Rajpura, January 8
The Rajpura police today busted an inter-state gang of drug peddlers and recovered 4.5 kg of opium from two of its members, which is perhaps the biggest ever recovery of opium ever made by the city police.

Acting on a tip off, the city police put up a check post on Rajpura-Ambala road. The police had received information that two persons were trying to smuggle opium into the state from Haryana.

The police team spotted two men coming towards Rajpura with two plastic bags in their hands. As they saw the police, one of them left his bag and ran away while the police managed to arrest the other.

The arrested person was identified as Jagjevan Ram of Sangrur, while his accomplice, who managed to flee, was identified a Kalu, a resident of Ambala. During preliminary investigations, the police found that Jagjevan Ram owned a tea stall near one of the colleges in Amargarh and used to provide narcotics to students of the college. The gang members procured narcotics from Rajasthan and Haryana and supplied it to several parts of the state.

The police said a case under the relevant sections of the law had been registered against the two persons and the matter was being investigated to expose the network. The police is also trying to find out whether there were more people involved in the nexus.

Chandigarh, January 8
Parul Verma defeated Appanervanda Muddappa by 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the second-round match during the second day of the ITf Junior (Grade 3) Tennis Tournament being played at the CLTA Stadium in Sector 10, here today.

In the boys category, Akash Wagh of India, pulled off as he defeated Ronak Manuja in straight sets by 6-3, 6-4.

In another match, B Vikram Reddy though won but had a tough game against Kunal Anand, who stunned Reddy by winning the first set at 7-5.

However, Reddy hit back and claimed the next two sets at 7-5, 6-3.

Sudanwa Sitaram, had an easy second round against Kartik Sai whom he beat in straight sets by 6-0, 6-1. 

Chandigarh, January 8
GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, won the Panjab University Inter-College Cross Country (Women) competition with 23 points for the year 2007-08, while SGGS College, Mahilpur, Khalsa College for women, Ludhiana, and GN College for Women, Ludhiana, got 2nd, 3rd and 4th with 34, 50 and 66 points respectively.

Individual positions

Rajdeep Kaur, GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, Akwinder Kaur, GGS College for Women, Chandigarh Dalvir Kaur, SGGS College, Mahilpur.

SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, won the Panjab University Inter-College Cross Country (Men) competition with 51 points for the year 2007-08, while SGGS College, Sector 26, Chandigarh, DAV College Chandigarh and SCD Government College, Ludhiana, finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.

Indidvdual positions

Mokham Singh, SGGS College, Sector 26, Chandigarh, Balbir Singh, SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, Tarzan, SGGS College, Sector 26, Chandigarh.

Chandigarh, January 8
A fine bowling spell by Gurvinder (5 for 37) and an unbeaten knock of 39 by Hanish helped Government College for Men (GC), Sector 11, to beat B Ed College, Sector 20, team by nine-wicket win in the UT Inter-College Limited Overs Cricket Tournament. The tournament is being organised by Chandigarh Sports Department at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium here today.

Batting first, B Ed College team was bundled out for 86 runs in 16.2 overs. Gurvinder of GC proved to be a destroyer for them. At one stage B Ed team was struggling at 4 for 14.

However, Pushpinder (50) and Ved Prakash (16) put some resistance by putting on 37 runs for the fifth wicket before Gurvinder bowled out Ved at 54.

Pushpinder played a defiant knock, which included one four and two sixes in 44 deliveries. He was the last batsman to be dismissed as B Ed innings folded at 86. Gurvinder accounted for half of the B Ed team. Ankur gave Gurvinder full support as he bagged 2 for 19.

Chasing a victory target of 87 runs, Government College for Men, Sector 11, achieved the target in just 11.1 overs and for the loss of Daksh Sharma's wicket. Daksh (24, 5x4s) and Hanish (39 not out, 3x4s, 2x6s) gave GCM-11 a flying start by putting on 54 runs for the opening wicket stand. After Daksh’s departure, Hanish and Kulwant (not out 4) completed the formalities. Satinder Singh got the only wicket.

Earlier, Chandigarh Sports Director-cum-Additional Deputy Commissioner I.S. Sandhu inaugurated the tournament in which eight colleges are taking part.

Brief scores: B Ed College, Sector 26: 86 all out in 16.3 overs (Pushpinder 50, Ved Prakash 16, Gurinder 5 for 37, Ankur 2 for 19, Bikramjit 1 for 4).

Government College for Men, Sector 11: 87 for 1 in 11.1 overs (Hanish 39 not out, Daksh Sharma 24, Kulwant not out 4, Satinder 1 for 19).

Chandigarh, January 8
In an exciting final played on the Chitkara Campus, on Chandigarh Patiala road yesterday, the team of ME 4th Year bulldozed the CSE 2nd Year by 105 runs to lift Chitkara T20 Cricket Cup.

ME 4th Year team won the toss and captain Ankit Malhotra decided to bat first. The team made a mammoth 251 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Ankur Sehgal (65 off 29 balls), Abhinav (53 off 23 balls) and Atul (28 off 12 balls) plundered the CSE bowling and only Neeraj (3-0-42-3) could make his presence felt. The winning team was awarded Rs 25,000 cash, while the Runners up got Rs 15,000 cash. 

Chandigarh, January 8
Tranquillity of mind, an optimistic approach and a zeal to inspire others prompted this 24-year-old to write a book on yoga. Meghna Virk Bains, whose book ‘Yoga for women’ was released recently by Kiran Bedi in Delhi, says this age-old exercise provides the perfect recipe for a hassle-free life.

“For many, it is not possible to extract time for yoga classes. In today’s world, too many people are in need of yoga and through this book, I wanted to touch their lives and inspire them to make it a part of their routine,” says Meghna adding that reading is similar to meditation in every way.

The book provides a comprehensive package of various yoga asanas for women and caters to women of different age groups, working women, pregnant women etc.

Conducting yoga classes, writing a book on yoga and teaching its nuances to an age-group dominated by women in their thirties and forties by a 24-year-old is sure to surprise anyone, but for this city-based girl, it all started as a hobby and soon became a never-dying passion.

“I started practising yoga just five years back and discovered a profound change in my personality then,” she gleams.

For letting her imbibe ‘hatha yoga’ for five years, Meghna owes it to her mentor Shiv Malhotra. A post graduate in geography from Punjab University, Meghna feels the confidence she derived after winning over students who felt at peace and discovered their inner selves after learning yoga from her, inspired her to explore the subject further.

“Yoga basically teaches you to strike a balance, it teaches you to give, and thus enhances relationships in every way. It allows you to spend time with your innermost thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, dreams, desires and simply float away,” she signs off.

Chandigarh, January 8
The UT administration is all set to drive its old and ailing Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) project all over again.

Less than a month after the centre’s expert committee on the MRTS listed the inefficacies of a metro rail system for the city, the administration has handed over the charge of the project to chief executive officer of Chandigarh Housing Board Amarnath.

Appointed nodal officer for the project, which has been in and out of news for over a decade, Amarnath has been brought in to look at the issues involved, sources in the administration today told Chandigarh Tribune.

The project, it may be mentioned, was earlier with the Chandigarh engineering department.

Recently, it was transferred to the Chandigarh Housing Board, where the “freedom to execute the project is larger”. The regime of financial approvals in the earlier arrangement was very tough.

The project has been hanging fire for many years, with the central committee constituted by the department of urban planning ruling out a metro rail for the city on grounds of lack of feasibility.

The committee, which said a metro rail would have been feasible had the demand been 60-70000 in peak hour on peak destinations, instead advised the administration to look at surface transport mechanisms or light rail transit system, which the members held would be more cost effective for the city.

Among deterrents was the cost — Rs 350 per km for construction. The 11-member committee also recommended the formation of a steering committee involving representatives from the UT, Punjab and Haryana.

With UT today appointing nodal officer for the project, new visions and perspectives are likely to emerge and better liaising with partners in the projects may be possible. But so far as technicalities of the project are concerned, old-timers like M.N. Sharma, who has been opposing a monorail from day 1, feel any doubts and concerns about the recommendations of the centre’s expert committee should be referred back to it.

Sharma, who is member of the expert committee of the centre, says experts should at all times be trusted with this highly-specialised job.