HEALTH

WORLD TB DAY
Funds not released for TB centres: MCD
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 24
The MCD has alleged that Delhi Government has not released funds meant for running tuberculosis centres in the Capital under the RNTCP scheme launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to the MCD, the RNTCP scheme was launched by WHO in 1993 considering the seriousness of tuberculosis which is a chronic disease. Thousands of patients die every year in the country because of improper treatment. The flow of funds is from the World Bank through the Central TB Division, Union Government, to state-level societies like the MCD and others.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the corporation by opposition leader Vijender Gupta after a detailed presentation of the situation of tuberculosis patients and the arrangements made for its treatment by the MCD. The presentation was given today as March 24 is observed as World TB Day.

He alleged the Delhi Government was given Rs 7-8 lakh by the Union Government to transfer the money to the MCD for the treatment of tuberculosis patients in Delhi. In the Capital, health services are the obligatory function of the corporation. Ten chest clinics are being run by the corporation in different areas of the Capital.

Instead of releasing the World Bank money to the corporation, the NCT government has started running its own centres near the centres being run by the corporation. The Delhi Government centres are hardly serving their purpose, Mr Vijender Gupta and other councillors said. The MCD had been running anti-TB programme since 1962, he said.

When Mr S. P. Agarwal was the Municipal Commissioner he wrote a letter to the Special Secretary, Union Ministry of Health, and the Principal Secretary of the NCT government regarding separate funds for operationalisation of MCD chest clinics.

The Principal Secretary of the Health Ministry also asked the Delhi Government to release funds to the agency concerned but nothing had been done so far. Consequently, physicians and other employees working in the MCD chest clinics had not been given their salaries for the past two months, Standing Committee members said.

SPORTS

ROYAL CHALLENGE OPEN
Local heroes all set to take on the challenge
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
Indian professional golfers prepare to showcase their talent at the Delhi Golf Course, as they take on the strongest field ever confirmed to play in the US$300,000 Royal Challenge Indian Open.

The 2002 Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit winner, Jyoti Randhawa and the 2003 Malaysian Open champion and current APGA Order of Merit leader Arjun Atwal, will face the strongest field ever confirmed to play in the Indian Open when they tee off on March 27.

Seven of the current top ten players on the 2003 APGA Order of Merit will participate in the 72-hole, stroke-play championship, led by the number one player, Arjun Atwal and third placed Australian Brad Kennedy, who jumped into the limelight with a second place finish in the Malaysian Open last month.

Jyoti and Arjun, both golfers who have already annexed the Indian Open once and will attempt to do so a second time this year, will lead the field, comprising Honda Siel champion Arjun Singh, 2002 Hero Honda Masters winner, Harmeet Kahlon, ten-time winner this season and the Indian PGA tour’s order of merit leader, Mukesh Kumar, Indian Open defending champion Vijay Kumar and three-time winner on the Indian circuit so far this season, Digvijay Singh.

Daniel Chopra, who honed his golfing skills playing at the Delhi Golf Course and is in great form, finishing sixth in the Malaysian Open, fifth at the Myanmar Open and 16th at the Singapore Masters this season, will also enjoy a rare opportunity to play in his hometown. Having played the European and Challenge Tours, Daniel made his presence felt in Asia when he won the Mercuries Masters in 2001 and a good performance so far this year has placed him seventh on the current Asian tour order of merit.

This season’s top performers, Criag Kamps, who played the final round of the Johnnie Walker Classic alongside Ernie Els and carded creditable scores of 71, 67, 64 and 70 to finish ninth with his total of 16-under-par, will also tee it up at the Delhi Golf Course, a track most of the Asian tour regulars know almost as well as the Indian professionals, as some golfers like Mike Cunning and Scott Taylor have played this championship for the last 20 years.

Simon Yates, who leads the stroke average on the Asian PGA tour and has displayed excellent form, is comfortably placed on the current order of merit, in ninth place.

He finished tenth at the Singapore Masters, 18th at the Johnnie Walker Classic, 13th at the Myanmar Open and tied for 28th place at the recently-held Dubai Desert Classic Winners from the Asian tour last season, Australian David Gleeson, Canadian Rick Gibson who finished second here last year and Taiwan’s Danny Chia will also make their presence felt.

Burma’s top two players, Kyi Hla Han, the APGA Order of Merit champion in 1999 and Zaw Moe, who competes regularly on the Japanses tour, have confirmed participation. Past Asian tour champions Yeh Wei Tze, Kum Dae Sub and Choi Gwang Soo, Americans Gerry Norquist and Anthony Kang, Thailand, S Boonchu Ruangkit and Thaworn Wiratchant, Andrew Pitts, South Africans Des Terblanche and James Kingston, Felix Casas and Gerald Rosales of the Philipines will form a strong field.

However, apart from the leading Asian players, this tournament will also witness participation by winners from the Australian and Japanese tours. Richard Best, who has won on the Japan PGA, Sammy Daniels, Wayne Bradley, Bobby Lincoln and Michiel Bothma are amongst the nine South African tour winners who will compete here at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, members of the Indian Golf Union, leading amateur golfers Keshav Mishra, Manav Das, Jasjeet Singh, Harinder Gupta, Simarjeet Singh, Anitya Chand and Sanjeev Mehra will also participate in the longest running annual golf championship and test their skills against the best professionals in the continent.

12 teams for SAIL Trophy cricket tourney
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
Twelve top club teams of Delhi, divided into two groups, will participate in the 13th SAIL Trophy Invitation Cricket Tournament to be held at the Mohan Nagar Cricket Stadium from March 31 to April 11. The final will be played at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground.

The tournament will be played on a knock-out format, with each team playing a 40-over innings. The tournament will be conducted as per the Board of Control for Cricket in India rules, excepting that instead of field restrictions in the first 15 overs, the presence of four fielders within the inner circle will be mandatory throughout the innings.

The title winners will pocket a cash prize of Rs 35,000 while the runners-up will be richer by Rs 25,000. Each match will also have a ‘Man of the Match’ award.

The organising committee of the tournament include T K Bhowmik, Surender Khanna, Rakesh Shukla, Anil Bhardwaj, Gautam Nag and Amarjeet Singh.

The teams: Group A: Indian Airlines, Mohan Meakins, Youngsters Club, Malviya Club and Sahara Airlines. Group B: Steel Authority of India Ltd., Chand Khanna Club, Golden Hawks, Subhania Club, Sonnet Club and Trans Yamuna Cricket Association (TYCA). Indian Airlines, Sahara, SAIL and TYCA have been given byes in the first round.

Manish stars for Alitalia
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
An impressive all-round performance by Manish Kumar (77 and 2 for 26) and a devastating 3 for 46 bowling spell by Vivek Kumar helped Alitalia Airlines beat Pepsi Foods by 52 runs in a league match of the second Turf Sports Management Cricket Tournament at the Gargi College ground. Manish was declared the man of the match. Rajiv Kumar’s fine century for Pepsi went in vain.

Scores: Alitalia Airlines: 235 for 5 in 25 overs (Manish Kumar 77, S Lee 43, Dhiraj Kumar 32, Mohd. Tamal 3 for 22, Prashant Kumar 2 for 35).

Pepsi Foods: 183 all out in 21.2 overs (Rajeev Kumar 110, Vivek Kumar 3 for 43, Manish Kumar 2 for 16, Abhishek 2 for 39).

GE Capital crush Seagram

G E Capital recorded a crushing 75 runs victory against Seagram in the Reebok Cricket Tournament.

Scores: G E Capital: 157 for 8 wickets in 25 overs (Mitesh Sharma 26, 21b, 4x2; Harish Nair 22, 15b, 4x3; Raja Banerjee 3 for 35, Deepak Katty 2 for 30).

Seagram: 82 all out in 18.4 overs (Bikram Basu 26, 26b, 4x3; Abhishek Mishra 18, 26b, 4x2; Mitesh Sharma 2 for 17, Prakhar Singhal 2 for 16).

Inborn storm past K N Colts
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
Inborn Club defeated K N Colts by six wickets in an A-I Division match of the DDCA League at the RSC ground. Inborn Club made 160 all out in 39.2 overs.

Scores: K N Colts: 160 all out in 39.2 overs (Dinesh Pawar 48, Harpreet Singh 31, Sachin Gupta 4 for 26, Arun Chaudhary 2 for 28, Rohit Jagota 2 for 39).

Inborn Club: 161 for 4 in 37.4 overs (Wasim Raja 57 n o, Sonu Vaid 30, Rahul Ahuja 29, Lalit Kumar 2 for 16).

Rajender Nagar Colts beat Gush XI by 17 runs in an A-I Division match at the Kalindi College ground.

Scores: Rajender Nagar Colts: 230 for 6 in 40 overs (Siddarth 99, Tarun Ahuja 39, Dinesh Jain 32, Gursaran Singh 2 for 40, Naman Khanna 2 for 52).

Gush XI: 213 for 9 in 40 overs (Gursaran Singh 91, Manav Sharma 51, Arun Mishra 4 for 38, Tarun Ahuja 2 for 31).

Orient Craft bag Phadkar memorial title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
A searing 3 for 16 spell by medium-pacer Rishikesh, who took all the three wickets in the last over of the match, helped Orient Craft beat NIIT by one run in the final of the sixth D G Phadkar Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Teri Oval. Orient Craft made 141 for 7 in 25 overs.

Scores: Orient Craft: 141 for 7 in 25 overs (Mahender Dahiya 43, Manoj 28, Majid 27, Kapil Gupta 2 for 29, Gagan 2 for 12).

NIIT: 140 all out in 25 overs (Rajesh Varshney 48, Kapil 21, Ashish 27, Rishi Kesh 3 for 16, Manoj 4 for 26, Dhan Singh 2 for 23).