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Lack of funds mars police duties
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 9 The police department is yet to clear petrol bills worth thousands of rupees for the past four months from January to April, following which no petrol pump owner is ready to give petrol on credit. The department has only two buses with a seating capacity of 55 passengers each, against its strength of 400 personnel. While one bus is frequently used during matches at PCA stadium at Mohali, the other one is sent to ferry forces at the site of dharnas and protests or on special VIP duties. Today one bus was sent for VIP duty, while tomorrow it would be sent for some dharna to be held by a farmers’ union. Almost 20 more buses are needed to accommodate around 1580 police personnel on duty during the elections. Around 950 of these cops are from outside the district. The department has requested private educational institutions to come for their rescue and three buses from these institutes were arranged today. Besides, even the private bus operators are being asked to lend their services. "If we are taking somebody's help today, we will have to oblige that person later in one form or another. Had we been provided with enough infrastructure, the situation would have been much better," said a senior police official on condition of anonymity. Even buses that are hired are not paid for by the department. "We do not get any separate budgetary provision to pay for hired vehicles," added another high-level official. “Earlier, the district administration had been helping police to get vehicles for duties, but this time the administration has already sent a letter stating that the police department should manage from its own budget,” he added. The department has now written to DGP Punjab demanding vehicles for election duty. SSP Kaustubh Sharma said vehicles would be arranged in a day or two. |
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Soil health cards to help farmers
Ambala, May 9 The soil health card is an A-4 size card, which details all the categories the soil is tested in. The agriculture department is keen to popularise the concept of soil testing to help farmers get a better crop and to ensure minimal use of insecticides. Giving details, deputy director agriculture S.P. Sanghwan said farmers were earlier also voluntarily getting the soil checked. The soil card concept was, however, new. “We ensure now that a farmer gets the soil checked every time he changes the crops.” The soil health card ensures that the government lab checks the soil for free. “The government’s target is to distribute three lakh such cards. Tips are given to the farmer on how to spend less on the application of fertilisers. There are four basic categories the soil is checked in and recommendations are written on the card accordingly. It also keeps a record of the condition of the soil,” he said. Earlier, the details used to be provided on a piece of paper. The district’s target is about 10,000 such cards. Harkesh Singh, Kissan Club president, Ambala, said farmers of around 70 villagers are using such cards. |
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Eagles win skating hockey meet
Ambala, May 9 In group-A, Astha stood first whereas; Jahanvi and Khushi secured second and third position, respectively. In group-B, Akshita was declared first while Biya and Nimrat won second and third position, respectively. In group-C, Amrinder, Navraj and Samneet of Tiger House bagged first, second and third position, respectively. In group-D, Priya won first position while Tarnjeet was declared second. In group-E, Supria and Manpreet were first and second, respectively. In skating hockey competition, Eagles House won the championship. Chairman of the school Naresh Guglani distributed the price to the winners. |
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Punjabi University trials on May 14, 15
Patiala, May 9 Trials for girls and boys are on May 14 and 15, respectively. Players should report in the sports department of the university at 7 am in proper kit. They should bring along original academic and sports certificates along with two passport size photographs. |
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Sawhney wins night golf tourism title
Chandigarh, May 9 T.S. Sawhney logged 16 points to clinch the title in the gross score category with Dilmick Lamba finishing second at 15 points. The Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator, Gen S.F. Rodrigues, and his wife were at hand to applaud the winners of a tournament launched by the Chandigarh Tourism Department. Satbir Singh with 25 points clinched the title in the nett category with J.S. Grewal occupying the seond spot at 24 points. The nett winner among the ladies was Jaipreet Ghuman who logged 23 points. Jaipreet Ghuman also had the longest drive of 276 yards. Gurmeet Singh finished nearest to the pin at 4 ft 2 in. This was the first time that the Chandigarh Golf Club had opened its greens to promote night golf tourism. The president of the Chandigarh Golf Club, Mr D.S. Bains, said the club in association with the Chandigarh Tourism Department and the Chandigarh Golf Association will go all out to bring Chandigarh on the international map as a golf tourism destination. Bains said the club would host PGTI's pro golf tournament from May 26 to 31 which will carry a prize money of Rs 30 lakh. It would give the club members an opportunity to play with the top pros in the pro am event. In the tournament held yesterday for the Chandigarh Golf Club members Col S.D.S. Bath emerged winner with 16 points in the gross category. Pankaj Krishan who also logged 16 ponts finished runner-up. Raja K.S. Sidhu with 21 points was the winner in the nett category with Tarlochan Singh occupying the second spot with 20 points. Meeta Mann won the nett category title with 23 points. The longest drive title went to Meeta Mann among ladies and Pankaj Krishan among gents. |
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Look beyond cricket: Indian archery coach
Chandigarh, May 9 At the age of 24, he is the youngest coach ever of the Indian archery team. His teams have won various medals in international competitions recently. Currently, he is training the Punjabi University archery team. Talking to The Tribune, Singh says, “We have been doing well despite crunch in terms of facilities and monetary assistance. Our boys recently displayed great skill, talent and character when they proved their mettle at the Asian Grand Prix in Thailand. Two local players, Anurag and Manveer, won medals in Thailand. “In South Asian Archery Championship also, India won the overall trophy. But, the government took no notice of these achievements. Three other boys also made their mark at the national-level when they made it through the camp held in Kolkata. But despite our ability to deliver in the absence of proper facilities, I feel our efforts have not made the impact desired”. What Singh asserts is that archery, on the national-level, is doing well and is also being rewarded with its due share. But in Punjab, which has sporting talent in abundance, the authorities have remained mute spectators without coming out in support of the sport that could hit bull’s eye with financial aid. “Punjab Archery Association president K.S. Kang is single-handedly running the association without government assistance. Though he is providing sufficient facilities but still they are inadequate. Therefore, it hampers the performance of players and discourages them. The government must do something about this”, says Singh. A gold medallist from the Netaji Subhash Chander National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Kolkata, Singh knows and fully understands his students’ hunger for winning medals. “I try to keep them focussed on performing well. I keep telling the boys that money won’t add to your talent. The truth is that money can’t teach you how to get better, but it can definitely give you the means to aid your natural skill and hone it better. The archery kit costs around Rs 1 lakh, and other expenses, per player, are around Rs 25-30,000 a year. “How are we supposed to develop a team when there is no financial aid coming in? We might not be playing for the money, but there are people who have to run their families and all they’ve got is archery to depend on”. He further adds, “We are holding the Commonwealth Games and are aspiring to make a bid for the Olympics as well. But are we planning on playing three different versions of cricket in these events? Or are we actually serious about making a mark in other sports as well? We have good prospects in archery but the system is such that all dreams of glory are grinded, slowly but surely, and turn into agony. “It’s time that the country starts looking beyond balls, bats and sticks if the hunt for those medals, Olympics or otherwise, has to be brought to a fruitful end”. |
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Billiards and Snooker Championship
Chandigarh, May 9 It was easy get going for Pardeep Kinger, who outclassed Suresh Choudhary by the margin of 44 points, as the score was 151-107. But the pre-quarterfinal match between Ravi Mohan and Mahesh Choudhary proved to be a tough one as both the players put up fine performance with cues. But ultimately, Ravi managed to win by a narrow margin of 11 points (151-140). On the other hand, Pardeep Kinger maintained his winning spree in the snooker pre-quarterfinal match (best of five frames) too, and registered 3-0 win over Gagan Wasu to move ahead. Gagan was virtually no match of the Kinger and lost 11-70, 8-79, 39-73. Vishal Gupta was the other winner in the event, who drubbed Navtej Singh 3-0 (60-54, 50-48, 70-58). Other results Snooker (2nd round, best of three): Sandeep Kochhar b Jaspal Singh 2-0 (56-42, 55-45); Dipinder Singh b Sanjay Kaushal 2-1 (72-14, 22-45, 67-43).
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Basketball probables
Chandigarh, May 9 The players are to report at NPS-18 at 6 pm on May 9 for the coaching camp. Boys: Pulkit, Nishant, Sahil, Parveen, Satish, Balraj, Amjyot, Kanwarjit, Nitin, Vivek, Manish, Sartaj, Satwant, Bismanpreet, Kaushal. Girls: Varsha, Amandeep, Megha, Sushma, Suman, Manpreet, Aditi, Ravleen, Krittika, Hareetinder, Jagdeep, Surbhi, Navdeep, Gagandeep, Priya.
— TNS |
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One killed, 11 hurt in collision
Panchkula, May 9 The deceased has been identified as Tarsem (28) a resident of Gorakhnath village of Pinjore. The injured including Nath, Omi, Bhola, Rajkumar, Gurdial, Partap Chand, Diwan Mistry, Puppy, all residents of Gorahnath village, and Diwan Halwai, a resident of Shahpur village, were admitted to a local
private nursing home and Kalka Community Health Centre. Two of the injured, Raghubir and Lajjaram, both residents of Gorakhnath village were referred to PGI, Chandigarh, in a critical condition. According to police, the accident took place when the farmers were on their way to sell wheat at Chandigarh. However, the tractor-trolley collided a truck coming from Pinjore side near Basaula village. The police have registered a case against the truck driver and sent the body of the deceased to Kalka for
postmortem.
One dead
Rajpura: A newly-married person, Amarinder Singh, died in an accident today afternoon while he was on his way to his wife’s village in Rajpura. The relatives said the victim was a resident of village
Rai Majra in Patiala. He left Patiala at around 9 am to meet his wife in village Dhandsu near Rajpura. A speeding PRTC bus (PB-11K-8514), coming from Chandigarh side, hit his
motorcycle (PB-39-D-3064) at around 10.30 am. He was rushed to Rajpura Civil Hospital from where he was referred to the PGI. He died on way to the PGI. The relatives of the victim said Amarinder was married two months back in village Dhandsu near Chandigarh The driver of the bus Harpreet Singh is at large but a case has been registered against him. The body of the victim has been handed over to the family members after the postmortem.
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Woman lodges dowry complaint
Chandigarh, May 9 In her complaint to the police, she alleged that her in-laws and her husband was harassing and maltreating her to bring more dowry. The case is under investigation with the Woman and Child Support Unit of the Chandigarh police.
Stolen
Suraj Kamal Barwana of Sector 41 has reported that his scooter (DL-4-SBE-4207) was stolen on May 8 from outside his home. A case has been registered at the Sector 39 police station. In another incident, Deep Raj of Gurdaspur filed a complaint alleging that his car (PB-18-M-0019) was stolen from Sector 35. A case has been registered at the police station, Sector 36.
Assault
Nirbhai Singh, a resident of Sector 15, has lodged a complaint that Deepa of Patiala allegedly entered his home and assaulted him on May 8. A case has been registered at the police station, Sector 11.
Hit-and-run
Padam Singh of Dadumajra Colony has reported that he was hit by a Scorpio (HR-03-J-0720) near Sector 20. The driver allegedly sped away. A case under Sections 279 and 337, IPC, has been registered at the police station, Sector 19.
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Theft of 2 Gypsies leaves cops confounded
Chandigarh, May 9 On April 25, someone stole a Gypsy, attached to VIP security, from Sector 20 and exactly 10 days after, the thieves left the police blushing by stealing the vehicle of the Crime Branch in charge, Prem Chand, and that, too, from the safest zone of the city, Police Lines, Sector 26. “We have dispatched parties to many places including Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The Gypsy is very suitable in the hills, so our parties would also search in the interiors of the hilly states”, said DSP (East) PK Dhawan. The police is also focusing on the ‘workshops’ of Punjab and Haryana, especially Moga and Dabwali, where such vehicles are ‘transformed’ so that they can be sold, added Dhawan. However, the officer also held that it could be the handiwork of some insider.
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City lacks theatre infrastructure
Chandigarh, May 9 In 1961, the city's first and only theatre, Tagore Theatre, was constructed by the administration to promote art and culture in the city. Since then, the administration has taken no initiatives for setting up another big theatre. Recalling the origin of theatre in Chandigarh, renowned theatre artiste and director Prof Mehndi Rata commented that he found it strange that the city whose theatre was established with the foundation of the city, was crying for basic
infrastructure. Talking to The Tribune, renowned theatre artiste and director Neelam Mann Singh said just because of non-availability of a theatre in the city she had been unable to stage her latest play 'Suit' in Chandigarh, which had already been staged in all the important towns of the country. She expressed surprise that despite ample availability of space in the city, no initiative had been taken to establish good theatres. She said theatre planners should understand that theatre did not need a big hall with a huge seating capacity, but should have basic facilities for the artistes. Sudesh Sharma, director of ‘Theatre for Theatre’, revealed that a number of times representations had been sent to the authorities in the Chandigarh administration for constructing good theatres in the city but in vain. He said as Tagore Theatre was the only theatre in the city, many renowned theatre groups had avoided performing here because of space constraints and preferred to perform in Punjab instead. He said for the past one year, renovation was again going on at Tagore Theatre, which had affected the schedule of a number
of plays. Creator of Nonsense Club and prominent theatre personality of the town Jaspal Bhatti said there was no doubt that due to lack of infrastructure, the city was not able to view the performance of good theatre groups of the country. He said corporate companies should take inspiration from the recent IPL event of cricket and make liberal investment in theatres for its promotion in the
country. |
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