NEIGHBOURHOOD

Bihar resident held for killing two 
He murdered them for Rs 500 or Rs 1,000
Tribune News Service

1 booked under new police Act 
Tribune News Service

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 10
The first case under the New Punjab Police Act was registered yesterday at the Bassi Pathana police station against Harvinder Singh of Mohalla, Singhpura. The law was enacted recently wherein the police was given powers to arrest a person for creating ruckus at public places.

Harvinder was abusing a woman in an inebriated condition last night. He was booked under Section 68 of the New Punjab Police Act on the complaint of Swaran Kaur and was imposed a penalty of Rs 1,000.

SSP Kaustubh Sharma said this was for the first time that the district police had booked a person under the New Punjab Police Act 2007. Under this law one could be imprisoned or fined depending upon the nature of crime.

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 10
The UT police today recorded statements of the bride and nearly dozen other people who fell sick after consuming food at Hotel Park Inn, Sector-35-C, Chandigarh, on Sunday.

The victims also met UT SSP S. S. Srivastava who assured them to take stringent action against the hotel staff, if they were found guilty.

Harmeetpal Singh, a resident of Sirhind, married Avinash Kaur of Pinjore and their marriage party was organised at Hotel Park Inn.

After consuming food, the couple and more then a dozen of their relatives fell ill and even the bandwallahs and drivers at the party taken ill.

"After partaking lunch at the hotel in Sector 35, Chandigarh, the relatives left for their houses in Sirhind, Jalandhar, Patiala, Manimajra, Mohali and Rajpura. We started receiving phone calls after few hours from all our relatives who complain severe stomach pain", said Harmeetpal Singh.

Even the bride, Avinash Kaur, fell ill and was rushed to a private hospital in Sirhind. She also went into depression after relatives started complaining her parents about the bad-food.

The marriage was solemenised at a gurudwara in sector-34 on Sunday morning after which the wedding guests and relatives of Harmeetpal went to have lunch in the hotel in sector-35.

"We reached Sirhind at around 8 pm after having the lunch between 2 pmand 4 pm at the hotel and all relatives started complaining vomiting and stomach pain at around 4 am", said the relatives.

Jaspal Kaur, aunt of Harmeetpal, said two of their relatives were undergoing treatment at the PGI. The doctors said it would take more then a week to recover completely.

The relatives claimed that they had even complained about the smell emanating from a vegetable served by the hotel staff. "They said that it is due to the over use of oil and butter and nothing else", said Darshan Singh.

Sector-36 SHO Anoop Singh said the victims had been told to bring their medical records to support their claims. "We have recorded the statements of the victims and have also called up hoteliers for their statement", he said.

The father of the girl, in his complaint to the police, alleged that Vijay Kumar took his daughter with him around a week ago from Attewali village in Fatehgarh Sahib. A case was registered against the accused at the Fatehgarh Sahib police station and efforts were made to nab him.

Some informers told the investigating officer, Narinder Singh, that Vijay was seen at Naina Devi with a girl of around 13 years.

The police party reached there on Sunday, but failed to trace him. The investigating officer came to know that Vijay had got wind of the police raid and would try to take the girl away to Bihar by a train.

Vijay was sent to judicial remand after being produced in the court.

A case under Sections 363, 366-A and 376 of the IPC has been registered against Vijay. The girl has been handed over to her father. 

Patiala, October 10
Budha Dal Public School annexed the trophy in the boys-18 category in the CBSE Inter-School Basketball Tournament, which concluded at Blossom Senior Secondary School here today.

The tournament was organised to mark the annual day celebrations of Blossom school. “Our Lady” of Fatima Convent School was placed second while St Peter’s Academy was placed third.

In the girls’ under-18 category, Budha Dal cagers once against shone to lay their hands on the title. They were followed by Mukat Public School, Rajpura, and Blossom school.

DAV Centenary School, Nabha, was placed first in the under-14 girls’ section. Budha Dal School and St Peter’s Academy were placed second and third, respectively.

In the boys’ under-14 section, Bhupindra Internationl Public School annexed the title. St Peter’s Academy and Blossom Senior Secondary School were placed second and third, respectively.

Kanwalpreet Kaur of tenth standard was given Maharani Preneet Kaur Award for all-round performance. Gurkiran Kaur of tenth standard bagged Major B.S.S. Bedi Award for outstanding performance in the year.

Patiala, October 10
Thirty-nine-year-old Meena got a new lease of life at Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital GSMCH. Meena, who was suffering from Guillain Barre syndrome, was admitted to the hospital in a semi-conscious state with the history of loss of power in all her limbs and septicaemia. She had difficulty in breathing and her relatives had lost all hope of her survival.

She was immediately shifted to the ICU under the expert supervision of Dr Jasbir Kaur, chief intensivist and professor and head of the department of anaesthesia, and was given intensive care. Her blood pressure restored and general condition improved and stabilised. The patient stayed in the hospital for two months. With the help of vigorous physiotherapy and continuous extensive monitoring and nutritional therapy, she started showing the signs of recovery. Now, she is breathing without support and taking a normal diet. She has even started speaking and moving with support. Timely intervention and expertise available at the hospital helped the patient win a losing fight against the gruesome disease.

Dr A.S. Sekhon, principal of Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, claimed that the hospital was equipped with the latest technology and had the most experienced faculty in the region. Recently, with the empanelling of the hospital under the Bhai Kanhaiya Cashless Scheme, SGPC employees, their families and members of Medsave Healthcare Limited would be able to benefit from the services provided by the hospital. 

Patiala, October 10
The Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) will soon regularise the services of around 260 contractual employees appointed in 2001.

General secretary of the PRTC Workers’ Union Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal said that the PRTC had constituted a five-member committee to look into the genuine demands of the employees, including regularisation of their services.

He said that the PRTC had employed nearly 260 employees, most of them drivers and conductors, on contractual basis in 2001 and they used to draw their salaries from the Corporation. However, after 2001, no employee was appointed on contractual basis and in 2003, the PRTC decided to outsource the work to private parties.

However, outsourcing led to frustration among the workforce as the contractor, through whom the employees were appointed, did not give them full salaries. Moreover, they were forced to work for more than eight hours.

Dhaliwal told The Tribune that over 1,500 employees had been appointed on contractual basis in the Corporation.

He said that work of appointing employees on contract was given to five contractors. “These employees had been urging the PRTC management to regularise their services since long as they were feeling victimised by the contractors,” said Dhaliwal.

He added that the contractual employees were asked to work for nearly 10-12 hours a day against the normal working time of eight hours. The leaders of various trade unions in the PRTC had been taking up their case with the management, but to no avail, he added.

Now, acting on the demands of the employees, the PRTC has constituted a committee to look into their demands. The committee members, mostly top officials of the Corporation, have sought two months time from the union leaders to look into their demands.

Sources reveal that the first step that the committee would take is to regularise the services of contractual employees appointed in 2001. Source disclosed that out of the total workforce appointed on contractual basis in 2001, services of 60 per cent employees would be regularised, they added.

When contacted, PRTC managing director Manvesh Sidhu said that when these employees were appointed in 2001, a written test was conducted before giving them appointment letters.

He also admitted that a five-member committee had been formed to look into the demands of employees. Additional managing director Raj Singh Sidhu is heading the committee, he added. 

Playgrounds that were
Ravi Dhaliwal

Patiala, October 10
Development comes at a heavy price. The city, steeped in a rich sports tradition, now watches helplessly as playgrounds are fast disappearing into oblivion - all in the name of development.

Going by the rate at which they are doing the vanishing act, the city’s remaining playgrounds may well become pieces of the past.

The first big playground to face the axe was the City High School ground. Spread over an area of four football fields, old-timers recall how several competitive matches were played here.

The ground, which now houses a multi-storey structure of the Punjab Languages Department, has played host to many matches featuring test cricketers like Mohinder Amarnath and his sibling Surinder Amarnath.

Interestingly, at that time their father - the legendary Lala Amaranth - was posted in the Patiala State Sports Department, which later merged into the Pepsu Sports Department.

The ground also played host to numerous hockey and football matches with Punjabi football legends Inder Singh and Jarnail Singh gracing the ground with their presence.

The Police Lines ground in Ragho Majra was the next to go. Apart from a police station, a residential colony has also mushroomed in the ground.

National hockey camps, prior to the 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome Olympics and the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games, were held here. Prominent among those who have played in the ground are legends like Maj Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh (senior), Dharam Singh, Charanjit Singh and Ashwani Kumar.

The late Udham Singh, the grand old man of Indian hockey, also displayed his hockey prowess on this very ground.

These days, whatever space is lying vacant is being used by vendors as the town’s main vegetable market is just a stone’s throw away from the ground.

Next came the turn of the Master Tara Singh Park, which used to cater to the sporting needs of institutions like Sewak Jatha High School and Government Girls School (No. 32).

The annual sports meets of these schools and other inter-school meets used to be held here. Now a PSEB sub-station-cum-complaint centre and a massive water tank have come up on the land.

Another example is of the playground of BN Khalsa School, located on the Sirhind road, where commercial structures and a residential colony have come up on either side.

The Arya Samaj ground, which was used by children of the SDSE school to play hockey and cricket matches during the 50s and 60s, is now filthy with the construction of a water tank.

Sports psychologists say lack of proper playing facilities is proving detrimental to the interest of children.

What takes the cake is the fact that whatever little space is left for sports is being taken up for jamborees like melas and functions, even government-sponsored ones.

The Polo Ground is one such example. Whenever politicians deem it fit, they hold rallies and other public functions in this ground. Sadly, even religious functions are held at the grounds.

A former Olympian opined that although nothing can be done to save those grounds where structures have come up, the least the administration can do is earmark a particular venue for public functions as the Chandigarh administration has done by setting aside the Parade Ground, Sector 17, for non-sports activities.

Ropar, October 10
Students of Rayat Institute of Engineering and Information Technology have brought laurels to the institute by winning overall trophy in the Punjab Technical University Inter-College Table Tennis Tournament for girls organised at ACET, Amritsar.

Kirandeep, Mamta Bhandari and Kriti Mahajan won tournament outstaging 14 teams from various engineering and technical institutions, which took part in the tournament. Rayat team outclassed IET-Bhaddal team by 3-2 in final.

Kirandeep and Mamta Bhandari were also declared the best players of the tourney, and were selected to represent PTU in the inter-varsity tournament.

Rayat and Bahra team defeated SVIET, Banur by 3-0 and Chitkara Institute by 3-0 in quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to finally reign supreme 
in the final.

It may be recalled that Vishal Sharma, a student of Rayat institute, won two gold medals in karate open national tournament as the institutes' teams won gold medals in women cricket tournament and shot-put events. In power-lifting and men's football events, institute's teams won silver

medals. Men and women teams of the institute won bronze medals in lawn-tennis and triple-jump events.

Ambala, October 10
The Ambala Cantt (Sadar) Municipal Committee has decided to increase the municipality limits of the town from 6.33 square kilometres to 27.8 square kilometres. This is being done for the first time since it has been set up.

The new limits will include Defence Colony (5.465 km) and 13 villages (16.01 km). The villages being included are Kalrehri, Boh, Babbyal, Chandpura, Sarsehri,Rampur, Khojkipur, Naggal, Kardhan, Rolan, Khuddakhurd, Munarheri, Salaheri. A total of 3955 acres will be acquired in this process and added to the existing Muncipal Committee.

The process of acquiring this land is in the final stages. On Monday, the complete case will be sent to the local body office, Haryana, for acquiring it, informed Gopal Kalawat, municipal engineer.

The process to increase the municipal limits has been going on since 2002. It picked up momentum in May, 2007, after the Jagadhri Road Traders Welfare Association wrote an appeal to include these villages into the limit to senior functionaries and the MC. The panchayats of these villages too have asked to be included in the municipality limits.

Keeping this in mind, the MC passed a resolution for it at its house meeting in January this year. The proposal was then sent to the district administration for approval, who has also cleared.

The DC gave it a final nod this morning and asked for all formalities to be completed. Sources state that a nod from the District Town and Planning Office and also from the director, Urban Development, is awaited for the final go ahead. If all goes ahead without any hiccup, the process should be complete by December this year. Senior officials and councillors are seeing this step as politically motivated to help legalise the numerous colonies that have come up in this area.

Defence Colony is already an established colony, which is seen as one of the posh localities with many retired Army officers settled here. In the villages, many colonies have come up and people have bought properties here. More than 80 per cent is already constructed, roads are built and sewerages in place.

Chandigarh, October 10
Taking note of a complaint seeking probe into the illegal sale of plot in Industrial Area, a local court has marked an inquiry directing the SHO, Industrial Area, to investigate the case under Section 156 (3) of CrPC.

The complainant, 80-year-old Kanwar Jagjit Singh Sawhney, stated that a plot with an area of 5131.72 square yards worth Rs 100 crore was sold by Amit Kumar and Suresh Kanta who were working as servant with him in connivance with others after allegedly stealing and forging the documents of the plot and executed fictitious sale of plot number 186-B in Industrial Area.

Kanwar stated that his property was sold through Rajiv Dhjarmani Associates, a property dealer, and the servants were aware of all the transactions and sale of the plot. He claimed that the servants were aware of the whereabouts of documents pertaining to the property. The plot worth Rs 100 crore was sold for Rs 15 crore and the accused took an earnest money of Rs 1.5 crore, he alleged. The complainant was surprised to receive a copy of the suit for permanent injunction, stay order and agreement to sell that was executed on August 27, 2007. The agreement was alleged to have been executed between the complainant and Vijayant Chaudhary. He averred that he has never entered into any alleged agreement to sell.

The complainant maintained that he was the owner and proprietor of Vibgyor Dyestuff and Chemical Industries set up on the said plot. He added that the Punjab government, through a letter dated November 18, 1966, allotted the plot to him. The area was then under the Chandigarh administration.

Chandigarh, October 10
Sixteen-year-old Chikkarangappa from Bangalore played a flawless back nine with three birdies and churned out a three under par 69 card on the final day to clinch the overall title in the Usha Senior Chandigarh Junior and Subjunior Golf Championship that concluded on the par 72 greens of Chandigarh Golf Club here today.

Chikka could not have asked for a better debut into the A category this year finishing at seven over par 295. He left his nearest opponent, Chandigarh's Aman Guron eight strokes behind. Delhi's Ankur Chadha rallied with a par round to overtake Chandigarh's Tarundeep Singh Chadha for the overall third slot and the B category title in the IGU-categorised tournament.

Honey Bisoiya, who played a one under par 71 yesterday, finished with a 78 card to clinch the C category (under-13) title with Piyush Sangwan emerging champion in the D category (under-11).

"The greens were playing well and I made the most of it,” said Chikka. The Bangalore teenager said he took time to read the greens resulting in 78 and 77 scores in the first two rounds. "But once I had read the greens, there was no stopping me,” said Chikka, who has fired his best six under card on his home course at Eagleton in Bangalore.

Chikkarangappa, who double-bogeyed the seventh and lost another stroke on the third, made amends with three birdies for a par 36 front nine. Chikka was in perfect form in the back nine shooting three birdies in a blemish-free 33 for the three-under par score.

Tarundeep Singh Chadha wilted under pressure to concede the B category title to Delhi's Ankur Chadha. Ankur, who was trailing the Chandigarh boy by five strokes on the penultimate day cut down the lead to just one stroke firing three birdies and conceding just one bogey in a two under par 34 front nine. Tarundeep could muster a two over par 38. Ankur took one stroke lead as he birdied the 11th against Tarundeep's bogey. The lead increased to two strokes with Tarundeep playing a double bogey against Ankur's bogey on the 13th. On the 14th Tarundeep bogeyed again to trail by three strokes. Ankur's double bogey on the 15th reduced the lead to again one stroke. The two thereafter played par holes, with Tarundeep missing a birdie pitch on the 18th to finish second in the B category.

Seven-year-old Aadil Bedi finished fifth in the under-11 D category. Aadil had won the under-8 title in the Albatross Junior Golf last week.

The president of Chandigarh Golf Club, D.S. Bains, gave away the prizes.

The final results:

Junior Open (A and B categories): 295 Chikkarangappa (78-77-71-69); 303 Aman Guron (75-77-76-75); 307 Ankur Chadha (81-77-77-72); 308 Tarundeep Singh Chadha (80-77-73-78); 318 Ajay Verma (83-80-76-79); 321 Immamul Huq (83-83-80-75); 322 Sanjeev Kumar (82-81-79-80) and Jong Yung Kim (79-84-79-80); 323 Raghav Bhandari (85-81-82-75) and Kapil Kumar (81-77-83-82).

Category B (under-15): 307 Ankur Chadha (81-77-77-72); 308 Tarundeep Singh Chadha (80-77-73-78); 328 Varun Verma (82-80-81-85); 334 Harman Virk (85-83-83-83); 335 Dhruv D. Kumar (79-86-84-86); 339 Abhishek Kuhar (83-81-85-90).

Category C (under-13): 313 Honey Baisoya (84-80-71-78): 319 Shubankar Sharma (83-75-82-79); 324 Gurbani Singh (81-81-81-81); 325 Vidit Singh (88-78-82-77); 329 Akash Shrinivasan (86-80-84-79).

Category D (under-11): 237 Piyush Sangwan (82-76-79); 241 Viraj Madappa (78-83-80); 253 Mohd Wasil (79-86-88); 276 Karandeep Kochhar (93-92-91); 293 Aadil Bedi (101-94-98).