Panchkula, October 23
When existence is at stake, the soul assumes enormous proportions. This holds true for Mr Sumit Mehta, who despite suffering from muscular dystrophy believes that an enlightened human spirit can make the world go round. Though life is a daily battle for him, his is a success story - of the victory of the human spirit.

Twentyone-year-old Sumit Mehta has hardly any formal education in school. He began school at the age of nine, and attended school till the age of 13. For a person, who has remained confined to the bed in his room, or occasionally on a wheel chair, his pursuit for learning and success in getting a good education is commendable.

After clearing his plus two as a private candidate, he completed his Bachelors degree in Music, and is now preparing for admission to a bachelors course in computer application.

He never had a formal training in computers, but took a fancy for the machine two years ago. “My father bought me a computer, and wanted me to learn computers. However, all computer institutes are located on the first or the second floor, and I could not go there to learn. Though we arranged for an instructor to come home, I had bought some basic books, and began learning computers on my own. When I began learning computers, it took me five hours to create my e-mail account, but I have come a long way since then. I have learnt various computer languages, and am doing an advanced JAVA course.”

Sumit has also developed two basic softwares — one for issuing a computerized pollution control check certificates at petrol stations and named it “pollution check” , and another for maintaining accounts by traders “sale purchase spectra.” The “pollution check “ software is now being used by a petrol pump in Panchkula, and in Hisar.

“I have always believed in counting my blessings. Since there was no special school for physically challenged persons like me, I was sent to a school for mentally challenged children for two years in Class III and IV. I could never adjust there, as I had a well developed brain, and in Class V, I shifted to St Michaels School, Panchkula, where I was taught with normal kids. It was then that I realised how lucky I was to have a good intellect. After all, I only had a physical deformity to counter,” says the ever-optimistic Sumit.

He says that he has received a lot of support from his family, especially his parents- Mrs Sangeeta Mehta, and Mr D.D. Mehta. “As a kid, when I was unable to sit and attend school, my neighbours, who were teachers in local schools, would take turns to teach me. I want to have a complete education, and then give back to the world what I have received,” he says.

Chandigarh, October 23
The two-day Dasehra celebrations concluded with the effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhakarna going up in flames here today.

Thousands of people thronged Dasehra venues, particularly the Parade Ground, Sector 17, and Dasehra Ground, Sector 46, to witness the bursting of effigies marking the victory of good over evil.

The main attraction in Sector 46 was an aircraft, specially requisitioned from the Aviation Club, Patiala, to shower petals and confetti over spectators and colourful tableaux as they entered the venue.

The Parade Ground attracted maximum visitors, including a large number of children. It was all chaos as police remained busy ushering VIPs and their relatives.

A majority of persons having valid entry cards were left high and dry and were forced to enter the ground through general gates.

The characters of Ramlila, particularly the Ravana, was a hit with children.

The lighting of effigies of the demons was preceded by entry of colourful tableaux in the ground.

A character playing Lord Rama lit the effigy of Kumbhakarna around 5.50 pm followed by that of Meghnad. Ravana’s effigy was the last one to go, marking the victory of good over evil.

The UT Home Secretary, Mr R.S. Gujral, was the chief guest.

However, the function ended with a traffic chaos, as police failed to regulate it.

At Sector 46, “Lanka dahan”, symbolising the burning of Lanka by Lord Hanuman, was another highlight.

As over 20 tableaux exhibiting various legends of the Ramayana entered the ground, the aircraft showered petals and confetti.

Meanwhile, the Shri Sanatan Dharam Dasehra Committee, Sector 46, honoured Ms Harinder Shergill, widow of Brig B.S. Shergill, who made supreme sacrifice for the country in Jammu and Kashmir in 2000.

At a function in Ram Darbar, cricketer Dinesh Mongia and former CTCC general secretary Vijay Pal Singh Dimpy were the chief guests.

Reports of Dasehra celebrations were also received from Arya Samaj Mandir in Sector 7, Railway Ground in Mauli Jagran, Ground near mosque in Ram Darbar, Dasehra Ground in Sector 27, Exhibition Ground in Sector 34, Maloya Stadium, Sector 32 market and Panjab University campus.

Chandigarh, October 23
Residents of Sector 42, are exposed to unhygienic conditions as unauthorised lavatories have been set-up by the security guards of a commandant of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in a park in their locality.

The residents had written to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (South), Senior Superintendent of Police and Deputy Commissioner, a month ago about the matter but no action has been taken.

In a joint application, residents of Housing Board flats in the locality complained that Commandant A.J. Rasool, had accommodated his security guards in a park in front of their houses nearly one and a half month ago. About 10 security guards had pitched unauthoriesd tents and set-up a lavatory of tin sheet in the park. The residents said it was causing inconvenience to the women living in the locality as well as the children who play in the park.

In the complaint, they said the guards had placed a steel pipe across the road for water supply which could cause an accident any time.

The residents said, there was some open space near the house of the commandant and despite this he had accommodated his guards away from his house in the park.

A resident told Chandigarh Tribune that he had asked the commandant not to pitch tents in the park on the very first day. But, the commandant told him that he would remove the tents within a few days. He said their repeated requests to the commandant and the authorities had fallen on deaf ears.

The commandant was not available for comments. His wife asked the Tribune team to contact the ITBP. Mr A.P.S. Nibodia, who is next to, Mr Rasool, in seniority when contacted over phone said it was a common problem near the houses of VIPs in the city.

He said they could not put their officer at risk by taking away his security and also assured that they were responsible for any complaint of indiscipline or misbehaviour by their security guards.

Chandigarh, October 23
As part of the ongoing Territorial Army Day celebrations, officers and men from this force’s Western Command Group called upon the Punjab Governor, Justice O.P. Verma (retd) today.

The Governor lauded the role and contribution of the TA in various fields, including internal security and ecological development.

He also stressed upon the importance of imparting military training to citizens as provided by the TA to strengthen overall defence preparedness and deal with any eventuality.

The Group Commander, Brig G J Singh, briefed the Governor on activities of the TA.

Chandigarh, October 23
The Western Command Provost Unit observed the 65th anniversary of the Corps of Military Police (CMP) at Chandimandir Military Station today.

Addressing a special sainik sammelan, the unit's commanding officer, Col S K Chauhan, greeted all ranks and their families on the occasion and lauded the hard work and dedication of the CMP personnel in performing multifarious tasks assigned to them.

Officers from Headquarters Western Command and senior officers at the station, along with retired CMP officers attended a tea party organised on the occasion, according to a statement issued here.

Chief of the Army Staff, GOC-in-C, Western Command, and the Adjutant-General at Army Headquarters, who is also the Colonel Commandant of the CMP, have in their respective messages, extended their felicitations.

Chandigarh, October 23
Hundreds of two wheelers parked outside the Inter State Bus Terminus in Sector 17 in the official parking are a risk of being stolen. The place, even though auctioned by the Chandigarh Administration to a contractor, has no barricading or fencing to keep the two wheelers safe.

A visit to the place revealed that the parking attendants had to keep themselves attuned to activity not only inside the parking stand but also outside the stand. Anybody can enter on his sweet will. Just a rope separates the two wheelers within the parking stand from the road.

Attendants at the parking stand have to keep on running in the open be it raining or cold. This to keep an eye lest a two-wheeler is stolen. The Administration charges Rs 1.51 lakh as monthly rent.

Chandigarh, October 23
A shopkeeper of Sector 23 filed a complaint that 29 mobiles phones worth Rs 2 lakh were stolen from his shop on Friday night. The police had not registered a case of theft as yet saying that it was investigating the matter.

Baldev Raj, owner of Janta Department Store, Sector 23, said that 29 mobile phones were stolen from his shop by breaking open the shutter of the shop. He came to his shop at around 9.40 am and saw the shutter broken.

The police said that the preliminary investigation did not indicate that a theft was committed at that place.

In another incident, Bhavneet Bains of Sector 28 reported to the police that her purse containing one gold ring, one mobile phone, driving licence, ATM card, some documents and cash Rs 7,000 was stolen from her car, parked in Sector 19-C, Market. A case of theft had been registered.

BEATEN UP: Harpal Singh, a resident of Sector 46, filed a complaint to the police that he was beaten up by Master Iqbal Singh of Sector 22 and two or three persons accompanying him, on Friday night. The police said Harpal Singh and Iqbal Singh were drinking liquor together. They had an altercation over some old issue after which Iqbal Singh left the place and came back with his two or three friends. They then attacked Harpal Singh, injuring him in the process.

Harpal was later admitted to the PGI. The police has registered a case. No arrests have been made.

In similar incident in Mani Majra, Krishan Kumar of Pipliwala Town reported to the police that Satbir Singh and Kali Ram of Shanti Nagar assaulted him and caused injuries to him. The police has arrested the accused.

A case has been registered. The accused have been sent to jail till November 6, the police said.

ARRESTED: Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Mauli Jagran, was arrested while transferring gas from a cylinder. He was caught red handed from Sector 23. A case under Section 420 of the IPC and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act had been registered against him.

STOLEN: In another incident, Gian Chand of Sector 38, reported that his scooter (CH-01-X-0644) was stolen from out side Hotel Heritage in Sector 35, on October 19. A case of theft had been registered.

LIQUOR SEIZED: Mumtaz Shama of Maloya Colony was arrested with 18 quarters of whisky on Friday. A case has been registered.

Theft: Sandeep Kumar, assistant cameraman of Sahara TV, reported to the police that his house was burgled this evening. He is going to get married shortly. According to Sandeep, a resident of Dadu Majra Colony, thieves entered his house after breaking the locks. He was away with his family members to watch Dashrea. His tenants too were not at home when the incident occurred.

The thieves decamped with cash of Rs 5,000 and jewellery worth Rs 15,000. On the other hand the thieves stole Rs 1,000 and a gold ring from his tenant’s house.

A case of theft has been registered in Sector 39, police station.

Chandigarh, October 23
All telephone numbers of Reliance mobiles in Punjab and Chandigarh will change from the second week of November and comprise 10 digits.

The new numbering scheme will commence with “93” followed by eight digits. There are an estimated 5 lakh subscribers of Reliance in Punjab telecom circle.

The numbering scheme for landline telephones and also box type wireless phones, will, however, remain unchanged.

The move will benefit users of Reliance mobiles and also people who call Reliance mobile holders from other telecom networks. After the switch over to the new numbering scheme, the existing system of dialling an STD code followed by the Reliance mobile number will change.

Now Reliance users will have just one 10-digit number that can be dialled on local dialling within the same telecom circle. However, when the user is outside the circle, roaming charges will apply.

After the new numbering scheme it will cost less, said a company spokesperson. Explaining this, he said a person in Chandigarh wanting to dial a Reliance mobile number of a person in Amritsar would not pay STD charges.

The system of calling Reliance numbers will be the same as mobile services offered by Airtel, Spice, Hutch or the BSNL.

The only difference being that Reliance uses CDMA-based technology while the others use GSM based technology.

The change in the numbering scheme has come about following directions of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Reliance and Tata Indicom which are under the unified licence category had been recently asked to go in for 10 digit numbering.

Reliance is trying that the last five digits of the existing telephone numbers remain the same. The first two digits will go and be replaced by 93 followed by another three digits and the last five digits of the existing number, the company spokesperson said.

A special feature will be that users will continue to get calls on the old number as well as the changed number for a specified transition period. Subscribers will get SMS messages and also be informed about the change.

Users can also log on to the website of the company to know their new numbers when the change is carried out. Another special feature is available on logging onto the Reliance website “R-World”.

A user can execute a command by which all Reliance telephone numbers stored in the memory of his handset will be updated to new numbers, thus there will be no need to physically store the numbers afresh.

Reliance has already carried out the change in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh Telecom circles.

Reliance India Mobile (RIM) users in these two states now have 10 digit numbers.