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Two wrestlers test positive for doping
Patiala, August 11 Both Greco Roman grapplers Gagandeep Singh of Punjab and Kiran Varpe of Maharashtra have been found positive for taking banned substances after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) conducted pre-departure dope tests on them early this month. Gagandeep Singh was to take part in the 85kg weight category in the Junior World Championship which was held in Istanbul (Turkey) but his name was later withdrawn after he tested positive. Kiran Varpe, an up and coming wrestler, was to take part in the 100kg weight category in the Junior Asian Meet was held in Tashkent early this month. However, his name, too, was withdrawn by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) bosses after he was found guilty of doping violation. Both the wrestlers tested positive for steroids banned under World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules. The samples of both the mat men were picked while they were attending national camps just prior to their departure for the international meets. Normally, doping violations happen in high endurance sports of weightlifting, athletics and cycling, all notorious for producing drug cheats with monotonous regularity. Such positive results like the one returned by the grapplers have surprised many observers. Both Singh and Varpe may be banned for two years each if their B samples also return positive. Kartar Singh, secretary general of the WFI, admitted that the two mat men had failed dope tests. At the same time he expressed surprise over the fact that such
cases had actually surfaced in wrestling which he termed as a “ clean sport”. |
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Furnaces’ second weekly off withdrawn
Patiala, August 11 Ratra added that apart from this, extended peak- load restrictions of four hours on category-IV feeders (continuous process industries) had also been withdrawn from Friday to Sunday. He also informed that no power cuts had been imposed on any category of consumers across the state for the last five days. He further stated that due to heavy rainfall in some parts of the northern region, the level of the reservoirs of Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar Dams had gone up resulting in an increase in hydel generation. This has also resulted in decrease in demand of power in Punjab as well as other states. Giving details of reservoir levels, Ratra informed that Bhakra reservoir level on August 9 had increased to 1,655.22 ft against 1,617.50 ft last year. Similarly, levels of Pong and RSD had also increased to 1,368.43 ft and 517.63 m which were much higher than last year levels of 1,340.93 ft and 512.22 m. The BBMB has increased the discharge of water from Pong Dam to 14,000 cusecs which has increased the share of Punjab from generation at Pong Dam from 11 lakh units to 17 lakh units and at MHP from 16 lakh units to 38 lakh units. Ratra further informed that in addition to 24 lakh units already being received, the PSEB had started receiving additional 12 lakh units from Madhya Pradesh. Ratra hoped that with normal rainfall and best efforts of the board management to arrange more power, consumers in Punjab would not face power cuts. He also appealed to consumers to replace GLS (bulbs) with CFLs and reduce their power bills. |
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Three-year-old boy electrocuted
Rajpura, August 11 According to reports, the boy had came along with his parents to a house in connection with a religious ceremony when the mishap took place. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital where he was declared brought dead. |
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Gold at Beijing, celebrations in Ambala
Ambala, August 11 Local parties too celebrated at various places. INLD members distributed sweets and burst crackers at the Sadar chowk as did the Vikas Parishad. Meanwhile, the BJP held a meeting at Ram Kishan Colony and distributed sweets among the residents. The District Sports officer too celebrated the win with the various players at the football chowk in Ambala Cantt. |
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Sports funds of six schools under cloud
Chandigarh, August 11 The schools were GMSSS-32, GMSSS-37, GMSSS-21, GMSSS-47 and GMSSS-16. The department had got the accounts of the schools audited and found certain irregularities in the expenditure during inter-school tournaments. At GMSSS-32, school head Anil Sharma, who also happened to be the sports secretary (Boys) during 2007-08, has been asked why the entries made in the cashbooks were not attested and closed by him on regular basis. The department has pointed out the suspected embezzlement in the entry fee collected from students. On the basis of records produced, the final figures of receipts and expenditure came out to Rs 1,14,812 and Rs 74,560. Auditors made out that the actual cash balance as on March 31, 2008, was Rs 44,252 and not Rs 38, 935, which was handed over to the successor secretary for 2008-09. The auditors discovered that the receipts Nos 100 A, 100 B, 101 B, 243 A, 426 A, 347, 407 were used twice. Perusal of the records revealed that these receipts worth Rs 1,530 were not issued in lieu of any of the receipts already issued but simply word “duplicate” was written on top of the receipts only to avoid its accountability in the cash books. DPI (S) SK Setia said, “We got the records scrutinised for 2007-08 which revealed that the cash book was maintained in a whimsical manner and receipts in token of entry fee were issued in a haphazard manners”. Though, the exact figures of receipts and payments couldn’t be verified, still the auditors pointed out that the receipt books were without machine numbered and a retired DPE J.S. Sandhu was handling the cash. The auditors objected the unrealistic petrol expenditure to the tune of Rs 5,050 made by Sandhu during the inter-school tournaments 2007-08. No details of petrol expenditure were maintained by the school games secretary. During the examination of records of the secretary, the Inter-school Tournament Committee (ISTC) has showed an expenditure of Rs 1,272 on account of recharging of mobiles. Meanwhile, Anil Sharma has submitted his explanation with the education department. The DPI (S) said the
department was asking other defaulting schools to clear their positions. “After getting their version, appropriate action would be uninitiated”, said DPI (S). |
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Jeev creates history at Michigan
Chandigarh, August 11 The Chandigarh golf icon shot a three over 73 in the final round to finish tied ninth with a total of 285 (68, 74, 70, 73). Ireland's Padraig Harrington shot his second straight 66 for a winning total of three under 277 and recorded his second Major success in a row. The previous best by an Indian was by Jeev himself when he tied for the 25th place at the US Masters earlier this year. Though the world rankings are yet to be updated, Jeev's under-10 finish at Michigan is certain to push him higher from his current 66th rank. Jeev, who has been playing with a painful right ankle injury, is determined to make it to the top 50 world ranking. In fact, Jeev started well on Sunday firing a blemish-free first nine with a birdie for a one under par 34. He was going great guns and seemed settling for a top-three finish. But that was not to be. Playing against doctor's advice, the 2006 Asian champion found the going tough on the back nine. His ankle pain and putting errors saw him concede four bogeys for a final round score of three over par 73. But despite this poor showing in the return nine, Jeev managed to register the first under-10 performance by an Indian in a US Major. Jeev Milkha Singh has had a fabulous 2008 so far. He has already registered wins at the Bank Austria Golf Open and Nagashima Shegio Invitational Sega Sammy Cup and has also posted two runner-up finishes and four top 10s besides his tied 25th at the US Masters. Jeev's performance at the USPGA Championship is now certain to push him up the official world golf rankings. The final scores till top-10: 277 Padraig Harrington, Ireland (71-74-66-66); 279 Sergio Garcia, Spain (69-73-69-68) and Ben Curtis, US (73-67-68-71); 281 Camilo Villegas, Colombia (74-72-67-68) and Henrik Stenson, Sweden (71-70-68-72); 282 Steve Flesch, US (73-70-70-69); 284 Phil Mickelson, US (70-73-71-70) and Andres Romero, Argentina (69-78-65-72); 285 Alastair Forsyth, Scotland (73-72-70-70), Justin Rose, England (73-67-74-71), Jeev Milkha Singh, India (68-74-70-73) and Charlie Wi, South Korea (70-70-71-74).
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