The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Varsity withdraws relaxation in Punjabi for professional courses
Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 30
Senior SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra and Punjabi University vice-chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh have hailed the Punjab assembly resolution in favour of use of Punjabi in government offices even as eminent Punjabi writer Dalip Kaur Tiwana was skeptical on ‘proper’ implementation of the proposed legislation in Punjab.

On the other hand, the Punjabi University syndicate has decided to withdraw relaxation given to students of undergraduate courses of BSc, BCom and other professional courses to get their degrees without Punjabi as a compulsory subject. Following the footsteps of the Punjab assembly, the varisty, in its meeting here recently, took the decision for the sake of promotion of Punjabi language.

“Proposed provision of penalties for government officials not using Punjabi in offices will definitely go a long way in proliferation of Punjabi language. With implementation of the proposed legislation, the quantum of use of Punjabi in government will increase from existing 70 per cent to 100 per cent,” said Chandumajra.

Punjabi University vice-chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh was optimistic about the proposed legislation on use of Punjabi in government offices. “Though, personally I am not in favour of punishment angle but still, the assembly step will go a long way in according long due status to Punjabi. The resolution will create a new environment for growth of Punjabi as a language,” said Dr Jaspal Singh.

Tiwana, however, observed what mattered most was the seriousness in implementation of any step taken by the assembly or the Punjab government. “Everything depends upon enforcement of the resolution. Earlier, too, use of Punjabi in government offices was mandatory. Ironically, it were the high-ups which violated the existing law on Punjabi the most. Implementation at the lower levels has never been a problem,” said Tiwana taking a pragmatic view on the issue.

However, Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh hailed the decision.

Meanwhile, the Punjabi university syndicate passed varisty’s budget with a deficit of about Rs 30 crore. While the income of the varisty was around Rs 95 crore, the expenditure was approximately Rs 126 crore, said the budget presented by the registrar. The budget indicated that the university would incur 12.94 per cent on general administration and a whopping 52.22 per cent on research and teaching.

MCI pulls up hospital authorities
Attar Singh
Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 30
A team of the Medical Council of India (MCI) found various lapses in the working of Government Medical College during an inspection here recently. MCI gave three months to the college to remedy the lapses or face action.

According to sources, the team found that there was shortage of teaching faculty in certain disciplines. It also found that there was poor occupancy of beds in the Government Rajindra Hospital, which is attached with the medical college for teaching purposes. The hospital has bed strength of 750 and it was found that there were not enough patients in the indoor wards of the hospital.

The team had started its inspection yesterday. It visited different departments in the medical college as also in the Government Rajindra Hospital.

Though, there was no official word on the findings that the team had recorded by way of shortcomings, it is learnt that the team also found that there was poor infrastructure in the hospital. The CT scan machine was not working and there was shortage of staff in different departments.

The Punjab government had during the last one month ordered many transfers of medical teachers from Patiala to Faridkot and then to Patiala again to ensure that there was no shortage of teachers during the inspection of the medical colleges at Faridkot and Patiala.

However, the team had found a lot of shortcomings at the Faridkot medical college. Similarly, during the inspection at the Patiala medical college, the team found that assistant professors had been promoted as associate professors, even though, they had only three years experience against the stipulated experience of five years.

2 killed as truck hits motor cycle
Tribune News Service

Kharar, March 30
Two men were killed in an accident this morning while a child accompanying them has been admitted to the PGI in a serious condition.

The victims have been identified as Amarjit Singh, a Class IV employee at the Kharar civil hospital, and Pritam Singh. Both were residents of Neholkan in Kurali.

Amarjit’s grandson, Gurpratap Singh, was also with them and sustained serious injuries.

They were coming from Neholkan towards Kurali on a motorcycle to buy a turban for the bhog ceremony of one of their cousins who had died a week ago.

A truck laden with construction material hit the motorcycle. Amarjit and Pritam Singh died on the spot.

The police said a case had been registered on the statement of Amarjit’s brother who was following them in another vehicle. The truck driver has absconded.

PO held with 1.12 quintal poppy husk
Tribune News Service

Kharar, March 30
The Kharar police arrested Jaswinder Singh alias Kala, a resident of Dhadak Kalan village, with 1.12 quintals of poppy husk near Rattanheri village. The accused is a proclaimed offender in a narcotics case and has been declared absent from court proceedings in yet another narcotics and excise case.

Jaswinder was held with four bags containing 28 kg poppy husk. His accomplice, identified as Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Smailpur village, Khanna, fled the spot. The duo was on way from Rattanheri to Jhanjheri village. As per police reports, they had bought poppy husk from a roadside dhaba on Haryana-UP border.

SPORTS

Local lad Vijayat to take on Rohan today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Local favourite wild card Vijayant Malik will take on top seed wild card Rohan Bopanna in the opening singles’ round (main draw) of the $ 10,000 India F5 Futures ITF Men’s Circuit that begins at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) courts, Sector 10, here tomorrow.

Bangalore-based Bopanna is ranked 328th whereas Vijayant Malik stands at 1322nd rank.

Another talented Indian player Yuki Bhambri (1679th) will face John McGahon (926th) of Israel while fourth seed Asuthosh Singh of India will cross swords with Divij Sharan, another Indian player.
In the second round of qualifying stage, a total of six Indians, including Rupesh Roy, Vishnu Vardhan, Virali Murugesan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, N Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Mithu Murali moved into the final qualifying round.

Results: Qualifying (2nd Round): Rupesh Roy (Ind) bt Ura Mukovoz (Rus) 6-2, 6-2, Ciaran Moore (Rsa) bt Kaushik Raju (Ind) 6-1, 6-1, Christoph Lessiak (Aut) bt Vikram Reddy B (Ind) 6-3, 6-3, Xiao Qi (Chn) bt Rubal shandilya (Ind) 6-1, 7-6 (5), Ji Shi (Chn) bt Mario Tupy (Aut) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran (Ind) bt Kamala Kannan (Ind) 6-1, 6-4, Hui Zhang (Chn) bt Siddharth Gulgule (Ind) 6-1, 6-3, Ranjeet Virali Murugesan (Ind) bt Peter Skoda (Can) 6-1, 6-0, Mithun Murali (Ind) bt Bharath Srinivasan Parthasarathy (Ind) 6-2, 6-2, N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (Ind) bt Alexander Gigitashvili (Rus) 6-1, 6-1.

Ye Du (Chn) bt Yashwant Pulumati (Ind) 6-0, 6-0, Perakiat Siriluethaiwattana (Tha) bt Srirambalaji Narayanas-wamy (Ind) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, Ilya Belyaev (Rus) bt Ying-Zheng Wang (Chn) 6-4, 7-5, Zhuo-Qing Zhou (Chn) bt Joseph Squillacioti (Aus) Vishnu Vardhan (Ind) bt Vikas Chauhan (Ind) Idan Rosenberg (Isr) bt Yannick Nelord (Ind) 6-4, 6-0. Man draw seedings:

Singles: 1 Rohan Boppana (328th, India), 2 Peng Sun (487th, China), 3 Hyun-Woo Nam (524th, Korea), 4 Autosh Singh (610th, India), 5 Yu Jr Wang (620th, China), 6 Nathan Thomson (657th, USA), 7 Kento Takeuchi (662nd, Japan) and 8 Hsin-Han Lee (702nd, Tpe). Men's doubles: 1 Vivek Shokeen and Ashutosh (India), 2 Vijay Kannan and Navdeep Singh (India), 3 Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja (India), 4 Hsin-Han Lee and Yu Jr Wang (China).

Double delight for Nishchay Rawal
Nihit Rawal declared most promising player
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Nishchay Rawal of Total Tennis Academy established his dominance by winning two titles in boys’ section of the 4th Late Shri L.D. Kapoor Memorial Total Tennis Championship that concluded at YMCA, Sector 11, here today.

He bagged top positions in under-14 and under-16 categories by defeating Sachin Kumar (U-14) in straight sets with ease at 6-0, 6-4 and Taranbir Singh (U-16) 6-0, 6-1, respectively.

In the boys under-12 age category, top seed Sachin Kumar fought for over one and half hour against the second seed Dheeranush Bhatti to clinch title.

After losing first set (0-6) to Sachin, Dheeranush fought back well to win the second set in the tiebreaker at 7-6 (8-6). But in deciding set, Sachin held his nerves and drubbed the opponent easily at 6-1. The final score was read in the favour of the top seed Sachin Kumar 6-0, 6-7(6-8), 6-1.

The final of girls’ under-12 age group between top seed Hasan Abdaal of Patiala and Vibhuti Khullar of CLTA was a tough fought match, which went in favour of the former. It took over two hours for Hasan to beat the second seed Vibhuti Khullar 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Nikita Sharma of Lake Club Complex emerged champion in girls’ u-16 section beating second seed Ramneek Kaur 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Nihit Rawal of boys under age category was awarded the Most Promising Player of the Championship.

Other results:

Boys: (Under-10): Param Pun beat Nihit Rawal 7-5, 7-6; (Under-12): Sachin Kumar beat Dheeranush Bhatti 6-0, 6-7, 6-1; (Under-14): Nishchay Rawal beat Sachin Kumar 6-0, 6-4; (Under-16): Nishchay Rawal beat Taranbir Singh 6-0, 6-1

Girls: (Under-10): Vanshika Sawhney beat Nandinee Sharma 7-6, 6-4; (Under-12): Hasan Abdaal beat Vibhuti Khullar 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; (Under-16): Nikita Sharma beat Ramneek Kaur 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

CRIME

Three vehicles stolen
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Inderjit Singh, a resident of Sector 22, reported to the police that his scooter (CH 01 V 4595) was stolen from Sector 22 on Friday. A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered at the police station-17.

In another case, Pawan Kumar, a resident of Mani Majra, reported to the police that his motor cycle (CH 03 N 5254) was stolen on March 21 from outside his residence. A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered at the Mani Majra police station.

Also, J.S. Arora, a resident of Sector 8, lodged a complaint with the police alleging that his scooter (CH 03 N 7509) was stolen on March 29 from Sector 22.

A case under Section 79, IPC, has been registered at the police station 17.

Burglary

Gold ornaments and Rs 75,000 in cash were stolen from a house in Sector 46 yesterday. On the complaint of Jeet Singh, a case under Section 380, IPC, has been registered at the police station 34.

Arrested

The local police has arrested Rajesh Kumar of Hallo Majra on charges of gambling at public place and recovered cash Rs 880 from his possession. A case under the Gambling Act has been registered at the police station-31.

Injured

A man, Darvis Bahadur, was injured after he was hit by a motor cycle in Sector 44 on March 22. Darvis was injured and was admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

Youth held with revolver
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Prashant, a 19-year-old student of Rayat Engineering College, was arrested by the police along with a .32 bore revolver at a checkpoint in Sector 38 here this evening.

While checking Prashant, the officer on duty recovered a revolver that belonged to his grandfather. The police has taken the revolver into custody and a case under Sections 25 and 56 of the Arms Act and 188 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 39 police station.

CULTURE

Violinist lights up evening
S.D. Sharma

Chandigarh, March 30
"The progressive ventures of experimentation with new perspectives are bound to explore new aspects of music," maintains young violinist Asghar Hussain, who was in the city on the invitation of the Triveni Sangeet Sabha for a concert. Maestro from Delhi gharana, Asghar said there had been a few takers for violin because of its Italian origin and complexity of learning it. After sarangi, violin is the only musical instrument closer to human voice and capable of capturing the whole gamut of human emotions with perfection, claimed Asghar.

Later, accompanied by Ustad Akhtar Hussain on tabla, he bared the melody of raga Yaman through an elaborate alaap, vilambat composition set to an uncommon rhythmic pattern of eleven beats called “Pataal ki sawari”. After a drut bandish "Kinaare kinaare dariya”, Asghar presented a soulful folk-based dadra in raga 'Pahadi' set to Khemta taal. The maestro gave an account of his versatility displaying the gayaki and tantarkari ang in amazing profusion.