NEIGHBOURHOOD

19-yr-old sets herself afire
Akali councillor, four others booked
Attar Singh
Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 7
A 19-year-old girl immolated herself at Alipur Ariyan village on the Sirhind road here today.

According to police sources, Davinder Kaur poured kerosene on herself and succumbed to her burns. Her parents had gone to a neighbour’s house when the incident took place.

The sources said on the day of a nagar kirtan held recently, she was allegedly teased by Sukhdev Singh, an Akali councillor from Ward No. 11. She felt humiliated and committed suicide when her parents were away. Some people working in her house broke open the door after seeing smoke billow out of the room. Davinder Kaur had recently been engaged to an NRI in the USA and was to get married soon.

The police has registered a case under Section 306, IPC, at the Tripuri police station against Sukhdev Singh and four others on a complaint filed by the girl’s father.

Rajpura, January 7
The Rajpura police has arrested a Delhi-based mother-son duo for allegedly duping several persons of lakhs on rupees on the pretext of sending them abroad.

A case against seven persons, including Usha Rani, Jatinder Singh, Arvinder pal Singh, his daughter Mona and son Pravesh, Suman Lata alias Sushma and one Munish, a resident of Ambala, was registered on a complaint filed by four persons.

The complaint had been lodged in December last year in which the complaints Gurjant Singh, Rajwinder Singh, Malkiat Singh and Lakhwinder Singh had stated that the seven accused had assured them that they would help them settle in Australia if they paid them Rs 11 lakh each. The complaints said initially they paid them Rs 4 lakh each and later, they were asked to pay Rs 7 lakh each, which they did. But despite having paid the hefty amount demanded by the accused, they were neither sent to Australia nor their money was returned.

After receiving the complaint the police registered a case and started investigations the case. SHO Bikramjit Singh Brar said on receiving a tip-off that Usha Rani and her son Pravesh and Suman Lata were putting up in Delhi; the city police sent a team of officials to Delhi from where the two accused were nabbed.

The police stated that the hunt to track down other accused was on and the matter was being further investigated.

Patiala, January 7
Hundreds of supporters of SAD (A) waited in vain to stop the buses of Orbit Transport, allegedly owned by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, here today, even as the local police made foolproof and elaborate arrangements to thwart SAD (A) men from stopping the buses.

SAD (A) supporters stationed themselves before the Central State Library in large numbers to stop buses of Orbit Transport from plying in the state. However, when the buses of the said transport failed to arrive, the SAD (A) supporters raised slogans against the Chief Minister and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal. Interestingly, the owners of Orbit Resorts had got information about the plan and they managed to change the routes of their buses at the last minute.

Senior SAD (A) leader Mohinder Pal Singh and general secretary of the SAD (A) said route permits had been disbursed among the poor and handicapped by the government.

However, he added that due to compelling circumstances, those people could not run their transports and now the Badal government had bent rules to usurp their permits.

The local police swung into action and took 13 persons into preventative custody.

SAD (A) president Simranjit Singh Mann was conspicuous by his absence.

Ambala, January 7
Accidents are increasing day by day which should be curbed at all costs for saving precious lives.

This was stated here today by the Ambala deputy commissioner while flagging off a students’ rally of various schools to mark road safety week at Panchayat Bhawan, Ambala city.

He warned that underage drivers, especially students who do not obey traffic rules, would be challenged, their vehicles impounded and their parents would also be held responsible for allowing their underage wards to drive.

Students of schools like A.S. Senior Secondary School, Sohan Lal Senior Secondary school, P.K.R. Senior Secondary School, Government Senior Secondary School, Prem Nagar and Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Model Town, holding placards in their hands, took part in the road safety week rally at Ambala city.

A similar rally was organised at Ambala Cantonment, which was flagged off by Renu Phulia, additional deputy commissioner.

Fatehgarh Sahib, January 7
The district unit of the Anganwari Workers Union staged a protest in support of their demands here today.

Addressing the gathering, union leaders stated that the Badal government was following the policy of suppression and trying to prevail upon the struggling workers by using the police force against them.

District president of the union Harjit Kaur Panjola said Badal government had failed to fulfil their promises made to the anganwari workers earlier. She said the anganwari workers were being rounded up by the police to prevent them from lodging their protest with the chief minister. This, she said, was undemocratic move of the state government.

The leader said the anganwari workers were getting only Rs 1,400 as monthly stipend, which should be brought on a par with the government employees. She said workers would continue the stir till the government redresses their problems and would greet Punjab Chief Minister with black flags to register their protest. 

Chandigarh, January 7
Chandigarh boys had upper hand throughout against Assam team that was beaten with a convincing margin 13-1 during u-17 hockey match played at Hockey Stadium-42 here, today. The match was part of the School National Games being hosted by Chandigarh Education Department.

In the second minute of the match, Vikramjeet of Chandigarh opened the account with first field goal for his team. Gurjinder Singh, two minutes later, converted a penalty corner (PC) to make the score 2-0. In the 6th and 7th minute, Damandeep Singh and Vikramjeet Singh scored field goals.

In the 12th minute, Assam bounced back to open its account when Bhupen Bora scored field goal. But, Chandigarh’s Damandeep in the 28th minute banged the boards to raise the margin further. The half time score was 5-1 in favour of the Chandigarh team.

After lemon break, Vikramjeet Singh and Diljot scored field goals. In the 42nd minute Gurjinder Singh converted another PC. He scored two consecutive goals more in the 43rd and 45th minute too. Last two goals were scored by Baljot Singh in the 53rd and 57th minute. Chandigarh won the match by 13-1.

In the girls Hockey match u-17 too, Chandigarh girls beat Andhra Pradesh 17-0. The match was played at Hockey Stadium-18, here today. The first field goal was scored by Neha in the 8th minute. In the 11th minute Sandeep scored 2nd field goal and in the 12th minute Neha again scored third field goal for her team. In the 14th and 25th minute Monika scored two consecutive goals. In the 26th, 29th, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 39th minutes six field goals were scored by Reena, Monika, Sandeep, Anjali and Reena respectively. In the 44th and 47th minutes Sandeep scored two consecutive goals by converting PC into goal. In the 49th minute, Reena scored another field goal. In the 54th and 56th minute Monika scored two consecutive goals raising the score to 16 while the last goal was scored by Sandeep in 57th minute.

Other results: Hockey: Boys U-17: Haryana b Tripura by 10-1; Chhattisgarh b Uttrakhand 6-4; Punjab b MP 6-1; Rajasthan b Kerala 3-1, HP b AP 10-0. IPCS and Tamil Nadu match ended in a draw 4-4; UP and Orissa match also ended in a draw 1-1; Punjab b Uttrakhand 3-0; Haryana b Karnataka 1-0. IPSC b Tripura 7-1, Maharashtra b Kerala 2-1, and Orissa b Rajasthan 9-2.

Softball: Girls: U-17: Punjab b Maharashtra 13-0; AP b Delhi 17-12.

U-17: Delhi b Maharashtra 13-3, Goa b Haryana 9-8; Punjab b Rajasthan 2-1; Maharashtra b MP 10-0. U-19: Chandigarh b Gujarat 13-3; Delhi b Chhattisgarh 17-3; Kerala b Rajasthan 6-4; AP b Vidya Bharti 14-1; Punjab b MP 7-4; MP b Haryana 14-1.

Chandigarh, January 7
Six players participating in the National School Games got hurt in one single day.

Rajita of Andhra Pradesh cut her tongue and received bruises on her face while playing the match against Chandigarh team during hockey u-17 match played at Sector 18 hockey ground. She was immediately rushed to Government Multi-speciality Hospital-16 where she was administered ten stitches on her tongue and two on her face.

In another match played at the same venue in the evening, Teena, a player from Kerala side received injury on her ear while playing match against Orissa team. She too was taken to GMSH-16. She was hit by a player’s hockey. Another player from Delhi received minor injuries in another hockey match held at St Stepehn’s ground in Sector 45.

Naveen of Haryana got his chest injured after being hit by a hockey stick of an opponent player of Chandigarh team at Sector 42 Stadium. Naveen’s X-ray report testified that he is out of danger. Another hockey player of Haryana, Sunil, also received bruises on his forehead while playing. He underwent a CT Scan at GMSH-16, where he has been kept under observation. The doctors attended upon him stating that he was out of danger.

During the under-19 Softball match held at GGSSS-23 grounds, Sandeep of Delhi team fell accidentally on the ground while leaping for the finishing line. He received a hairline fracture on his elbow. His coach asserted that Sandeep is now put to rest but will continue to play as soon as he recovers.

All the players were well taken care of and have been discharged from hospital except for Sunil, who has been kept under observation.

Chandigarh, January 7
International Tennis Federation tournament is like a ladder to move close to the Wimbledon Trophy, said James and Lewis, tennis players from England, who are in the city to represent their country in the ITF juniors tennis tournament, being played at Chandigarh Lawn Tennis ground, Sector 10.

James, who is 17 years old, has already played for England in many junior international events, including ITF France, Spain and America. James, who lost in the semifinals of the ITF, held in Mumbai in the year 2007, is aiming at Wimbledon.

Lewis, playing for the Gosling Sports Club, has also represented England in the ITF, which was held in Switzerland and made it to the finals of the tournament in Mumbai, last year. The 17- year-old young player is looking for a good career ahead, Wimbledon being his ultimate aim.

Talking about his experience in the ITF, James said, “ITF is a confidence booster. I had played a number of tournaments organised by ITF, and it has really helped me to gain a lot of experience and improved my skills. Though I work hard on my weak points, but ultimately ITF is responsible for playing better game”.

Lewis too has gained a lot from the International Tennis Federation tournament. “ITF is a platform to get onto the international level. Moreover, this is a tournament, which has a combination of talent from all over the world. India has a lot of scope for the game, where as in England, tennis is not promoted much”, said Lewis. 

Chandigarh, January 7
Local player Digvijay Singh Mehta stormed into the next round after beating wild card Vedant Kapoor in the straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the boys’ under-18 singles of the India ITF Junior (Grade 3) Tennis Tournament at the CLTA courts, Sector 10, here today.

In girls’ under-18 singles, Noor Paul of Chandigarh also made it to the second round, beating Asha S. Mohan in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, in the first-round.

Earlier, Indian Appanervanda Muddappa got the better of Desiati Alfrado from Italy in a well-contested first-round match. Alfrado won the first set by 4-6 but holding his nerves, Muddappa came back to win the next two sets by 7-5, 7-6 (2). Earlier, former director general of police, Punjab, Sarabjit Singh, inaugurated the ITF Junior Tournament.

Results: Boys under-18 singles (Ist round): Giorgi Khmiadashvili (Geo) b Yuldashev Aziz (Uzb) 6-4, 6-1, Shantanu Rajput (Ind) b Priyank Gangadharan (Ind) 7-5, 7-5, Kunal Anand (Ind) b Prithiv Sivasubramaniyam (Ind) 6-2, 6-4, Appanervanda Muddappa (Ind) b Desiati Alfrado (Ita) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2), Ben Maclachlan (Nzl) b Saurav Singh (Ind) 6-2, 6-2, Vinay Kamineni (Ind) b Sagar Ahuja (Ind) 6-4, 6-1, Kartik Sai (Ind) b Shukhrat Gizatulin (Uzb) 6-0, 6-3, Aakash Wagh (Ind) b Sumit Shinde (Ind) 6-1, 6-3, Kaza Vinayak Sharma (Ind) b Pollok Bhattacharya (Ind) 6-2, 6-3, S. Veera Vasanth Venkatesh (Ind) b Sergey Brotgal (Kaz) 6-2, 6-0, Digvijay S. Mehta (Ind) bt Vedant Kapoor (Ind) 6-4, 6-4, Mandeep Yadav (Ind) b Mandeep S. Gill (Ind) 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, Sapaev Botir (Uzb) b Athare Mansingh (Ind) 6-1, 6-4, Lakshit Sood (Ind) b Ankit Sachdeva (Ind) 6-3, 7-5, M. Naveen Sai (Ind) b Shikhar Kapoor (Ind) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0, Yam Chun Ming (HK) b Sikharulidle Sergio (Geo) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Girls u-18-singles (Ist round): Treta Bhattacharya (Ind) b M.S. Shivani (Ind) 6-3, 6-1, Noor Paul (Ind) b Asha S. Mohan (Ind) 6-3, 6-3, Prerna Mythri Appineni (Ind) Dipti Srivastva (Ind) 7-6 (6), 6-3, Tuaeva Daria (Uzb) b Rimpledeep Kaur (Ind) 6-2, 6-1, Ratnika Batra (Ind) b Shilpa Naruka (Ind) 6-0, 6-1, Sushma Gutta (Ind) b Kesika Jayapalan (Ind) 7-5, 6-3, Prabhamrit Kaur (Ind) b Gundeep Kaur (Ind) 6-1, 6-1, Sharmada Balu (Ind) b Sandeep Kaur (Ind) 6-1, 6-0, Juan Ting Fei (Tpe) b Ikttesh Chahal (Ind) 6-1, 6-0, Tanvi Gupta (Ind) b Tverdikova Vera (Uzb) 6-4, 6-3, Sharon Sanjana Paul (Ind) b Ravnoor Kaur (Ind) 6-0, 6-3, Arantxa Andrady (Ind) b Smriti Joon (Ind) 6-2, 6-1, Shweta Rana (Ind) b Sai Pujitha Bandi (Ind) 6-4, 6-3.

Panchkula, January 7
Gurnur emerged winner in the below 4 years boys’ category while Bharat won Rink Race-1 in the boys’ above 16 category of the 13th Panchkula District Roller Skating Championship, organised by District Roller Skating Association, Panchkula, at Skating Rink of Blue Bird High School, Sector 16, Panchkula.

Other results: Rink Race-1: 14-16 yrs (Boys): 1 Rohit Bajaj, 14-16 yrs (Girls): 1 Nikita Garg 12-14 yrs (Boys): 1 Anshul Sharma, 2 Shubham, 3 Arun, 12-14 yrs (Girls): 1. Jaspreet Kaur, 10-12 yrs (Boys): 1 Saransh, 2 Jitin, 3. Lavanya, 10-12 yrs (Girls):1 Monika, 2 Abha, 3 Kanika, 8-10 yrs(Boys):1 Naman Gupta, 2 Srthak,3 Siddharth, 8-10 yrs(Girls):1 Bhavya, 2 Meghna, 3 Hema, 6-8 yrs(Boys): 1 Harsh Gupta, 2 Danish Sharma, 3 Vikrant, 6-8 yrs (Girls): 1 Priyanka, 2 Karen George, 3 Aashma, 4-6 yrs(Boys) 1 Aryan, 2 Manan, 3 Daksh, 4-6 yrs (Girls): 1 Shrin, 2 Khyati, 3 Rupakshi, Below 4 yrs (Boys): 1 Gurnur, 2 Aditya, 3 Anish sood, Below 4 yrs (Girls): 1 Aditi, 2 Nuhur, 3 Sara.

Inline Results: Under age group 8-10 (Girls) inline stood first. Under age group 10-12 years (Boys) inline: 1 Gautam Pranjal, 2 Ashmit Singh, 3 Vaibhav.

Rink Race 2 results: Above 16 yrs: 1 Bharat,

14-16 yrs (Boys): 1 Rohit Bajaj, 2 Hargun,

14-16 yrs (Girls): 1 Nikita Garg, 12-14 yrs: (Boys): 1 Anshul Sharma, 2 Satwik, 3 Kunal,

12-14 yrs (Girls): 1 Jaspreet Kaur, 10-12 yrs (Boys): 1 Siddhart, 2 Jitin, 10-12 yrs (Girls): 1 Monika, 2 Shreya, 3 Kanika, 8-10 yrs (Boys):1 Naman Gupta, 2 Sarthak, 8-10 yrs (Girls): 1 Bhavya, 2 Ankita, 3 Apoorva, 4-6 yrs (Boys) 1 Aryan, 2 Kabir, 3 Manan, 4-6 yrs (Girls): 1 Shrin, 2 Rupakshi.

Inline Results: Under age group 12 to 14 yrs (Boys) inline: 1 Dhruv, 2 Mohit.

Road Race: Results: 14-16 yrs (Boys): 1 Hargun, 12-14 yrs (Boys): 1 Satwik, 3 Kunal.

Chandigarh, January 7
Feroz Garewal, a budding golfer has started making a niche for himself in the junior golfing arena. The 10-year-old Feroz, who started his sports career just a year back, brought laurels by finishing second runners up in the Western Junior/Sub-Junior Golf Championship, held recently at Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Mumbai. Feroz Garewal was (241), Piyush Sangwan (234) and first runners-up Vidit Singh (240).

Commendable in the achievement was that Feroz was suffering from high fever on the crucial day of the tournament. The course is also considered to be one of the toughest courses in India. Feroz who participated in all the tournaments, being organised by Indian Golf Union (IGU), now has been ranked No. 5 in the IGU’s ‘D’ category, which is for children below the age of 11 years.

“I want to be a renowned golfer. Last year I aimed to be among the first five in my age group category of IGU, which I had achieved”, said Feroz, a student of class V of St Kabir’s School, Sector 26.

Coach Jesse Grewal, under whom Feroz has been honing his skills, has high opinion of his disciple. “The forte of this young golfer is will power, grit and his focus. He understands the techniques of the game and has been improving tremendously. I foresee a good prospects in Feroz”, said Jesse.

The budding golfer has been facing problem as he has to go to Ranjitgarh Golf Club at Phillaur for his practice as Chandigarh Golf Club has not considered his application for membership so far, despite hi excellent performance in various tourneys.

The family has recently shifted from Ludhiana so that Feroz can pursue his golfing career.

Chandigarh, January 7
Digvijay Singh Mehta of India defeated Sagar Ajuja, in straight sets by 6-0, 6-4 in the final qualifying round match and moved into the main draw of under-18 singles in the India ITF (Grade 3) Tennis Tournament at the CLTA Tennis Stadium in Sector 10 here today.

Results: Boys under-18 singles (final round): Digvijay Singh Mehta b Sagar Ahuja (6-0, 6-4), Sikharulidle Sergio b Chandam Shaolin (6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-1), Shikhar Kapoor b Siddhant Solanki (6-3, 2-3, 6-2), Venkatesh Veera b Khayriddinov Diyor (6-1, 6-2), Naveen Sai b Akshat Joshi (7-6 (3), 6-3), Pulok Bhattacharya b Adit Jain (6-0, 3-6, 7-5).

Girls under-18 singles (final round): Sai Pujitha Bandi b Sandeep Kaur (6-1, 6-0), Rimpledeep Kaur b Gundeep Kaur (3-6, 6-4, 6-4), Jaspreet Kaur b Smriti Joon (5-7 6-4, 6-1).