The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

70 pc are regular smokers: study
Tribune News Service

Smoking or any form of tobacco consumption results in:

16-fold increased risk of cancer.

12-fold increased risk of chronic destructive pulmonary disorder.

10-fold increase in cardio-vascular diseases.

A person reduces 8 minutes of his her life by smoking one cigarette.

Chandigarh, May 28
The statistics are terrifying—experimentation with smoking begins between 13 to 15 years in this part of the country. A whopping 70 per cent smoke regularly. It may sound alarming but the fact is that peer pressure and smoking friends prompt 97 per cent of youngsters to take to smoking. Youngsters also believe that smoking is ‘cool’, little realising that 50 per cent of all young people who smoke will die of related diseases.

This was found during a study conducted by Dr Sanjay of the Department of Community Medicine at the PGI held among 500 young people between the age group of 15 and 24 years in the urban, rural and slum areas of the city.

All this was part of presentations at a workshop on tobacco conducted by the Burning Brain Society, a Civil Society Organisation, working towards awareness on social issues. The mantra for the workshop was, “Choose Life not Tobacco” and the lectures dealt with dispensing information and educating the public about the ill-effects of smoking and consumption of tobacco in any form.

To prevent the widespread use of tobacco it is essential to have a supportive environment, effective communication, curriculum support at schools and colleges, meaningful activity support, peer-led or driven support groups and a flexible and integrated approach in dealing with this issue, it was stressed.

If the problem is not arrested by 2020 then tobacco consumption related diseases will claim more than 20 million lives in India alone.

The program began with adverts showcasing the negative impact of cigarette smoking. One which was particularly effective shows a delightfully enthusiastic chef getting ready to prepare what seems like a mouth-watering dish. The chef looks gleefully at the camera and takes some naphthalene balls in a bowl and crushes them, he then takes some arsenic poison and adds it to the bowl, some floor cleaner follows to give the flavour of ammonia and some coal tar is then added to complete the mixture. The result, one delicious cigarette ready to consume!

According to Mr Hemant Goswami, chairperson of the Burning Brain Society, “We have fixed a target date of 2023 to bring down smoking by at least 40 to 50 per cent in the first stage of our cancer prevention and anti-tobacco project which will involve active sensitisation, involvement of youngsters and attempt to change laws pertaining to smoking and tobacco.”

Chandigarh eves in softball semis
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28
Chandigarh girls’ softball team entered the semifinals beating Chattisgarh 11-1 to take the top position with an average of 8.5 in the super league matches of the 18th Subjunior National Softball Championship being organised by the Chandigarh Amateur Softball Association at Government College for Men, here today.

The second place went to Rajasthan (7.80) and the third position to Kerala (4.4). Chattisgarh did not secure any win and finished at the bottom without any point.

The semifinal contests in the girls category will be between Northern teams Punjab and hosts Chandigarh and Central Zone squads Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In the boys semifinal, Kerala will cross swords with Punjab while Maharashtra will face Madhya Pradesh. Kerala won all the three matches in the four-team round robin league and collected six points with an all-win record. Madhya Pradesh with four points from three matches finished runners-up.

Chandigarh boys’ team remained winless and finished at the bottom without any point.

Maharashtra and Punjab secured the first and second positions, respectively, in Group Y in the super league.

The Rajasthan girls mauled Kerala 11-1 for their second win in group X.

Results (super league): Boys (Group X): Kerala bt Chandigarh by 17-4; Madhya Pradesh bt Rajasthan by 11-4; Madhya Pradesh bt Chandigarh by 12-4; Kerala bt Rajasthan (Sheshank 1) by 9-1.

Group Y: Jammu and Kashmir bt Madhya Pradesh 15-5; Maharashtra drew Punjab by 9-9; Punjab bt Jammu and Kashmir 14-6; Maharashtra bt Andhra Pradesh 11-6.

Girls: group X: Chandigarh bt Chattisgarh by 11-1; Rajasathan bt Kerala by 11-1; Chandigarh bt Rajasthan by 20-6; Rajasthan bt Chattisgarh by 22-6; Kerala bt Chandigarh by 13-3; Kerala bt Chattisgarh by 14-7.

Group Y: Maharashtra bt Haryana 11-1; Madhya Pradesh bt Punjab by 14-7; Madhya Pradesh bt Haryana by 14-0; Punjab bt Maharashtra by 22-8; Punjab bt Haryana 16-4.

Camp for cricketers begins at PCA
Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 28
A 10-day camp for under-15 cricketers started at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here today. The PCA camp is being conducted under the guidance of Mr D P Azad, the first Dronacharaya awardee and renowned cricket coach.

As many as 37 cricketers are participating in the camp. These budding players have been selected by the selection committee of PCA, on the basis of their performance in the Sushil Bali Tournament held recently.

Giving details, Mr Azad, further added: “Out of these 37 probables, we will select 24 for another 10-day camp to be held very soon. The final 15, to represent Punjab in the national-level tournaments, will be selected from that camp”.

“Three coaches, physical trainer and physiotherapist have been deputed for the camp, who are paying special attention to the basics as well as fitness of the cricketers”, explained Mr Azad, who is also chairman of coaching committee of PCA.

In the camp, all facilities are being provided to players like gym, equipment, food, board and lodging by the PCA free of cost. “The bowlers have been provided with specially designed balls worth Rs 500 each to check the line and position of the ball while throwing it to batsman” said Mr Azad.

Earlier, Mr MP Pandove, secretary of PCA and former national selector of BCCI, inaugurated the camp and exhorted the players to work hard to touch the new heights of the game.

He is the ‘tiger on wheels’
Arvind Katyal

Sahil Khattar

Chandigarh, May 28
Meet the “Tiger on Wheels”. Sahil Khattar, a 17-year-old Panchkula boy, was accorded this term during the Asian Roller Skating Championship held at Jeonju City (Korea) from May 10 to 14. Sahil was instrumental in giving India a bronze medal in this meet. He scored 10 goals in this tournament. His teammates said he moved like a tiger in the skating rink and this won him the title.

This was Sahil’s maiden international exposure though he has earlier taken part and helped his state Haryana win medals in the national skating championships. Sahil had attended two training camps before the above Asian meet, which were held in Ludhiana and Patiala. At both camps he was graded I on the basis of his performance. When asked on the performance at the Asian level, he said they defeated Taipei, Pakistan and Japan by huge margins. He scored six goals in the tie against Taipei while three against Pakistan. On the gold medal winning team Macau, from whom they lost 2-12, Sahil said though technique-wise Indians were much better but it was due to lack of speed that we faltered. He praised the Roller Skating Federation of India for giving this opportunity to Indian skaters of taking part in an international meet. He said the rink in Korea was fantastic and wished if we also have similar kind of rinks.

Sahil took to skating in 2000. In 2001 he was able to fetch a gold medal for his team in the junior roller hockey event in the national skating meet held in Visakhapatnam. In 2002 at the national meet in Kolkata, he enabled Haryana to win bronze medal in the senior section. At 2003 nationals held in Visakhapatnam, Haryana was able to bag silver medal while in the last nationals held in Faridabad in 2004, due to Sahil’s efforts, Haryana secured bronze medal in roller hockey.

Sahil aims high to represent India in the World Roller Hockey Championships and to bring India a gold medal in the next Asian meet. He practices daily for four hours in the skating rink of Blue Bird School, Sector 16, Panchkula.

Sahil says along with roller hockey he also plays football and other physical workouts in order to built stamina, endurance and speed.

Sandeep faces Pankaj in final
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28
Sandeep Duggal will face Pankaj Gulati in the final after defeating their respective opponents Mahesh Chaudhary and Vineet Khosla in the ongoing Saurabh Khattar Memorial Billiards and Snooker Championship being held at Chandigarh Club, here today.

Sandeep Duggal trounced Mahesh Chaudhary 250-157 in the semifinal. In the second match, Pankaj Gulati had a convincing win over Vineet Khosla at 250-190.

In the snooker semifinal best of five frame tie, Sandeep Kochhar defeated Sandeep Chadha 25-47, 50-26, 55-49, 63-42 and perched on the final frame of the game.

Sports camps from June 15
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28
To hone the skills of sportspersons and to use the summer vacations fruitfully, the Sports Department, Chandigarh Administration, is going to start its annual sports camps in all disciplines from June 15.

Joint Director of the Department, Dr J.P.S. Sidhu said these camps were an annual feature and had been appreciated by budding sportspersons.

The camps will be organised at all the centres under the department. In all 41 coaches in various disciplines would be deputed at the centres to help the participants in improving the level of their game. Giving details about the camps, Mr Sidhu said: “The total expenditure will be Rs 87,000 which will include all facilities, including a dietary stipend of Rs 15 for each participant each day.

Minerva Academy win
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, May 28
Minerva Academy continued with their superb performance when they downed DC Model School and Satluj Public School , Panchkula, respectively by nine and eight wickets, respectively, in the 13th Bathany Cup Cricket Tournament played here today.

Brief scores:

First tie:DC Model School, Panchkula, (67 runs all out in 16 overs- Karan Kherwal 5 for 23, Ranjit Bajaj 2 for 15, Bhupinder Ratte 2 for 19). Minerva Academy Cricket Club: 68 for one in 6.2 overs (Akshat Kaushik 32, Ranjit Bajaj 23).

Second tie: Satluj Public School, Panchkula (136 for eight in 20 overs-:Kulwinder Romi 51, Sarabjeet Singh 35, Harish Garg 11, Tejwinder Gill 14, Shiva Mehta 14, Ranjit Bajaj 4 for 22, Sunny Behl 4 for 29). Minerva Academy Cricket Club: (137 for 2 in 13.1 overs-Rocky Ratta 24, Harcharan Kali 64, Kamal Walia 54).

ADMINISTRATION

Fruit rehris removed from roundabouts
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 28
The Enforcement Wing of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) yesterday removed fruit rehris from various roundabouts in the township today. Led by JE Karam Chand, the enforcement staff removed the rehris from Sector 7/8/17/18 roundabout, Sector 7/8/5/6 roundabout and other rotaries.

The fruit and other rehris remain parked through the day, making these roads a traffic bottleneck. A large number of rehris and other stuff, including fruits, were confiscated by the HUDA staff. Some of the fruits were then donated to a home for destitute children in Sector 2, informed HUDA officials.