Chandigarh, September 7
The UT administration today sprung a huge surprise by ducking seven medical officers to appoint deputy commissioner R.K. Rao to the coveted post of project director, Chandigarh State AIDS Control Society (SACS). Never mind the appointee’s already busy schedules. The decision came after two and a half months of hectic parleys.

Sources said the administration went for Rao as it needed a senior bureaucrat to interact with secretary-level officers of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and monitor the “enormous” Rs 5.50-crore annual SACS budget.

Whatever the reason, the decision comes like a bolt from the blue for medics, with the UT, for the first time, ignoring the past practice of placing senior medical officers (SMOs) as project directors in the SACS. The posts have earlier been held by Dr N.M. Sharma, now a senior official in the Punjab SACS and Sonia Trikha from Government Multi-Speciality Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, now with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The sources, however, said the past experience of having senior medical officers as SACS project directors had not been “very satisfactory”. The earlier incumbents had been found to be junior in the medical hierarchy.

It’s another matter that Dr N.M. Sharma, with over 10 years experience in AIDS control, can be hardly called junior. And Trikha wouldn’t have clinched a job with the WHO had she been “junior”.

This apart, the administration had appointed Dr Vanita Gupta from the GMSH-16 as joint director, SACS, to handle the technical aspect of AIDS control. She would have to route her files through the director, health services, although she would have the entire functional autonomy, the DC being a busy person, the sources said.

Meanwhile, justifying Rao’s appointment, special secretary, health, Raji Shrivastav, today said: “In most UTs and states, the post is held either by a senior bureaucrat as in Punjab or by the director-general, health services, as in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.” Shrivastav, reportedly, was the first choice for the post. Rao came in after she declined the offer.

Medical officers who were ignored include Satwant Bhalla, a deputy director-level medical officer of the 1978 batch from Punjab, Manmohan Singh, (1979 batch), Vanita Gupta (1982), Vandana Gupta (1993), Suveer Saxena (1994) and Kavita Chavan (2002).

While the rest of doctors were considered too junior to fit in as either project director or joint director, the contest really was between Satwant Bhalla, Manhoman Singh and Vanita Gupta. The latter wrested the seat, thanks to her HIV/AIDS scholarship.

Chandigarh, September 7
A patient admitted to the PGI was saved from medical complication when vigilant doctors detected fungus in a bottle of intravenous fluid before it could be used.

The bottle of fluid was bought by family members of the patient from a shop in Sector 15.

The patient, Beenu (27), a resident of Sector 19, was admitted to the PGI for treatment of a kidney problem. Today, when doctors checked the bottle before injecting the intravenous fluid, they informed about the fungus in the bottle to the family.

Chandigarh, September 7
A patient at Governement Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, had to go through the trauma of remaining under the influence of anaesthesia for many hours even as doctors postponed his surgery for Tuesday here today.

The doctors said the surgery was postponed as the size of implant prescribed was not appropriate for the patient.

However, the doctors denied any lapse on their part in getting the inappropriate size of implant.

Dev Raj (27), a resident of Una district in Himachal Pradesh, was prescribed for hip surgery for today. As the treatment was being provided using money allocated by the Himachal government because of the poor status of the patient, the hospital had procured the implants needed in the surgery. The patient was taken to the operation theatre at 8 am and given anaesthesia, but no surgery was carried out as Dr Sudhir Garg, head of the department, orthopaedics, found that the implant was not suitable for the patient.

After keeping him under observation for six hours, the patient was shifted to the male orthopaedic ward at 2 pm, saying that now the surgery would be carried out on Tuesday.

Dr Garg said they had got six x-rays of the patient to know the size of implant and ordered four sizes of implant leaving nothing to chance. But in this case while examining the patient through C-arm taking multidimensional x-rays in the OT, it was found that the gap in the bones was bigger and proper implant was not available with them. Hence the surgery was postponed. 

Chandigarh, September 7
The Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) and Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) would encounter in the semi-finals in the fifth edition of the Administrator’s Challenge Cup Football Tournament for Under-17 at Sector 17 football stadium tomorrow.

Another semi-final billed for tomorrow is Sports Authority of India (SAI) and local outfit New Public School Academy (NPS), Sector 18 at 2 pm at the same venue.

CFA (group A), SAI (group B), NPS (group C) and SSCB (group D) topped their respective pools and took their appointed places in the semi-finals.

Playing effortlessly, the CFA finished their group ‘A’ programme with an all-win record after thrashing Delhi Soccer Association by 8-0 at Sector 17 football stadium.

The NPS also remained unbeaten in the group ‘C’ league programme. The local outfit defeated Haryana Football Association by 5-0 for their third successive win in the four-team league programme.

The SAI whipped Mahilpur Football Academy by 5-1 at the Sector 42 Sports Complex Football Ground.

Chandigarh, September 7
‘Chak De’ is in the air. And with that, it seems that hockey’s lost glory would soon find its way back in the hearts of Indians.

Five players of the Chandigarh Hockey Academy make it to national junior hockey coaching camp

Leading from the front have been five players of the Chandigarh Hockey Academy, Sector 42, who have been selected for the coaching camp for national junior hockey team, which would finally play for the forthcoming international tournament.

The five players - Dupinder, Rupinder, Dharamveer, Harman and Preetinder Singh - are part of the list of probables who would proceed for the Singapore International Hockey Challenge at Singapore from October 17-21.

To prepare for the tournament, a coaching camp has been scheduled from September 10 to October 14 at Nehru Stadium, Gurgaon.

The latest Shahrukh Khan-flick couldn’t have come at a better time for these five budding players who are not only extremely excited, but also very confident. “We are very happy to be part of the camp, and if selected, we will leave no stone unturned to win laurels for our country on foreign shores,” they promise.

Dharamveer, who was also part of the Indian hockey team (u-18) for the Four-nation International Challenge tournament held at Singapore earlier, has always shined for the academy while participating in various international tournaments.

Meanwhile, it is the first biggie for Harman and Preetinder. “Harman, who has a very precise distribution sense, forms a great duo for the team along with Preetinder - who acts as the perfect linkman,” reckons Jasbir S. Bajwa, their coach.

The coach gives full points to Dupinder, the full back and a defender, who, he said, enjoys good control over the ball along with possessing a very accurate sense of distribution.

As for Rupinder, Bajwa feels speed is his biggest asset. “He is an energetic player and a penalty corner specialist, who Team India would desperately need in times to come,” feels Bajwa.

Meanwhile, the youngsters say ‘presence of mind’ is their coach’s greatest gift for he has always taught them to be mentally tough.

Revealing his mantra, Bajwa says, “I have advised them to coordinate well and be mentally strong in any given situation. This is their first step towards stardom. I hope they make our city proud with their expertise.”

Chandigarh, September 7
A valuable knock of 37 runs by Shubham Kashyap enabled Edmund Rice Academy (ERA) Sector 26 beat St Anne’s Academy by 57 runs in the first group ‘A’ match during the WWICS Cup Under-14 Cricket Tournament. The tournament is being held at the St Stephen’s cricket ground at Togan, near here.

Winning the toss, St Anne’s invited the rivals to bat first. Edmund Rice Academy piled up 120 for 8 in the stipulated 25 overs. The highlights of their innings were the performance of Shubham Kashyap (37, 2x4s) and Balwinder (21, 3x4s, 1x6). They also garnered 32 extras.

St Anne’s right arm medium pacer Tarunpreet Singh (3 for 28) was the most successful bowler for his team. Parnav Miglani supported him by capturing 2 for 19.

Facing a big total, the St Anne’s team found itself under pressure as all the players were bowled out for 63 runs in 20.4 overs. Only Anirudh and Krishan could reach the double digit scores of 14 and 11, respectively.

Dinesh and Shubham Bharti bowled attacking spells to take 3 and 4 wickets for 8 and 17 runs, respectively.

Brief scores: Edmund Rice Academy-26: 120 for 8 in 25 overs; (Shivram Kashyap 37, Balwinder 21; Tarun 3 for 25, Parnav 2 for 19).

St Anne’s-32: 63 all out in 20.4 overs: (Krishan 11, Anirudh 14; Shubham Bharti 3 for 8, Dinesh 4 for 17)

Tomorrow’s fixtures: MCA Mohali vs Stepping Stone Academy (10 am).

Chandigarh, September 7
With an excellent knock of 67 and a splendid bowling performance (4 for 29), Vinay Setia helped Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy (VHACA) secure a berth in the final of Haryana Twenty20 Cricket Cup 2007.

The Vivek academy thrashed Twenty20 Cricket Association of Delhi by 16 runs in the semi-final, played at Yamunanagar, here today.

Winning the toss, the winning team elected to bat first and scored 143 for 6 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Twenty20 Cricket Association of Delhi chipped in 127 for 7 wickets in 20 overs.

Brief scores: VHACA: 143 for 6 in 20 overs: Vinay Setia 67, Avinash 38, Krishna Bali 19 n.o; Shiv Naresh 3 for 19.

Twenty 20 Cricket Association of Delhi: 127 for 7 in 20 overs: Udit Kumar 38, Rohit Bansal 27; Vinay Setia 4 for 29, and Majit Singh 2 for 17.

Man of the Match: Vinay Setia.