HEALTH

SPECIAL FOCUS ON  SONEPAT
If you go to Civil Hospital, buy your own medicines 
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, March 9
The patients, especially those admitted in the emergency ward, in the 100-bed Civil Hospital here are being asked to buy their own medicines as the hospital cannot afford them. Even the stock of basic medicines is reportedly running out in the cash-strapped hospitals run by the Health Department in various parts of the district.

According to a report, the patients in the Civil Hospital are routinely asked by the staff nurses and doctors on duty in the emergency ward to arrange their own medicines, as the hospital does not have the necessary funds. Not only this, even cleaning and disinfecting materials are not made available.

Pilferage of medicines from the store of the Civil Hospital is said to be the main cause of the scarcity of medicines and other goods. The local purchase system had been stopped for the last one year or so on account of the vigilance inquiry against the staff.

According to hospital sources, the attendants of patients are asked to purchase medicines from the market. And the attendants have to travel all the way to Sonepat-Bahalgarh road to buy the medicines leaving the patients alone. The hospital’s inability to provide basic medicines has left the attendants in a state of despair.

But for the hospital staff, the non-availability of medicines is nothing new. Though this correspondent made several attempts to contact the Medical Superintendent and other doctors, they were not available for comments.

Almost all the patients brought to the emergency ward of this hospital are either referred to Delhi or the PGIMS at Rohtak for further treatment. The doctors on duty in this ward always remain ready to refer the emergency cases to Delhi or Rohtak to save themselves from the wrath of the relatives of the patients.

In spite of a considerable increase in the budget for medicines during the last two decades, this hospital and other health institutions in this district fail to meet the demand of medicines, thanks to the failure of the Civil Surgeon to ensure the supply.

SPORTS

Radhey Shyam, Mohd Saif star for ONGC
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 9
Dashing knocks by Radhey Shyam (88, 11x4, 74b) and Mohd Saif (77 2x6, 10x4, 58b) helped Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) defeat hosts Roshanara Club by eight wickets and enter the semi-final of the fourth Roshanara Cup Cricket Tournament at the Roshanara Club ground.

Roshanara Club won the toss and elected to bat, but could score only 196 for eight in 45 overs. Lusty hittings by Amit Kakkar, Dinesh Saini, Mohit Suneja and Rahul Gutti enabled the hosts to post a somewhat decent total.

For the solid ONGC batting lineup, the target, however, proved measly as openers Radhey Shyam and Mohd Saif put on 145 runs in 18 overs to put the Oilmen on the road to victory. The rest was easy as they achieved victory in under 25 overs. ONGC have won all their three matches in Pool A. Radhey Shyam was adjudged the man of the match.

Scores: Roshanara Club XI: 196 for 8 in 45 overs (Amit Kakkar 34, Dinesh Saini 32, Mohit Suneja 30, Rahul Gutti 24, Amit Sharma 2 for 23, Rahul Sanghvi 2 for 45).

ONGC: 197 for 2 in 24.5 overs (Radhey Shyam 88, Mohd Saif 74, Gautam Vadera 21 n o, Rajiv Deora 1 for 6, Rajan Manchanda 1 for 9).

Suhail bowls Pahari Dhiraj to victory
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 9
A devastating bowling performance by left-arm spinner Suhail Dhand, who claimed four wickets for 20 runs, and a quickfire knock of 45 by Naveen Kumar helped Pahari Dhiraj Club beat Central Bank of India by three wickets in an A-I Division match of the DDCA League at the Shanti Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Central Bank: 154 all out in 39.1 overs (V P Pathak 27, Vikas Chaudhary 27, Suhail Dhand 4 for 20, Sandeep Kumar 2 for 15, Sarafraj Nawaj 2 for 40).

Pahari Dhiraj: 155 for 7 in 38.2 overs (Naveen Kumar 45, Mohit Sharma 27, Vikas Choudhary 2 for 30, Kamal Kishore 2 for 39).

Spectramind win

Spectramind defeated Amway India by 64 runs in the Reebok Cricket Tournament.

Electing to bat Spectramind made 232 for 7 in 25 overs. 

Scores: Spectramind: 232 for 7 in 25 overs (Deepak Sharma 63, 39b, 4x11; Rochak 36, 16b, 4x5, 6x1, Shubh Arora 33, 33b, 4x6; Anmol Nayyar 2 for 30, Naresh 2 for 41).

Amway India: 168 all out in 24.2 overs (Mohit Dutt 83, 73b, 4x13; Dev Prasad 48, 38b, 4x6, 6x1; Dilip 4 for 19). Mohit Dutt was named the man of the match.

BSF to meet J and K Bank

Border Security Force (BSF) will take on Jammu and Kashmir Bank in the Second Division National Football League (North Zone) at the Ambedkar Stadium on Monday at 1.30 pm. Him Club, Himachal Pradesh will clash against Indian Nationals at 3 pm. Both are Group B matches.

Kunjarani back in form
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 9
Kunjarani Devi of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is back in form as her medal victory in the National Championship at Lucknow has proved. Kunjarani Devi, who has accumulated over 50 medals from various international competitions. Totalled 185kg to pip Kirishna Veni and Sandhya Rani to the gold in the 48kg category.

Kunjarani lifted 80kg in snatch and 105kg in jerk. But her bid to haul 83kg in snatch and 108kg in jerk, met with failures. However, her effort of 185kg was one of the best performances in the world in the 48kg.

This success has somewhat earsed her pain of not winning a medal in the Asian Games at Busan. Sandhya Rani, who had lifted 180kg in the National Games at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), could total only 167.5kg. Olympian Sanamacha Chanu failed to win the gold in her pet event, 53kg. She, however, claimed the silver on bodyweight, over another strong contender, Nandani Devi of CRPF.

It may be recalled that Sanamacha Chanu had failed to strike it rich in the World Championship in 1999, the Asian Games in 2002 and even in the Police Games. She had finished sixth in the Olympic Games at Sydney in 2000.

Interestingly, the Lucknow National Championship was kept a low-key affair by the Ad-Hoc Committee of weightlifting.

Some weightlifters wondered why was the selection of the lifters not done during the National Games at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and why after the Asian Championships.

The women lifters have been out of training for some time, and India sent no lifter for the World Championship at Warsaw (Poland).

Weightlifting is one discipline in which India have been winning medals by the bagfuls.

Even at Sydney, the lone bronze for India was won by Karnam Malleswari in weightlifting. Though doping controversies have dogged the sport in the recent past, Indian women lifters are world class prospects.

And it is time the Indian Olympic Association and the Sports Authority of India gave more attention to weightlifting, considering the fact that the Olympic Games at Athens are only a hailing distance away.

Gillette beat Morepen in Challenger Cup
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 9
Gillette defeated Dr Morepen by 97 runs in a Group B match of the ESPN Star Sports Challenger Cup Cricket Tournament.

Scores: Gillette: 232 for 3 in 25 overs (Sushil 64, Anjeev 96, Deepak 1 for 20).

Dr Morepen: 135 all out in 19 overs (Deepak 44, Anjeev 2 for 29). Anjeev was awarded the Man of the Match prize.

McCann defeated PWC by six wickets in another Group B match. 

Scores: PWC: 145 for 10 in 23.3 overs (Manoj 45, Kshitiz 34, Mahender 2 for 22). McCann: 145 for four in 21.3 overs (Diwakar 61, Bhanav 2 for 26). Diwakar was named the man of the match.

In Group D, Hindustan Times beat E Funds by one wicket. 

Scores: E Funds: 236 for 3 in 25 overs (Rishi 116, Vikas Sharma 57, Rakesh Chaturvedi 2 for 42). 

HT: 237 for nine in 24.5 overs (Rakesh Chhabra 56, P Mathur 36, Pankaj Mohanty 2 for 34). Rishi was named the Man of the Match.

In another group D match, BSES defeated ITC by 72 runs. 

Scores: BSES: 174 in 24.4 overs (Satish Tyagi 47, Ajay Maharaj 32, Shashank 4 for 22).

ITC: 102 in 20.3 overs (Samrat 32, S R Gautam 7 for 25). Gautam was named the Man of the Match.

The title winners will be richer by Rs 25000 while the runners-up will receive a cash award of Rs 10,000.

Goyal pips Sikka to title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 9
Somesh Goyal beat Harinder Sikka on count back to win the DHL Challenge Cup. The count-back was necessitated after the two golfers finished at 45 stableford points each. The tournament was the final leg of the twin-city competition, the earlier one having been played at Bangalore.

Arun Anand won a hard-fought battle for the winner’s spot in the 18-24 handicap category by getting the better of Pradeep Jain in a count-back after the two tied at 43 points each.

Renu Malhotra tallied 45 points to emerge triumphant among the ladies while Rajiv Syal topped the best gross stableford score.

ADMINISTRATION

MC schemes to beautify Gohana
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, March 9
The Gohana Municipal Committee has planned a number of schemes for the beautification of and maintaining cleanliness in the town. The schemes include shifting of dairies and meat shops to the outskirts of the town, construction of a slaughterhouse, setting up of milk booths at different sites and handing over maintenance of streetlights to private parties.

According to the secretary of the municipality, Suraj Prakash Bahal, the municipality was going to acquire five acres of land at Barota village for shifting of dairies from the town. As keeping cows and bufalloes in the houses within municipal limits, the municipality will set up milk booths to meet the requirements of the town residents.

A modern slaughterhouse was being constructed alongside the Rohtak road at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. After its completion, no one would be allowed to slaughter animals within the municipal areas. Also, a veterinary surgeon would also be deputed to carry out medical examination of the animals before their slaughtering and to certify the quality of the meat to be sold in the market or to the individuals, he said.

Under the privatisation of maintenance of streetlights, he said, the municipality will first complete all arrangements of streetlighting and then only it will be handed over to private parties.

The municipality is also contemplating to put a check on the movements of stray pigs in the towns, though at present it is restricted only in a few localities of the town around the Drain No 8, he said.