Polio virus spreads its tentacles in UP
Our Correspondent

Ghaziabad, November 10
Polio virus has spread in half a dozen districts of western UP, affecting mostly children who, as a result of the scourge, have become physically challenged.

These districts are Meerut, Ghaziabad, Etawa, Badun, Bulandshahr, Moradabad etc. where, according to the World Health Organisation’s experts, the virus can affect more people in the months to come.

Of the total of 854 polio patients in the country, UP alone accounts for some 699 patients affected by this deadly virus.

There are three types of polio virus: P-1, P-3 found in India, and P-2 which is mostly found in foreign countries.

This is why children under five years are prone to this curse in India while in developed countries like the USA, due to P-2 linkage, people up to the age of 19 suffer from this disease.

According to the WHO report, of all the polio cases registered in India, some 790 patients have been found to have P-1 linkage, while 62 patients have P-3 linkages. Two patients were such whose bodies had proofs of the effect of a combination of P-1 and P-3 linkages.

According to the WHO latest report, UP with 99 polio patients tops the list in the country, followed by Bihar with 51, West Bengal with 32, Gujarat 17, Delhi 14, Uttaranchal 11, Jharkhand 10, Haryana 8, Maharashtra 4, MP, Orissa and Rajasthan with 2 each. Chhatisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir have one polio patient each.

The coordinator of Pulse Polio Campaign and WHO consultant Dr Harsh Vardhan has termed the increasing number of pulse polio patients as most unfortunate for UP and especially western UP.

He said that “in spite of the best efforts of the polio teams, people from a particularly community do not come forward to take polio drops which has been worrying both the Central Government and the World Health Organisation.

According to Central Health Minister Shatrugan Sinha, who was in Ghaziabad recently, the WHO has advised him to devise a clear-cut policy on polio in consultation with the state government health ministers, health secretaries and other non-governmental agencies involved in this programme before embarking on all-India pulse polio campaign on November 17 this year.

Polio drops will be administrated during three all-India campaigns starting from November 17, 2002 and January 5 and February 9, 2003, Mr Sinha said.

SPORTS

Shahdara Club lift LG Soccer Cup
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 10
Shahdara Club lifted the inaugural Lt. Governor’s Prize Money Football Tournament Trophy when they beat City Club 4-3 via tie-breaker in the title clash at the Ambedkar Stadium on Sunday.

The tie-breaker rule was applied after the teams failed to score any goal during the regulation period and 15 minutes of extra time play.

City Club, former DSA League champions, dominated the proceedings in the initial half. In the third minute, they missed a virtual sitter when striker Kabul Tyagi’s shot from inside the box was blocked by custodian Avneet. In fact but for the excellent keeping of Avneet, Shahdara would have been in the arrears, at least by a couple of goals, in the first half itself.

Though Shahdara made some sporadic raids, they never really threatened the City goal the way City harassed the Shahdara custodian. But in the tie-breaker shoot-out, the tables were turned on City as Shahdara converted all their five penalty kicks through Promod Rawat, Neeraj Choudhary, Ravi Rana, Rakesh Kholi and Satish Bagga, while City could score only three, through Sanjay Sidhu, Kamal Bhakuni and G Kabui Ninja. Osomor John Ekka’s shot went wide.

Lt. Governor Vijay Kapoor presented a cash award of Rs 75,000 to Shahdara and Rs 45,000 to City Club. Semi-finalists Hindustan Club and Indian Air Force (Palam) received Rs 15,000 each.

Indian Nationals were presented the Fair Play Trophy for being the best disciplined team.

Vijay Singh wins BILT Skins Golf
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 10
Vijay Singh of Fiji won the BILT Skins Golf title to pocket a hefty purse of US $ 21,500 at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Sunday.

Jyoti Randhawa maintained his good form playing consistent golf and claiming eight skins after winning the eighth hole outright, with a birdie to accumulate skins worth $ 9000. He then birdied the par-five ninth to take his skins tally to $ 10,500.

Vijay, Jyoti, Harmeet Kahlon and Kapil Dev started the pars on the opening holes, the first and second. Vijay, Jyoti and Harmeet carded threes on the third, while Kapil had a four. Similarly, on the fourth, Kapil made a five while the other three players carded fours. The fifth hole was halved in fours, and even though Vijay and Jyoti birdied the par-five sixth, and halved the seventh with pars, the skins kept getting carried forward. On the eighth hole, Jyoti sank a six-footer for birdie after his playing partners had missed their birdie putts.

“It’s a matter of time before Jyoti and Harmeet make their mark as both are good players. It was great to play in India and see such good turn out to watch golf”, Vijay said.

Teachers lift Pataudi Cup
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 10
Teachers beat South Delhi by five and a half goals to four goals in the ABN-Amro Bank Bhopal-Pataudi Cup (eight-goal) Polo Tournament at the Jaipur Polo ground on Sunday. Mr Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and his wife Sharmila Tagore gave away the prizes.

Teams: Teachers: Bhupendera Singh, Preetendra Singh, Lokendra Singh and Navin Khanna. South Delhi: Akshai Malik, Bhawani Singh Kalvi, Philip Elliott and Karan Thapar.

RVC to meet 61 Cavalry B in final

Remount and Veterinary College (RVC) will take on 61 Cavalry B in the final of the Maharaja Prithi Singh Cup. In the second semi-final of the six-goal polo tournament, RVC beat 61 Cavalry A by five and a half goals to four.

Dhrupal Godara scored all the five goals for RVC. Atul Gupta, Yogeshwar Singh and Capt. A S Baath (2) were the scorers for Cavalry B.

Monday’s fixture: Indian Open Polo: Army vs Sahgal Stud/Royal Kashmir (2.30 pm)—Jaipur Polo ground..

Anuj stars for Khalsa School

Anuj Bhardwaj struck 75 runs off 26 balls with seven sixes and six fours to help last year’s runners-up S S Khalsa Senior Secondary School beat Guru Harkrishan Public School (Hem Kund) by nine wickets in the Sardar Harbans Singh Sistani Memorial Inter-School Cricket Tournament.

Anuj was declared the man of the match. Scores: Guru Harkrishan Public School: 148 for 5 in 20 overs (Mayank Kapila 52, Akash Kumar 28, Gurbhaj Singh 3 for 19). S S Khalsa: 150 for 1 in 10.1 overs (Anuj Bhardwaj 75, Onkar Singh 50 n o, 5x4, 3x6).

Govt School, Chetan Academy win
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 10
A quickfire knock of 67 runs, studded with nine fours and four sixes by Vivek Raj Singh and an unbeaten half century with nine fours and one six by Ankit Batra helped Government School, Chirag Enclave beat Chinmay Vidyalaya by eight wickets and entered the quarter-final of the sixth Sardar Harbans Singh Sistani Memorial Cricket Tournament at the S S Khalsa School (Lajpat Nagar) ground.

Scores: Chinmaya Vidyalaya: 145 all out in 19.5 overs (Ajit Chikara 37, Manav Vohra 42, Amrit Pal Singh 3 for 17). Govt. School: 146 for 2 in 14.1 overs (Vivek Raj Singh 67, Ankit Batra 50 n o, 9x4, 1x6).

In another match, Chetan Sharma Academy beat Blue Bells School by 45 runs. Scores: Chetan Sharma Academy: 155 for 8 in 20 overs (Anshul Sethi 38, Jasmeet Singh 38, Mayank Kumar 3 for 39, Abhishek Kumar 2 for 42).

Blue Bells: 110 all out in 13.5 overs (Gautam Virani 38, Jashmeet Shah Singh 3 for 18, Rahul Sharma 2 for 2).

Columba’s in semis

A quickfire knock of 74 by Charles Hembram and deadly bowling of 5 for 49 by Wilkinson Victor helped St. Columba’s School beat Delhi Public School, R K Puram by 31 runs in the Sixth Inter-School Cricket Tournament at the Gyan Bharti School ground, Saket.

Scores: St. Columba’s (first innings): 190 all out in 50 overs (Charles Hembram 74, Simran Sodhi 4 for 43, Arjun Suri 3 for 55). Second innings: 170 all out in 39.2 overs (Tushar Kumar 38, Wilkinson Victor 5 for 49, Manan Abror 3 for 29).

DPS (first innings): 178 all out in 49.3 overs (Simran Sodhi 4 for 43, Arjun\ Suri 3 for 55). Second innings: 151 all out in 37.2 overs (Hemant Chugh 37, Amar 36, Simran Sodhi 31, Mayank Babbar 2 for 27).

Bid to take over ‘shamlat’ land thwarted 
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, November 10
Prompt action by the district administration has thwarted an attempt of over 25 shareholders of a ‘shamlat’ land adjoining the new bus stand to strike an underhand deal for nearly Rs 3.25 crore allegedly in connivance with some of the revenue personnel.

An official team reached the site on Saturday and demolished the boundary wall constructed around the land in an unauthorised manner. According to information, nearly 2,000 shareholders of Kishanpura, Bohar, Makrauli, Azadgarh and Sukhpura villages possessed two pieces of ‘shamlat’ land measuring over four kanals in the vicinity of the new bus stand. Reportedly, a chunk of this land is under dispute and a case in this connection is pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rohtak. However, nearly 25 shareholders of the land allegedly struck a secret deal with about five property dealers and a token amount of Rs 5 lakh had been deposited. Their evil design was foiled as soon as the district authorities came to know about the deal.

It is learnt that the district authorities took a serious note of the alleged involvement of the revenue staff and certain property dealers in the scandalous deal. According to sources, the entire revenue staff involved in the deal is likely to be transferred in a day or two. The property dealers concerned are also anxious about the proposed legal action to be initiated against them.

Grievances settled

Most of the 19 complaints related to different departments were settled on the spot during the monthly meeting of the district grievances committee held here under the presidentship of Mr Rampal Majra, chief parliamentary secretary, Haryana, this afternoon.

Mr Krishan Kumar, a resident of Partap Mohalla, said his daughter, Meena, was killed by certain miscreants who threw acid on her a few years ago. He said the culprits were still at large. The DSP said the accused had been declared as a proclaimed offender. Mr Majra directed the police to expedite the search for the culprit.

Minister orders desilting of canals
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, November 10
The Haryana Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, received 10 complaints at the monthly meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievances Committee here on Saturday and directed the authorities concerned to dispose of them on a priority basis.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister directed the officials of the irrigation department to take immediate steps for desilting and de-weeding the canals and

distributaries to ensure the supply of water at the tail-end villages. He also asked them to check the cases of canal water theft and take stern action against the erring farmers.

The minister also warned them that if they failed to supply adequate canal water to the farmers for the sowing of Rabi crops, they would be taken to task by the government. He also announced that all damaged roads would be repaired by March next year.