HEALTH

Ludhiana IMA talks tough
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 22
The Ludhiana chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has taken a tough stand against harassment and intimidation of doctors and said, it would fight it on legal grounds. However, it regretted that their case was not being heard properly.

Addressing a press conference here today, the IMA president, Dr Gursharan Singh said no action had been taken against the persons who were found involved in harassment and intimidation of the doctors and other staff at the Trehan Nursing Home.

Referring to the charges of negligence being levelled against the doctors of the nursing home in connection with the death of a patient, Dr Singh said, they were prepared to face any inquiry by the government and administration of the Medical Council of India. “But we will not tolerate any harassment or blackmail”, the IMA president asserted, while adding, “we are not buying peace, we will fight it out”.

He pointed out, a case had already been registered under Section 304-A of the IPC against the doctors. “Let the law take its own course”, he remarked, while adding, “similar yardsticks should be applied everywhere and action taken against all those who indulged in “goondaism” following the death of the patient”.

Dr Singh said, they had also tried to contact the Senior Superintendent of Police but they had not got any response from there. He said, each time they tried to contact him, they were told to leave their telephone number and the SSP would get back. “But so far we are yet to get any response”, he regretted.

The IMA, he said, had given an ultimatum to the government to arrest the culprits by October 31. “Otherwise we will launch a mass protest and strike work on that day”, he declared. However, the emergency services will be exempted from the strike.

Meanwhile, the IMA has clarified that it has no difference with the PCMS in its opposition to privatisation of diagnostic centres in government hospitals. Dr Gursharan Singh, quoting the state president, Dr O.P.S. Kande, said, “The IMA strongly stands by the decision of the government doctors on the issue”. 

SPORTS

Dhruve beats Ashish in snooker
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, October 22
Dhruve Verma, a junior national player, scored an upset victory over Ashish Dhanda, a senior national player, to secure his berth in the snooker semi-finals of the sports carnival being organised at the Sutlej Club, here today.

In the first frame, Dhruve outplayed Ashish 70-54, but lost the second frame by a whisker 50-51. Dhruve drubbed Ashish 88-24 in the third frame, but again went down in the fourth frame 37-71. In the decider, Dhruve overpowered Ashish 65-35.

Meanwhile, Karan Bansal qualified for the quarter-finals. In the first match he beat Sanjeev Bhall 2-0 and in the second encounter Karan outclassed Ruby Singh 2-1 and in the pre-quater-finals, Karan defeated Gaurav Mahendru 2-0.

In billiards, Subhash Jain thrashed V.N. Nanda 100-58, 46-13 to lift the title.

Results: Snooker: (QF) Manoj Verma b Raghav Choudhry; Nitin Gupta b Amit Bhalla; Sanjeev Vohra b Daljeet Pooni; and Gaurav Joshi b Raghav Gupta.

Veteran snooker: V.N. Nanda b Yogesh Bansal 60-48, 38-57, 75-42, 41-90 and 70-44.

Snooker: (semi-finals) Dhruve Verma b Ashish Dhanda; (QF) Sanjay Jain b Sarbjit Walia 47-72, 72-44, 66-46 and 74-59; Ashish Dhanda b Karan Bansal 71-48, 45-82, 65-63 and 72-48; Samrat Bhatia b Raghav Choudhary 53-46, 83-23, 34-54, 25-70 and 55-46.

Spikers welcomed
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, October 22
Members of the Punjab team who won the National Youth Basketball Championship were accorded a warm welcome when they reached here today. The Punjab contingent scored their maiden title victory at Indore yesterday.

The team members, manager and coaches were brought from railway station to the Guru Nanak Stadium where Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal and Mr Balkar Singh Brar, general secretary and joint secretary, respectively, of the Punjab Basketball Association, were present to receive the team. Dr S. Subramanian, a former Director, Training, National Institute of Sports, Patiala, was also present at the stadium. The members of the team were: Sneh Pal Singh (captain), Mandeep Singh, Lakhwindear Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Sweetpal Singh, Harsimran, Suresh Puri, Deepak, Gurpreet Singh, Shiv Dev Singh, Vijay Kumar and Simranjit Singh.

‘Need for clear-cut policy on sports’
Kamal Kishore Shankar

Ludhiana, October 22
After India’s triumph in the Junior Hockey World Cup, local residents and veteran sportspersons want Indian hockey players to bring such laurels again.

But they feel that the support of the government is essential and there should be special provisions in the Union Budget for identifying and developing talents at the grassroots. They think if the sportspersons are not given proper incentives at the school and college levels, they will never grow properly to make a respectable place for the country at the international level.

A former international hockey player, Ms Pushpinder Kaur, appeals to the Union as well as the state governments to reward these hard working and skilled sportspersons. She is of the view that the Union Government should allocate funds and make policies to develop the sporting talents at the school and college levels.

Another international hockey player, who participated in the Asian Games in 1982, says that if our country wants to maintain a mark on the international hockey scenario, the sports authorities and player should workout a clear-cut policy so that the next generation could pursue sports as career and set new records at the international level.

The general secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association, Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, says, “This is a time when the Union Government should think and design a clear-cut policy to promote sports”. He opines that the players cannot be made overnight, it requires a lot of time and effort on the part of players, coaches and sports authorities. He says the players should be given every facilities, including a qualified coach, infrastructure and financial assistance.

A veteran sportsperson, Mr Gurdev Singh, says the boys have really performed very well. He says a proper planning for the development of sports is necessary.

A state-level snooker champion, Mr Yogesh Bansal, says the government should give all facilities and incentives to sportsperson so that they could achieve much more.