NEIGHBOURHOOD

Top sportspersons to be honoured
Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 27
Buoyed by winning Abdul Kalam Azad Trophy twice, the highest award in sports in the country, Punjabi University will honour international players and take their services to make good sportspersons out of students, said Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor.

Speaking at a function organised to honour Harnek Singh Rai, an international powerlifter, on the campus, the Vice-Chancellor said the winning of the trophy had put an extra responsibility on the university to recognise eminent players and those associate with sports activities of the institution.

Patiala, October 27
Punjabi University, Patiala, has over the past few years not only done well in academics but has also gained an envious reputation in sports activities by bagging the coveted MAKA trophy. However, with each passing day, students feel much more remains to be done in the way of reforms if the varsity wants to be counted among the country’s top institutions.

A student in the journalism department feels the university’s student body needs to have more representation from other states. “Over 90 per cent of the students are Punjabis and students from other states do not find it easy to adjust here. Also, much stress is laid on Punjabi rather than English, making it a little difficult for outsiders.”

Another student, from the psychology department, is of the view that the university needs to update its libraries. “I often go to the university library and find the pages of most of the books missing. It’s quite frustrating, as one cannot rely on the Internet alone for information. Moreover, the varsity is short of places where one can sit and study. I’ve also noticed if girls and boys sit together people tend to look at them suspiciously despite the fact that it’s a co-ed institution,” she added.

Student elections are another concern of the students. Some see the absence of student councils as a major grievance. Though there are many political groups none of them is powerful enough to take up outstanding issues.

Students said they had every right to choose their student councils like other big universities. “Elections should be conducted in order to select student representatives who would stand up for students’ rights. Absence of such councils leave students at the mercy of the university authorities,” they added.

Some girls demanded Wi-Fi facilities for hostels so that they could work even after the hostel gates were closed. They also laid stress on practical education. “Nowdays students need more exposure and that’s possible only when they move around, visit other educational institutions or even other countries”, they added.

Another major demand of the students is for the establishment of placement cells.

Banur, October 27
A one-day workshop on networking and communication was held at Shaheed Udham Singh Woman Engineering College, Tangori.

As many as 128 students of third semester of computer science and engineering and information technology participated.

Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu, chairman of Shaheed Udham Singh Group of Institutions, spoke on the future of communication engineering and networking.

Students discussed various subjects, including networking protocol, OSI models, networking hardware, networking architecture and cyber crime.

Prof HPS Sidhu, principal of SUSWEC, said in addition to theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge acquired by such workshops was helpful in shaping the future of budding engineers.

Ambala, October 27
The three-day zonal youth festival of Kurukshetra University was concluded at SA Jain College, Ambala City, today.

Around 24 colleges from Ambala City, Ambala Cantonment, Kalka, Panchkula and Shahbad took part in the festival.

DIG (CID, Haryana) Rajbir Deswal was the chief guest on the concluding day.

While addressing participants, he said art was the natural expression of human behaviour. He said the western culture had been overshadowing the Indian classical art and music. He said the new generation had been overlooking the traditional art and culture.

Referring to the modern art, he said there was no place for obscenity in the art. He asked the students to actively participate in the cultural activities, as there were possibilities in the field of art and culture.

He asked the students to impose self discipline in their lives to be a responsible citizen. He said the social atmosphere, teachers and parents could play an important role in the development of young generation.

The recommended teams of the festival presented colourful cultural items. The Haryanavi orchestra was one of the best presentations of the day. Deswal distributed prizes to the top position holders of the festival.

On the last day of the festival, SD College, Ambala Cantt, topped in the Haryanavi male solo dance, while DAV College, Ambala City, and Markanda National College, Shahbad, got the second and third position, respectively.

In the Haryanavi female solo dance, Government College, Ambala Cantt, SD College, Ambala Cantt, and Government Girls’ College, Panchkula, achieved the first, second and third position, respectively.

In the Haryanavi skit contest, SD College, Ambala Cantt, declared first while Government College, Kalka, and Arya Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Shahbad, declared as the runners-up.

In the one-act play, DAV College, Ambala City, SD College, Ambala Cantt, and SA Jain College, Ambala City, secured first, second and third positions.

In mimicry, SA Jain College, Ambala City, was adjudged as the winner, while Arya Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Shahbad, and Government College, Ambala Cantt, were declared as the runners-up.

Zirakpur, October 27
A Chandigarh-based shopkeeper was allegedly robbed at gunpoint by three robbers here late last night. The victim, Alok Kumar Yadav, was assaulted and robbed of Rs 26,000 cash, a gold ring and a mobile phone. He was later thrown out of the car near Gazipur village.

Yadav, who runs a photo studio, said he was waiting for a bus outside the Ambala bus stand last night when three men in a Maruti car stopped near him.

They told him that they were going to Chandigarh and offered to give him a lift. Yadav, a resident of Ram Darbar, agreed and on the way, near Zirakpur flyover, one of the accused seated in the front seat pointed a gun at him. He was then told to surrender his cash and valuables.

The miscreants checked his pockets and took Rs 26,000 cash and a mobile phone. They also snatched a gold ring and his wallet containing an ATM card.

In an attempt to extract more money, they stopped the car outside an ICICI bank ATM near a petrol pump and asked him to operate the ATM. Yadav, however, told them that he had forgotten the PIN. The robbers then assaulted him and left the victim injured near Gazipur village on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway.

The assailants fled and Yadav failed to notice the car registration number.

He told the police that the accused were in mid-thirties.

After few hours of the incident, he managed to reach the Zirakpur police station and narrated the incidence. The police has started investigations and also informed the Ambala police. 

Chandigarh, October 27
The police arrested three armed persons while allegedly making preparations for a dacoity. The police said Arjun, Sonu Yadav and Kapoor, residents of Colony No. 5, were arrested last night.

Chandigarh, October 27
Curtains came down on the spectacular 55th National School Games here today in which nearly 2,300 students from 22 states, one UT and two units of SGFI participated.

The six-day event was hosted by Chandigarh administration came to a festive and colourful conclusion at Sports Complex, Sector 7, Chandigarh. A colourful and vibrant bhangra was presented by nearly 200 students of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, Chandigarh.

Chief guest Pardip Mehra, adviser to the UT administrator, honoured the winners of four disciplines, including dodgeball, fencing, gymnastics and softball.

He also lauded the efforts made by education department and other key departments of Chandigarh administration for hosting the 55th National School Games and looking after all the needs and comforts of sports persons from various states.

Observer from SGFI, NM Nanda also expressed his appreciation at the flawless and immaculate arrangements made by the Chandigarh administration and also declared Chandigarh as the best host amongst all states.

Later, Mehra declared the 55th National School Games closed followed by a march past by the participating teams from various states and retreat ceremony.

The following teams from various states bagged coveted top positions in the four disciplines of dodgeball, fencing, gymnastics and softball.

Results

Softball (boys)

U-14: Ist Chandigarh, 2nd Chhatisgarh and 3rd Delhi

U-17: Ist Chandigarh, 2nd Delhi and 3rd Madhya Pradesh (MP)

U-19: Ist Chandigarh, 2nd MP and 3rd Punjab

Softball (girls)

U-14: Ist Punjab, 2nd Chandigarh and 3rd Delhi

U-17: Ist Chandigarh, 2nd Delhi and 3rd Punjab

U-19: Ist Chandigarh, 2nd Rajasthan and 3rd Punjab

Dodgeball (boys)

U-19 years: Ist Delhi, 2nd Tamil Nadu and 3rd Chandigarh

Dodgeball (girls)

U-19: Ist Delhi, 2nd Chandigarh and 3rd Uttar Pradesh (UP)

Fencing (boys)

U-19: Ist Manipur, 2nd Chandigarh and 3rd Punjab

Fencing (girls)

U-19: Ist Manipur, 2nd Assam and 3rd Punjab

Fencing overall trophy: Ist Manipur, 2nd Chandigarh and 3rd Punjab

Gymnastics overall trophy (boys and girls): Ist Maharashtra, 2nd Punjab and 3rd West Bengal

Chandigarh, October 27
St Kabir School, Sector 26, defeated St Anne’s School, Sector 32, with an aggregate 5-3 margin in the tie-breaker session after sharing two goals in the regulation period in the Chandigarh Football Association Coca Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy for U-15 boys football tournament at the Sector-17 Football Stadium today.

Barring this group D match, the remaining encounters turned out to be one-sided affair.

In Group C, DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, handed out a 4-0 drubbing to Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22, by 4-0 and qualified to meet Saupin’s School-32 in the quarterfinal match tomorrow.

Manish stole the show for the winners by scoring goals in the 16th and 48th minutes. Ashwani and Amit added one goal each in the 50th and 52nd minutes, respectively.

Strong contenders St Stephen’s School also started their campaign by routing St Peter’s School, Sector 37, by 3-0 in a Group A encounter.

Wongoing Metei displayed his scoring skills, as he found the Peter’s School’s defense off guard in the 13th and 20th minutes.

Jasbir booted home a goal in the 15th minute. In-group D fixture, St John’s School of Sector 26 defeated The Banyan Tree School of Sector 48 with a 4-0 margin.

Harshit spearheaded their attack and pumped in goals in the 7th and 22nd minutes. Sarfraz and Arnav Rawat got one goal each in the 27th and 47th minutes to complete The Banyan Tree School’s rout.

St John’s School will now meet St Kabir School in the quarterfinal encounter tomorrow.

The match between St Kabir and St Anne’s was an interesting affair. St Anne’s drew the first blood through Abhijit, who got the better of St Anne’s defense in the 10th minute. Stunned with the reverses, St Kabir retaliated and neutralised the lead in the 24th minute through Shubhinder. Both teams later played a cautious game.

With 1-1 in the regulation period, the tie-breaker rule was applied to resolve the deadlock. St Kabir converted penalties through Shubhinder, Damesh, Sanchit and Shivam.

For St Anne’s, Pankaj and Edwin converted their spot kick. Abhijit and Siddharath wasted their penalties.

Chandigarh, October 27
SGGS College, Chandigarh, thrashed SCD Government College, Ludhiana, by 6-1 in the Panjab University Inter-College Hockey (men) A-division tournament being played at the Hockey Stadium, Sector 42, here today.

Ameet of SGGS, Chandigarh, scored the first goal in the 18th minute and soon after Tranpreet of SCDGC, Ludhiana, scored the goal for his team to level the score at one each.

Both the teams remained on the same score as neither of them could convert the moves into goals.

Six minutes after the start of the second session, Ameet shot another goal giving one goal lead to his team. The SGGS team continued to launch the attack and never allowed their opponents to make any move against them.

Sandeep and Preetinder of SGGS scored one goal each to ensure victory. Davinder Singh scored the 6th goal in the 64th minute of the game.

In the second match, GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, beat ILR Government College by 1-0.

Players of Khalsa College continuously played attacking game against their opponents and did not allow their opponent to take hold of the ball.

Though ILR players had made excellent moves during the first few minutes of the game, still could not convert them into goals.

Just before the end of the first-half, Gurbhej Singh of GHG Khalsa College scored the only goal to take a lead of 1-0 in the first half. However, the team could not score any goals in the second half, as the players of ILR College became defensive and foiled their attempts to score further.