NEIGHBOURHOOD

Fearing threat from MLA, Dalit families go missing
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Bassi Pathana, July 4
The two warring factions of SAD have got involved in a tug-of-war to capture the plum post of the MC chief in Bassi Pathana.

The two groups, one led by former minister R.S. Cheema and the other by Rajesh Pal Singh Lalli and MLA Didar Singh Bhatti, held parallel tea parties today to woo the newly elected councillors. The supporters of both groups were busy ensuring the presence of maximum number of councillors at their respective parties. While six councillors attended the party hosted by Cheema at the residence of newly elected councilor Raman Gupta, eight councillors were present at the residence of Rajesh Pal Singh Lalli. Didar Singh Bhatti was also present. There was one councillor who attended both parties. Former minister Dr Harbans Lal also called a meeting of the councillors to install his man as the president. According to sources, six councillors were present at the meeting.

Independents, who won five seats and most of whom are from Congress background, however, hold the key to the post of MC president.

While talking to The Tribune, most Independents and some of the Congress councillors were in favour of installing a candidate backed by SAD as MC president. They said the president from the ruling coalition, with the blessings of the MLA, could only bring grants for the development of the town. 

Ambala, July 4
The farmers’ fight against acquisition of their land by the HSIIDC for Industrial Growth Centre at Saha has taken a new turn with the death of 42-year-old Tara Chand.

Tara Chand, who worked as a carpenter and owned a piece of land measuring one-and-a-half kanal in Dhakola village, suffered a heart attack this morning and died on his way to hospital in Ambala Cantonment.

Tara Chand’s relatives and friends stated that he was healthy and alleged that it was the stress of losing his land that claimed Tara Chand's life. Talking to The Tribune, his uncle Ashok Kumar said Tara Chand was very upset since June 19 when SDM Mukesh Kumar Ahuja came with the settlement money. “The market value of his land is approximately Rs 35 lakh. The HSIIDC, however, valued it at Rs 1.2 lakh. This really upset him. For the past three days, he had been extremely worried about his and his children's future,” stated Ashok.

Around 20 years ago, Tara Chand had sold his land in nearby Nahoni village and shifted to Dhakola village in Saha as it was a more developed area. “He was having sleepless nights. I came yesterday night and tried to make him understand that things were not so bad. But today morning at about 2, he got up gasping and while we were rushing him to hospital, he passed away,” said the deceased's wife.

The villagers today planned to block the Ambala-Yamunanagar highway. However, the village elders advised them against it. They have decided not give the land to the HSIIDC come what may. “We will fight at every level, we have lost a fellow villager and now, we won’t let it go,” stated a village elder. Tara Chand is survived by his wife and four children, including two daughters.

Chandigarh, July 4
Lack of uniformity in promoting various sports disciplines by different sports authorities just leaves the budding sportspersons as well as sports administrators in catch-22 situation.

While many sports disciplines are being promoted by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) at grass-root level, these are neither recognised by Indian Olympic Association (IOA), nor by ministry of youth affairs and sports (MYAS), Government of India, the apex sports regulating authorities in the country.

This puts a question mark on the working of the SGFI, the body responsible to conduct sports at school level, and sports disciplines promoted by the federation. Some of such disciplines, which don’t figure in the list of either IOA or MYAS, are road cycling, sqay martial art, kickboxing and water polo.

While IOA is the supreme body of the country to regulate the sports, MYAS recognises and categorises the disciplines to support them financially as well as with other facilities. On the other hand, the SGFI is mere a private registered society that even cannot have the government departments as its units as per the rules of the Societies Act but still regulating the school sports across the country. Interestingly, the MYAS has not only recognised the SGFI but also put it in its priority list whereas the SGFI.

“With recognising as well as promoting such unrecognised disciplines, the SGFI has been creating confusion among the sportspersons and the sports administrators. When the body officials know that the sportspersons of such disciplines have no future, why they are holding their competitions at school level,” asks Ravinder Talwar, general secretary, Chandigarh Olympic Association.

“With such predicaments being prevailed in the sports circle, how can one hopes for medals in Olympics or at other reputed international competitions,” says Sudershan Kumar, joint secretary, Wu Shu Federation of India.

As the whole expenditure on conducting the competitions at grass-root level in the unrecognised disciplines is being borne by the respective government education departments/sports departments, this is sheer wastage of the efforts, money and time, feel sports experts. “The authorities should streamline the sports scenario in the country. Only those sports disciplines should be introduced at the school level that are recognised by either IOA or MYAS,” a budding sportsperson says.

Chandigarh, July 4
Nine-year-old Jairaj Singh Sandhu of Patiala, the overnight joint leader in Category D, played his worst card of the tournament, a 12-over par 84, to finish third as Rashid Khan of Delhi became the champion in the Lalit Suri Northern India Junior and Sub-Junior Golf Championship which concluded on the par-72 greens of the Army Environmental Park and Training Area (Army golf course) at Dhaula Kuan in Delhi today.

Rashid Khan overcame a fighting Chikkarangappa until the 16th hole and almost committed suicide when he made a double bogey on the 17th and a bogey on the 18th. However, the six-shot cushion saved the day for the Delhi lad who finished with a final round of one under-71 and a four-day aggregate of four under 284. Bangalore lad Chikkarangappa, who submitted the day's best card of 69 had to be content with the second place. However, he has the solace of winning the Category B title.

In a commendable performance, Gurbani Singh overcame the battle of sexes as she emerged the champion by three strokes in Category C. Honey Baisoya was second at 316 while Vidit Singh was third at 324. Subhankar Sharma of Patiala played an 11-over par-83 to finish fourth at 327.

Piyush Sangwan won the Category D crown with a 54-hole total of 237.

Top scores after 72 holes:

Category A & B: 284 Rashid Khan (68, 72, 73, 71); 287 Chikkarrangappa (Cat B) (69, 73 76, 69); 295 Vicky Sharma (73, 70, 77, 75); 297 Kanishk Madan (69, 74, 76, 78); 302 Trishul Chinnappa (Cat B), (77, 73, 82, 70); 306 Ankur Chadha (Cat B) (77, 78, 77, 74), Kapil Kumar (80, 76, 73, 77); 307 Bhanu Pratap Singh (76 78, 73, 80).

Category C: 313 Gurbani Singh (73, 84, 84, 72); 316 Honey Baisoya (82, 78, 78, 78); 324 Vidit Singh (81, 80, 83, 80); 327 Shubhankar Sharma (81, 83, 80, 83).

Category D (54 holes): 237 Piyush Sangwan (78, 81, 78); 240 Viraj G. Madappa (80, 80, 80); 243 Jairaj Singh Sandhu (79, 80, 84); 244 Prakhar Asawa (85, 82, 77).

Mohali, July 4
The Total Tennis Academy will be organising Manav Mangal AITA Total Tennis Talent Series Championship at Manav Mangal Smart School, Phase 10, here from July 5 to 11. The championship will be played in boys’ and girls’ under-12 and under-14 singles and doubles categories.

All the qualifying matches will be played on July 5 and 6, whereas all the main draw matches will be starting from July 7.

Mohali, July 4
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has decided to appoint former Pakistan Test cricketer Intikhab Alam coach of the Punjab senior team for this session. The decision was taken in the meeting of administrative committee of the association. Talking to media, PCA secreatry M.P. Pandove said Alam had worked with the association for two terms as Ranji coach. “We have gone through all merits and considered all pros and cons before finalising the name of former Pakistani Test player,” Pandove said.

A formal letter, apprising him of the development, has already sent to Alam. “He is asked to join the team from September 1”, Pandove added. Alam had earlier worked with Punjab team during 2004-05 and 2005-06. Alam has also worked as manager and coach of Pakistan national team.

Panchkula, July 4
A test for Black Belt will be conducted at Choi Kwang Do Martial Art School, Sector 16, here tomorrow. In the test, being conducted by Master Bikram S. Thapa (5th Degree Black Belt, USA), as many as 14 students will be taking the test, from 2 pm to 5 pm. The students, who are going to appear for 2nd Degree are Shiv Raj Gharti and Rudal Kumar.

Following are the names of other participants: Moksham Chhabra (Age 8), Saksham Chhabra (Age 13), Gopal Bist (Age 23), Khalidur Rahman Sikdar (Age 17), Vaibhav Gupta (Age 12), Prableen Dhanda (Age 14), Harman Dhanda (Age 11), Anmol Singh (Age 10), Navneet Kaur (Age 14), Sahil Garg (Age 16), Kartik Sharma (Age 13), Rajiv Kumar (Age 27).

Chandigarh, July 4
Local soccer player Parminder Singh is on cloud nine as he has been selected by Coca Cola company for a week-long training camp to be held at Brazil. The company conducted a talent hunt campaign ‘Coca Cola football champs’ across the country and selected 16 players for the camp, to be held at Rio De Janeiro from July 7 to 12.

Elated Parminder, a student of Chandigarh’s International Public School, said, “Getting training with other players from various countries with different backgrounds would be a thrilling experience. As many as 312 budding players from 26 countries would participate in the camp. I am looking to learn fine nuances of the game from experts there”.

Mohali, July 4
Final league matches of Sardar Amar Singh Memorial Cricket Tournament for Under-12 were washed out due to rain here today.

Two matches Desh Prem Azad Cricket Academy vs Sector 16 Cricket Stadium and Sunny Enclave XI vs Gillco XI were scheduled to be held today. Due to abandonment of the matches, each team was awarded one point.

Now, with one win and one draw, DP Azad team has moved into the semi-finals from Pool B. The other teams, which have secured its semifinal berth, are APJ, Kharar, Sector 16 Cricket Stadium and Sunny Enclave XI.

The semifinals will be played on Sunday on the PCA ground here. In the first semifinal, DPAC Academy will face APJ XI at 6.45 am while Sector 16 Cricket Stadium are pitted against Sunny Enclave XI at 11.30 am. The final will be played at the PCA Stadium on Tuesday.

Chandigarh, July 4
Subhash, a home guard, was injured, after being hit with a sharp-edged weapon on the internal road of Sector 41, here, late last evening.

According to the police, Subhash along with Mukesh, another home guard, was on night duty. They gave a stop signal to a motorcycle (PB-16-B-3617) carrying three persons. The three, who were under the influence of some intoxicants, allegedly stabbed Subhash. They fled the the spot leaving the motorcycle behind. He sustained injuries on the left arm, following he was rushed to a hospital.

A team has been sent to Anandpur Sahib for the verification of the motorcycle.

Zirakpur, July 4
Thieves decamped with jewellery, worth Rs 1.50 lakh, three cameras and Rs 15,000 cash from residence of The Tribune’s Shimla-based staff photographer Sukh Chandan in Ekta Vihar, Baltana, today.

The miscreants had reportedly entered the house after breaking the lock of the main door, while the occupants were away. Chandan said he had given keys of his house to his neighbour, so that the latter could keep a watch on the house.

It was in the morning that the neighbour saw an unknown person scaling the wall of Chandan’s house carrying a green-coloured bag. On checking, he found the house ransacked. He informed Chandan about burglary, who reached here this evening.

Chandan said his mother and brother were out of station for past few days. The police has registered a case.

Chandigarh, July 4
An unidentified man in his early 50s was found dead at IT Park, here this evening.

Ruling out the possibility of foul play behind the death, the police said no visible injury mark was found on the body.

According to the police, the body was found around 6 pm. Ill-health was suspected to be the reason behind the death, the police said.

The body was shifted to Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, for a postmortem examination.

Inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code have been initiated.

Chandigarh, July 4
To reach out to the domestic tourist market and acquaint people with attractive tourist places, the Kerala tourism department is organising road shows in seven major cities of India. Through these shows, they will focus on highlighting the innovative tourist programmes introduced for the first time in Kerala for showcasing the scenic beauty and other tourism-related programmes.

This was revealed by Kerala tourism director M. Sivasankar while talking to the Tribune during one such road show here today. He stated that the department was organising such shows at Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai also.

Elaborating the figures, he said it was very strange that the state had registered 20.37 per cent increase in international tourists during the last year while there was an increase of only 5.92 per cent in domestic tourists. He said the idea of launching road shows, especially in two northern cities of Chandigarh and Delhi, was that the influx of tourists from this region was very low. He said these shows also provided a platform for interactive sessions with travel and tourist agents for briefing them about the tourist spots and other additions in the department.

Punjab tourism principal secretary Geetika Klaha, who was the chief guest on the occasion, stated that Punjab was also going to introduce a home-stay concept in the state soon. She said under this scheme, farm houses would be converted into hotels for home-stay facilities through which tourists would get to experience rural life and gain knowledge of the rich cultural heritage of the state. A colourful cultural programme was also organised as part of the road show by the artistes of Kerela.

Panchkula, July 4
Rich melodic songs, replete with poignant emotional reverence, marked the musical tributes paid to legendary Punjabi nightingale Surinder Kaur which stilled the flow of time enrapturing the hearts of Punjabis.

The Nightingale Music Akademy, teamed up with the Haryana Punjabi Sahit Akademy and NZCC, to commemorate the memory of legendary melody queen Surinder Kaur at Inderdhanush Auditorium here today.

The live concert featured three generations, including maestro Dolly Guleria, her daughter Sunaina and granddaughter Rhea besides artistes of NM Academy. Chief guest Dr A.R. Kidwai, Haryana Governor, lighted the traditional jyoti escorted by director of HPS Akademy, Gurukul, C.R. Moudgil.

As Dolly stepped in to pay homage to her mentor, mother and guide, singing ‘Amriye tenu’, the environment was charged with emotions leaving many eyes moist.

Later, Dolly Gulreia gave a soulful rendition of songs ‘Rajhan aa vad vehde’, ‘Heer Waris’, ‘jutti kasuri’, ‘mavaan te dhiyan’ and many more songs immortalised by the legend. She, very closely, attempted to emulate the legend whose golden voice had something of a transcendental element. Following Surinder Kaur’s footsteps, Dolly is striving to enrich and carry forward the legacy of pure Punjabi folklore and its cultural nuances propounded by her mother. She presented two Sufi songs from Baba Farid and Shah Hussain’s ‘charkha rang laal’ which was a testimony of her claim to promote literary folk and Sufinana singing.

The colourful presentation was a spectrum of pure Punjabi pastoral life with the Nightingale Academy students staging a medley of Punjabi songs and Malvai gidha by Preetam Rupal.

Earlier, a documentary on the life of Surinder Kaur was shown which depicted her overseas concerts, honours and her playback career in 25 Hindi films before the love for Punjabi folk vibrated in her veins so strongly that she forced her to return to her roots.

Kamaljit Dhillon anchored the musical literary function with admirable competence. Padmabhushan Dr Sardar Anjum, C.R. Moudgil and Manmohan Singh spoke on the occasion.