The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

Celebrities take up education bill
Our Correspondent

New Delhi, November 27
Demanding the earliest passage of the 93rd Amendment Bill to make education a fundamental right with some positive changes a group of people including film personality Mahesh Bhatt on Tuesday presented a memorandum to the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan.

The delegation comprising Kuldip Nayar, Shabana Azmi, Chairperson of South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, and two national teachers union was scheduled to meet the Prime Minister also, however the meeting was postponed indefinitely.

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s inability to meet the delegation, Mahesh Bhatt said, “the PM’s response reconfirms that the dawn for which we are waiting is yet to arrive”. The President was very receptive, he promised that he will put up a note of his observations about the Bill”.

In a meeting with the newspersons, the delegation had stressed the need for urgency in dealing with the matter. They said that the Bill is yet to be passed is proof enough that the government is not concerned about the state of education in the country.

Mr. Ravi Prakash, MP and convenor of SAACS said, “the bill has a provision for free education, but it is not clear what it means by free education. The government has not even considered the various options that the international agencies like UN have provided for those countries, which cannot spare funds for education”.

The SAACS has also proposed that all MNC’s in India that are doing brisk business be charged an education tax. They also revealed that an education tax is permissible in those countries, which cannot mobilise funds for education. It was also pointed out that the onus of providing education does not rest completely on the parents, but also on the government.

HEALTH

This doctor wants everybody to be in the pink
Rohit Wadhwaney

New Delhi, November 27
She believes in living fit or not living at all. Dr Taruna Kanuga, a resident of South Delhi’s Saket, is a fitness freak. Ask her what life means to her and she will tell you, “Fitness and only fitness. The fittest will survive.”

“Living a life unfit is worse than death itself,” says the energetic doctor. “If one is not fit, he or she is bound to have health problems sooner or later. It means pain for life. What is life with pain? It means nothing.”

An old adage, you may say. But, it certainly holds water, whichever way you look at it. Evidence shows that today every second person suffers from one or the other ailment. Be it diabetes, asthma, obesity, heart disease, or even hypertension. And the fact is, says Dr Kanuga, all of these find cause in wrong dietary habits or lack of exercise, resulting from years of anger, depression, job failure, or family problems.

“It is completely in our hands to get rid of these ailments. It is not destiny and there is no hard and fast law of nature entailing that once a patient you always have to remain a patient. We have to think fit and more importantly do fit,” says Dr Kanuga, who is hell bent on seeing a healthy society coming up.

“It is a dream, a dream that I hope shall come true one day,” she says referring to a healthy society, where “each and every one is fit.” And she is not just going to dream and sit on it. With an aim to make her dream a reality, Dr Kanuga has opened a state-of-the-art health clinic, called Royal Health Care, in Saket, which, she claims, is on a par with any other health clinic in the city.

“We have different programmes. It isn’t just a gymnasium with irons to lift and look at your body for the rest of the day. The health clinic truly signifies a valid effort to be fit more than having a mind-blowing body,” Dr Kanuga says.

“Not all slim bodies are healthy,” she says. “Rather unfortunately, most women take slimness for granted. But the fact remains that it doesn’t always signify good health, as the kind of food intake may not always be nourishing. This is where we at our health clinic step in. We take you through a comprehensive health awareness programme, giving you all necessary details about the right diet, including cholesterol, fat and calorie contents that your body requires on a daily basis,” she elaborated.

Dr Kanuga says every now and then people come across sophisticated health clubs and alluring slimming centres but it was futile joining any such establishment because one ends up losing weight to begin with, only to regain it shortly thereafter and “only because of the wrong kind of diet.”

“It is not only necessary to provide a healthy mind and body, it is equally important to sustain it as well,” she says, adding that yoga and meditation definitely help one remain fit and keep all ailments at bay. For this, Dr Kanuga has kept a yoga expert in her health clinic for all those interested in reducing the stress of day-to-day life.

And it doesn’t cost the earth to build a healthy body.” Expensive medicines, machines and investigations are useless. You don’t need them. Following diet and exercise prescriptions are the best and simplest solutions.”

Equipped with American treadmill, multi-gym, spin bike, air bike and free weight facilities, the gymnasium, Dr Kanuga admits, attracts most of the attention. “Youngsters today just want a body that they can show off. There isn’t anything wrong with that. But they should definitely realise that there is much more to the results of working out than just a good physique.”

Suleman Khan, the instructor at the gymnasium, agrees with Dr Kanuga. “Working out is not just all about a fit body. It is about a fit mind and a feeling of hard work, which only gives you pleasure,” says Khan.

Khan, who has been an instructor in many gymnasiums around the Capital, says Royal Health Care was one of the best centres he had seen with easy and effective machinery.

Apart from the gymnasium, a skin and cosmetic clinic, complete Dr Kanuga’s first step towards achieving her dream of creating a healthy union of the mind, body and soul.

City in grip of dengue mosquitoes
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 27
During the house-to-house check-up conducted last week by the Directorate of National Anti-Malaria Programme, dengue-causing Aedes mosquitoes were found breeding in many areas of the NCT of Delhi.

In a meeting held on Tuesday to review vector and water-borne diseases officials told Health Minister A K Walia that swarms of Aedes mosquitoes were detected in the Civil Lines zone; Hafiz Nagar and Sanjay Amar Colony in City zone; and Radha Swamy Satsang, TB Hospital and Tigri village in Mehrauli zone.

The minister instructed officials to issue notices to the inhabitants of these areas to take adequate steps to check the breeding of these mosquitoes.

According to the minister, three dengue cases have been reported during the last week and five the week before. In all, 282 cases have been reported this year in the NCT of Delhi out of which 155 cases belong to Delhi and 127 from elsewhere.

Recalling the 1996 outbreak of dengue in Delhi, Dr Walia said that out of 10,000 people, 423 persons had died. What has the officials worried, the minister added, was that the cycle of dengue repeats every five years, therefore 2001 was a crucial year. Similar warnings had been issued by the World Health Organisation.

The minister instructed officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to prepare an action plan for changing of old water pipe lines and other agencies concerned for desilting areas. Besides DJB, officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council, National Institute of Communicable Diseases participated in the meeting.

Gurgaon wakes up to dengue
Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Services

Gurgaon, November 27
The health department has swung into action after the reports of dengue cases in this district.

According to sources, four cases have tested positive in Gurgaon city and two in Farukhnagar and Nuh areas. Seven cases of suspected dengue have been reported so far.

The cases tested positive are from the posh New Colony and Shivaji Nagger in the city.

The cases have also been reported from Sector 14, HOPE Apartment and New Colony, the localities of the well-heeled people.

While confirming the incidents, the District Civil Surgeon, Dr N.K.Jain, said that the health department had launched a drive against the dengue mosquitoes since April as they bred most during and after the monsoon.

SPORTS

Kapil Dev to author BCCI’s crash course in pace bowling
M. S. Unnikrishnan

New Delhi, November 27
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Working Committee, in order to ensure “improvement of all-round cricketing standards,” has decided to set up a Pace Bowlers’ Wing with former Indian captain and pace bowler Kapil Dev as its head. A Spinners’ Wing, which is at the “drawing board stage”, will also be set up.

The new ruling group in the BCCI, headed by Mr Jagmohan Dalmia, is keen that Indian cricket gets back to its former glory days. Workshops for training of coaches and physical trainers and workshops for curators and groundsmen have also been planned to give Indian cricket an all-new professional outlook. Level I and Level 2 courses for cricket coaches, and seminars on sports medicine and biomechanics, will also be held. BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmia said a Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW) had been set up in order to spot junior talent all over the country, and to recommend those talented cricketers for training at the zonal academies Set up by the board.

Mr Dalmia said the Working Committee discussed in detail the Indian Under-19 team’s preparations for the Under-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand from January 19 to February 10, 2002. He said the Working Committee also ratified the decision to appoint former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar as the consultant, former Indian medium pacer Balwinder Singh Sandhu as the coach and Arjun Rana as the physiotherapist of the Under-19 team. Mr Dalmia said after the conclusion of the C. K. Nayudu Trophy Tournament on November 29, 25 probables for the Under-19 team would be selected. The probables would then attend a conditioning camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore from December 5 to 26, and the final squad of 14 would be selected on December 26.

Mr Dalmia said the Indian senior team’s preparations for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa will start now. He said the Working Committee felt that the “international calendar of the Indian team prior to the 2003 World Cup was too crammed and tours should be curtailed as far as practicable”. He said it was also decided to create a pool of 25 players, who are good enough to represent India, so that the players could be rested by rotation during the tours prior to the 2003 World Cup.

Delhi trounce J&K by 200 runs
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 27
Delhi trounced Jammu and Kashmir by 200 runs in the North Zone Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here today.

Resuming at their overnight score of 128 for three in their second innings, Jammu and Kashmir were shot out for 268. Spinner Sharandeep Singh caused much of the damage, scalping four wickets for 60 runs in 28 overs while Amit Bhandari took 3 for 76. Jammu and Kashmir would have been in a much worse situation, but for the gritty knock of 90 by opener Kanvaljit Singh, who batted for 310 minutes, and faced 225 balls to compile his runs, which included 11 boundaries.

Jammu and Kashmir had been bundled out for 134 in the first innings, after Delhi had scored 286. Delhi then made 316 for 4 in their second knock and their bowlers once again produced deadly stuff to crush the Jammu and Kashmir batsmen. Delhi next play against Punjab at Amritsar from November 30. Vijay Dahiya will lead the 14-member squad. Other members of the team are: Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Mithun Manhas, Pardeep Chawla, Sohail Rauf, Amit Bhandari, Arun Singh, Radhey Shyam Gupta, Abhishek Sharma, Harender Chaudhary, Surender Daima, T Anand and Vivek Khurana.

Surender Khanna is the coach and Rajeev Vinayak the manager.

A feast of goals in Subroto Cup
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 27
A feast of goals featured the matches in the Subroto Mukherjee Cup Football Tournament at Ambedkar Stadium here today. Government High School, Dimapur (Nagaland), trounced Mathapura High School, Jamnagar (Gujarat), 10-0 while Elite Co-Ed School, Nepal, toyed with Government High School, Purani Pooch, Jammu and Kashmir, 17-0.

For Dimapur, Takd (two), Khriesne Lie (two), Namungwauc (two), Wapong (two), Achi and Pohghduglung were the goal-scorers. For the Nepal school, Gaurab Thapa scored six goals, Virat Thapa five goals (including a hattrick), Sushan Bhandari three goals, Prahant Giri two goals and Saugat Subba one goal.

Wednesday’s fixtures: Mathapura High School, Jamnagar (Gujarat) vs AP Sports School, Hakimpet (2 p m); SAI Training Centre, Kolkata vs Government High School, Purani Pooch (3.30 p m)–Ambedkar Stadium.

USPTR awards on November 30
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 27
The United States Professional Tennis Registry (USPTR) Workshops and Annual Awards function will be held on November 30 at 4.30 pm at the Peninsula Centre at Khaitan Public School, Sector 40,Noida.

Noted tennis coach from the USA, Dr Louie Cap, will conduct a workshop in which 25 tennis coaches from all over India will participate. The Davis Cup Captain of Thailand, Satian Purnawit, would also be attending the workshop. Dr Cap is an international tester for the USPTR. The workshop will be held from November 29 to December 1.

ADMINISTRATION

CM squad takes lid off funds misuse
R D Sapra

Sonepat, November 27
The officials of the Flying Squad of the Chief Minister are reported to have unearthed a scandal relating to the misutilising of public funds in the desilting work of the Pai distributary from RDO to RD 19900 under the Rai Water Service Division of the Irrigation Department in the district last year.

According to official sources, the Executive Engineer of the Quality Assurance, Rohtak, had checked the desolating works of the Pai disilting and reportedly detected the huge difference in the quality of work as well as the estimated cost.

Following the directive of the Flying Squad authorities, the Superintending Engineer, WJC, Feeder GC Circle, Delhi constituted a fact finding committee consisting of the Executive Engineers of the Sonepat Water Service Division and the Upper Yamuna Link Division, Delhi who had recently checked the site and detected certain irregularities and malpractice in the execution of the works relating to desolating of Pai distributary and also found the difference of 58 per cent after thorough checking.

As a follow up action, the Superintending Engineer has taken a serious note of the scandalous works and transferred the Pai distributary from the Rai Water Service Division to Sonepat Water Service Division and the Samalkha sub-division to the Delhi Water Service Division with immediate effect. However, no penal action has been taken against the officials of the department found responsible for the irregularities and malpractice in the utilisation of public funds.

Meanwhile, the residents of Pai and neighbouring villages have urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala to order immediate suspension and transfer of the officials allegedly involved in this scandal and recover the amount misused by these officials who were entrusted to the job for the desolating operations of the Pai distributary.

They also demanded stern action against those high officers who are said to be trying to hush up the case by misusing their powers. The residents also threatened to launch an agitation if no action was taken against the officials found guilty of the scandalous works and irregularities and malpractice.