NEIGHBOURHOOD

Chess meet begins
Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 19
On the call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh Non-Teaching Employees Union, a one-day stay-in-strike and dharna was observed by the non-teaching employees of Modi College and Khalsa College, Patiala, against the Punjab government in their respective colleges here today.

Shamsher Singh, president of non-teaching employees, Khalsa College, said despite reminders, the government was not implementing revised pay scales to non-teaching staff of private-aided colleges. Therefore, the staff would intensify the stir, he added.

Vinod Sharma, press secretary of the Modi College Non-Teaching Employees Union, said the government was in no mood to grant pay scales according to the 5th Pay Commission and this was the reason they were holding weekly protests in the college.

Ravinder Kaur, president of the union, said after several demonstrations and strikes by the non-teaching staff in private colleges of Punjab, the government was not hearing their plea and was not implementing the 5th Pay Commission for non-teaching employees of private colleges.

Whereas, the notification for implementation of the 5th Pay Commission for teaching employees of private colleges had already been issued, she added.

Sanjay Gupta, secretary, said: “As per the PCNTEU resolution we are going to hold hunger strikes to intensity the stir.”

Ajay Gupta, secretary of the Punjabi University wing of Punjab and Chandigarh Non-Teaching Employees Union, said a meeting of PCNTEU executives was held on December 13 at Modi College where the members resolved to hold a state-level rally in Ludhiana or Jalandhar in January.

Kalka, December 19
On the second day of the 4th Heritage Festival at Yadavindra Gardens, Pinjore, organised by department of Haryana tourism, as many as 4,000 visitors and tourists enjoyed the festival here.

Puppet show, Rajasthani kachi ghori, Haryanavi orchestra, Haryanavi folk dances (ghoomer) remained the main attraction. A special treat was the craft bazaar, crafted on the bastion of Mughal gardens to remind people remind of Mughal traditions.

It was a shopping paradise for the visitors. Craft persons from all across the country participated, showcasing the traditions of handlooms and handicrafts of various states of India.

Around 65 craft persons and eight traditional dance troupes from all over India participated in the festival. Bollywood and Sufi singers, Shebab Iqbal Sabri and Afzal Sabri set the stage on fire with their qawwalis.

Sabries started the programme with popular traditional number “Chhap Tilak Sab Chhini Re” followed by “Ruthe Yaarr Nu Mana Ley”.

OP Jain, Minister of Tourism, Hospitality, Transport and Civil Aviation, Haryana, was the chief guest.

Ambala, December 19
A body of a woman was found at level crossing near Ghel village in Ambala City here today.

The victim, identified as Preeti Gupta (24), was a teacher and resident of Ghel village.

According to the police, one of the villagers informed on telephone that a body of a woman was lying at the level crossing. The body was badly crushed. The police sent the body to a civil hospital for autopsy and later it was handed over to herrelatives.

However, it could not be ascertained whether the woman committed suicide or it was an accident.

Chandigarh, December 19
St Kabir Public School, Vivek High School and St John’s School registered their second successive victories in their respective pools in St Kabir Football Trophy for Under-13 being played at St Kabir Public School ground, Sector 26, here today.

St Kabir Public School in the Pool A outing handed out a 6-0 drubbing to Swami Ram Tirath Public School.

The winners led 3-0 at half time. Dominating from the start, St Kabir forged ahead through Rahul who caught Swami Ram Tirath’s defense napping with a fine goal in the third minute. Tipu got his second and team’s fifth goal in the 27th minute.

In between, Yuvraj, Rahul and Arnav added one goal each to make the victory margin more impressive. Uday rounded off the winners’ tally in the 47th minute.

It was the second successive win for St Kabir, while Swami Ram Tirath suffered their second defeat in the running.

In the Pool B fixture, formidable St John’s High School, Sector 26, gave a football lesson to Ajit Karam Singh International Public School by six goals without reply. The winners were two ups in first five minutes.

Krishna struck in the fourth minute and Gurteshwar in the next minute. Krishna scored in the 17th minute to help St John’s increase their lead to 3-0. Later, Nitin netted in the 20th and 30th minute, while Harshal hammered the sixth goal for St John’s in the 33rd minute.

Ashiana School tasted their first win in two matches they have played in the three-team pool D match. Today they scored a narrow 1-0 win over St Peter’s School, Sector 37. The important goal was scored by Madhav in the 30th minute.

Vivek High School got the better of Mount Carmel, Sector 47, by 1-0. Aayush snatched the match winner for Vivek High in the 15th minute in the pool A match. It was second win for Vivek School, while Mount Carmel suffered their second defeat in their two outings.

Despite Abishek wasting two penalties, New Public School, Sector 18, defeated St Xavier’s School, Panchkula, by 3-0 in the Pool C programme.

NPS had to wait for 10 minutes to open their account through Gurpreet who converted a measured pass from Abhishek from the left flank in the 10th minute.

Three minutes later, Xavier’s defender handled the ball in the proscribed area and NPS was awarded a spot, which Abhishek shot wide. However, Gurpreet scored his team’s second goal with a straight grounder from 10 yards and Shivam capitalised on a pass from the right flank to score in the 30th minute.

NPS was awarded another spot kick midway through the second half, but Abhishek’s shot was saved by the Xavier’s goalkeeper. It was NPS’s first win from their opening match.

Chandigarh, December 19
A 14-member IPSC cricket team has been selected to participate in the 55th National School Games to be organised by director of sports and youth services, Maharashtra, from December 22 in Mumbai.

Stating this in a press note here today, Dr HS Dhillon, principal Yadavindra Public School, said the players for the under-14 team had been selected during the coaching camp held at the school grounds.

The team members include Abimanyu Singha, (YPS Mohali, captain) Pragam Sharma (vice-captain), Suvaansh Kumar, Biren Singh, Himmat Singh, Shrey Tanwar (Modern School, New Delhi), Jatin Thaman, Ganeev Gogia, Ikjot Singh (YPS, Patiala), Sukhpal Phogat, Pawan (MNSS Rai), Mansher Singh (Pinegrove, HP), Ambar Aneja (DPS, RK Puram), Ankur Kaushik and Ashmeet Aiwadhi (DPS, Mathura).

Parveen Singha from YPS, Mohali, and Naveen Chopra, Modern School, New Delhi, would accompany the team as the coach and manager, respectively.

Chandigarh, December 19
A creditable 53-run partnership between Karan Aggarwal (50) and Rahul Chhabra (31) enabled Desh Prem Azad Cricket Academy (DP Azad Cricket Academy) beat the Mohali Cricket Academy (MCA) by four wickets in the weekend cricket match organised by the DP Azad Academy at St Stephen’s School ground, Sector 45, here today.

Chasing a victory target of 170 runs, DP academy achieved the target in 38.2 overs by scoring 171 for six. Opener Karan Aggarwal scored a well-compiled 50 runs with the help of eight boundaries.

Rahul Chhabra put on 31 runs. His knock was laced with five fours. Jagpreet remained not out on 32, which contained three sixes and one four. MCA Gurpartap bagged three for 35.

Earlier, MCA scored 169 runs before they were bowled out in 39 overs. Kinderpreet Singh (26) and Shine Sharma (39) realised 48 runs for the second wicket stand. Kinderpreet hit five boundaries, while Shine Sharma’s knock contained nine fours.Amish remained not out on 22 runs.

Jagpreet Singh (threefor 19), RS Dua (two for 34) and Karaninder Singh (two for 21) contained MCA innings with tight bowling.

Brief scores:

MCA: 169 in 39 overs (Kinderpreet Singh 26, 5x4s, Shine Sharma 39, 9x4s, Anmol 19, Amish 22 not out, Jagpreet Singh 3 for 34, RS Dua 2 for 34, Lovejeet Singh 3 for 19, Karaninder Singh 2 for 21).

DP Azad Cricket Academy: 171 for 6 in 38.2 overs (Karan Aggarwal 50, 8x4s, Rahul Chhabra 31, 5x4s, Gaurav Singh 23 3x4s, 1x6, Lovejeet Singh 25, 3x4s, Jagpreet Singh 32 not out, 3x6s, 1x4, Gurpartap Singh 3 for 35).