Mohali, April 6
Ahead of World Health Day tomorrow, a medical team from Fortis Hospital, Mohali, today held a medical camp at New Janta Colony, on the outskirts of the city. The team reached out to 80 students of Dr B.R. Ambedkar Primary School, which is run by NGO CARES.

The people of Janta colony live in unhygienic conditions as the area is a virtual garbage heap infested with mosquitoes. With hardly fresh water supply, the children are not familiar with regular habits of brushing their teeth and bathing. Specialist Dr Bela Sharma and pediatrician Dr Vishal K. Singh, assisted by sisters Rubina and Kuldeep of Fortis Hospital, examined the children, who were mostly under five years of age.

Chandigarh, April 6
The interest of students in sports at the university and college level has been on a decline in the past few years. This is evident if one goes by the records of the Panjab University (PU) inter-college sports meets held this session.

Most of the colleges affiliated to the PU send several entries but fail to ensure that the players actually turn up.

“Sports officials at the colleges send their entries just to meet the formality but actually have no such teams,” said a sports official on condition of anonymity.

The irresponsible attitude of the colleges and the declining interest of the sportspersons also reflects on the sports results of the PU, which failed to clinch a single gold in inter-varsity sports meets this year.

The university had last won the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad trophy for the 2004-05 session.

Organisers this year also faced the same problem as several teams did not turn up for various inter-college events, although they had sent their entries.

In the PU inter-college men’s football meet, sports authorities received entries from 16 teams but only nine reported at the tournament. In the women’s section, only six teams participated whereas the number of entries were nine. In the cycling competition (men) only six turned up out of nine teams. In kho-kho, a total of 10 and 21 teams had enrolled in the men’s and women’s section, respectively, while only seven (men) and 10 (women) finally participated.

The statistics are similar in almost all the disciplines.

The main reasons for poor performance are that most of the colleges have no proper sports infrastructure to coach and produce quality sportspersons. Crunch of funds as well as lack of facilities in these colleges deter interested persons from taking part.

Dr S. Marriya, principal of DAV College, Sector 10, said,

“The interest in sports has definitely been declining among college students. Most colleges cannot afford the required facilities. Besides, the university should also ensure job placements for good sportspersons and the university should apply strict measures to ensure the participation of all the teams which send in their entries.”

PU sports director, Dr D.N. Jauhar gave a different side to the story.

“Many a time students play sports to get admission in courses that are much in demand by using the sports quota and after that they leave the sport.

Professional programmes demand too much time and so sportspersons can not spare time to pursue sports,” Jauhar said.

Chandigarh, April 6
Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) will conduct a one-week coaching camp for top players up to 18 years of age from April 9 to 15 at its premises at Sector 10 here.

Renowned coach Akhtar Ali will impart the training. The camp will be conducted in two sessions: 8 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 4 pm.

The organisers will shortlist 12 to 16 players from CLTA, Delhi and Dehradun. Besides these players, trainees of Chandigarh Academy for Rural Tennis (CHART) of CLTA, will also get a chance to learn under the former Davis Cup coach.

According to Rajan Kashyap, director CLTA, the coaches and staff of the association will be assisting in the camp while director coaching Gajendra Singh will be the coordinator.

“The camp is being organised to give exposure to junior talent and prepare them for the big tournaments,” said Kashyap. 

Panchkula, April 6
To mark World Health Day, Choi Kwang Do Martial Art International School will organise a free session for teachers of various schools at its premises in Sector 16 tomorrow.

International instructor Master B.S. Thapa (5th degree black belt) will appraise the teachers on guidelines to a healthy lifestyle. Besides, self-defence will also be demonstrated. 

Chandigarh, April 6
The Chandigarh administration is still undecided on the conversion plans of KC theatre, more than a year after the application was moved.

The dome shape of the theatre, a unique landmark in the heart of the City Beautiful, has become the biggest hurdle in the conversion process.

While theatre owners want to change it into a multiplex, the size of the dome does not permit it to be converted into the size as envisaged by the owners.

The administration has sought a legal opinion and the matter now lies in the court of the UT Administrator.

A senior official said: “The site under question is a heritage project. We want to help the conversion plans and there is possibility of a different structure being approved. We have perused different building plans. It has been felt that the master plan calls for the building to have a special character. The approved plans will ensure the uniqueness of character, which can be different from the existing.”

If a variation is brought about in the size of the dome, it will become difficult to bring the theatre in proportion to the size of the new building in the area.

The theatre owners want to prepare for bigger functional area to allow greater business activity.

Sources said the administration had agreed in principal to allow certain changes.

While increase in height has been allowed, the theatre owners may have to construct a dome.

This has been done to maintain the original shape of the theatre. Different sketches have been submitted to the administration.

It is learned that the administration has extended the date for conversion of cinema halls to multiplexes for city theatres only. The earlier deadline was March 31.

While Piccadily, Nirman and Kiran have not applied, the matter is pending in the case of Neelam.

Construction at the site of Jagat theatre is in progress.