Burglary in Panchkula temple
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Nov 15 — Two robberies took place in Sector 2 here last night. While thieves managed to decamp with ornaments and cash worth Rs 35000 from a temple, the loss in the theft at the residence of Col GS Kadian in the same sector has not been evaluated since the owners were not in town.

The priest of the temple, Chandi Prasad Shastri, residing in the temple, said that he found that the lock of the glass door had been broken and the two donation boxes were merely pieces of mangled iron when he went to open the temple this morning while adding that the door of the other priest, Shambhu Prasad Shastri, had been bolted from outside.

"A flower pot had been placed in front of my door to ensure that even if I woke up due to some noises, the thieves would be alarmed by the sound of the falling flower pot and have plenty of time to escape,'' Chandi Prasad explained.

"This is just a rough estimate of the loss which we have calculated on the basis of past offerings made at the temple in cash. We have a fair idea of how much is usually collected in a month's time which helped us assess the offerings which would have come in 15 days besides the gold and silver ornaments which adorned the idols of the gods. A steel cupboard had also been forced open and the thieves took away whatever was of value,'' he informed.

In another incident, robbers broke into the house of Col GS Kaidan, last night who has been out of town for sometime and expected to return on November 22.

The neighbours of the Kaidans, while returning from their morning walk today morning, smelt something burning in their house. Since they had been entrusted with the keys of the house, they walked up to the door to find the lock broken.

One room had been completely ransacked and a burning cloth lay in the centre of the room which, police sources say, could have been used to light up the room while the thieves went through the things. Later, the daughter of the Kaidans also visited the place but no estimate of the loss could be made in the absence of the couple who reside there.

Meanwhile, the police has registered a case under Section 457,380 of the IPC.

Rash driving: A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered under sections 279 and 337 of the IPC against the driver of scooter number HR 03 A 5879 on the complaint of Subhash Bhardwaj. In his complaint, he stated that his wife was injured after the driver rammed his scooter into his wife, Rama Bhardwaj, in the Sector 9 market.

CHANDIGARH

Two hurt: In separate incidents, two persons were injured after they were hit by scooterists.

According to police sources, scooterist Ashwani Kumar, a resident of Sector 22-D, was injured when he was hit by another scooterist (CH-O1-4250) near the Sector 22/21 traffic lights. He was injured and has been hospitalised. The accused fled from the scene of the crime. A case under Section 279/337, IPC, has been registered at the central police station.

In a similar incident, cyclist ljar Wajid, was hit and injured by a scooter CH-O1-B-0579, near Maloya. He was admitted to the General Hospital for treatment while the scooterist fled. A case under Section 279/337, IPC, has been registered at the Sector 39 police station.

Theft: Sector 37 resident Mr P P P Duggal reported that someone had broken into his house and decamped with a VCR, household goods, besides Rs 20,000 in cash. The theft reportedly took place between November 7-11, when he and his family were out of station.

A case under Section 454/380, IPC, has been registered at the Sector 39 police station.

Stolen: Mr Ashwani Kumar , a resident of Section 33, reported that his house has been burgled. Some jewellery and household goods were stolen between November 11 and 14 when he was out of station. A case under Section 380, IPC, has been registered at the Sector 34 police station.

Assaulted: Mr Madhav Sharma, a resident of Sector 33, reported that he was assaulted by Jai Bahadur, a resident of Sector 49, and another person. He has been admitted to the General Hospital. The accused have been arrested and a case under Section 325/34, IPC, registered at the Sector 34 police station.

Students protest against fee hike
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 15 — Members of the Panjab University Campus Student's Council (PUCSC), Panjab University Students' Union and ABVP today forcibly closed the fee counters and staged a dharna outside the administrative block to register their protest against the fee hike.Later, a delegation of students led by the council President, Mr Dayal Pratap Singh Randhawa, met the University Registrar, Prof Paramjit Singh. It was decided that in the absence of the Dean, University Instruction, Prof I.B.S. Passi, and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof M.M Puri, the delegation of students would meet the Dean, Students Welfare, Prof V.K Bansal, to discuss the issue of fee hike and related problems.

Mr Randhawa has warned the authorities to immediately roll back the fees, otherwise the council will be forced to launch an indefinite strike and intensify the agitation. He has also appealed to the students not to pay the fees till the matter was resolved.

Prof Bansal when contacted said that he had already sought the figures of the fee at present being charged from the office of the Registrar. He would take up the issue with the students tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, the PUSU has in a release claimed that the DSW and the Registrar had assured them that they would revise the fee structure and try to strike off those fees which was earlier being charged on annual basis. The rest would be charged in accordance with the agreement reached between various student bodies and the authorities in March, 1999.

The PUSU President, Mr Paramjit Singh, has appealed to all student organisations to come forward on a common platform to solve this problem. He has also threatened to launch a massive agitation if the authorities did not roll back the fee hike in tomorrow's meeting. The Registrar had also agrees to extend the last date of submitting the fee by one week for all those who could not submit it today.

Contact programme: The personal contact programme (PCP) for all student of MFC II for the session 1999-2000 will be held with effect from November 28 to December 5 at the Department of Correspondence Studies, Panjab University, according to a release issued here today.

Demand on exams: The students of the Panjab University Law Department have ought a postponement of the forthcoming examinations, which are schedule to begin on November 22. They have demanded that the exams should be postponed by at least one week.

Telecom Dept fined Rs 25,000
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 15 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Department of Telecommunication and directed it to refund the excess bill amount to Mr Balbir Singh Makol, a Mani Majra resident, for not shifting his phone for five years.

The complainant argued that in May, 1991, he applied to the department to shift his phone from Sector 23 to Motor Market Complex, Mani Majra. The latter replied in July, 1991, that the area was technically non-feasible and put his request on serial number 39.

The subscriber alleged that two employees of the department had demanded Rs 500 for early shifting, but as he refused, the employees said he would have to wait for years for shifting of his telephone. In January, 1992, he approached the department and was told that his telephone had been disconnected for non-payment of bill of June, 1991. After much correspondence and receiving a number of bills, the connection had been shifted and revived on September 6,1995. But now he did not receive the bills in spite of a number of letters to the department and ultimately his telephone was disconnected without any prior notice.

On this, the complainant claimed a compensation of Rs 3 lakh for loss of business and Rs 5,000 towards costs of complaint.

In the answer to the complaint, the department has admitted the introductory facts but denied the material averments, adding that the area to which the telephone was required to be shifted was technically non-feasible even as a couple of advice notices had been issued. The telephone was shifted and installed on September 6, 1995, and on September 27, the subscriber was asked to clear the pending bill and on October 9, 1996, the telephone was closed.

The forum felt that no blame could be put on the department for delay in shifting the phone up to January, 1992, for the area was not feasible and delay beyond that could be attributed to deficiency in service on the part of the department which deprived the complainant of use of phone for more than three-and-a-half years with no justifiable reasons.

Allowing the complaint, the forum said the complainant had to be compensated for harassment, costs of the case for deficiency occurred between February, 1992, to September, 1995, and from October, 1996, to February, 1998, a total of five years of undue harassment.

The forum, in addition to imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 on the department, directed the latter to refund the excess amount paid by complainant along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of payment till refund.

HUDA ordered to refund deposit
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Nov 15 —The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ordered the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to refund Rs 57,525 deposited by Mr Ashok Kumar Goyal, a resident of Panchkula, along with interest of 10 per cent per annum and pay Rs 1,000 towards cost of proceedings.

The complaint stated that a plot in Sonepat, initially allotted to Mr Sanjay Kumar Jain, was subsequently transferred to his name for a tentative price of Rs 2,30,00 out of which the complainant had already paid Rs 57,525 towards the price of the plot.

Mr Goyal alleged that he had not been given possession of the plot for which he sent registered letters to HUDA. In fact, HUDA had failed to give him possession of the plot even after a lapse of more than six years from the date of allotment of the plot.

In its reply, HUDA stated that though the complainant had paid Rs 57,525 yet the plot in question had been resumed since the authority had received no request from Mr Sanjay Kumar Jain for possession and he was, further, not in a position to take possession on account of non-payment of instalments for which he was served a number of notices.

The bench, comprising Mr R.C. Taneja and Mr B.S. Badhran, observed that HUDA had not been able to deliver possession of the plot after due development and as such, the resumption of plot without offer of possession had no meaning.

Further, they added that HUDA had offered the plots to the general public in March, 1991, and actually allotted the same in July, 1991. However, possession of plots had not been offered even after eight years had passed which amounted to gross deficiency of service. While stating that HUDA should not float any schemes till the development was complete and was in a position to offer possession of plots to allottees within a reasonable time-frame.

Vegetable prices fall
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Nov 15 — The prices of seasonal vegetables has gradually come down over the last couple of weeks due to large arrivals in the market while that of vegetables like lady's finger, capsicum, bittergourd, cucumber and gourd have shot up on account of the local variety being replaced by supplies from Calcutta.

The price of a kg of peas has come down from Rs 28 last week to Rs 16 this week while that of carrots is down by Rs 10 per kg, dipping from Rs 25 to Rs 16 a kg this week in the markets of Sector 7 and 8. However, peas and carrots continued to be priced higher in Chandigarh than the city and the vegetables were available for Rs 30 a kg and Rs 20 a kg, respectively.

The price of cauliflower and cabbage also came down marginally and the vegetables could be bought for Rs 8 a kg each in Sectors 7,8 and 11. Last week, the two were priced at Rs 10 a kg each. However, the vendors continued to sell the vegetables at the old price in Sectors 2 and 6.

While the price of ginger went down by Rs 10 to Rs 20 a kg this week, that of garlic went up by the same amount and a kg was available for Rs 60 in the absence of arrivals of the local variety of garlic. A kg of lemon was priced at Rs 20 a kg.

Brinjal could be bought in Sector 7 for Rs 7 a kg and radish was available for Rs 3 a kg in Sectors 7, 8 and 9 while vendors in Sector 2 were selling the same quantity for Rs 5 a kg. Fenugreek was priced at Rs 6 in the local vegetable markets of Sectors 7 and 8. The price of turnip varied between Rs 8 a kg in Sector 7 and Rs 10 in Sector 6.

The price of lady's finger went up to Rs 25 a kg and that of cucumber to Rs 20 a kg. Gourd was priced at Rs 8 a kg in Sector 7 while it was available for Rs 10 a kg in Sector 8. A kg of capsicum could be bought for Rs 60 in the Sector 7 and 8 markets.

Sacred Heart in semis
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 15 — Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, cornered glory in the UT inter-school lawn tennis tournament being played at Lake Club courts, Sector 6, here today. Sacred Heart School emerged winners in under-17 and under-19 sections and sailed into last four.

In under-19 section, Sacred Heart got the better of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, 2-0 (Neha b J. Sidhu 6-0, 6-0, Mallika Malhotra b Khushleen 6-4, 6-3). In another match in under-17 section, Sacred Heart outplayed Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, 2-0 (Simer b Harpreet Neelu 6-0, 6-0, Isha b Shaira (6-4, 6-0). In an under-17 match, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, downed Shishu Niketan-22 2-0 (Shaleen Chauhan b Kamana 6-0, 6-0, Prabhleen Chauhan b Ruhi 6-2, 6-0).

Other results: under-14 GMHS-28 b Sacred Heart-26 2-1 (Amanpreet Kaur b Neha Munshi 6-3, 6-1, Pallavi b Nibha 6-4, 7-5; doubles: Amanpreet and Pallavi b Nibha and Neha Munshi 6-3, 6-4); Carmel-9 b DAVPS-8 2-0 (Amarpreet Shallu b Misha 6-0, 6-0, Wanjeet Bhans b Anchal 6-0, 6-0).

Inter-school karate: Sumati and Harpreet bagged gold medal in the below 45 kg and below 50 kg categories, respectively, in under-19 girls section in the UT inter-school karate championship at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41.

Results: boys — under-14: Vicky 1, Arun 2, Gagandeep 3; under-19 girls: below 45 kg: Sumati 1, Rekha 2, Anjali 3; under-19 girls: below 50 kg: Harpreet Kaur 1, Kavita 2, Anju 3.

DAV-8 win: DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, defeated Government High School, Kajheri by 249 runs in the UT inter-school cricket tournament for under-16 at DAVSSS-8. Brief scores: DAVSSS-8: 286 for 1 in 20 overs (Akashdeep 112 n.o., Rajat Bhatia 100); GHS, Kajheri: 27 all out (Kshitij 7 for 4, Vikram Rajbir Singh 3 for 16).

GMSSS-37 first: The girls team of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37, got first position in the under-19 section of the UT inter-school softball tournament held at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37, as per the press release issued by the winner school.

Bansi wins 10,000 m race
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 15 — Bansi Lal of Himachal Sector won the marathon 10,000 metres on the second day of the 19th Indo-Tibetan Border Police inter-sector athletics meet being held at Basic Training Centre, Bhanu, near Panchkula, here today.

After 10,000 metres of lap race, Bansi surged ahead to win the race from Satyapal Singh of Garhwal and Arun Lal of Jammu and Kashmir. Ramesh Kumar from Training Centre bagged gold medal in hammer while Rattan Chand and Surinder Singh from Himachal sector secured second and third position, respectively.

Results: 10,000 m: Bansi Lal 1, Satya Pal 2, Arun Pal 3; hammer throw: Ramesh Kumar 1, Rattan Chand 2, Surinder Singh 3; 400 m hurdles: Kundan Singh 1, Tejbir Singh 2, Mukesh Kumar 3; 200 m: Om Prakash 1; Surinder Singh 2, Vishwanathan Sarkar 3; triple jump: John Mathew 1, Devender Singh 2, Bajir Singh 3.

Inter-school cricket: Government Model Senior Secondary School Sector 35, and Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, defeated DAV Public School, Sector 8, and Government Model High School, Sector 28, in the UT inter-school cricket tournament for under-14, section at St John’s High School here today.

Brief scores: Ist match: GMSSS-35 (165 for 8 in 20 overs (Siddharth 54, Varun 36, Amikul 15, Rishu 5 for 14) DAVPS-8 85 all out in 18.1 overs (Raghav 40, Manvinder 12, Randeep 5 for 20, Mohit 2 for 5, Siddharth 2 for 15); IInd match: SPS-41:174 for 7 in 20 overs (Gaurav Kumar 49, Ankush 38, Anil 11, Nitin 2 for 17, Ripudaman 2 for 25) GMHS-28:141 all out in 19 overs (Charanjit 67, Saurav 14, Gaurav Gupta 3 for 14, Harjinder 2 for 20).