Chandigarh, May 21
The UT authorities are worried over the gradual decrease in the number of people reporting at booths set up for administering polio drops to children during the pulse polio drives this year.

Although the authorities have not been able to pinpoint the reason behind the trend, it is apprehended that people of the city have left it to the staff and volunteers involved in the campaign to reach their door step rather going themselves to the booths with their kids.

A spokesman for the Chandigarh Administration claimed that people were assured by volunteers during their previous visits that their kids would get the medicine at their doorsteps.

During the pulse polio drive, people are advised to reach the pulse polio booths to get their kids in the age group of 0-5 years immunised. During the next two days the staff conducts door-to-door surveys and administers the drops to children ensuring that no child in the Union Territory is left out.

While as many as 1,09,266 kids were administered the polio drops at booths on January 7 last, the number of people reaching booths started falling and dipped to as low as 88,056 during the campaign held yesterday. In fact on February 11 last, a majority of people avoided getting their kids immunised at booths due to inclement weather and the staff and volunteers involved in the drive had to visit various houses and were successful in administering the drops to 78,694 children.

Similarly on March 11, a total of 94,607 children reached the booths for getting the drops. The total figure, however, after conclusion of the three-day campaigns, remained more than 1,30,000 during all these drives.

Chandigarh, May 21
TB patients can hope for smaller dose of medicines daily in the near future as the PGI is all set to use nanotechnology in the drug delivery system against the disease. This would help in reducing non-compliance cases as the patient has to take far less doses of medicines, according to G.K. Khuller, a former professor and head, Department of Biochemistry, PGI, Chandigarh.

Generally a patient has to consume four drugs daily for the first two months followed by two drugs for four months for the complete cure of the disease.

This heavy dose of medicine often results in non-compliance as well as emergence of multi-drug resistance, said Khuller, adding that reduction in dosing frequency forms an important therapeutic strategy.

A team headed by Khuller at present working as emeritus scientist of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, has conducted experiments on animals resulting in the findings that relative bio-availability of encapsulated drugs was greater.

Now an application was pending with the Drug Controller General of India for granting the approval for experiments on human beings.

The research is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, under their drug development programme along with Lifecare Innovations, Gurgaon. The clinical studies will be conducted in collaboration with pharmacology department of the PGI.

The nanotechnology in drug delivery involves developing nanoparticles or molecules to encapsulate the drugs to improve their bioavailability. It refers to the presence of medicine in the body for longer period.

This enhanced period of presence of medicine in the body could be as long as between 10 and 14 days resulting in the reduction of doses of medicines as observed in experimental animals, said Khuller.

The anti-tubercular medicines in the nanoparticles can be administered orally or through respiratory route and encapsulated to make it consumable.

Chandigarh, May 21
Top seed Asif and second seed Neeraj Bharti made it to the semifinal of the men’s singles event of the 10th St Stephen’s Carrom Ranking Tournament at the school in Sector 45 today.

The other players who got the top-four berth were Gagandeep Singh and Shaquib.

In women’s singles, Farheen, Aakanksha, Tuba and Anjali Yadav also moved into the semifinal, while in girls’ sub-junior event, Farheen, Tuba, Gulshan and Samridhi Piplani secured semifinal berths.

The results: Men’s singles: quarter-final: Gagandeep b Sudhir Sidhu 25-08, 25-04; Asif b Hassan 25-08, 22-25, 25-23; Shaquib b Rizwan 25-09, 25-24.

Boys’ singles (junior): pre-quarter final: Varun Sood b Gauravraj 25-00; Piyush Sood b Mukul Dev Sharma 25-00; Tasuvar Ali b Saksham 25-06; Naushad b Rahul 25-02; Shaquib b Hari Bhanot 25-04; Aarish b Mohd. Talib 23-10; Hassan b Ekansh Goel 25-00; Kartik b Manpreet 25-02.

Boys’ singles (sub-junior): third round: Hassan b Inamul Haq 25-00; Ankush Taneja b Nazaf 21-07; Hari Bhanot b Mukul Sarwal 25-04; Aayush Hemdan b Tasuvar Ali 25-05; Arshdeep Singh b Puneet Jain 25-00; Shubham b Gauravdeep 25-00; Shaquib b Saksham 25-00; Mukul Dev Shama b Aryan Adya 17-04; Kartik b Kushagra Nanda 25-04; Vivek b Harlove 25-00; Mohd. Talib b Vaibhavraj 25-00; Manpreet Singh b Lalitesh 25-00; Lakshaya Piplani b Pukit Bhutani 16-08; Govind Dhamija b Himanshu 25-20; Mohd. Arif b Nawaz 25-09; Aarish b Danish 25-04.

Pre-quarter final: Hassan b Ankush Taneja 25-14; Mukul Dev Sharma b Hari Bhanot 18-03; Aayush Hemdan b Arshdeep 23-14; Kartik b Vivek 25-04; Mohd. Talib b Manpreet Singh 25-00; Lakshaya Piplani b Govind Dhamija 25-00; Aarish b Mohd. Arib 25-05; Shaquib b Shubham 25-07.

Women’s singles: quarter-final: Farheen b Chahat 25-04, 25-00; Aakanksha b Harshpreet 13-23, 18-17, 25-04; Tuba b Kumari Kiran 25-04, 25-07; Anjali Yadav b Reena 17-08, 12-25, 22-06.

Girls’ singles (junior): Pre-quarter final: Farheen b Tuba 25-04; Gulshan b Sugandha 25-04; Reena b Ayushi Sharma 25-00; Aakanksha b Khushnuma 25-00; Bhanu Sadana b Ashima 25-00; Kudrat b Chahat 17-13; Harshdeep b Anjali Taneja 25-07.

Girls’ singles (sub-junior): quarter-final: Farheen b Kriti 25-00; Tuba b Diksha 25-00; Gulshan b Anjali Taneja 25-12; Samridhi b Khushnuma 25-00.

Chandigarh, May 21
The Chandigarh Football Academy, run by the Chandigarh administration, sent its first batch of 12 players and two officials to Germany today for a 15-day advanced training at Sportschule Egidius Braun in Leipzig from May 24 to June 9.

The players are Ramanjot Singh, Sachin Balwal, Sumeet Passi, Rajinder, Chinkash Tewari, Maninder Singh, Baljinder Singh, Robin Singh, Samuel, Aakashdeep Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Rajbir Singh.

Deepak Devrani and Bikramjit, who were selected for training in Germany in the first batch, did not accompany the players due to some visa technicalities and have 
been substituted.

According to Chandigarh sports director Inderjit Singh Sandhu, two officials - former Indian captain Harjinder Singh and joint director sports, Chandigarh administration, Dr J.P.S. Sidhu - accompanied the CFA trainees, as coach and head of the delegation, respectively.

Inderjit Sandhu said another batch of 12 players would go to Germany for coaching from November 18 to December 2. Deepak and Bikramjit would be included in this batch.

Harjinder Singh said the boys would be exposed to specialised training in Germany. “It will help them further develop their technique and confidence. The CFA trainees will gain rich experience under trained coaches in improving their skills and physical standards.”

The Chandigarh Football Academy and Sportschule Egidius Braun had signed a memorandum of understanding last year to provide training to CFA players.

Director of Sportschule Andre Kuhn and secretary sports, Chandigarh S.K. Sandhu signed the agreement on behalf of the sportschule and Chandigarh, respectively.

Adviser to the Chandigarh administrator Lalit Sharma had sanctioned Rs 18 lakh for training of the 12 boys.

S.K. Sandhu and Inderjit Singh Sandhu visited Germany in connection with the formalisation of a tie-up for advanced training and also to study the functioning of other institutions.

Under the agreement, the CFA will send 12 players along with one coach for 15 days to Sportschule for advanced specialised training twice a year.

The training will be on nominal payment, which will include board and lodging, classroom teaching and practical training.

The CFA players will also play regular matches with local teams at Leipzig during their stay in Germany. One German coach will visit the CFA for 15 days for evaluation, assessment and to supervise the progress of the trainees.

Sportschule has the largest indoor artificial turf hall in Germany as well as outdoor artificial turf grass fields. The school is also equipped for many other sports, including tennis and basketball, etc. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 21
At least 25 cricketers of the North Zone aged below 15 benefited during the month-long Zonal Cricket Academy (ZCA) workshop that concluded at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune after toiling hard for a month under the watchful eyes of experts, the players seemed happy.

Promising pacer from Delhi Kuldip Mirchia felt he had improved during the training.

“There was some problem with my run-up, which was corrected. Now, I feel more comfortable while throwing a delivery. Besides, my pace has improved,” he said.

Appreciating such camps by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for all zones, right-hand leg spinner Bhavish Goel from Patiala said: “It is an appreciable step. Before coming to the camp, my ball spun little. But under the directions of spin coach Bharti Vij, I learnt some tricks in spin bowling.”

Apart from the five BCCI-appointed experts, some former top players, including Chandu Borde and Sarkar Talwar, visited the camp to impart training to budding cricketers, selected during the Polly Umrigar trophy recently.

The coaches included Munish Bali, Rajdeep Kalsi and Bharti Vij.

Physiotherapist Abhishek Joshi and trainer Vishwas Walavalkar expressed satisfaction over the month-long training schedule.

“This is the age when one can correct faults in players. Starting such camps is a good step by the BCCI. After assessing the video sessions, which were held at the start and finish of the camp, we can say that it was a successful venture as all players improved tremendously,” said Munish Bali.

Meanwhile, nine players who took part in the camp have been selected for the NCA, Bangalore.

Chandigarh, May 21
Eighteen coaches of gymnastics from all over Punjab took part in a seminar that ended in Patiala yesterday.

Nirbhaya Singh, chief coach, NIS, Patiala, suggested steps to broadbase the game with the help of the state association and state sports department.

Dr G.S. Kang from Punjabi University and retired BSF commandant Manjit Singh Pandher also spoke on the subject.

R.K. Rishi, district sports officer and general secretary of the host Patiala district gymnastics association, said gymnastics that was normally performed on apparatus and equipment was also being competed without equipment.

Others who participated were Rupinder Brar, president of the district association and Dr D.I.S. Brar, principal, Government Mohindra College, Patiala.