Concrete plan on AIDS sought
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 30
According to a report, more than four million people in India are infected with HIV. A survey showed that HIV had affected more than 40 million people in the world. Dr Gursharan Singh, the president of the local chapter of the Indian Medical Association, said it was unfortunate that most of the HIV-infected patients were in the age group of 25 to 35 years. He said the most common route of transmission of HIV among Indians was through sexual contact with infected partner.

Most of the AIDS patients are from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Manipur, who account for 75 per cent of the country's estimated HIV cases. Mumbai and Manipur have recorded 20 to 49 per cent bed occupancy by HIV-infected people in certain hospitals.

Dr Gursharan Singh suggested that a concrete plan should be made to educate the masses about the prevention and symptoms of AIDS. "Sex education should be provided to the students at high school level," he added.

Punjab zone win championship
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 30
Heena of Punjab zone and Pallavi of Chhattisgarh zone were declared the best athlete and the best gymnast, respectively, in the three-day All-India Mahatma Hans Raj Aryan Inter-Zonal Girls Tournament which concluded at the DAV Public School, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, here today. Punjab zone collected more points than other zones to annex the overall championship. while Chhattisgarh zone came out as ovaerall champions in the athletic events.

Mr Sudhakar Verma, Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. Ms P. P. Sharma, Manager and Principal, HMV College, Jalandhar, read out the welcome address. Mr M. L. Goel, Regional Director, Rajasthan zone, and managing committee members were also present at the prize distribution function. Mr R. S. Patial, the Principal of the host school, proposed a vote of thanks and expressed his gratitude towards the dignitaries who spared time to encourage the participants.

Results-Javelin throw- Veena Verma of Chaattisgarh 1, Yadwinder of Punjab 1, Jyotima Singh of Delhi 3; Shot put- Reena of Ranchi 1, Jasreen of Punjab 2, Nancy Kakkar of Punjab 3; Long jump- Shilpa of Chhattisgarh 1, Rachita Sharma of Delhi 2, Chameli of Ranchi 3; 1500m - Amandeep Kaur of Punjab 1, Anu Yadav of Delhi 2, Anuradha of Ranchi 3; Discus throw- Jasreen of Punjab 1, Harsanjeet of Punjab 2, Tanya Rawat of Uttaranchal 3.

Triple jump- Pallavi of Chhattisgarh 1, Kanwaljit Kaur of Punjab 2, Rekha of Uttaranchal 3; 200m- Pallavi Singh of Chhattisgarh 1, Veena Vandna of Chhattisgarh 2, Jyoti Rani of Patna 3; High jump- Archna Sinha of Ranchi 1, Lucky of Ranchi 2, Kavita of Panchkula 3.

4x400m relay- Ranchi 1, Panchkula 2, Chhattisgarh 3; Kho-kho- Rajasthan beat Chhattisgarh by 7 points and 1 turn; Punjab beat Delhi by 8 points and 2 turns; Rajasthan beat J &K by 11-1; Badminton- Delhi beat Faridabad 3-0; Volleyball- Faridabad beat Panchkula 3-1; Basketball- J & K beat Ranchi 36-28; Punjab beat Faridabad 33-22.

Kho-kho- Punjab 1, Rajasthan 2, Delhi 3, J & K 4; Volleyball- Delhi 1, Punjab 2, Faridabad 3, Panchkula 4; Table tennis- Punjab 1, Ranchi 2, Chhattisgarh 3, Panchkula 4; Gymnastics- Punjab 1, Panchkula 2; Handball- Ranchi 1, Punjab 2, Delhi 3, Panchkula 4.

MP circle retain hockey title
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 30
Holders Madhya Pradesh circle drubbed hosts and the last year’s losing finalists Punjab circle 4-1 to retain the title in the 17th All India Postal Hockey Tournament that concluded at the astroturf ground of Punjab Agricultural University here today. In the hard-line cup match, last year’s third placed Karnataka circle repeated the performance to outplay Tamil Nadu circle 3-1 to bag the bronze medal.

The final between the MP circle and the Punjab circle turned out to be a one-sided affair with the former dictating the terms thought out. The only silver line in the Punjab circle’s play was a solitary goal they managed to score in the second half.

Madhya Pradesh circle went into an early lead when M. Zuber struck in the fifth minute of the match. They enhanced the lead in the 19th minute through a superb field goal scored by Sadiq Noor.

In the second half, Punjab circle player made some frantic raids on their opponents’ citadel and finally managed to pierce through the defence line. In the 52nd minute, they forced a penalty corner and Pargat Singh made no mistake in rolling the ball into the net to read it 2-1.

Stung by this reverse, Madhya Pradesh went allout for the kill. Afdabudin pumped in two goals in quick succession (66th and 69th minute) to seal Punjab circle’s fate 4-0. Punjab circle earned nine penalty corner and eight of these went abegging. Madhya Pradesh circle earned nine penalty corners but they failed to capitalise on these chances.

Earlier in the match to decide the third spot, Karnataka circle prevailed over Tamil Nadu circle 3-1. The winners drew the first blood in the sixth minute through a penalty corner conversion through M.K. Nagaraj. Just before the lemon break, Parkash Chalky made it 2-0.

After changing the ends, Tamil Nadu circle’s Rajan found the target to reduce the margin 2-1. Mudatta P of Karnataka circle scored an opportunistic goal to wrap the issue 3-1.

Mr A.K. Nagpal, Chief General Manager, BSNL, Haryana, gave away prizes to the winners. A souvenir was released on this occasion by Mr L.K. Puri, Chief Postmaster General, Punjab, Chandigarh and Jammu & Kashmir.

Sangrur, Amritsar win athletics meet
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 30
Amritsar and Sangrur won the overall championship in the boys and girls section, respectively, in the 49th Punjab State Schools Inter-District Athletics Championship which concluded at the Guru Nanak Stadium here yesterday.

Results:- boys (cross country race) Hoshiarpur 1, Fatehgarh Sahib 2, Sports School Jalandhar 3; 400m hurdles (under-19)- Parminder Singh of Amritsar 1, Satinder Singh of Ludhiana 2, Amandeep Singh of Amritsar 3.

80m hurdles (under-14 year)- Jasmail Singh of Ludhiana 1, Amarjeet Singh of Muktsar 2, Gurpreet Singh of Sangrur 3; 100m hurdles (under-17)- Amadndeep Singh of Ludhiana 1, Jagroop Singh of Amritsar 2, Robin Singh of Sangrur 3; 110m hurdles (under-19) Satinder Singh of Ludhiana 1, Daler Singh of Sangrur 2, Jugraj Singh of Gurdaspur 3; Long jump (under-14)- Agyapal singh of Amritsar 1, Ranjit Singh of Muktsar 2, Sandeep of Gurdaspur 3.

Girls (cross country race) Amritsar 1, Ludhiana 2, Hoshiarpur 3; 400m hurdles (under-19 years)- Akwinder Kaur of Ludhiana 1, Amandeep Kaur of Amritsar 2, Jeenpal of Badal; 80m hurdles (under-14 years)- Rajwinder Kaur of Ferozepore 1, Harjit Kaur of Muktsar 2, Veerpal Kaur of Ferozepur 3; 100m hurdles (under-19 years) Paramdeep Kaur of Sangrur 1, Kamlajit Kaur of Hoshiarpur 2, Jeetpal Kaur of Badal 3; 100m hurdles (under-17 years)- Sukhmanpreet Kaur of Sangrur 1, Seema Rani of Mansa 2, Rajbir Kaur of Jalandhar 3, long jump (under-14 years)- Amandeep Kaur of Patiala 1, Navdeep Kaur of Amritsar 2, Jatinder Kaur of Sangrur 3; 4x100m relay- Jalandhar 1, Sangrur 2, Hoshiarpur 3.

Keen tussle on cards
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 30
A keen tussle is on the cards when hosts Punjab take on Haryana in the one-day tie of the North Zone Inter State Cricket Tournament (U-19 years) at the Punjab Agricultural University ground here tomorrow. Both teams have won their inaugural matches played at Patiala last week. Punjab had outplayed Jammu and Kashmir and earned three points, including one bonus point while Haryana lads had recorded a seven-run victory over Himachal Pradesh and secured two points.

Sukhjinder Bawa and Ramesh Sikka, coaches of Punjab and Haryana teams, respectively, were seen busy today with the boys to chalk out last stage strategy for tomorrow. Dr K.S. Aulakh, Vice Chancellor, PAU, will inaugurate the match at 9 am.