BHUBANESWAR: The BJP has fielded party’s state unit president Basanta Panda from Kalahanadi Lok Sabha seat, its second LS candidates list released late on Friday night shows.Panda was MLA from Nuapada in the outgoing assembly and from 2000-2004. Nuapada is part of Kalahanadi LS segment.Suresh Pujari, party’s national secretary will fight from Bargarh this time. In 2014, Pujari had fought from Sambalpur LS seat where he had lost to Nagendra Pradhan of the BJD. The BJP has fielded Nitesh Ganga Deb, Deogarh royal scion, from Sambalpur.Nitesh was BJP MLA from Deogarh in the outgoing assembly. He was also elected to the state assembly earlier on Congress ticket from the same seat in 2009.Party’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra, a native of Odisha, will contest from Puri. “I thank Honourable PM Sh ?@narendramodi? Ji & ?@BJP4India? President Sh ?@AmitShah? ji & All the respected CEC members for reposing faith on a small Karyakarta as me to make me contest from the abode of Lord Jaganath - PURI #PhirEkBaarModiSarkar,” Patra tweeted.BJP has named Jayaram Pangi, who was elected to Lok Sabha on BJD ticket in 2009 from Koraput, as its nominee for Koraput. Pangi, also a four-time former MLA and former minister in Biju Patnaik’s council (1990-1995), is perceived to have strong grassroots connect in the tribal-dominated district. He has joined the BJP in 2017.Hit by the deaths of two young cricketers in less than three months, cricket coaching camps in the city are leaving no stone unturned as far as taking precautions is concerned. They are taking a host of measures before signing any player with a first or second division professional club — from organising regular medical camps and emergency firstaid services to conducting mandatory medical checkups.“The death of Sonu Yadav has shaken us and we have decided to organise a mandatory medical test for all our signees before the start of a season. Though Yadav did not die while playing an official match for the club, his death has taught us thatsuch an incident can happen with any of us any time — whether it’s a match for the club or a friendly game,” said Asish Sengupta, secretary of Ballygunge Sporting Association, with which Sonu was associated.A promising wicket-keeper and batsman, Yadav (22) had collapsed on the ground moments after he got out after a quick-fire 12 off 5 balls in a friendly tie. The inexperience of fellow cricketers and the inability to judge the seriousness of the situation made two youths pick Sonu on a bike and take him to the Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) medical unit at Eden Gardens that has some basic first aid tools and a doctor. The CAB doctor had referred him to SSKM Hospital, another 4km away, where he was declared dead on arrival. Doctors suspected he had suffered a sudden cardiac death. “Had my brother been taken to SSKM Hospital directly, he may have had a chance. Since he was taken to CAB and that too on a bike, I wonder if that had any impact on his health,” Yadav’s brother had said on Wednesday.This incident came two months after the death of another cricketer — Aniket Sharma — in January this year while he was warming up before a practice session. After the death, Paikpara Sporting Club, where Sharma used to play, started keeping medical histories of all its registered cricketers. They are also not allowing any cricketer take the field without submitting a medical certificate, especially after a spell of illness.“Before the start of every match, each player has to undergo fitness tests. We also ask each and every player personally if they have any sort of difficulties. We are taking some precautionary measures on our part,” said Swapan Ghosh, the coach of the Paikpara club.While sports medicine doctors stressed on the need to conduct advanced medical check-ups to spot undetected heart ailments in young sportspersons, club officials in Kolkata said no medical check-up was conducted before the start of a season.A senior official of CAB, however, said they were planning to organise fullfledged medical camps for the players from the next season. The CAB also has plans to conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first-aid courses for all players, coaches, umpires and even scorers to ensure more people on the ground know how to deal with emergency situations.“We have already started the courses for match observers. Now, we will include all those involved in the game to make sure every trained cricketer knows the basic emergency rules,” said a senior CAB official.

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