Sector 10 house burgled
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 18 — The house of a restaurant owner has been burgled under mysterious circumstances. He was holidaying in Manali along with his family.

Mr Amarjeet Singh, of Sector 10, runs a restaurant in Sector 35. He lost Rs 5,000 in cash, gold jewellery worth Rs 25,000, a video camera and other household goods.

He had left the city on June 10 with his driver, Dharmendra Kumar. Before leaving the city, he had asked his employee, Dil Bahadur, to sleep at his place at night.

Mr Amarjeet Singh said Dil Bahadur told him that he (Dil Bahadur) came home around midnight on Thursday night . He found the door open, an open bottle of whisky and some other material. Thinking that Amarjeet Singh might have left like this, he shut the door and slept in the lobby.

This continued till Mr Amarjeet Singh returned from his holiday late on Tuesday night. The police was called in and investigations revealed nothing. This is the third case of theft in Sector 10 in the past one month and a half.

Car stolen
A Maruti car (CH-01-C-0393) owned by Ravinder Singh of Sector 15 has been stolen from his house.

PANCHKULA

Husband booked
Ram Charan, a resident of Hangola in Raipur Rani, has been booked for allegedly forcing his wife, Ram Murti, to commit suicide.

The police has registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC on the basis of a complaint lodged by a brother of the deceased, Rulda Ram.

According to information available, she allegedly consumed some poisonous substance. She has left behind three children.

Thief arrested
The CIA wing of the district police has arrested Ram Lakhan, a resident of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, in connection with at least two cases of burglary committed in the township during the past few months.

According to information available, a VCR, a stereo, a CD player, besides other stolen items, have been recovered from him.

Cheating
Balwinder Singh, a resident of Zirakpur, complained to the police that he was deprived of his gas cylinder by an unidentified person in Sector 20 here on June 15. The police has registered a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC.

PU decision on appointments
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 18 — The stalemate which has been persisting for the past two years over the appointments against numerous posts in various departments of Panjab University is likely to be resolved now. The university had in October. 1997, advertised seeking applications for the posts of professor, reader and lecturer.

Sources reveal that while certain appointments were made in due course, but the appointment of 10 professors, 24 readers and 20 lecturers are still held up due to the ongoing tussle between the Vice-Chancellor and members of the Syndicate.

The Syndics after having recently restored the powers of making selection committees, the Syndicate constituted a four-member committee comprising Syndics Mr Randeep Surjewala, Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, Prof I.M Govil and Dr Ravinder Nath Sharma. The committee was formed for the formation of selection committees. Subsequently, the selection committees were constituted with one member each of the Syndicate and Senate, one chairman/ professor of the department concerned and three subject experts under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor or his nominee.

These appointments are likely to be made in the departments of Music, Psychology, Bio-Physics, Bio-Technology, Botany, Bio-Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Technology, Geology, Microbiology and Punjabi, History ( correspondence courses) and Sanskrit ( Department of Evening Studies) .

In the last syndicate meeting the members had brought up the issue that the period for finalising these appointments had already lapsed and the same should be extended. The Syndicate while granting an extension had constituted the four-member committee who could recommend the panel for selection committees of various posts so that the process of appointments could be initiated.

Impressive Greek play
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 18 — One of Euripides’ most powerful and best known Greek tragedy ‘Medea’, a remarkable study of the maltreatment of a woman and of her ruthless revenge, was staged by Theatre Lab today at Tagore Theatre.

Translated and directed in Hindustani by Umesh Kant, ‘Medea’ tells the tragic tale of this enchantress, who in Greek mythology was supposed to have the gift of prophecy.

According to mythology Medea married a man named Jason, and used her magic powers to help him. The Medea of Euripides takes up the story at a later stage, after the pair starts living in Corinth, where Jason deserts Medea for the daughter of King Creon of Corinth. And in revenge, Medea murders Creon, his daughter and her own two sons by Jason, and took refuge with King Aegus of Athens.

This powerful story of love, revenge and intrigue was played well by Theatre Lab, because the script succeeds in evoking sympathy for the figure of Medea, who in the end, becomes, to some extent, a representative of women’s oppression in general. And though Balpreet, in the lead role of Medea, did manage to keep the interest of the audience alive in the fast-paced story, her ‘affected’ dialogue-delivery sometimes seemed slightly jarring to her otherwise spontaneous body language.

Euripides presents a deep sense of human values, however, external, in his tragedies. In this play, Medea even in the fury of her hatred for Jason and lust for revenge must steel herself to the murder of her two children. Yet, the poignancy of the moment, when Medea is readying herself to avenge herself, does not come to the fore in this production.

But the gruelling detail of the wreck of human lives under the stresses that the Gods often seem wilfully to place upon them, always present in the Greek tragedies of Euripides, came out interestingly on the stage today.

Sudesh Sharma, as Jason, was also engaging on the stage. The set designed by Sudesh, which had stairs giving both depth and elevation to the movement of the actors, cleverly aided the fast pace of Medea. Others in the cast included Arvind Sood, Yogesh Arora, Rajiv Mehta, Kulbir Dhaliwal, Yogesh Tungal, Suvinder Pal, Manpreet, Baby Kanika and Silky. The Greek costumes were designed by Suvinder Pal.

The play will also be staged tomorrow at the same venue.

Panel clears projects worth Rs 4.45 cr
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 18 — The Road Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today cleared estimates worth Rs 4.45 crore for various projects to be undertaken in the city.

At a meeting here, the committee recommended that the residents be allowed to beautify areas in front of their houses after obtaining prior permission of the civic body, provided they left an area of 6 feet from the edge of the road. The committee, however, rejected the plea of elected members that the road recarpeting work should be delinked from the anti-encroachment drive. The officials argued that without removing encroachments from V-6 roads the road-recarpeting work could not be undertaken.

The committee passed the estimate amounting to Rs 23.76 lakh for the construction of a road and a parking lot in front of SCO Nos 19, 20, 45 and 46 and between Nos 31 and 62 in Sector 8. The committee also cleared widening of the road in front of the TTTI in Sector 26 at a cost of 3.57 lakh.

The committee recommended estimates for laying a kutcha track and completion of the remaining track in the Garden of Fragrance in Sector 36 at a cost of Rs 21.86 lakh.

Construction of concrete flooring in common back lanes of house Nos 106 to 133 and 140 to 192 in Sector 18 was also approved.

Completion of leftover recarpeting work on V-4, V-5 and V-6 roads from Sectors 31 to 47 and remaining roads of Sectors 2, 3, 11, 15, 16, 23 and 24 also got the nod from the committee.

Fruit prices stable
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 18— With the monsoon round the corner the price of watermelon has started crashing in the local market.

During a survey of the market today it was found that watermelon, the price of which was stable at Rs 8 to Rs 10 a kg since it descended on the fruit scene in April, is becoming cheaper with each passing day, particularly during the past one week. A kg of the fruit, priced at Rs 8 last week, was available today between Rs 3 and Rs 4 in most parts of the city. In certain parts, the fruit was still being sold at Rs 5 a kg.

It was also found that only the 'Ramdhari' variety of the fruit was being sold in the city as there was no arrival of the 'Ramkali' variety from different parts of Punjab and Haryana. "Its season is already over," said a trader. According to him, the price of watermelon has crashed due to lack of demand as people did not prefer to buy fruit after the first rain of the season. "Moreover, due to excessive water intake in the rains, the fruit looses its sweet flavour," he added, saying that the season of the 'Ramdhari' variety was also at its fag end and after 15 days the fruit will start eluding the city residents.

On the other hand, there was hardly any fluctuation in the prices of most fruits during the past one week. A kg of cherry was still available at the old price of Rs 60 in the retail market and for Rs 40 in the wholesale market. Similarly, 'safeda' variety of mango was priced at Rs 25 a kg. The wholesale price of the fruit remained unchanged between Rs 12 and Rs 18 a kg depending upon its quality. While 'langra' variety of mango has just entered the market and was available for Rs 25 a kg, the delicious 'dasehri' variety of the fruit was priced between Rs 20 and Rs 25 a kg in different parts of the city. The wholesale price of the fruit was between Rs 15 and Rs 18 a kg.

There was no change in the price of plum, as it could be purchased between Rs 20 and Rs 25 a kg. In the wholesale market the fruit was available for Rs 70 per six kg pack. Similarly, the price of the local variety of grapes was stable between Rs 15 and Rs 20 a kg. The market is not receiving the 'chaman' variety of the fruit from parts of Maharashtra as the season of the crop is over.

The same was the case with melon, as it could be purchased at the old price of Rs 7 to Rs 8 a kg in retail and at Rs 4 in the wholesale market.

The good quality peach could be fetched at Rs 25 per kg in the retail market, while the wholesale price of the fruit was Rs 100 per 7 kg pack.

Tips for badminton players
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 18 — On the fourth day of the ongoing badminton camp at the Panjab University indoor hall, the morning hours were devoted to the singles games, followed by a talk by Mr T.P.S. Puri, former national badminton coach, on the usefulness of mental preparation for any individual player before, during and after the match. These include the psychological attitude developed by a player.

Mr Puri dwelled as to how one should have the killer instinct before facing any opponent. This was all the more important but not at the cost of losing one's temperament in the match.

In the evening, the players, both boys and girls, were taught footwork exercises, specially in doubles game.

Earlier yesterday, Dr J.S. Rai, the Head of the Orthopedics Department , PGI, gave the players tips as how specific injuries could be prevented in badminton .He also suggested certain do's and dont's whenever any injuries occur, either during a match or in practice.

Tomorrow , Dr Rai will speak to the players about fundamentals of the strength training and endurance in the morning.