Chandigarh , November 30
While the Punjab Governor and administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh , General S. F. Rodrigues (retd) called for a crusade against the AIDS epidemic by stressing the need to tackle it through a massive public support, the State AIDS Control Society (SACS), Chandigarh has decided to organise various activities in the city to mark World AIDS Day here tomorrow.

A state-level function in collaboration with the Indian Red Cross Society will be organised at the Community Care Centre, Khuda Ali Sher, where ICCW president Jean Rodrigues will be the chief guest, informed SACS chairman Krishna Mohan.

She would inaugurate the free laboratory services in the Community Care Center and distribute blankets among the poor HIV positive patients at the state function. A group of child artistes from Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh, would also perform a function on the occasion.

An exhibition depicting the activities of the State AIDS Control Society, will be put up at the Community Care Center in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Street theatre, magic shows and puppet shows will be performed in many sector markets to motivate the people to come forward and get themselves tested for HIV.

In the evening, a film show will be organised at the Plaza, Sector- 17, Chandigarh. Various folk artistes will also perform in Plaza to motivate the masses to come forward and join hand to fight out HIV/ AIDS. An exhibition will also be put up at the Plaza to attract the general public to join hands for a social cause.

With a view to extending the testing facility at the door step to the residents of Chandigarh, a mobile ICTC- cum- IEC van will move in the city.

In his message for masses, the Governor said it was no longer a mission but a war to check a serious threat to society at large.

Highlighting the theme for the World AIDS Day - 2007 " Take the lead; Stop AIDS; keep the promise", General Rodrigues said this was an inspiring message for all, including government and non-government agencies, planners, policy makers and social activists, to actively participate to make serious and sincere efforts to combat this formidable challenge.

Expresseing concern over the increasing HIV prevalence and the potential risks, especially in women and children, despite the concerted efforts and campaigns at different levels, he said the situation was alarming, not only in the country but at the global level.

The administrator said “the system in place so far could not cope with its speed and that we must restructure our plans and programmes to effectively control it on a regional basis.”

Chandigarh, being visited by a vast population from adjoining states, including Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir and preferred destination for the migratory labour, cannot be underestimate for the prevalence among local population.

The detected cases were only the tip of the icebergs and that the medical fraternity and social voluntary organisations have to work with commitment, sincerity and dedication, to adopt a multi-prolonged strategy to cover our population at the grassroot level, for early detection of HIV positive cases and positive remedial steps against this menace, said Rodrigues.

Chandigarh, November 30
Hosts St Kabir School, Sector 26, scored a convincing 7-0 victory in a pool C match of the Chandigarh Football Championship for St Kabir Trophy at St Kabir School ground in Sector 26, here today.

Dominating from the start, St Kabir enjoyed the territorial supremacy and virtually fought the battle in the rival camp.

Uday Marrya (13th, 18th minutes), Sachit (16th, 38th), Sahil Arora (Ist), Arjit (36th) and Raghav (45th) were the scorers.

St John’s School, Sector 26, defeated Ryan International School, Sector 49, 2-0.

After facing resistance for 24 minutes, St John’s forged ahead in the 24th minute when Ronak capitalised on the rebound. One minute later, Sarfraz converted a flag corner to double the victory margin in a pool B fixtures.

St Stephen’s School of Sector 45 secured full points by getting the better of St Solider’s International, Sector 28, 2-0.

Vikramjit found the target from the left in the fifth minute to put his team ahead. Five minutes later, Harpal scored from a direct kick in the 10th minute.

St Xavier’s School-44 defeated Little Flower of Panchkula by 3-0 in the last match of the day.

Sayunkit put St Xavier’s in lead by scoring a fine goal in the 15th minute. Five minutes after resumption, Sayunkit booted home his second goal. Three minutes later, Mehtab Singh scored the third goal in the 48th minute.

Panchkula, November 30
Bosses of the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) are unwilling to disclose how much they are paying the big names of international cricket — the likes of Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq — despite their claim that the new body will be absolutely transparent.

The ICL top brass finally said yesterday that they were spending up to $25 million for the inaugural Twenty20 Championship to be played among six teams.

“I cannot give you the breakup of this,” said Himanshu Modi, CEO of Zee Sports, a TV channel of Essel group — the promoter of the ICL.

Earlier, Essel group’s executive vice-president Ashish Kaul had refused to share the budget of the event, particularly the money offered to top players.

The ICL has announced a total prize money of $4 million (Rs 150 million), with the winner’s getting $1 million (Rs 39 million).

And how much has ICL pumped into the Tau Devi Lal sports complex to turn it into an international-standard cricket stadium in just over five weeks? “It was an unlimited budget,” said an ICL official.

The stadium got practically everything — stands, floodlights, grass, fencing, electronic scoreboard, performance stage, a completely made-over pavilion, dressing rooms, media box, etc.

Chandigarh, November 30
A brilliant 146-run partnership between Harmanpreet Singh (85, 12x4, 1x6) and Gaurav Puri (57, 6x4s, 1x6) enabled St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, beat St Kabir School, Sector 26, by 100 runs in the final of the ICSE Inter-School Chandigarh Region Twenty20 Cricket Tournament at St Stephen’s ground in Togan, near here, today.

Batting first after winning the toss, St Stephen’s School posted 182 for 4. After losing the first wicket, Harmanpreet Singh and Gaurav Puri thrashed St Kabir’s bowlers all over the ground.

They put up a 146-run partnership for the second wicket. Rahul Sharma remained not out on 12. Parth captured two wickets for 32 runs.

In reply, St Kabir batsmen failed to counter Harshank Singh, Udit Hari Mehta and Harmanpreet who bagged two wickets each.

St Kabir were bowled out for 82 in 16.2 overs. Joy top-scored with 22 (2x4s). Mohit and Karandeep contributed 11 runs each.

Brief scores:

St Stephen’s School-45: 182 for 4 (Harmanpreet Singh 85, Gaurav Puri 57, Rahul Sharma 12 not out; Parth 2 for 32, Karandeep Singh 1 for 28).

St Kabir School: 82 in 16.2 (Joy 22, Karandeep 11, Mohit 11; Harshank Singh 2 for 15, Udit Mehta 2 for 8, Harmanpreet Singh 2 for 17).

Chandigarh, November 30
IS Dev Samaj School, Sector 21, proved to be too good for Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, as they registered an easy 31-2 win during the annual St Kabir Basketball Tournament for Under-15 at St Kabir School grounds in Sector 26 here today.

The Dev Samaj attack revolved around Sundanda and Hardeep. They repeatedly penetrated the GNPS defence and scored from all directions. Sunanda contributed 14 and Hardeep contributed 8 points. Manju contributed four points.

St Kabir School-26 also scored an easy 25-2 win over Little Flower, Panchkula. Rupandeep Kaur (11) and Tanvi (10) starred in their victory.

The results: IS Dev Samaj School-21 (Sunanda 14, Hardeep 8, Manju 4, Mehat 2) b Guru Nanak Public School-36 (Preet Kamal 2) 31-2.

St Kabir School-26 (Rupandeep Kaur 11, Tanvi 10, Kriti 2, Prakriti 3) b Guru Nank Public School-36 (Chandni 2) 25-2.

St Xavier’s-44 (Sukhmanjit 4, Harjit 4, Harmit 5, Sonia 2) b St Stephen’s-45 (Aman 4, Lovepreet 2, Harleen 2) 15-8.

St Kabir (Vanya 11, Rupandeep Kaur 8, Kriti 6) b Little Flower (Vishali 2, Meenu Thakur 2) 27-4.

Panchkula, November 30
With Pakistan cricket team struggling against India under his young successor Shoaib Malik, former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq yesterday said he felt like playing for the side.

“Pakistan are being led by a very young captain, so they should be given time to settle down. Playing against India at home adds to the pressure. At times, I feel like playing, but at the same time I realise that every cricketer has to retire one day,” Inzamam said.

On joining the ICL, he said it was an opportunity to play with young cricketers.

“Even after retiring I had to remain involved with cricket, so when the ICL happened it suited me well. It also provided a good monetary incentive,” he told reporters on the sidelines of his team’s practice session.

Inzamam is captaining Hyderabad Heroes, one of the six teams playing in the ICL’s Twenty20 Tournament.

The veteran batsman said former South African opener Gary Kirsten was a great player and a very professional cricketer and should not have problem in coaching a team like India. — IANS

NEIGHBOURHOOD

One killed in accident
Tribune News Service

Kharar, November 30
A resident of Jhanjheri village was run over by a speeding Maruti while crossing a road around 3 pm on Wednesday.

The police said the victim was identified as Malkiat Singh (15).

He was taken to the PGIMER Chandigarh where he was declared brought dead.

A case has been registered in this connection against an unknown driver. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.

Meanwhile, four persons were injured after two cars collided head-on near Radiala village on the NH 21 on late last evening.

All injured were taken to the local civil hospital. The injured have been identified as Kulwinder Kaur, Raj Kaur, Dalvinder Kaur and Manmeet Singh from Akbarpur village in Haryana.

No case has been registered in this connection as the two sides decided against filing a report. 

Patiala, November 30
The direct impact of the 1857 revolt on Punjab was negligible but its indirect influence through the Ghadr Party of 1915 was widespread as for the latter, the event was an anti-imperial challenge, stated Prof Surjit Hans.

He was delivering the inaugural address at the one-day seminar on "Revolt of 1857 and The Punjab: Historiographical Perspectives" organised by the department of Punjab historical studies, Punjabi University, here.

In his keynote address, Prof Dilip M.Menon of Delhi University said it was not a collective national uprising but multiple rebellions with diverse compulsions. He also said activities of the Indian National Congress did not constitute the only stream of nationalism.

Presiding over the function, Dr P. K. Shukla from the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, said in 1857 there were proclamations of freedom in different regions and all rebellious forces looked towards Bahadur Shah Zaffar.

Welcoming the delegates, Prof S. S. Gill,dean, academic affairs, said absolute objectivity was difficult to achieve but historical scholarship had the potential to shape the present.

Dr Navtej Singh, head of the department, said national histriography on 1857 had failed to justify the position of the Sikhs and the event did not attract attention of regional historiography on a broader scale.

Prof S. Islam from Delhi University talked of various myths about the role of Sikhs in historiography. Dr Shyamla Bhatia said the perception of some Englishmen on the event confirmed discontent in the British Indian Army.

Dr Joginder Singh from Amritsar attempted to trace the linkage of Namdharis to the uprising while Dr S. S. Sohal focused on the tragedy of Ajnala in which rebels were butchered. Dr. Bir Good Gill said the revolt was not limited to the army; the common man also showed his resentment. Dr. Sumail Singh Sidhu, Dr. K. S. Bajwa, Harsimranjit Kaur and Dr H. S. Shaan analysed the impact of 1857 on Punjabi literature.

Dr. G.D. Gulati focussed on the martyrs of Gurgoan and Dr. S.S. Oberoi analysed the circumstances leading to the rebellion.Dr Gurmit Singh explained the Sikhs were not enthusiastic because of their feelings were against Poorbia sepoys who had helped the British in destroying their independent kingdom. 

Patiala, November 30
In order to improve the existing distribution system to cover up the losses being suffered by the board due to transmission and distribution in the stipulated time frame, the PSEB has organised a nine-week techno-managerial training programme for 111 newly-recruited assistant engineers of the board.

The programme was launched simultaneously at Technical Training Institute of the PSEB at Patiala, Engineering Staff College at Hyderabad and at Reliance Energy Management Institute, Mumbai.

Chairman of the PSEB Y.S. Ratra said the board had suffered about 24 to 15 per cent losses. He said the new executives were being prepared by PSEB management to face the challenges posed by Electricity Act, 2003.

The training curriculum is highly practical and also comprises site visits and yoga classes. In addition, 260 officers of distribution system will also undergo a week’s interaction training at Engineering Staff College, Hyderabad.

Recently, a team led by member distribution comprising engineer-in-chief (HRD), chief engineer (DS) (border zone), Amritsar, and superintending engineer (DS), circle Patiala, visited Bhiwandi and Surat to study the practices adopted by Torrent Porter, Maharashtra and Gujarat Discoms to turn around the loss making power organisations into profit making entities and train about 150 senior executive engineers of PSEB's distribution system.

Besides, 270 senior officers were undergoing advanced management programme at Premier Management Institute MDI, Gurgaon, which would be completed before March 31, next year, the chairman said.