Two proclaimed offenders held
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 24 — The police has arrested two proclaimed offenders,one of whom was declared so way back in 1975, from Jalandhar and Amritsar.

According to police sources, Satish Kumar of Jalandhar was wanted in a case registered in 1975 under Sections 457/380, IPC, in the police station east.

Uttam Singh was arrested from Chola Sahib in Amritsar district as he was wanted in a case registered in 1990 under Sections 147/148/ 149/353/307, IPC, at the police station north.

Suitcase stolen : Ram lal of Sector 44 reported to the police that his suitcase containing some jewellery and a tool box was stolen from the Inter State Bus Terminus in Sector 17.

A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered.

One arrested : The police has arrested Subash Chand of Sector 44 from near the Sector 43/44 roundabout for possessing 10 bottles of liquor.

A case under Sections 61/1/14, Excise Act, has been registered against him.

Cyclist injured : A cyclist, Sanjay Singh, of motor market, Mani Majra, was knocked down by a Fiat car (DIA 1387) near the Dhillon cinema. The driver reportedly sped away. A case under Sections 279/337, IPC, has been registered and further investigations are on.

Nine injured : Nine persons, including three women, were injured in seven accidents in the city in the last 48 hours.

A cyclist of Mani Majra, Sanjay, was hit by a car near the Dhillon cinema here. The driver of the car sped away after hitting the cyclist. In another case a pedestrian, Abhinav Sharma, was hit by a car near the Sector 7 market here.

Two scooter-borne persons, Sunil and Manoj, both residents of Sector 28 here, were injured after being hit by a car near Panjab University entrance. In another case, Maya Devi of Solan was injured while alighting from a bus at the Sector 17 Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT). An unidentified person was injured while alighting from a bus near a hotel in Sector 22 here.

Besides, two women, Kulwinder Kaur and Usha Bhatia, who were riding a scooter, were injured after being hit by a car near Matka Chowk in Sector 17 here. A scooterist, Sanjay Kumar, was injured by a speeding car near the transport chowk.

All the injured persons have been admitted at the PGI.

Poison consumed : Sher Kaur, a resident of Milk Colony, was admitted to the PGI after she allegedly consumed some poisonous substance.

DERA BASSI

Scooterist killed : A teenager of Haripur Kudan village, Malkiat Singh, was crushed to death by a Punjab Roadways bus near here.

The victim was taking a turn to enter the main road after getting his scooter repaired while the bus (PB-12-A-8210) mowed him down along with his vehicle (PB-11-F-1166). The bus rammed into a tree after killing the scooterist. The police has registered a case against the bus driver.

PANCHKULA

Shop burgled : Burglars broke into a cloth shop in the Sector 16 market here and decamped with goods worth over Rs 4 lakh on July 21. The police has registered a case on the basis of a complaint lodged by the owner of the shop, Mr Kashmiri Lal.

Slapstick comedy well received
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 24 — It was in front of a packed audience, a rare sight in the city, that the Hindi comedy play 'Beewion Ka Madarsa' was staged today at the Tagore Theatre. The play, directed by Sachin Sharma and Pawan Parkhi, both students of the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, was produced by Pinnacle.

The play, a Hindustani adaptation of French playwright's Moliere's farce, was lapped up by the audience which obviously easily enjoy any sort of slapstick comedy. The story of an old man who is in love with a young pretty girl, who he had bought up since she was six years old, and who he wanted to marry after teaching her everything about the big-bad world, was full of some hilarious moments. But eventually when the girl falls in love with another young man, the situation becomes another comedy of errors.

The role of the old man was played by Sachin Sharma and that of the young girl by Rimpi Gill. The role of the young man, Gulpham, was played by Amit Dhanoa.

'Beewion Ka Madarsa', which was the second play being staged as part of the on-going theatre festival, was surrounded by controversy of sorts, when city based theatre person Sewak Nayyar complained about the "piracy of the play". The city has earlier witnessed the same play, directed by Nayyar, with almost the same cast in the same roles. According to Sewak Nayyar, the play being performed by these young artists, was a complete take-off from his production.

The third, and the last play in the series, 'Great India' will be held at 7p.m. tomorrow at the same venue.

Tomato price skyrocketing
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 24 —There is a bad news for salad-lovers as the price of tomato has started going through the roof during the past four days.

During a survey of the local market today it was found that if a kg of the vegetable was priced at Rs 24 just two days back, it could be purchased today for not less than Rs 40 in different city markets. The wholesale price of the vegetable has increased from Rs 100 to Rs 170 per 5 kg during this period. It may be recalled that the vegetable was priced at just Rs 10 to Rs 12 a kg during the past week, but the price started shooting up as the arrivals started shrinking due to heavy rain in the region, particularly in Himachal Pradesh, from where the vegetable is coming these days.

Similarly, radish, another vegetable from the hill state, has become costly for the same reason. A kg of the vegetable priced at Rs 16 just two days back, could be bought today for Rs 20. The wholesale price has increased from Rs 60 to Rs 80 per 5 kg.

There was no respite from the high prices of some other vegetables during this period. A kg of cauliflower, priced at Rs 16 last week, was today priced at Rs 35 in retail and for Rs 160 per 5 kg in the wholesale market. Similarly, a kg of cucumber could be purchased for Rs 20 against its old price of Rs 16. It was priced at Rs 10 a kg a week back.

The same was the case with squashgourd, as it was still available for Rs 28 a kg against its old price of Rs 14 a kg, which was prevailing in the market just a couple of days back. Once again, the price of beans has started shooting up in spite of the fact that fresh crop has arrived in the market. A kg of beans, available for Rs 12 to Rs 14 just two days back, could be purchased today for Rs 24 in retail and for Rs 100 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

On the other hand, the price of ginger has come down during this period. A kg of ginger, priced at Rs 60 two days back, could be purchased for Rs 48 today. The wholesale price has come down from Rs 250 to Rs 200 per 5 kg.

There was no change in the price of onion and potato as these could still be purchased for Rs 10 and Rs 5 a kg, respectively.

Ramit, Amarpreet bag junior TT titles
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, July 24 — Ramit Singla of Shishu Niketan, Sector 22, and Amarpreet Kaur romped home with junior boys' and girls' singles titles, respectively, on the second day of the fifth Bhawan Hawk's Chandigarh State Table Tennis Tournament here at the Sector 23 table tennis hall.

In the junior girls' section, Amarpreet Kaur of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, was involved in fierce battle with Ruchi Gautam of DAV Public School, Sector 8, in a match which was extended to five games. Finally, bespectacled Amarpreet won, 21-14, 21-15, 8-21, 18-21 and 21-15.

Earlier in the match for the third place, Nadia Saini of DAV Public School, Sector 8, and the daughter of a former table tennis player Narinder Saini, defeated Ramanpreet Kaur of Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 41, in three straight games, 21-8, 12-21, 21-19.

In the junior boys' final, Ramit Singla defeated Varun Kassal, 21-17, 21-13, 22-20.

The results after the second day were as follows: Junior girls prequarterfinals — Tarunpreet Kaur b Saloni Sumbria 21-14, 21-10; Ramanpreet Kaur b Komal 21-16, 21-8; Ruchi Gautam b Sandhya Sharma 21-14, 21-19; Arshdeep Kaur b Gagandeep Kaur 21-14, 21-13; Megha Kassal b Anchal 23-21, 21-18.

Quarterfinals — Amarpreet Kaur b Tarunpreet Kaur, 21-13, 21-10; Ramanpreet Kaur b Deepinder Kaur, 21-6, 21-10; Ruchi Gautam b Arshdeep Kaur, 23-21, 21-14; Nadia Saini b Megha Kassal, 21-13, 15-21, 21-16.

Semi-finals — Amarpreet Kaur b Ramanpreet Kaur, 21-13, 21-13, 21-14; Ruchi Gautam b Nadia Saini, 21-12, 21-13, 21-23, 21-19.

Final — Amarpreet Kaur b Ruchi Gautam 21-14, 21-15, 8-21, 18-21, 21-15.

Junior boys' singles' first round — Nitish Rana b Varun Mittal, 21-2, 21-11; Rachit Goyal b Pankaj Goyal, 21-15, 21-13; Ravi Sharma b Puneet Soni, 21-12, 18-21, 21-19; Amit Kumar b Vaibhav, 21-14, 21-15; Tarun Kapoor b Mohit, 21-17, 13-21, 21-14; Jatinder Kapoor b Chander Mohan, 21-15, 21-18; Amit Kukreja b Kapil Chalana, 15-21, 21-16, 21-15.

Prequarterfinals — Varun Kassal b Nitish Rana, 21-11, 21-11; Gursimar Singh b Rachit Goyal, 21-14, 21-18; Aditya Puri b Ravi Sharma, 21-13, 23-21; Amit Kumar b Mandeep Singh, 21-15, 14-21, 26-24; Ramit Singla b Manikant 21-19, 21-17; Inderpreet b Tarun Kapoor, 21-13, 23-19; Sajal Kaushal b Jitender, 21-14, 21-14; Sumit Grover b Amit Kukreja, 21-14, 21-16.

Quarterfinals — Sumit Grover b Sajal Kaushal, 21-10, 21-19, 25-23; Varun Kassal b Gursimar Singh 21-18, 17-21, 21-13, 20-22, 21-8; Aditya Puri b Amit Kumar, 23-21, 21-18, 21-17; Ramit Singla b Inderpreet Singh 21-13, 21-16, 16-21, 21-16.

Semi-finals — Varun Kassal b Aditya Puri, 21-15, 21-17, 21-1; Ramit Singla b Sumit Grover, 21-11, 21-19, 21-14.

Shooting championship

Daleep Chandel and Aarti Mehta stole the show on the penultimate day of the 24th Chandigarh State Shooting Championship here at the Sector 25 shooting ranges. Daleep bettered his own record in the .22 free rifle (ISSF) prone senior (men) individual category and bagged the gold medal.

He also shot the gold medal in the .22 free rifle (ISSF) 3 position senior (men) individual section.

Aarti Mehta too secured two gold medals in the junior and senior women individual sections in the .22 standard rifle (OS) (NR) prone event.

Results after the penultimate day of the competition were as follows: .22 free rifle (ISSF) prone senior (men) individual section — Daleep Singh Chandel (275/300) (New Record) 1, Jasvinder Singh (Rlys) 2, Ram Sarup 3. The .22 free rifle (ISSF) 3 position senior (men) individual section: Daleep Chandel (235/300) 1, Jasvinder Singh 2.

Air pistol (ISSF) senior men individual section — Parminder Singh (560/600) 1, Anand Mehta 2, Harminder Singh Sangha 3.

Team event (air pistol); Daleep Chandel, Parminder Singh, Anand Mehta (1625/1800) 1, J.S. Ahluwalia, Waheguru, Harpreet Singh 2. Team event (air fifle ISSF) — Daleep, Parmider, Jasvinder (1539/1800 ) 1.

The .22 free rifle prone ISSF section — Daleep, Jasvinder, Ram Sarup (769/900) 1. The .22 standard rifle (OS) (NR) prone senior (men) individual section — Pavittar Singh (267/300) 1, Tejpal Singh 2, Holinder Singh 3.

The .22 standard Rifle (OS) ( NR) prone junior (men) individual section — Pavittar Singh (267/300) 1, Tejpal Singh 2, Gurinder Singh3.

The .22 standard rifle (OS) (NR) prone senior (women) individual section — Aarti Mehta (257/300) 1, Vandana Kaushal 2, Maninder Kaur 3.

Team event — Aarti, Kshma, Ritu (510/900) 1; Maninder, Vandana, Priti 2; Bhavna, Miliprit, Gunjan 3. The .22 standard rifle (OS) (NR) prone junior (women) section — Aarti Mehta (257/300) 1, Prabhleen Chauhan 2, Vandana Kaushal 3.