Fake employee dupes city resident
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — A resident of Sector 22 has been cheated by a person, who posed as an employee of the Chandigarh Electricity Department checking power meters under the simplified Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) that ended yesterday.

The man, who was reportedly carrying a fake identity card, told Mr Pujan Sharma that Rs 1,500 was to be paid to the department as he had applied for less load and it needed to be augmented. He also promised to get the power lines from the pole to the house underground on additional payment of Rs 600.

The man was carrying files and showed his identity card, claiming that he was Nachittar Singh, Mr Sharma told the police today. He added that he also wrote an application for load augmentation under the VDS.

The incident took place on June 19 and Mr Sharma waited for the man to return. He then enquired from the sub-stations of the department and learnt that there was no one by the name of Nachhiter Singh. A complaint about the incident was lodged in the Sector 22 police post today.

Woman injured: A woman riding the pillion of a scooter (CH-01-J-4469), driven by her husband, was injured when hit by a Tata Sierra (PB-1-E-4514), driven by Ms Karamjeet Kaur near Attawa village. The woman, Veena Sharma, was admitted to hospital.

Motorcycle stolen: A motorcycle (CH-01-V-6731), owned by Mr Satinder Singh of SAS Nagar, was stolen from a parking place in Sector 17.

ZIRAKPUR

One killed: Ms Amaro Devi, a 38-year-old woman of Bijanpur village, was killed in a collision between a Maruti van and a canter near Singhpura on Friday.

According to sources, the victim was travelling in the van (CH-01-M-3578), along with her 10-month-old son and father-in-law, when a canter (CH-01-S-5264) collided with their vehicle. She died on the way to the Dera Bassi hospital.

The police has arrested Ram Singh, the driver of the canter.

NAC's appeal dismissed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, comprising its President, Mr J.B. Garg, and members Col P.K. Vasudeva and Ms Devinderjit Dhatt, have dismissed an appeal filed by the Notified Area Committee (NAC), Mani Majra, with further costs of Rs 1,000.

Earlier, on a complaint filed by Dr S.S. Dadhwal and his wife Dr (Ms) Veena dadhwal of Sector 15, the District Forum had held that the NAC was entitled to forfeit only 10 per cent out of 25 per cent of bid money on account of surrender of shop-cum-flat.

The complainants had alleged before the forum that they had purchased a shop-cum-flat in an auction held by the NAC on March 27, 1988. However, due to lack of funds, the premises were surrendered, whereupon the NAC forfeited Rs 45,000 as 10 per cent of the total price.

The forum had relied upon the clause of the allotment letter which provided that "the surrender would be subject to forfeiture of 10 per cent of the amount out of the 25 per cent of the cost paid at the fall of the hammer".

The NAC contended that the clause had been amended by a resolution dated August 27, 1991, making the surrender subject to forfeiture of 10 per cent of total bid money. The commission held that this amendment would not apply to auction held in 1988 and could only be applied to auctions held after August 27, 1991. It accordingly dismissed the appeal filed by the NAC and upheld the order of the District Forum.

'Release gas connection'

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has directed M/S Happy Gas centre, Sector 35-C, to release the gas connection of a complainant without forcing him to purchase hot plate from them. It ordered payment of costs of Rs 3,500 as compensation.

In his complaint, Mr Surinder Kumar had alleged that the gas agency was forcing him to buy a hot plate as a condition to the release of the gas connection. He told the agency that he had an ISI mark hot plate and deposited Rs 100 for inspection of the same. The connection of the gas was not released to him till the time he filed the complaint. The notice was sent to the gas agency concerned but since no one appeared on its behalf, the case was proceeded ex-parte.

After going through the records, the forum bench, comprising its President, Mr R.P. Bajaj, and Mr H.S Walia accepted the contention of the complainant and held the gas agency guilty of gross deficiency in service for not releasing the connection. It observed that insistence to purchase a hot plate from them is an unfair trade practice, which was rife among gas dealers of the city.

It also held IOC officials guilty of their failure to exercise proper control and supervision over them in their capacity as regional incharge of gas dealers.

While allowing the complaint, they directed the gas agency to pay Rs 3,500 as costs, including compensation for harassment.

Vegetable prices fall
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — Even as the prices of certain commonly used vegetables remained stable, a number of vegetables became cheaper during the past two days.

During a survey of the local market today, it was found that if a kg of squashgourd was priced at Rs 20 two days back, it was available today between Rs 12 and Rs 16 in different city markets. The wholesale price of the vegetable has come down from Rs 80 to Rs 60 per five kg during this period. According to traders, the fall was an outcome of an improvement in supplies from parts of Punjab. The supply was affected due to rains in the region during the past one week.

Similarly, the price of peas has come down during this period. A kg of the vegetable, priced at Rs 50 two days back, could be purchased today for Rs 40. The wholesale price of the vegetable has come down from Rs 200 to Rs 175 per five kg. The fall was attributed to brightening up of arrivals from Himachal Pradesh, from where the vegetable is coming these days.

The 'pahari' variety of cucumber has also witnessed a fall in its price during this period. A kg of the vegetable priced at Rs 12, could be purchased today after paying a price between Rs 8 and Rs 10. The wholesale price of the vegetable has dipped from Rs 50 to Rs 40 per five kg due to more arrivals from the hill state of Himachal Pradesh.

The price of ginger has also come down during this period. A kg of the vegetable, priced at Rs 80 a kg, could be purchased today for Rs 60. The wholesale price of the vegetable has decreased from Rs 350 to Rs 300 per five kg during this period.

There was no change in the prices of certain vegetables. A kg of cabbage was still priced at Rs 10 in retail and for Rs 40 per five kg in the wholesale market. Similarly, a kg of lady's finger was priced at Rs 12 in retail and for Rs 50 per five kg in the wholesale market. The same was the case with potato and onion as their price was stable at Rs 5 and Rs 10 a kg, respectively. The same quantity of 'bhein' was available for Rs 40 a kg and 'tori' for Rs 15 a kg in different parts of the city.

The price of cauliflower has increased from Rs 16 to Rs 20 a kg in retail and from Rs 60 to Rs 70 per five kg in the wholesale market. Similarly, with the temperature rising, the price of lemon has also increased from Rs 20 to Rs 24 a kg in retail and from Rs 80 to Rs 100 in the wholesale market. The price of tomato has also increased from Rs 8 to Rs 10 a kg.

Badminton experts advise campers
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — An open session between badminton players and their parents and a panel of experts was held at the Panjab University indoor hall here today. As many as 30 parents of trainees asked experts questions on the game. Asked about reducing weight by Mr Mukul Bansal, a chartered accountant, Mr S.N. Sharma suggested doing maximum exercise so that body produced more heat and burnt fats.

Mr Sandeep Goel, another participant, asked what diet should one take to remain fit. Mr T.P.S. Puri, former national coach, replied that proper balanced diet, exercise and rest were correlated. He said a sportperson who did a lot of exercise required 4,000 to 5,000 calories.

Ms Raksha Sethi, another parent, asked Mr Puri why children felt tired when they returned home after training. He said their recovery was not proper and swimming and yoga were good for relaxation. As too much of tiredness did not help in getting a good sleep, so, relaxation by various ways was required. He said Haemoglobin level of any sportsperson must be on the higher side, betweeen 15 to 16 counts.

Mr Surinder Mahajan, an expert, said the coaches would make video film of every player so that the negative points could be corrected.

A parent, who was an Air Force officer, asked about tournaments and camps to be organised by the Chandigarh Badminton Association. Mr M.C. Sethi, President of the CBA, replied that a calender would be released in July and for this season, more tournaments had been planned. He also stressed the need to motivate players and urged parents to take interest in their children's games. Parents felt that the camp was highly useful. It will end tomorrow at 10 am.

Boxing association

Mr Parveen Sharma and Mr G.S. Sarao were elected President and General Secretary, respectively, of the Northern India Amateur Boxing Association. The other members of the team are: Senior Vice-President — Mr G.K. Jairath; Vice-Presidents — Mr Nirwan Mukherjee (UP), Mr Ashutosh Sharma (J&K) and Mr Diwan Singh (Haryana); Treasurer — Mr Ashwani Sharma (Haryana); Joint Secretaries — Mr N.K. Rawat (Delhi), Mr Parkash Chand (Rajasthan), Mr Surinder Shandel (UP) and Mr Santosh Dutta (Punjab).