SPORT

Kids go on cycle expedition
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — As a part of its silver jubilee celebrations, a two-day cycle expedition for children has been organised by the 65 Engineer Regiment from Ambala to the Chhat Bir Zoo near here and back.

As many as 24 children of personnel serving with the regiment are participating in the expedition, which will cover a distance of 90 km. A night halt is scheduled at Dardala near Dera Bassi, where the participants set up camp in tents.

The expedition was flagged off from the Trishna Parade Ground by Commander 474 Engineer Brigade, Brig Charanjeet Singh. The team will avoid moving on highways and stick to the lesser used village roads.

The youngest participant is 9-year-old Prerna Bharti, who is also the only girl in the expedition, while the eldest members are 17-year-old Amrik Singh, Harwinder Singh and Rajeev Kumar.

The aim of the expedition is to develop and inculcate the spirit of adventure and comradeship amongst the children. The preparatory training of the children included first aid, repair of cycles, road rules, camp layout and conduct, familiarisation with wildlife and team work.

The children will have short halts at a number of villages en route to interact with children and motivate them for such outdoor activities. The team will also visit the Chhat Bir Zoological Park, where they will familiarise themselves with wildlife, flora and fauna.

UT judo team selected
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — The Amateur Judo Association of Chandigarh has selected a 15-member UT team comprising eight men and seven women to take part in the Senior National Judo Championship to be held at the Sector 42 Indoor Hall from February 14 to 16, according to Mr N.S. Thakur, General Secretary, of the association.

The team members, as per their respective weight categories, are as follows: Men (below 56 kg) — Sanjay; below 60 kg — Chandersekhar; below 66 kg — Arjun Singh Negi; below 73 kg — Malvinder Singh; below 81 kg — Johney Kumar; below 90 kg — Puneet Kumar; below 100 kg — Aman Awasthi; open — Lalit Arora.

Women (below 44 kg) — Sumita Jalan; below 48 kg — Priyanka Chaudhary; below 52 kg — Chetna Sharma; below 57 kg — Jyotsna; below 63 kg — Preeti Tyagi; below 70 kg — Rupindrdeep Kaur; open — Balwinder Kaur.

Festival team: The following women will represent the UT in the National Women Sports Festival to be held at Delhi from February 15 to 18. The team was selected after the trials held yesterday at various centres of the city.

The contingent is as follows: Kabaddi — Gurpreet, Bhagwati, Suman, Surbhi Sasotia, Mamta, Mumtesh Sharma, Karan, Shobha, Taranjeet, Amar Sharma, Sukhwinder (reserve) and Tetid (reserve).

Handball — Karamjeet (captain), Pinki, Manpreet, Asha, Gurpreet, Gurvinder, Kamini, Naresh, Sushma, Santosh, Upma, Sunaina, Renu Thakur (reserve), Kulwinder (reserve) and Poonam (reserve).

The team will leave for Delhi on February 14.

Body building: The Chandigarh Body Building Association will hold the Chandigarh Junior Body Building Championship tomorrow at the Sector 10 DAV College, according to Mr Sunil Walia, President of the association.

Court allows judo meet
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — Less than 48 hours before the beginning of Senior Judo National Championship here, a city court today dismissed an application filed by the Amateur Judo Association of Chandigarh for directions to the Judo Federation of India and other defendants against going ahead "by using the name of the plaintiff's association."

Claiming the holding of the championship to be illegal, counsel for the plaintiff had earlier alleged that the "defendants along with some other persons were trying to hold the championship at Chandigarh by using the name of the plaintiff's association in spite of the fact that they had no concern with the association."

Pronouncing the orders in the open court, the Civil Judge (Junior Division), Ms Jitender Walia, observed: "At this stage, no prima facie case is made out in favour of the plaintiff and more over, the plaintiff is not going to suffer any irreparable loss in case the defendants are not restrained from conducting this championship with effect from February 13".

The Civil Judge also observed: "At this stage, in view of the documents placed on the file, balance of convenience lies in the favour of the defendants rather than the favour of the plaintiffs. Finding no merits in the application moved by the plaintiff, the same is hereby ordered to be dismissed..."

ADMINISTRATION

Joshi’s assertion on Central staff
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — The Union Human Resource Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, ruled out any move to allow Central Government employees to participate in the activities of the RSS on the lines of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

Talking to newsmen here last night at the Sector 19 CRRID, Dr Joshi said that there was no such proposal before the government in this regard. Dr Joshi, however, defended the decision of both the Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh governments on the RSS issue saying that they were well within their rights to allow participation of their employees in the activities of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Dr Joshi, when asked why was the Central Government shying away from fulfilling its constitutional obligations of defending the “freedom of expression” allegedly under attack from members of the Sangh Parivar in opposing shooting of Deepa Mehta’s film “Water”, Dr Joshi said that “sentiments of the people have to be respected”.

When pointed out that the Central Government had cleared the film for shooting and still the UP Government failed to provide security to the crew, the Union Minister said: “Under public pressure, West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu also could not execute a court order of removing a mosque.”

PUDA acquires 205 acres
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — Over 205 acres on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar highway in the erstwhile princely state of Kapurthala has been acquired by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) for developing a new urban estate.

A spokesman of the PUDA said in the first phase of developing the urban estate, at least 275 plots had been floated and 1,362 applications were received. To speed up development works in the urban estate and to provide modern facilities, the PUDA was incorporating unique features in the scheme, like an integrated commercial complex, he added.

He said the PUDA was negotiating with the state government to obtain the maufi land between the urban estate and the Jalandhar highway, belonging to the government. Plans were afoot to acquire the old building of the Public Relations Department and the old hostel building at Kapurthala under the Optimum Utilisation of Vacant Government Land scheme, he added.

Department collects Rs 126 crore
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, Feb 12 — The Central Excise Department of Chandigarh has collected a revenue of Rs 126 crore in the current financial year which is 30 per cent more than last year's. In addition, more than Rs 6 crore has been recovered by the department from tax evaders.

This statement was made by Mr B. S. Nanwal, Deputy Commissioner of the department, while hearing the grievances of members of the Dera Bassi Industrial Association in Chandigarh. He appealed to the industrialists to pay taxes in time.

To facilitate the industrialists of Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Dera Bassi, the department created a new Excise Custom Code (ECC) number, linked with the Permanent Account Number (PAN) in January this year.

Mr Nanwal added that the Citizens' Charter would be implemented to improve the image of the department with the constitution of the Tax Payers Committee.

Mayor at your service
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — The Mayor, Ms Shanta Abhilashi, has began visiting in the BJP office in Sector 33-A every Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm for redressing public grievances.

According to a press note issued here, anybody can visit her at the office with regard to problems related to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh.