Cyclist crushed to death
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 12 — An unidentified cyclist was crushed to death by a CTU bus (CH-01-G-5396) on the road dividing sectors 21 and 18 this evening. The bus driver, Karamjeet Singh , has been arrested.

In a separate incident, Sanasar Chand, a driver of a CTU bus, was allegedly assaulted by Rupinder Singh of Ropar at the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT), Sector 17. Rupinder was arrested and booked under Sections 323 and 325 of the IPC.

Theft : A fax machine and a VCR have been stolen from the Guru Gobind Section Bhavan in Sector 15. The Vice-President of the Bhavan, Mr Jagir Singh, has lodged a complaint with the police. A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC has been registered.

Gambling : Three persons — Surinder, Istiaque and Mohini Kumar — have been arrested for allegedly playing cards at a public place. A case under the Gambling Act has been registered.

Punjabi singer regales kids
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 12 — The children's theatre workshop at Gandhi Smarak Bhavan, Sector 16, held an interactive session with Punjabi singer Kamaljeet Neelon today. organised by Ravinder Kalra of Gulmohar Arts, the workshop had earlier held a session with Punjabi pop singer Hans Raj Hans.

Neelon regaled the children and their parents with his mimicry. "Singing for children is something devotional for me. Since not much is being done in this field, I wanted to sing for kids alone and would continue to do so," he said.

Starting the interaction with a 'telephone conversation', Neelon mimicked how long-distance calls transpire between children and their relatives living abroad. He sang 'Phone Si Aya', 'Sonu Gayee Bazaar' and 'Mano Billi Aayee Aa' and many other numbers, which elicited plenty of laughter and applause.

Earlier, while talking to newspersons, he said he ventured first into mimicry and then into singing during his childhood. He did not have formal training in either, he admitted.

"I have just come back from Canada, where I did a workshop with 45 children. I think there is a lot of difference in the receptivity of children here and children abroad. The kids there are brought up in an atmosphere which teaches them to be curious and inquisitive, while the kids here hesitate and tend to take things on their face value," he said.

About his being recognised both as a mimicry artist and singer, he said, "I am always called to perform as a singer. Since I sing for children I also put in a whole lot of mimicking to be one of them."

Neelon became one with the kids, when at the end of the interaction, he played 'train-train' with them while singing.

It was interesting to watch the reaction of children, whose songs included Punjabi words like 'Maapey' (parents) that had to be explained to them.

'Mowgli in City Beautiful'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 12 — the story of Mowgli and Asha, his lady love, in the City Beautiful was presented at Tagore Theatre here today. Titled 'Jungle Book Se Aage', the play was staged by Kids World.

The play was the result of a summer workshop organised by the Durga Das Foundation with Bubbles Sabharwal and Lushin Dubey of Kids World. It had about 80 children, singing and dancing and confusing Mowgli with their urban ways.

The stage was full of publicity banners like "Bindi Pastry Shop" and "Rubia Peticoats" and huge posters of Sharukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Kajol, with havaldars, youngsters on two-wheelers and political rallies giving the feel of various sectors of Chandigarh.

The musical was a reflection on the various absurdities of city life, with Mowgli landing himself in jail, getting beaten up by mahila samiti members and interacting with a group of fake sadhus.

Whether it was the Chandigarh railway station, the Chandigarh Club or the Mani majra police station, the play had it all. But the play failed to knit together these facets of modern civilisation. It was in the second half that the play gained some sort of momentum.

More than the play itself, it was the spontaneous body language of the 6 to 13-year-olds, which left an impact.

Akshay Vasishtha as Mowgli was delightful with his expressions and gestures. Aditi Tiwari as Asha stole the show. The two performers were given a thunderous applause.

The play will again be staged at the same venue on June 13.

Vegetables record downward trend
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 12 — The prices of a number of vegetables have witnessed a downward trend during the past 24 hours. These include onion, capsicum, cabbage and cauliflower.

If a kg of onion was priced at Rs 10 yesterday, it was available for Rs 8 in the Sector 29 market today. The wholesale price of the vegetable came down from Rs 40 to between Rs 30 and Rs 35 per five kg. According to traders, the price had come down owing to increase in arrivals from Delhi and Nagpur.

Similarly, a kg of capsicum, available for between Rs 24 and Rs 28 yesterday, could be purchased for Rs 16 today. The wholesale price of the vegetable decreased from Rs 100 to Rs 60 per five kg due to fresh arrivals from Himachal Pradesh. the vegetable was priced at Rs 40 a kg two days back due to a temporary shortfall in arrivals.

The price of brinjal crashed from between Rs 12 and Rs 16 a kg to Rs 8 a kg during this period. The wholesale price of the vegetable came down from between Rs 55 and Rs 60 to Rs 35 per five kg. Traders attributed the fall in prices to flooding of the market by the vegetable coming from different parts of Punjab and Haryana.

The price of cauliflower, which was stable at Rs 16 a kg for past few days, too came down as a kg of the vegetable was available in the market for Rs 14 today. The wholesale price of the vegetable came down from Rs 60 to Rs 50 per five kg.

A kg of cabbage, priced at Rs 10 yesterday, was priced at Rs 7 today. The wholesale price of the vegetable decreased from Rs 40 to Rs 25 per five kg.

Lemon became cheaper during this period. Its price came down from Rs 28 to Rs 24 per kg in the retail market and from Rs 120 to Rs 100 per five kg in the wholesale market.

The price of gourd also came down from Rs 10 to Rs 6 a kg due to fresh arrivals from parts of Punjab and Haryana.

Similarly, the price of lady's finger crashed from Rs 16 to Rs 8 in the retail market and from Rs 60 to Rs 30 in the wholesale market.

Badminton summer camp
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 12 — The Chandigarh Badminton Association is conducting a summer coaching camp in collaboration with Panjab University Sports Department and the Sports Authority of India at the Panjab University Indoor Stadium from June 15 to 27,according to Mr M.C. Sethi, President of the association.

This 13-day intensive camp will have the services of the former national badminton coach, Mr T.P.S. Puri . He will be assisted by Mr S.N. Sharma, a doctorate in this game and Mr Surinder Mahajan , SAI coach posted in Chandigarh.

Mr Suresh Harmilapi, the director in charge of the SAI Northern Centre,Chandigarh, and Mr Kewal Singh, head of sports at Panjab University, Chandigarh, has assured all possible help for this camp.

The trainees will be taught about the major muscles involved in badminton and how to further develop these, prevention of injuries, tactical training, specific physical fitness exercises based on the physical aptitude of a particular trainee, yoga for relaxation and mental /psychological preparation and lastly the diet requirement pertaining to the strenuous exercises .

Mr D.K. Mukerjee the veteran badminton player and a known name in this game and who has guided and assisted many prominent players , will share his practical experiences with the trainees.

Moreover, imported shuttlecocks will be used in this camp and players who have reached up to the last four stage of the 1998 Chandigarh Badminton Championship will be eligible for this camp.

The UT team for the All-India Krishna Khaitan Memorial Badminton Tournament to be held at Chennai from July 2 will also be selected on the basis of performance in this championship, said Mr Sethi.

The players who are eligible and want to attend this camp may contact Mr Surinder Mahajan at Panjab University badminton hall from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. till June 15.

Tushar justifies seeding
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 12 — Tushar Liberhan justified his top seed in the boys under-14 section when he subdued Lovepreet 6-2, 6-1 to bag the title on the penultimate day of the Total Tennis Tournament being played here at the Lake Club today. The boys under-12 title was clinched by Sanam K. Singh, who had to struggle hard to beat Kushagra Mahajan 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

Neha and Simmer, both sisters, will meet in the final of two events — under-16 and under- 18 — tomorrow. Kinshuk Sharma will take on young Lakshit Sood of Delhi in the under -10 singles final.

Chatwinder and Gursewak downed Harmeet and Aviral to wrest the boys under-18 doubles title.

Earlier due to last night's rain, the matches were played on the hard courts . The matches tomorrow, however, will be played on the grass courts. The parent-child event also evoked a good response.

The following are the results:

Girls under 16 (semifinal): Neha Singh b Prabhleen Chauhan 6-2, 6-1; Simmer b Khushleen Kaur 6-1, 6-2.

Girls under 18 (semifinal): Neha Singh b Amarpreet Shallu 6-0, 6-0; Simmer b Khuhleen Kaur 6-2, 6-1.

Boys under-14 (semifinal): Tushar Liberhan b Harne Ahluwalia 6-1, 6-1; Lovepreet Singh b Ardaman Sahu 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). Final: Tushar b Lovepreet 6-2, 6-1.

Boys under-12 (final): Sanam K. Singh b Kushagra Mahajan 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

Boys under-10 (semifinal): Kinshuk Sharma b Vijayant Malik 10-5; Lakshit Sood b Mehab Cheema 10-4.

Boys under -18 doubles (semifinal): Chatwinder & Gursewak b Lovpreet & Sanam K. Singh 10-5; Harneet & Arival b Ardaman & Tushar 10-8.