra (32) and Hanish Arora also came up with useful contributions, but the rest of the batting line-up failed in the face of sustained hostile bowling by the Madras Club bowlers.

Nitin Goel earned the man of the match award though his knock could not help Blues win.

In reply, Madras Club were served well by Hemant Dogra, who slammed an unbeaten 69 with seven fours and one six off 70 balls while Rahul Dewan and Kamal Singh came up with substantial contributions.

Scores: Delhi Blues: 218 for 7 in 40 overs (Nitin Goel 89 n o, 8x4, 3x6, 68b; Amjad Vohra 32, 3x4, 45b; Hanish Arora 25, 3x4, 40b; Rajinder Singh 2 for 16; Jitender Gulia 1 for 42; Jitender Solanki 1 for 37; Kamal Chopra 1 for 32).

Madras Club: 219 for 4 wickets in 36.5 overs (Hemant Dogra 69 n o, 7x4, 1x6, 70b; Rahul Dewan 56, 8x4, 61b; Kamal Chopra 31, 4x4, 1x6, 23b; Rajinder Singh 22, 2x4; Sanjeev Kumar 23, 2x6; Hanish Arora 2 for 40; Tarun Jain 1 for 37).

Umpires: Devender Sharma and Kamal Juneja.

Tuesday’s fixture: Collage Group vs Gemini Club.

Kartik steers Hans Raj to final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, May 27
A fine all-round performance by Delhi Under-14 player Kartik Bhatia (2 for 50 and 47) steered Hans Raj Model School, Punjabi Bagh to a four-wicket victory against Modern School, Barakhamba Road and into the final of the first Ravindra Malhotra Memorial Inter-School Cricket Tournament at the Bharat Nagar ground. Kartik Bhatia was named the man of the match.

Scores: Modern School: 171 for 9 in 40 overs (Vartik Tihara 79, 8x4, 2x6; Deepak Rajput 31; Kartik Bhatia 2 for 50). Hans Raj Model School: 172 for 6 in 39.1 overs (Kartik Bhatia 47, Onant Jai Singh 43, Neeraj Bansal 29 n o, Karan Rai 2 for 16, Kanwarjeet Singh 2 for 22). Hemant Kumar hits century for Ravindra School

Karnail Singh tourney

A swashbuckling unbeaten century knock of 102 by Hemant Kumar and deadly bowling of 3 for 25 by Himanshu Kumar and 3 for 19 by Vipul Gupta helped Ravindra Public School beat Tyagi Public School by eight wickets in the second Karnail Singh Memorial Under-14 Tyagi Trophy Cricket Tournament in the Capital.

Scores: Tyagi Public School: 149 all out in 32 overs (Madan Kumar 44, Hemant Kumar 3 for 17, Vipul Gupta 3 for 19, Himanshu Kumar 3 for 25). Ravindra Public School: 150 for 2 in 18 overs (Hemant Kumar 102 n o, Abhimanu 28 n o).

DDCA League

Inborn Cricketers beat Kishan Ganj Gymkhana by 59 runs in a DDCA A-I Division Super League match at the University ground.. Scores: Inborn Cricketers: 212 for 6 in 25 overs (Rahul Ahuja 73, S. Vaid 39, R. Jakota 39, Digvijay 3 for 34). Kishan Ganj Gymkhana: 153 all out in 23.2 overs (Vinay Kumar 24, Sonu Vaid 3 for 19, Bharat Khurana 3 for 16).

ADMINISTRATION

MOU to train construction workers
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, May 27
The National Council of Cement and Building Materials (NCB) and the Construction and Industrial Development Council (CIDC), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide training and certification to skilled and unskilled manpower in the construction sector. Both the enterprises are under the Union Government. The MOU was signed by the acting Director General of NCB, Mr S.J.Raina and Mr P.R.Swaroop, Director-General of CIDC, here today.

Speaking on the occasion, both Mr Raina and Mr Swaroop said that MOU would be a great help in improving the quality of construction work and provide value addition to the manpower engaged in such a work.

According to CIDC chief, a workforce of about 31 million people were engaged in the construction activity but there was no proper training and certification of workers and employees. He said large companies involved in major projects wanted trained persons so that the quality and standard of construction work was of high grade.

He said funds worth Rs 2,40,000 crore were used in construction activities each year in the country and it was bound to rise in view of the globalisation and opening up of the economy. The acting Director General of NCB, Mr Raina, said that as the NCB was a premier training and research body, it could train a large number of manpower every year.

He said certification by the NCB would prove helpful to the companies and contractors engaged in construction projects both inside and outside the country.

He said it would not only help in identifying trained manpower but would be a kind of licencing authority for trained people. He said about 30 trades had been identified where training would be provided.