NEIGHBOURHOOD

Day 2: No govt support for fire victims
Tribune News Service

Kharar, April 28
Eighteen-year-old Babu Jaan, a resident of Palsora working in Chandigarh, got electrocuted in Adarsh Colony, Balongi, today. Babu was working on the terrace of a house under construction, which belongs to Pawan Kumar, a retired Panjab University employee. Babu had been working under a contractor Akhtar Hussain for the last five months.

He had climbed on the terrace of the house to check water supply in the tank, when he accidentally came in contact with 66 KV high-tension wires from a distance of about two-and-a-half feet. A loud bang was heard as soon as the high-tension wires caught Babu. There was no skin or clothes on the body of the victim after he fell on the ground. Onlookers said the body of victim turned into a ball of fire as soon as he came in contact with those wires.

Meanwhile, M.S. Mangat, XEN (Protection and Management, high tension wires) said the house was being constructed illegally. As per norms no one can construct a house up to fifteen feet near the high-tension wires, he said. He added that a large number of notices were sent to the area residents to stop illegal construction.

“We don't have any powers to take action against these illegal builders. Only the SDM can do so,” he said.

Rajpura, April 28
Students of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) today held yet another protest against the decision of the state government to hand over the ITIs to private players.

The Punjab Students’ Union, which has been spearheading the protest, had decided to hold protest rallies across the state from March 31 to register their protest. The student leaders stated that the government was running away from its duty to provide education at government rates by handing over the ITIs to private houses.

Students of Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) held a demonstration in front of their institution and later, took out a procession. They also raised slogans against the state government. The students warned that they would not allow the state government to privatise the institutions at any cost and would further intensify the agitation if the state government would go ahead with the move.

They stated that no poor student would be able to get admission in the institute if it was handed over to the private sector.

Patiala, April 28
A team of the Patiala civil surgeon’s office raided a hideout in Tripuri and confiscated a large cache of intoxicating drugs worth lakhs of rupees.

The team, comprising Purshottam Goyal, Vikas Goyal and other officials of the civil surgeon’s office, today raided house number 892, street number 14, Tripuri, and arrested Vikas and also took into their possession, 75,000 tablets of spasmo proxyvon, ativen, valium 5, avil and syrups like corex and ricodex. The team also confiscated 20,000 capsules and 1,000 cough syrups.

Vikas was allegedly running a chemist shop by the name of Ganapati Medical Hall at Lahori Gate.

In another raid, the team nabbed Munish Taneja from Rattan Nagar, near Tripuri and confiscated 7,000 capsules and 360 syrups from him. The accused owns Taneja Medical Hall in Tripuri. The civil surgeon said the accused did not possess any proper bills.

Patiala, April 28
With the Patiala flying club acquiring the state’s first four-seater state-of-the-art Cessna 172 aircraft, Punjab has finally figured on the national advanced aviation training map. Albeit flying is on in the club since its inception, no new flying machine had been procured for the past around 22 years.

It is for the first time that Punjab has got such an advanced and fully computerised training aircraft, although the Patiala flying club was already equipped with two old Cessnas from the eighties and one aging Pushpak aircraft. Established in 1962, the club has about 30 students on its rolls.

The new entrant, Cessna-172 aircraft, is not only fitted with computer-controlled single engine but also boasts of a glass cockpit and is equipped with advanced ‘nose-landing’ technology which makes it stand apart from its predecessors. Cessna-172, which, arrived at the club today, would be used for imparting advanced training to students.

However, students will continue logging their initial flying hours on old Cessnas and the Pushpak, said club’s chief flying instructor G.S. Mangat.

Club sources said the old two Cessnas had slightly higher fuel efficiency as they were two-seater flying machines as compared to their successor Cessna-172, which could carry four people on its board including the pilot. “We will reserve it for those students who enter the advance level after having completed their initial training. It is the most modern flying machine in respect of flying as of now,” said Mangat.

The new Cessna-172 has been leased out on a nominal annual lease fee of Rs 1 lakh.

The new aircraft has been procured post the untiring efforts of Punjab civil aviation principal secretary Vishwajit Khanna. The Aero Club of India has given the aircraft to the club, sources said.

Chandigarh, April 28
Former Australian speedster Glenn McGrath, known for his aggression as a fast bowler, has a piece of suggestion for cricketers: “Play aggressively but don’t cross the line”.

On the current Bhajji slapping issue, one of the top bowlers of his times McGrath said he was not aware of the full details. “Now the matter is before the IPL officials and has gone out of the hands of players,” said McGrath while leaving the city today after his team’s (Delhi Daredevils) match against Kings XI, Punjab, which was held at PCA stadium on Sunday.

“Playing aggressively is part of the game. I also used to play cricket with much aggression as well as passion but I never crossed the line,” said McGrath, also called ‘pigeon’ by his friends.

McGrath, who had illustrious career while playing for the Australian team, is now fully enjoying his second innings at the Indian Premier League. Terming the IPL as a great learning experience, McGrath said he was enjoying the Twenty20 format of the game. “This is a good concept which helps the budding domestic players to learn from foreign teammates,” said the Aussie, who was happy with the top class performance being put up by his fellow Australian players in the league matches.

“I think, we (the Australian players) have learnt how to play in India as we have played lot of cricket here in the last 10-12 years. The show Gilchrist put up yesterday (100 of 42 balls) was awesome. Besides, Symonds, Katich and Lee are also playing well,” said McGrath.

“For IPL, the International Cricket Council (ICC) should create a window otherwise players are likely to avoid their national commitments for the sake of league matches. If such a situation arises, it can be detrimental to international cricket, which the ICC would not like,” he added.

McGrath, who bagged 563 wickets in 124 Tests and 381 wickets in 250 One-Day International matches, rates the young Indian cricketers very highly.

“The young lot here is very talented. Playing with them is very enjoyable. Under the leadership of dashing Sehwag, our team stands a good chance to reach the semifinals.”

Chandigarh, April 28
Who will be next in line? This is the question rattling the local hockey connoisseurs following suspension of Indian Hockey Federation supremo K.P.S. Gill by the Indian Olympic Association today.

Experts, including former players and officials, said they were more worried about tomorrow than today’s development. While some see the suspension of Gill as a silver lining, some were of the opinion that the need of the hour is to improve the standards of the national game, which have touched a new low.

“The foremost need at the moment is how we improve standards of the game”, Olympian Harmeek Singh said.

“Therefore who will come next, is the biggest question for me. The suspension of Gill does not mean that everything would be put in place automatically. The national game needs disciplined and dedicated people,” said the veteran player and former national selector.

Echoing the same sentiments, former national player Yash Vohra said the hockey fraternity is keeping its fingers crossed as far as people taking charge of the game’s administration are concerned.

“If you defend someone unnecessarily, you have to pay the price for it. I don’t want to comment more on today’s development but now it has to be seen who would take charges of the game. I am only concerned with that,” Vohra said.

Evading the questions on suspension of Gill, ace forward Rajpal Singh said the game has been passing through a worst patch.

“So many stunning developments have been taking place in the game so rapidly these days that everyone is virtually worried about the coming days. As a player I feel that the coming days are very crucial for everyone, related to the game,” he said.

Terming the ousting of Gill from the hockey scenario a silver line in the dark clouds, renowned coach N.S. Sodhi said the development would definitely help the cause of hockey. “Jothikumaran was the main culprit. We hope and pray that the new team will work in the direction of lifting the game from the ditch,” he said.

Chandigarh, April 28
Two vehicles have been stolen from the city during the past 24 hours.

Jaidev Kapoor, a resident of Sector 38, in a complaint to the police alleged that his car (HR 03 C 4111) was stolen from outside his residence yesterday. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered at the police station-39.

Also, Vinod Kumar, a resident of Sector 4, reported that his car (CH 03 2793) was stolen from outside his residence.