NEIGHBOURHOOD

Parsvnath officials get police remand
Tribune News Service

Dera Bassi, May 7
A local court today remanded eight employees of Parsvnath Developers to a day in police custody. The eight were arrested yesterday after they allegedly razed the house of a welder here after he refused to sell his land to the group.

The eight were produced by the police before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate Naval Kumar here this afternoon. The employees were represented by a battery of lawyers.

The Mohali police also booked Pradeep Kumar Jain, chairman, along with five directors of the company, for conspiring with the accused.

SSP R.S. Khatra today said more arrests would follow during the course of the investigations. “The culpability of the directors in conspiracy is being examined,” he added.

In a statement issued by P.K. Jain, adviser, Parsvnath Developers, said, “As a responsible corporate house, Parsvnath Developers does not encroach on anybody’s property. We acquire land as per the government policy and resort to construction only after obtaining necessary permissions.

If the title of the land is challenged, we are in a position to produce necessary documents in support of the title. As regards the press reports on the property and dispute thereon, we are awaiting the detailed report and copies of the complaint lodged and will be in a position to offer specific comment later”.

Police sources said there was no dispute regarding the ownership of the plot. The land belonged to Swaranjit, who had the papers of the 250 square yards of land in Shezadpur in Dera Bassi on which his house was built.

Pensioners allege harassment by bank officials
Tribune News Service

Rajpura, May 7
Pensioners from various villages, including elderly women, allege harassment at the hands of bank employees who refused to release pension to these people today morning.

The pensioners included widows and people entitled for old age pension from nearby villages. They alleged that this had happened after government ordered banks to distribute pension instead of gram panchayats.

“I came all the way from Pilkhani village to take the pension but the bank authorities refuse to entertain my queries over the pretext of one thing or the other”, said an elderly Balbir Kaur.

She revealed that earlier the villagers had been getting the same pension from the panchayat without any hitch. However, this time they have to run from pillar to post to get their meager pension released from the banks.

Another Darshan Kaur rued that she had been sitting here for the past two hours but the bank officials were reluctant to release her pension. “I had waited for other people to come with me. Then we all went inside the bank but even then, the authorities did not release the pension over some technical problem”, she said.

She revealed that the elderly people from around six villages were here to get the pension but the bank officials were busy in their own work and did not pay heed to their demands.

Earlier, we were even provided pensions at our houses by the anganwari workers in case we were suffering from some ailment or were unable to collect it from the panchayat. But now, we have to cover long distances without getting the pensions, she said.

On the other hand, bank officials claimed that the government departments that have sent them the lists of the villagers wrongly mentioned the account numbers of these people.

They revealed that a sum of Rs 12 lakh have arrived as the pension but due to lack of immaculate lists sent to them, they could not release the pension.

Kharar, May 7
More than 2,500 households in Sunny Enclave, Kharar, are forced to drink non-potable water.

The area has been receiving dirty water, full of suspended particles, for the past one week. Spread in 400 acres of area, it is touted to be one of the biggest private townships in this satellite town of Chandigarh.

Instead of giving 24-hour drinking water supply, as promised to area residents when they purchased houses in the enclave, the water supply has been restricted to barely two hours each in morning as well as in evening.

"The quality of water is so poor that one does not even feel like taking bath with it. We are forced to drink this dirty water despite the fact that we have paid thousands as development charges for the area," said Ashok Kapoor, an area resident. He added that if the state of affairs continued to be the same, area residents would be forced to leave the place.

Other area residents added that such dirty drinking water could become the cause of an epidemic anytime. Senior citizens and children are the worst victims, who have already started showing signs of upset stomach.

President of the Sunny Enclave Welfare Association Inderjit Singh Dhindsa said repeated pleas pertaining to the issue had fallen on deaf ears. He said the association had talked to Bajwa Developer management innumerable times and had also given written representations, but nothing had been done so far.

"The colony developers are busy working on the undeveloped areas. Those pockets where people have already occupied houses, are being subjected to sheer negligence," Dhindsa said. He added that perhaps the developers were more busy minting money and had no even an iota of concern for the general population.

Meanwhile, public relation officer of Bajwa Developer said unfit drinking water supply was the result of maintenance work being carried out. However, she refused to elaborate and give a reason why the maintenance work was taking a toll on the general public's health.

Chandigarh, May 7
Night golf has finally arrived. Yes, with the sweltering afternoon sun driving residents into air-conditioned comfort, the Chandigarh Golf Club, in collaboration with the Chandigarh tourism department and the Chandigarh Golf Association, has opened its greens for the promotion of golf tourism in the form of night golf.

The Golf Club greens will play host to a two-day night golf tourism championship to be played on the floodlit nine holes on May 8 and 9.

More than 30 diplomats from the US Embassy, Canadian High Commission, corporate and travel and tourism executives will be seen in action in the two-day event which will go a long way in promoting golf tourism in the region.

Brainchild of the Chandigarh tourism director Vivek Atray and the Chandigarh Golf Association, golf tourism has come a long way after its launch almost two years back. So far, three tournaments have been held by the CGA and Chandigarh tourism department, which has attracted NRIs, diplomats and corporate executives to the greens of Chandigarh, Panchkula amd Chandi Mandir. But with the Chandigarh Golf Club joining in the project of promoting golf tourism, the night golf angle has been added to golf tourism.

President of the Chandigarh Golf Club D.S. Bains said the Chandigarh Administrator and Punjab Governor Gen S.F. Rodrigues was keen to promote golf tourism.

But it must go to the credit of young tourism director Vivek Atray who, in collaboration with the CGA duo of C.S.R. Reddy and J.S. Cheema, has brought the city on the golf tourism map of the country.

While the opening day of the night golf will be an event for Chandigarh golfers, the May 9 competition will see diplomats from the US Embassy, Canadian and Korean High Commissions and corporate and travel, tourism executives join in the night golf fray for the different prizes at stake. Reddy and Cheema, president and secretary of the CGA, who have been associated with tourism golf from its very inception, are hopeful of night golf adding a new attraction to NRIs and corporate executives.

Brig H.S. Batth, captain of the course, said the greens and fairways of the Golf Club were wearing a better look and the sand in the bunkers had been replaced.

Mohali, May 7
Government Model Senior Secondary School and APJ, Kharar, have set up a title clash in the APJ U-16 Mohali Cricket Tournament.

In the semi-final matches, APJ, Kharar, thrashed YPS, Mohali, by 9 wickets while GMSS drubbed Paragon School, Mohali, by 9 wickets at MCA gorunds here today.

Batting first, YPS put on 124 runs in 35 overs with the help of Harkirat Singh Hira’s half century (52 runs). Subeer Hayer was the other notable contributor with 26 runs.

For APJ, Navjot Singh was the most successful bowler who ripped apart the batting line up with his disciplined spell finishing with a figure of six wickets for 12 runs. The other bowler Bir Kanwar Singh took two wickets for 19 runs.

While chasing the target, APJ School scored 125 runs for the loss of just one wicket in 27.1 overs. Devrath scored 51 runs while Bir Kanwar Singh made unbeaten 44 runs to guide the team to victory. Abhishek took one wicket for 26 runs for YPS.

In the second match, Paragon gave a target of 117 runs, scoring 116 all out in 29 overs.

Rohit was the highest scorer with 30 runs while Manpreet Singh and Manul chipped in 22 and 17 runs, respectively.

Manish took five wickets for 17 runs followed by Manpreet Singh who took three wickets for 12 runs. Bhanu claimed two wickets for 26 runs.

While chasing the target, GMSS scored 117 runs for the loss of just one wicket in 11 overs.

Pardeep scored an unbeaten 70. He was well supported by Vaibhav who helped the team with his 18-run knock. Vikas took one wicket for 9 runs.

Mohali, May 7
Trials for the selection of under-16 cricket team for the Mohali Cricket Association will be held on May 9 at 4 pm at MCA ground, Phase IX.

The selected team will take part in the inter-district tournament organised by the PCA for the under-16 age group.

All players, less than 16 years of age as on September 1, 1992 (i.e. born on or after 1.9.1992), either studying or living in Mohali, are eligible for the trials. The players must bring a photocopy of birth certificate or a certificate from the respective institute confirming the date of birth. 

Chandigarh, May 7
Pankaj Gulati and Jaspal Singh moved into the quarterfinals of the billiards game of 150 points in the VII Saurabh Khattar Memorial Billiards and Snooker Championship at Chandigarh Club here today.

Pankaj beat Dipinder Singh 152-121 in a well-contested tie while Jaspal secured his berth in the next round by beating Sanjay Kaushal 151-102.

The results of snooker 2nd round best of three frames: Vishal Gupta b Ajay Gupta 2-1 (74-42, 17-68, 52-48); Ajay Singla b Anand Chhibber 2-0 (91-30, 51-50); Pardeep Kinger b Pankaj Gulati 2-1 (74-26, 19-60, 57-26); K.S. Nalwa b Sahil Saini 2-0 (42-35, 61-31).

Chandigarh, May 7
Fear of the law seems to be the last thing on the minds of Panjab University students. The police arrested 19 youngsters carrying sharp-edged weapons in their vehicles from the entry gate of the university here this morning.

All those, who were arrested, were outsiders and belonged to periphery of the city. The sources said they were called by a law student, Swarandeep Singh Gypsy, for his security. Gypsy came to take his examination today.

While the police claimed that the accused had been arrested from the gate, as per the universities sources, the vehicles had managed to reach the department of laws from where they were chased by the police.

Talking to The Tribune, ASP Madhur Verma said during the checking, which had been intensified following Saturday’s incident in which a group of students attacked law student Simrandeep Singh Sandhu while he was taking examination, the police nabbed 14 youngsters, sitting in a Qualis (CH03D-3657) from the university’s gate while trying to gain entry to the premises. Five others were in a Zen and were carrying lethal arms in the vehicle.

“On search, the police found hockey sticks, sluggers, chains, rods, sickles and ‘lathis’ from their vehicles. On investigation, they told the police that they came to fight for the sake of a university student,” said the ASP.

Meanwhile, the police has also booked eight youngsters, who were waiting outside the university gate (opposite Sector 15) in a car carrying swords, knives and sticks on Saturday morning.

“The arrest of a large number of students with lethal arms from on and around the premises is not a good sign. Though we have fastened the security there, the university authorities should also take measures to strengthen their internal security,” said Madhur Verma.

Meanwhile, the accused have been booked under Sections 107/151 of the IPC. They were produced before the SDM and later, they were bailed out.

Chandigarh, May 7
Dr Anup Kumar of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 here, reported that his motorcycle (CH-03-C-2631) was stolen from Sector 32 on May 5. A case has been registered at the Sector 34 police station.

Chandigarh, May 7
The police today arrested two youths and booked three others on the charges of assaulting Preetinder Singh, a resident of Sector 21.

The accused have been identified as Rohit Nakra and Jaspreet, both residents of Sector 47, along with Sukha, Thapa and Honey. The incident took place outside Hotel Monarch, Sector 35, on May 4. Preetinder Singh was seriously injured when the group thrashed him. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 7
The Australia-India economic relationship has grown steadily in recent years and has the potential to improve considerably as India’s economic growth continues.

This was stated by Mike Carter, trade commissioner, Australian Trade Commission, while addressing industry delegates at the roundtable discussion with Australian delegation organised by the CII (northern region) here today.The trade commissioner was accompanied by a seven-member business delegation, comprising business heads representing agriculture, horticulture and skill development sectors.

India was Australia’s sixth largest merchandise export market, and had been Australia’s fastest growing merchandise export market over the last six years, he said. Australia is India’s second largest export market for wheat pulses. North India is fast becoming the hub for Australian companies. Australia is one of the world’s leading agro economies and with agriculture being the mainstay of the North Indian states, the tie-up between Austrade and the CII makes good business sense, he said. Speaking on the occasion, P.C. Kapoor, principal secretary (agriculture), Himachal Pradesh, said the interaction would provide fillip to realise the trade potential between the two countries.