HEALTH

CMCH clarifies stand
Our correspondent

Ludhiana, December 14
The management and staff of Christian Medical College and Hospital (CCH) has condemned the statement of Mr Charles Reynolds, former member of the governing body of CMCH, saying that he was not associated with the CMCH anymore and the views expressed by him were nothing but his personal opinion.

Dr John Abraham, Medical Superintendent and Dr John Pramod, Assistant Director, CMCH, today said that Mr Reynolds had, in fact, been removed from the CMC, USA Board, on grounds of serious nature almost 10 years ago and he ceased to be a member of the CMC governing body since then.

Dr Abraham said that the progress made by the CMCH under the leadership of the present director in the past three years, was evident for all to see, which was documented in its annual statistics and reports. The fact is that the annual budget of the institute trebled during the period, which also witnessed an input of the latest state-of-art equipment to the tune of over Rs 12 crore. The staff emolument had increased by more than 50 per cent of what existed in 1998, when the present director took over. The hospital had been providing service to nearly double the number of patients visiting the OPD and those admitted to the hospital as compared to figures of three years prior to this administration.

Dr Abraham said that CMC remained a pioneer for initiating renal transplant, dialysis, open heart surgery, micro vascular surgery, chest/lung surgery, paediatric surgery, cancer chemotherapy unit and radiotherapy unit etc. Dr John Pramod also cleared the allegation that the CMCH was not a profit oriented institute.

Dr Abraham said that the CMCH was a premier institute with a medical college, a dental college and college of nursing catering to about 150 students every year. “While the CMC continues to be involved in community outreach programmes in the villages and slum areas, it has progressed leaps and bounds in the highly developed specialised services for patients. The 785-bed hospital has all modern facilities. With a galaxy of well-experienced doctors trained in India and abroad, state-of-the-art medical technology and an array of highly specialised services, CMC gets the highest regard among hospitals in North India”, claimed Dr Abraham.

Kabaddi tourney on Jan 4, 5
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, December 14
Ten teams have been finalised for the Canada Cup Kabaddi Tournament to be organised by the Malwa Sports Club here at the Guru Nanak Stadium on January 4 and 5. These teams, comprising top players of the country are America XI, Punjab, India Red, India Blue, Doaba Club, Germany, England, Malwa Club of Canada and Australia XI.

A decision in this regard was taken during a meeting of the Malwa Sports Club held here today at the Guru Nanak Stadium with Mr Inderjit Singh Mullanpur in the chair. The meeting resolved to organise the tournament in a disciplined way and the teams would be required to follow certain rules. Any team, found flouting the rule would be disqualified immediately.

After the meeting, Mr Inderjit Singh informed that competitions in wrestling, athletics and gymnastics would also be held during this two-day meet. Initially, 20 star wrestlers had been allowed to take part in this inaugural tournament. The Athletic events would be conducted in some disciplines while exhibition matches would be held in gymnastics. Ties for the kabadi matches would be drawn on December 27 at the next meeting of the club, Mr Singh said.

Kabaddi star, Balwinder Singh Fidda, Mr Devi Dyal, kabaddi coach and president, Punjab Rural Sports Promotion Council, Mr Makhan Singh, president, International Moga Club, Mr Balbir Singh Bittu of Jaspal Bangar, Mr Bhupinder Singh of Ghaloti, Mr Karamjit Singh of Barnala, Mr Pawitter Singh, Mr Sukhchain Singh, Mr Surinder Singh Raikot, Mr Jagjit Singh of Chughawa, Mr Ramandeep Singh, Mr Inderjit Singh of Sudhar, Mr Rajinder Singh of Hissowal, Mr Paviter Singh Sidhu and Mr Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal also attended the meeting.

8 villages selected for basketball promotion
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, December 14
To promote the game of basketball in the rural areas of the state, the Punjab Basketball Association (PBA) has drawn out a programme. Office-bearers of the PBA held a meeting here in this connection with sarpanches of 25 villages. The meeting was chaired by Mr J P Singh, secretary, Zila Parishad.

During the meeting, eight villages- Lalto Kalan, Manuke, Kila Raipur, Gujarwal, Gurhe, Jarkhar, Manikmajra and Kulalmajra were selected to start with the PBA activities to provide infrastructure and spot tall, and talented cagers in these villages. The PBA had earlier also conducted trials here about three months ago to select tall boys and girls for future competition.

Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal general secretary and Mr Yurinder Singh, vice-president and the SP (CID) of the PBA were among others who attended the meeting.

ADMINISTRATION

Paid-parking lots: sites identified
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 14
Increasing vehicular traffic here and a shortage of parking space, particularly in downtown commercial areas and congested localities of the old city, has made the Municipal Corporation start identifying new sites that can be developed into paid-parking lots. The move would not only help in regulating traffic by checking haphazard parking of vehicles on roadsides, but also bring revenue to the civic body.

Growth in vehicle population and poor infrastructure has made the traffic situation chaotic and traffic jams have become a routine. Lenient enforcement of traffic rules and rampant encroachment on roadsides has worsened the situation.

To streamline traffic, the civic administration had introduced paid parking in busy areas and the public response to it had been encouraging. However, the experiment of painting yellow line to demarcate parking zone had failed in many parts of the city.

The Finance and Contracts Committee (F and CC) of the Municipal Corporation has approved a proposal for creating paid-parking lots at Fountain Chowk, Aarti Cinema Chowk, Mall Road, Bharat Nagar Chowk and Link Road. According to the MC sources, parking zones will be demarcated by yellow lines on both sides of the roads. The parking contractors concerned would be directed to impose restrictions on parking of vehicles on each side of the road by rotation, on specified days.

The F and CC also agreed to explore the possibility of using private land for parking purposes. In the next two days, the MC may invite bids from private land owners for the development of paid-parking lots on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. For this purpose, the civic administration has agreed to relax building bylaws.

The F and CC has agreed in principle to construct footbridges or overbridges for pedestrian crossings at many places on the national highway passing through the city. Initially, the sites identified for this purpose were the GT Road opposite Daba village, the GT Road opposite Giaspura and Samrala Bypass Chowk. The committee had directed the Engineering Wing to widen the railway underbridge at Sherpur Chowk to facilitate smooth traffic from the GT Road to Focal Point.

Income tax surveys yield Rs 10 crore
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 14
Surveys undertaken by the Income Tax Department have resulted in disclosure of a sum of about Rs 10 crore of unaccounted money. Three commissioners of the Income Tax department at Ludhiana conducted surveys on premises of local businessmen, including hosiery unit owners, plywood manufacturers, steel furnace owners and others during the past few days to unearth concealed income.

According to information, a steel and cycle parts manufacturing unit has surrendered Rs 1.1 crore, while two plywood manufacturing plants at Hambran have declared Rs 25 lakh and Rs 38 lakhs of unaccounted money during the surveys.

The Income Tax Commissioner (III) conducted surveys on eight premises and found about Rs 4 crore of unaccounted money.

Surveys to unearth black money would continue, sources said.