Resident cheated of lakhs
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — Mr J. S. Pabla, a resident of Sector 61, reported to the police that he was deceived of Rs 3 lakh and cheques for Rs 6 lakh by Jarnail Singh, a resident of Sector 42, S.K. Garg, Praveen Kumar and C.S. Arora on the pretext of giving him a Punjabi film for distribution.

A case under Sections 379, 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 474 has been registered against the accused.

One held: The city police has arrested Madan Lal of Nagri village in Ropar district for carrying 50 pouches of Indian Made Foreign Liquor. He was arrested from near the Faidan barrier.

A case under the Excise Act has been registered against him.

Bank forms stolen: Five bags of deposit and withdrawal forms were allegedly stolen by some women from outside the Sector 8 Punjab Cooperative Bank.

In a complaint to the police, the Manager of the bank, Mr R. K. Verma, said the documents were stolen by some women when the bags were lying at the gate of the bank.

Seven arrested: Two persons have been arrested by the local police. One was allegedly creating nuisance at a public place and the other driving in a drunken state.

Jagdish Verma, a resident of Sector 32, and Kishan Lal, also a Sector 32 resident, were arrested in a case of theft registered against them on a complaint of Arun Kumar of Sector 47. Five persons have also been arrested after being found roaming under mysterious circumstances in different parts of the city.

Scooter stolen: Mr Subhash Chander Jain, a Sector 21 D resident, complained to the police that his scooter (CH-01 K 2509) was stolen from the Sahib Singh parking lot in Sector 17 yesterday.

Rise in onion, cabbage prices
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — Even as onion has become costly, prices of some other vegetables, too, witnessed fluctuation in the local market during the past 24 hours.

During a survey of sector markets, where usually vegetables are costlier than the Sector 26 vegetable market or the 'apni mandis', it was found that onion price had increased during the past 24 hours. While in some markets local variety of onions was still available at Rs 12, the Nasik variety, which registered its entry into market just two days ago, could be purchased for Rs 14 a kg in retail market.The wholesale price of latter was Rs 60 a kg.

According to traders, the price of onion was likely to witness a little increase as on one hand, the arrivals of local variety were witnessing a dip, on the other, fresh arrivals from Nagpur were not suffice to meet the demand in the market.

While the price of cabbage was Rs 10 a kg in the Sector 26 market, it could be had in the sector markets between Rs 12 and Rs 15. The wholesale price of the same was Rs 50 per 5 kg. Cauliflower was, however, available at old price of Rs 20 a kg in retail and Rs 80 per 5 kg in wholesale markets.

The price of radish has also increased from Rs 12 a kg to Rs 15 a kg in retail and from Rs 50 to Rs 60 per 5 kg in the wholesale market due to lesser arrivals in the market from parts of Punjab and Haryana.

There was no change in the price of cucumber as it could be had for Rs 10 a kg in retail and for Rs 40 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

Bittergourd could be purchased at its old price of Rs 20 in retail and for Rs 80 in wholesale market. Similarly, there was no change in the price of 'tori' as it could be had for Rs 16 a kg. The price of capsicum, however, increased from Rs 28 to Rs 40 a kg due to its non-arrival from Himachal Pradesh.

Brinjal was priced at Rs 12 a kg while one could purchase gourd for Rs 10 a kg. Lady's finger could be purchased for Rs 16 a kg in retail and for Rs 60 per 5 kg in wholesale market. Tomato was priced between Rs 8 and Rs 10. Similarly, garlic and peas were priced at Rs 48 a kg in retail and for Rs 200 per 5 kg in wholesale market. "Pahari" variety of potato was available for Rs 10, while the local variety could be purchased for Rs 4 a kg.

Instant relief

The Lok Adalat organised at the Chandigarh District Courts on Saturday not only provided prompt relief to litigants and relieved them of prolonged tension but also brought out goodness in human nature.

The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, said the aim of Lok Adalats is primarily to hammer out a mutually acceptable solution to disputes between the parties. When litigants part they do not have any rancour or ill-will against each other.

Mr Bedi says cases under the Hindu Marriage Act are prolonged for years because of the cumbersome procedure that courts of law have to adhere to and the long bitterness between spouses.

However, when couples with matrimonial disputes appear before the Lok Adalat, the presiding officer makes every possible effort to bring about rapprochement between the couples. And if he fails, he persuades them to part company with smiling faces. Saturday's Lok Adalat resolved as many as eight matrimonial disputes.

Similarly happy were those who had filed motor accident claims cases. Some of them had lost their bread earners or had become handicapped. The prolonged litigation had added to their miseries. Presiding officers of the Lok Adalat prevailed upon officers of various insurance companies and got reasonably good compensation.

Photo contest: In order to encourage creative photography, a national level photo competition has been organised by Photografica, a cultural organization in Eastern India. Entries have been invited from general people, professional and amateur photographers. There is a fourth category for children as well.

According to Mr R K Verma, Director, Photografica, the entries should be coloured photographs on the subject of natural scenery, flowers, festivals, tourist places, sports, childhood, fun and trick photography. The size of the photographs should be minimum 5"x7" and maximum 8"x10". Participants can send a maximum of five entries in each topic.

Interested participants can obtain the entry form from the office of Photografica, Rajendra Bhawan, 3rd Street, Hindpiri, Ranchi-834001 (Telephone no. 0651-206216) by sending postage worth Rs 8 and the cutting of this newspaper. The last date for obtaining entry form is September 30 and the entry form must reach the office of Photografica by November 30.

The best entry would be decided by a committee consisting of senior and experienced photographers on the subject theme, composition, lighting arrangement, expression angle and technique. First, second and third prize, along with merit award would be awarded in all categories.

Bhatti in America: There has been an overwhelming response to a Bollywood troupe currently on a tour of North America. Accompanying the troupe is city's small screen and now big screen star Jaspal Bhatti. Other members include Aamir Khan, Akshay Khanna, and Aishwarya Rai.

Jaspal Bhatti, who called Sentinel from United States this weekend, says that the Indian expatriates have been coming in large numbers to witness the shows. Bhatti maintains that his role in "Aa Ab Laut Chalein" and "Mahaul Theek Hai" was being appreciated by the audiences in North America.

After two performances in the United Kingdom — London and Birmingham — the group moved to North America where it has already performed at Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Houston and Atlantic City before moving to the other coast of the continent.

He will be back early next month.

Rose garden: A Rose garden at an air force station sounds unbelievable. But it is true.

The Commanding Officer of Himalayan Eagles, one of the most accomplished and biggest transport squadrons of Western Air Command, is also an environmentalist. After taking over his assignment in March last year, Group Captain S.P. Singh and his wife, Tejee have taken upon themselves the onerous task of beautifying the environs of the Squadron headquarters.

A big piece of land under uncontrolled vegetation has been cleared and hundreds of roses of various varieties and colours have been grown. The open spaces have now been grassed. All open spaces are now green and well maintained.

Group Captain Singh and his wife have taken the beautification plan to their home also. They have converted a piece of waste land in front of their official residence into a beautiful garden besides transforming the big lawn of their house into a natural, neat and green carpet. They are now hoping for a major colourful bloom in the coming months.

Sandy roads: Come rains and the city residents start bracing themselves up for a trail of blues of sorts. The telltale scars of these watery blues are conspicuous on almost all city roads, especially those meandering through the low-lying areas.

The rain floods busy roundabouts, particularly in the low-lying areas, forcing all vehicles to crawl, with no traffic police personnel around to regulate the traffic.

One rues the rainy day when driving becomes inescapable. The impending fear of being trapped in the knee-deep water amid a fleet of vehicles keeps him on tenterhooks. It is, indeed, a marathon watery ordeal that he has to endure willy-nilly.

Scores of potholes, here and there, sand, silt and, of course, cesspools of slushy water are the "prized gifts" that the city roads get in the aftermath of the hostile rains.

To add salt to injuries, the potholes are not plugged for months, which, besides being an ugly scar on the city’s "fair" visage, pose potential danger to human life. Even sand, slush and gravel, littered over the roads, are not lifted for months. So much so, the waterlogged spots, too, are not cleared of the unwanted water for weeks.

A colleague, the other day, had to be rushed to a local hospital with a broken bone and badly-bruised body after his scooter skidded on a sandy road while negotiating a U-turn.

The puddles of stinking muddy water on the roads, adjoining the residential areas, are a serious health hazard. Besides emitting nauseating odour, these water-logged spots become breeding havens for houseflies and mosquitoes. A random interaction with some of the aggrieved residents reveals that the administration never cares to spray insecticides in these waterholes, to pre-empt chances of the breaking out of an epidemic.

A pollution centre: A dhobi ghat in the thickly populated area in Sector 20-C, has been a source of noise and air pollution for over a year. The washermen start their work at 4 am wash clothes and burn old auto tyres and tubes to heat up the light bhattis. No chimneys are provided on the bhatties with the result that the thick black smoke spreads. Children are the worst sufferers.

The residents of the locality first complained to the Pollution Control Committee, Chandigarh, in April this year and later to the Environment Society of India (ESI) in the last week of August. President of the ESI S.K. Sharma convened a meeting of the washermen and the latter admitted that they burnt the discarded auto tyres and tubes as the wood and saw dust were costly. They assured that they would not use these material but the residents did not agree. They demanded that all auto-tyres and tubes should be removed.

The residents of the locality also demanded the shifting of dhobi ghat and provision of chimneys over the furnaces, etc.

Under Section 399(1) of the Municipal Corporation Act as extended to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the MCC is empowered to make byelaws for fixing and regulations of bathing and washing places and the smoke arising out of the operation of such trade.

Dhobi ghats were constructed in the 1960s in Sectors 7, 15, 19, 20, 22 and 27. The ghat in Sector 20-C was located at the eastern end of the College of Education. During the mid seventies the Engineering Department, Chandigarh Administration, constructed 12 and 13 type double storeyed quarters opposite the Dhobi Ghat without carrying out impact assessment.

Innovator: Dr Anjana, who is on the teaching staff of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, but is now working on deputation with Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, was recently invited by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi, to attend a two-day national seminar. She was awarded a certificate of Merit and cash prize by the Joint Director, NCERT, on August 31.

She is the winner of an all-India competition on "Innovations in School Education-1997-98".

Junior soccer final today
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — Defending champion SD Public School, Sector 32, will face Sanjay Public School's 'A' team in tomorrow's final of the Chandigarh Junior Football Championnship for the SD Trophy. The tournament entered its penultimate day here at Football Stadium in Sector 17 today.

In the first semi-final, SD Public School defeated the 'B' team of Sanjay Public School in a tie-breaker, 4-1. Both teams failed to score any goal in the stipulated period. The spirited team of SPS-44 gave a harrowing time to SD Public School who could win in the tie-breaker only. Here, SD School scored four goals while SPS-44 were able to score one goal only.

In the second semi-final, Sanjay Public School's 'A' team was too good for DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, boys. They defeated the opponents by four goals to nil. The halftime score was 2-0 in favour of SPS-44.

Kalarjit scored the first goal in the 7th minute of the match, followed by Harish in the 27th minute.

In the second half, DAV boys missed an opportunity to score in the 40th minute of the match. Harish scored the third goal in the 46th minute, taking his personal tally to two goals scored. In the 55th minute, it was Kalarjit who gave the decisive 4-0 lead to his team by scoring his second goal.

The finals will be played tomorrow at 4 pm at the same venue.

School cricket: Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, and Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, scored victories over Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, by four wickets, and Kendriya Vidyalaya School, Sector 31 by seven wickets, respectively in the Inter-School Cricket Tournament for the Shivalik Trophy being played here at Cricket Stadium in Sector 16.

Brief scores: First match — SPS -41 92 all out (Sunil 21, Damandeep 19, Makhan Singh 3 for 6); GMSSS-27 93 for six in 17.4 overs (Parminder 23, Makhan 17, Zubin 4 for 19). Second match — KV-31 71 all out in 22 overs (Vijay 16, Harpreet 6 for 19); GMSSS-35 72 for three in 11.3 overs (Vikas 18, Amit 6).

Junior pool: Kartik Sood, a nine-year-old student of St Stephen's School, Sector 45, gave a tough time to Dipin Dhingra before losing, 2-3, in the first Chandigarh Junior and Senior Pool Tournament which began here today at Bambi's Shot Pot, SCO 224, in Sector 37. Top seed Mohit Bajaj blanked out M. Bhalo, 3-0.

The other results are as follows: Gagandeep Singh b Sher Singh, 3-0; Tushar b Chibber, 3-1; Jatin b Arun, 3-1; Tinku b Abhinav, 3-1; Jugal b Abhishek Sharma, 3-1; Ravind b Sachin, 3-1; Simranjit b Ankush, 3-2; Ravind b N.C. Saranchari, 3-0; Ashish b Abhishek Negi, 3-1; Anil Kumar b Gaurav Kumar, 3-2; Ankur Nanda b Raynold, 3-2; Naman Nagpal b Gaurav Sharma, 3-2; Simranjit Singh b Robin, 3-1; Mohit Bajaj b Mohit Bhalo, 3-0; Jugal b Ankush, 3-1; Rahul Khera b Sharad Sharma; Nitin b Akhil, 3-2.

Sabeeha wins shooting gold
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — Sabeeha Dhillon of Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, bagged the gold medal in the air rifle junior women (ISSF) event by scoring 378 out of 400 in the first Chandigarh State Inter-School shooting championship, which was organised at the patiali rao ranges, sector 25, here today.

Sahasdeep Singh won the first position in the air pistol junior men (ISSF) by scoring 284 out of 400. The one-day meet was conducted by the Chandigarh Rifle Association.

The results are — air rifle junior women (ISSF): Sabeeha Dhillon (378/400) 1, Vandana kaushal 2, Kshama kaushal 3; junior men (NR): Jatin Kukreja 278/400 1, Sahasdeep Singh 2, Karan Sandhu 3; sub-junior men (NR): Laljeet singh (288/400) 1, Yuvraj singh 2, baninder singh 3; junior women (NR): Aarti Mehta (302/400) 1, Jasmeen Brar 2, Rachna 3.

Sub-junior women (NR): Sahleen chauhan (196/400) 1, Vimaldeep Kaur 2, Gursimran sekhon 3; air pistol junior men (ISSF): Sahasdeep Singh (284/400) 1, Tanveer Sandhu 2, Arjun chandel 3; junior women (ISSF): Vandana Kaushal (240/400) 1, Pinky 2, Rupika Chauhan 3; junior men (NR): Karan sandhu (250/400) 1, Ranmeet singh 2, Dilpreet singh 3; sub-junior men (NR): Kanwardeep Parhar (258/400) 1, Yuvraj Singh 2, Karampreet singh 3; junior women (NR): Aarti Mehta (330/400) 1, Jasmeen Kaur 2, Rachna 3.

Shooters selected: The Chandigarh Rifle association selected a team of shooters, both boys and girls, in ISSF and as per national rules, to take part in the third Kumar Surinder All India Inter-School shooting championship, to be held at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh from November 2 to 5, according to Mr Dalip chandel, secretary of the association. The team is — ISSF: Sabeeha Dhillon, Vandana kaushal, Kshama kaushal and Sahasdeep singh; national rules: Jatin kukreja, sahasdeep singh, Ranmeet Brar, Sartaj sekhon, Arjun partap, Karan sandhu, Laljeet singh, Dilpreet singh, kanwardeep Parhar, Yuvraj singh, Jasmeen Brar, Aarti Mehta, Rachna, Prabhleen Chauhan, Tamanna and Pinky Chaudhary.

DAV-8 lift title: DAV Senior secondary school, sector 8, clinched the first Pandit Amarnath Memorial basketball tournament, which concluded at Government Model high school, sector 26.

In the final, DAV-8 got the better of YPS, SAS Nagar, 60-28. The half-time score was 36-17 in favour of DAV school. Harjot scored 24 points and Anish scored 16 points. Jaspreet of YPS scored seven points.

The principals of the two schools, Mr Ravinder Talwar of DAV School and Mr H.S. Dhillon of YPS were present. The brain behind this tournament was A. Yadav, a former basketball player and now coach.

Earlier, in the semi-finals, YPS defeated New public school, sector 18, 48-22, while DAV school beat GMSSS-33 41-32.

TT tournament: DAV Public School, sector 8, and coaching centre (A) bagged the cadet boys and girls team championship titles in the 12th Chandigarh state table tennis tournament, which began at the sector 23 TT hall. The sub-junior boys and girls team championships were won by coaching centre (A).

Results — cadet girls: Coaching centre (A) b campus 3-0, coaching centre (A) b Rising Stars 3-0, Campus b Rising stars 3-0; cadet boys: DAV Public school-8 b Manav mangal-21 3-0, NPs-18 b Manav mangal-21 3-0, DAV-8 b NPS-18 3-1.

Sub-junior boys team championship: NPS-18 b Vivek high school 3-0, semi-finals: Coaching centre (A) b Manav Mangal (B) 3-0, manav Mangal (A) b NPS-18 3-0; final: CC(A) b Manav Mangal (A) 3-2; third place play-off: MM-21 b NPS-18 3-0.

Sub-junior girls: Spirits b Rising stars 3-0, CC(A) b Spirits 3-0, CC (A) b Rising stars 3-0; junior boys: Coaching centre (B) b Manav mangal-21 3-0, Coaching centre (A) b Bhavan Hawk 3-1.

Ball badminton: The second Chandigarh state Senior Ball badminton championship began at Shivalik public School, sector 41. The boys teams which won included Unified club-27, GSSS-38, SPS-41, GMSSS-37, SD club-32, GMSSS-19, GMSSS-21 and GMSSS-33.

In the girls section, the winners were GMSSS-32, GMSSS-33, GMSSS-37, City star club-30, GMSSS-21 and GMSSS-16. In all, 16 boys and 14 girls are taking part in this six-day championship, being organised by the chandigarh ball Badminton association.

Political nominees not needed on selection panels

APROPOS of the newsreport ‘CM for govt men on selection panel’ in Chandigarh Tribune of 14.9.99. Mr Badal’s assertion that the government regulates the affiliated colleges shows his immaturity. His statement is just a political statement.

It is a joke that a state government whose constitutional obligation is to support the educational institutions in the state wants its nominees on the board of selection. This is not a valid reason. In the running of the college or university, the government should not interfere in the otherwise smooth functioning of the educational institutions. However, it can ask for a report desiring therein that the college is functioning as per the norms approved by the government. This report can be made/prepared by a panel of govt officials who can visit the college or who can browse through various records including achievements in the educational field of the institution.

The government should not interfere directly in the functioning of an institution, particularly an educational institution. For the appointment of teachers in a college, I feel the Principal should be ex-officio member of the selection committee. Two members from the managing committee and two from the university, including one expert and one observer, can very well do this job. Two members of the college managing committee are must because they are responsible for the smooth running of the college and since university has to provide the necessary guidelines, including infrastructure, to the colleges export and observer from the university is must. A total of five to six members in the selection committee is ideal. Experts in the subject concerned should be given free hand.

If political nominees are represented in the selection committee, as envisaged by Mr Badal, there will be direct interference and chances of disturbance in the maintenance of secrecy. There will also be pressures on the selection committee from political bosses. I appeal to the Chief Minister not to meddle in the educational affairs of the colleges and better attend to other pressing issues.

Ujagar Singh
Chandigarh

Weekly holiday

A sizeable inhabitants of Chandigarh are employed people, and their working hours start from 9.00-9.30 in the morning till 5.30-6.00 in the evening. And there are people who stay in Chandigarh but serve elsewhere. They leave Chandigarh early in the morning and return only by late evening. All of them have holiday on Sunday.

For doing major shopping and purchases, one has to devote considerable time. On working days, employed persons hardly find time to do so. They have to take half day’s leave for the purpose. All shops in Chandigarh observe weekly holiday on Sunday.

If the weekly holiday is shifted to some other day, it will be more convenient for the working class to do their shoppings on Sunday when they have a holiday. If required, different sector shops can have different weekly holidays, so that people can get essential commodities and other things on any day without problem.

Moreover, the shop-owners and their workers will also find weekly holiday other than Sunday useful as they can get their work done from the government offices situated in Chandigarh or elsewhere on these days.

In down south, some cities observe weekly holidays on different days which has been working successfully for years.

Under the Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, the workmen are entitled to get one day as weekly holiday and not that it should be Sunday only. Therefore, the above Act will not come in its way if the suggestion is accepted by the Administration.

V.V. Narayanan
Chandigarh

Slip roads

With a view to ease traffic congestion on a number of roads in Chandigarh, including Madhya Marg, planners decided to provide slip roads near roundabouts. A complete lack of foresight gets reflected in their planning/modification of traffic routes. These appear to have been rather hastily planned and shoddily executed, for these are too short in length.

Understandably, the basic idea behind a slip road is to ease congestion on busy roads and avoid traffic jams. This must be sought through well-planned slip roads that effectively divert that part of the traffic which needs to turn left, a long distance before it reaches the crossroad. To be effective, such slip roads ought to begin and leave the main road much before the crossing.

Unfortunately, all such side roads have been branched rather near the crossing. These create bottlenecks at peak hours. Because of this, traffic jams are already becoming a regular feature, especially at the transport ‘chowk’ and the press intersection (Sector 18).

In fact, the worst planned road blunder is at the press intersection. Here, the traffic coming from the Panchkula side turns left after the traffic lights to precariously criss-cross with that coming from the road dividing Sectors 17 and 18 to join Madhya Marg. This site poses a risk of accidents.

Planners are, at present, committing the same mistake around the roundabouts near the General Hospital and the PGI.

Vivek Khanna
Panchkula

Beggar menace

Lots of beggars seen in Panchkula in commercial areas cause a great nuisance. Children and women touch people physically in order to get alms. Besides being unhealthy, this can lead to ugly situations of purse or chain snatching etc. Also there are many accident risks, particularly on the crossing on the Chandigarh-Kalka highway, in that when there is red light they come in swarms and start cleaning wind screens or hold car door handles.

I have a suggestion that the government or some social organisation may collect and lodge them in some suitable place and give them boarding and lodging and put the healthy ones in some industry where they can be gainfully employed.

Jyotsna Khanna
Chandigarh