The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

NEIGHBOURHOOD

3 held with Rs 1.98 crore
Tribune News Service

Rajpura, February 1
The Rajpura police here claimed to have arrested three persons with Rs 1.98 crore of unexplained cash.

According to the police, the Sadar police received a tip-off on the basis of which they put up a check naka on the Rajpura-Sirhind national highway number 1. The police intercepted a car at the naka and questioned the three occupants of the vehicle. During interrogation, the police got suspicious and searched the vehicle, during which five bags containing the currency were recovered.

On being questioned about the cash, the three persons could not give a satisfactory reply following which they were arrested. The three were identified as Vipin Verma, Nitin Sharma, and Harbans Singh, all residents of Delhi.

The police stated that the three were being interrogated to ascertain the source of the cash. The police is also trying to figure out weather the three were involved in Hawala transactions. Meanwhile, the police informed the income tax officials about the recovery and the matter is being further investigated.

SPORTS

Korfball: Star Club emerge champion
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1
Star Club emerged champions beating Lion Club by 8-6 in the Chandigarh State Korfball Championship that concluded at SD College grounds here today.

DAV Club secured third position as the team defeated Sector 46 Club by 7-5.

Ramandeep Singh of Star Club was declared player of the tournament in boys’ section while Shalini won the title in girls’ section.

According to Krishan Kumar, secretary of the Chandigarh Korfball Association, a seven-day preparatory camp would be held from February 4 for the selected probables from the championship. The team to represent the city in Senior National Korfball Championship to be held at Gurgaon, will be selected from the camp.

Results: League matches: Sector 46 Club b Khalsa Club 7-5, Star Club b Shivalik Club 9-3, Lion Club b Victor Club 11-2, DAV Club b SD Club 8-6, SD Club b Victor Club 9-6.

Semifinal: Star Club b DAV 6-2, Lion Club b Sector 46 Club 8-5.

Final: Star Club b Lion Club 8-6.

AITA Championship
Gurinder lifts U-16 title
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1
Local players did not live up to the expectations as all of them lost in the title clashes of both girls and boys categories during the AITA Championship Tennis Series that concluded at the Lake Sports Complex courts here today.

CLTA trainee Navneet Singh gave up in the finals of boys under-16 while under-14 singles (boys) eluded another local strong contender Digvijay Singh Naruka as he lost to the fourth seeded Vilash Khate 3-6, 2-6 in the finals.

Top seed Navneet Kumar lost to Punjab's Gurinder Singh, who emerged winner in straight sets at 6-4, 6-4. Navneet, who seemed not in his nick today, committed many errors to pave his rival’s way to trophy.

In girls’ section, Eetee Mehta of Gujarat shattered the dreams of local unseeded Ravnoor Kaur by beating her 6-1, 6-2 in under-16 age group.

However, Chandigarh’s Ikttesh Chahal along with Delhi's Pooja Narayan defeated duo of Ravnoor Kaur and Bhavika Wadhawan 6-3, 6-2 in under-16 girls’ doubles.

Chandigarh had the consolation as its duo of Navneet Kumar and Naveen Shanker defeated another Chandigarh duo of Ajay Yadav and Raghav Singhal 6-1, 6-0 in the boys’ under-16 doubles title.

The boys under-14 title went to the duo of Sushant Mohanti and Vilash Khate who defeated Jatinder Singh (Chandigarh) and Aush Mintri of Punjab by 6-1, 6-0.

Chief guest Pradeep Mehra, adviser to the Chandigarh administrator, distributed the prizes.

Results (all finals): Boys U-14 singles: Vilash Khate (NTA) bt Digvijay S. Naruka (Chd) 6-3, 6-2; boys U-16 singles: Gurinder Singh (Pb) bt Navneet Kumar (UP) 6-4, 6-4; girls U-14 singles: Likhita Shetty (Kar) bt Eetee Mehta (Guj) 7-5, 6-7 (3) 6-1.

Girls U-16 singles: Eetee Mehta (Guj) bt Ravnoor Kaur (Chd) 6-1, 6-2; boys U-14 doubles: Sushant Mohanti and Vilash Khate (NTA) bt Ayush Mintri (Pb) Jatinder Singh (Chd) 6-1, 6-0; girls U-16 doubles: Ikttesh Chahal (Chd)/Pooja A Narayana (Delhi) bt Bhavika Wadhawan/Ravnoor Kaur (Chd) 6-3, 6-2.

Vijay Hazare Trophy
PCA select 20 probables
Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 1
The Punjab Cricket Association, Mohali, have selected 20 probables for the forthcoming Inter-State League One-Day Matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy starting from February 26, 2008.

Probables who have been selected for the tournament will under a coaching-cum-practise camp from February 6 to February 16 at the PCA Cricket Stadium, Mohali, before the final selection of the team.

The team will then proceed to Delhi to play practise matches against Railways before participating in the tournament. Pankaj Dharmani will be the skipper of the team.

The following is the complete list of probables : Karan Goel, Ravi Inder, Sunny Sohal, Pankaj Dharman, Ravneet Ricky, Uday Kaul, Sumit Sharma, Mayank Siddanah, Gurkirat, Mandeep Singh, Manpreet Gony, VRV Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Bharat Lomba, Ankur Kakkar, Sarabjit Ladda, Ankur Jund, Rahul Venky, Gaurav Marwaha, Ishan Dogra.

City girl Irina finishes second
Donald Banerjee

Chandigarh, February 1
Irina Brar and Saaniya Sharma of Chandigarh finished second and third, respectively, in the eighth leg of the DLF Women's Professional Golf Tour which was won by Simi Mehra by a margin of 12 strokes on the par-72 greens of the DLF Golf and Country Club in Delhi today.

Simi Mehra's round of three over par 75 saw her taking her three-day total to 10 over par 226. She could muster only one birdie and conceded three bogies.

Irina, who was struggling with 10-over and eight over scores on the first two days, struck a bright patch today playing a par first nine. She sunk three birdies after conceding a double bogey in the first hole. But in return, nine she bogeyed five times for a four-over par 40 and a four-over card of 76. But, this performance came too late as she took her total to 22 over 238 for the second slot.

Saaniya Sharma finished 14 strokes behind Irina for the third slot. After the eighth leg, the order of merit for the DLF Professional Golf Tour saw Simi the clear leader, followed by Irina Brar.

In the Class B Professionals, Pallavi Jain triumphed with a three-day total of 47 over 263.

Final scores: Simi Mehra 78+73+75=226, Irina Brar 82+80+76=238, Saaniya Sharma 85+84+83=252, Nalini Singh 92+81+80=253, Nonita Lal Qureshi 81+90+84=255, Shalini Malik 82+90+89=261, Preetinder Kaur 94+90+89=273.

Class B Professionals: Pallavi Jain 85+84+94=263, Nikki Ponappa 100+91+89=280.

‘Winning Grand Slam is my aim’
Mandeep Puri

Chandigarh, February 1
My dad is behind the seven titles that I won in the ‘Talent Series’ held last year, said Dig Vijay Singh, who today lost to the fourth seeded Vilash Khate in the final of the ongoing AITA Tennis tournament being played at the Chandigarh Lake club here today.

The 13-year-old, who had been playing in the under-12 category, has a number of titles to his credit, including AITA under-14 titles for both singles and doubles category, last year.

Speaking about the success the young champion got, Dig Vijay gives all credit to the coaches under whom he had been seeking training. “I have learnt basics from my coaches, which have helped me in improving my game. However, my dad is my ideal. The guidance and experience that I got from his expertise is a treasure for me. He has been always preparing me for the upcoming challenges.

“AITA tournaments are really worth playing. The exposure that a player gains from such tournaments is an asset. Moreover, such tournament prepares a player for the challenges coming ahead. Playing in the international tournaments is a different ball game, and AITA is the right platform from where we can gain most out of it. My ultimate aim is the Grand Slam title”, asserted Dig Vijay.

Every game requires money and sponsorships. It is what players look for, felt Dig Vijay. “I am too looking for sponsorships but towards the end, all depends on the performance I deliver.”

CRIME

Four convicted under Arms Act
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1
Four persons were convicted under the Arms Act today by additional district and sessions judge Raj Shekhar Attri. The fifth accused in the case was acquitted by the court.

The court sentenced Ajay and Amit to three years’ imprisonment, holding them guilty of illegal possession of country-made pistols. Sonu and Ajay were awarded one-year imprisonment each for illegal possession of jack knives. The court acquitted Surinder Paiwal giving him benefit of doubt.

According to the prosecution, the UT police had booked five youths in February 2006, claiming to have busted a gang of robbers operating in the city. The suspects were planning a robbery in the city. The police claimed to have recovered country-made pistols, cartridges and jackknives from them.

CULTURE

Dream girl casts spell
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1
It was a treat to all those fans who managed to catch a glimpse of their dream girl on stage. Her maiden performance, on the inaugural day of the second Chandigarh Film Festival, symbolised a religious tale with Hema Malini portraying as Sati, Parvati and Durga.

Showcased in three parts, the show left all those present spellbound as Hema Malini and her troupe took the audience into an altogether different age and arena.

The opening sequence had Hema Malini playing the role of Sati who visits her father Daksha's house uninvited for the yagna. Unable to bear the humiliation meted out to her consort Shiva, she is consumed by fire on her own will. The ballad included the dance of Shiva after the death of Sati, emergence of Parvati and her marriage to Shiva and the creation of Durga for the destruction of Mahishasura.

The lighting and sets changed with each passing sequence which sent a wave of applause in the audience. Equally commendable was the energetic performance of Lord Shiva played by M.V.N. Murti.

Mismanagement leaves fans high and dry

The venue as described on the passes got misprinted as Leisure Valley, Sector 3, instead of Sector 10. The people didn’t know where to get the passes from. Lack of proper management and publicity of the event, deprived thousands of Hema Malini fans of watching her performance.

Braving the evening chill, the fans waited for their dream girl. The actress finally made an appearance, but it was more than an hour late. Although the announcement of the starting of the show was made at 7.05 pm, the performance began at 7.30 pm.

The performance was mesmerising in every way, but the audience was few. Half of the seats were seen to be empty. While the media as well as the VIPs were present in large numbers, occupying the front seats, all seats, behind the half partition inside the enclosure, were lying vacant.

Raising a question mark on who was the target audience and why wasn’t the show able to reach out to larger city residents, many of those present in the audience expressed disappointment at the slackly arranged show.

“Out of all covered auditoriums in the city, the Chandigarh administration got only this open ground covered with tents to display a show of this stature? Had it been properly managed, the response would have been greater and the public money would have been made better use of,” said a member of the team of organisers.

“I got to know that Hema Malini would be coming, but had no idea where to get the tickets from? Then I got to know there were passes required, but couldn’t get them even,” said Ankur tendon, a senior manager.

Mann’s magic works
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1
It was a red letter day for students of Guru Gobind Singh College as they witnessed a number of well-known personalities, including Yugraj Singh, Cabinet minister Paramjit Singh Dhinsa, Punjabi singers Gurdas Mann, Romey Gill, Karan Jasbir and Jeet Jagjeet who had been invited to perform on the college campus.

The event was organised by the student’s council of the college. Jeet Jagjit was the first one to begin. Next was Karan Jasbir, who set the stage for legendary Gurdas Mann.

The students, who were in large numbers, started to feel the heat of the legendary singer much before he arrived. The movement the legendary arrived on the college premises, the students were on their feet.

Mann made the audience dance to the beats of his popular number in no time. His well-known ‘chaalla’ was well-applauded among the other numbers that he sung, including ‘roti haat di khaye’ from his newly released album ‘Punjabian di balle balle’. The cops had a tough time controlling the audience.