After taking charge of the Punjab Sports Board last month, the Punjab Higher Education Department has complicated the first test case. The way the case is being solved is making a mockery of the department. The dispute surfaced during third leg of the Punjab Chief Minister Sports Cup over the participation of Punjab University Teaching Department (PUTD). Curtain fell on the games here last week, but Lahore Division, the winner, has yet to get the trophy. Lahore will receive the trophy after the PUTD issue is settled. A summary in this connection was pending with the Punjab Higher Education Department secretary, who would decide if PUTD was eligible for these games or not. Such disputes are part of sports events, but there are always rules and regulations to sort these out immediately to make the activity go smoothly. But here, one week has passed and bureaucratic procedure is being applied to solve the issue. A summary has been dispatched to the Higher Education Department and no one knows when it will take the final decision. Since Faisalabad Division objected to PUTD's participation in the event, the commissioners of Lahore and Faisalabad have also been involved in the issue. One has little hope the dispute will be solved in near future. Interestingly, the Higher Education Department has no expert to decide the issue amicably.

Lahore Division has won the trophy and Faisalabad and Gujranwala divisions have secured second and third positions, respectively.

One has already suggested the government to appoint a technocrat director general at the Punjab Sports Board to run it smoothly.

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Punjab government's two projects in the Nishtar Sports Complex here need just few million rupees to get functional. The lone indoor swimming pool in the public sector in Lahore needs Rs3 million to become useable and Rs10 million to complete. It was started with estimated cost of Rs404 million. If the government spends just Rs3 million more to make it functional, the swimming pool can generate enough revenue for its completion.

Work on a multi-purpose hall, which needs just Rs3 million to complete, has also been stopped. Here, just a wooden floor and windows have to be fixed to bring the hall in use.

The Punjab government stopped funding to these projects and diverted all funds to flood affected persons. Had the Punjab government not stopped funds to all projects with one stroke, small amounts for many projects like the two mentioned above could have been spared easily.

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The World Cup is attracting spectators after minnows like Ireland and Canada showed resistance against teams like England and Pakistan. While Ireland trampled England and chased a mighty target of 328 to surprise the cricketing world, Pakistan survived the scare, thanks to match-winning bowling by captain Shahid Afridi. Kevin O'Brien was the architect of the Irish victory. The defeat must have up set the English team, which was one of the strong contenders for the coveted cup before start of the mega event.

On the other hand, the performance of the Canadian team, which consists of Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka born players, was noteworthy. On the other hand, Pakistan's shocking performance against Canada should be taken as a blessing in disguise. As the Pakistan team had been looking complacent after beating a strong Sri Lanka, the match against Canada was a well-on-time doze for green shirts before they lock horns with Australia and New Zealand.

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Two-day 124th Annual Athletics Championship of the Forman Christian College is being held at its own track on March 8 and 9. In all, the two-day gala consists of 18 events.